June 29, 1943
June 29, 1943No. 44 Bizerte, Algeria(His parents still think he is in Casablanca) Dear Folksies, Please excuse the delay in writing – it has been unavoidable. I imagine that Lois has written to you in the interim, so that you haven’t been entirely without news from this side of the world. A couple […]
June 27, 1943
René’s journal entry for June 27, 1943… On the 27th, I took 3 of the trucks and the jeep in to the Ordnance office and turned them in. Then tried to find the dope on getting the men paid, but was unable to find anyone who knew anything about it. When I returned, I […]
June 26, 1943
René’s journal entry for June 26, 1943… On the 26th, we loafed around and I turned in the extra rations we had and the quartermaster equipment. I got to see some more of the town that way and found it all the same – a total wreck. That afternoon we went swimming at […]
June 25, 1943
René’s journal entry for June 25, 1943… On the last day the convoy didn’t leave so early, getting our start only at 7 A.M. From there on in we began to see plenty of interesting things — bomb craters, cemeteries, and German, Italian and British tanks, trucks, etc. wrecked by the side of the […]
June 24, 1943
René’s journal entry for June 24, 1943… June 24 we left bright and early at 5:25 A.M. Roy would always tell us the night before at what time we were expected to pull out and then, long before that time would arrive in the morning, he would be prancing around like a caged lion […]
June 23, 1943
René’s journal entry for June 23, 1943… Today we left even earlier, at 6:15 A.M. and I drove over the tough winding hills. There were really some tough ones, hair-pin turns and all. Of course, with those trucks and the load, one couldn’t go over 15 m.p.h. up any of those good inclines. With […]
June 22, 1943
René’s journal entry for June 22, 1943… June 22, we left at 6:25 A.M., and this was our shortest day, for we only traveled 205 miles, having gone 239 miles the second day. The reason we stopped early (4:40PM) this day was that we had some tough hills on the next stretch and we […]
June 21, 1943
René’s journal entry for June 21, 1943… Today we left at 7:00 A.M. and when we stopped for gas at 8:30 A.M., Roy went to a phone and soon who did we see coming towards us in an ambulance, but Paul Stratte. Gee, we were all sure glad to see him, and vice-versa. We […]
June 20, 1943
On June 20, 1943, René embarks on a secret mission with 10 other doctors and 33 enlisted men from the 59th Evac Unit. The group is dubbed “Cohn’s Courageous Commandos” in honor of its charismatic leader, Major Roy Cohn. The journal entry from Philip Westdahl (in today’s sidebar) describes what the rest of the unit […]
June 16, 1943
June 16, 1943No. 43 (continued) Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies, Sunday we were kind of tired so we loafed in the A.M. and then went swimming in the afternoon. The water was swell, it was nice and hot, and we had a few coats of tan added to our already tanning bodies. Some of the […]
June 15, 1943
June 15, 1943No. 43 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies, Right now, Lois and I are both in the Rec. Tent typing letters. She is, as usual, using my typer and I am using the Evac. Office typer. As you no doubt have noticed, I am having eee trouble. The ‘e’ on this typer persists in […]
June 12, 1943
June 12, 1943No. 42 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies, I’ve been able to pick up a fairly good pair of sun-glasses at our PX but they are small and do not cover one’s eyes nearly as effectively as did our others. So, if you do find a good pair – wide ones – ‘twill be […]
June 9, 1943
June 9, 1943No. 41 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies, Last Saturday we went on another shopping spree and Lois couldn’t resist a really beautiful hassock, so we decided to give it to each other for our birthdays. It is being sent to you, Mom, for safe-keeping (maroon and gold) along with a green one for […]
June 3, 1943
June 3, 1943No. 40 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies, Yesterday afternoon we just sat round and talked, as I had to stick around and Lois was off duty. For the last two days she has not been working in the ward, as she is one of the few with good printing, and consequently Miss Diffley […]
June 2, 1943
June 2, 1943No. 39 Casablanca, Morocco Dear Folksies, Monday night we played some bridge with George Armanini and Bert Halter, and then with George and Bill Kuzell. Suffice it to say that our hands were fierce and we were most royally skunked. It wasn’t the playing, tho’ Bert pulled a nice one by bidding […]