December 31, 1944
No letter from René on December 31, 1944. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, about the unit’s return to Epinal on New Year’s Eve. On Christmas night, we received word to stop receiving patients and to start packing our equipment. The news took us somewhat by surprise, and as usual speculation […]
December 29, 1944
December 29, 1944Mutzig, France No. 75 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, There are a lot of screwy things going on at present, as a matter of fact, and I have only heard snatches of things here and there, getting some from Wally when Carroll and I finally pinned him down the other nite. It seems now […]
December 28, 1944
December 28, 1944Mutzig, France No. 75 (continued) Dear Folksies, Yesterday, Carroll Russell and I went out for the first exercise that we have had since here. Only took a short walk, but it was most pleasant. Walked thru the nearby town and back in the hills a little along the roads. Just on the […]
December 27, 1944
December 27, 1944Mutzig, France No. 75 Dear Folksies, Yes, my dears, this is number seventy-five! Where the others have gotten to, if you haven’t received them by the time you get this, I know not. I am really perturbed that you have not been receiving the letters. I know how you may very well […]
December 24, 1944
December 24, 1944Mutzig, France No. 74 Dear Folksies, Well, ‘tis almost Xmas Eve and am wondering how all of you have been enjoying yourselves. It being a Sunday and I hope as nice and sunny out there as it is here today (though not as nippy, I hope), I sort of imagine that today […]
December 23, 1944
December 23, 1944Mutzig, France Unnumbered Dear Gram, Xmas is just about here, and tho’ all have been kept so busy that very little Xmas spirit has been visible, other than the great number of packages that have been flowing in, we have had enough of a breather the last two days for plans for […]
December 20, 1944
No letter from René on December 20, 1944. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, about his impressions of the Maginot Line. We took advantage of a few free afternoons to inspect a fortress on the Maginot Line, which was located on the ridge of a low mountain just behind the hospital […]
December 18, 1944
December 18, 1944Mutzig, France No. 73 Dear Folksies, Surprised that I should write again today, aren’t you?? Well, I am! Have done a bit of writing and also reading in the last 24 hrs. Started reading the “Razor’s Edge” last night and damn near couldn’t put it down – read to the wee hours […]
December 17, 1944
December 17, 1944Mutzig, France No. 72 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, Today, as you see, is another day… After we got done with that case last night and worked up a couple of new cases on the ward, it was time for midnight chow, and then we turned in – not really thinking that we would […]
December 16, 1944
December 16, 1944Mutzig, France No. 72 Dear Folksies, Am over in Surgery at the moment, we are on 3rd call tonight, and at the moment Shock and Receiving are empty — so it may be that what does come in will be able to be taken care of by Gerbode, as he is 1st […]
December 13, 1944
December 13, 1944Mutzig, France No. 71 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, Well, we got put to work yesterday afternoon – I might have known that that would happen just soon after I got a letter started. Now have a new system whereby we work 6 days on days and then 6 days on nights and then have […]
December 12, 1944
December 12, 1944Mutzig, France No. 71 (continued) Dear Folksies, I stopped writing three days ago because of the inability to adequately elevate my foot at the same time as I typed. Wally came in while I was writing and as my toes looked worse, he made me stop and soak and elevate. So I […]
December 10, 1944
No letter from René on December 10, 1944. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, describing their move from Epinal to Mutzig, France. In his personal journal, Phil was able to describe his experiences in the 59th Evac. with specifics (place names, information about the enemy) that, because of censorship rules, René […]
December 9, 1944
December 9, 1944Mutzig, France No. 71 Dear Folksies, The packages I’ve received in the last few days have managed to just about fill my barracks bag. I wasn’t going to open them till Xmas, that is this last batch, but to conserve space, I thought I had better consolidate some of them. Even that, […]
December 8, 1944
December 8, 1944Epinal, France No. 70 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, Alain, you wrote to me that the black sheep of the family was dead. That may or may not be true from what Jean-Pierre says and believes. The subject is a distasteful one and one hard to understand except if one believes that there was […]
December 7, 1944
December 7, 1944Epinal, France No. 70 (continued) Dear Folksies, The story of Yvette is a proud yet sad one and all can only hope that she and her husband [Jean-Guy] are still well and alive. George Baumann [Yvette’s father] had recently gone to Paris and gotten a lot of the details concerning Yvette that […]
December 6, 1944
December 6, 1944Epinal, France No. 70 (continued) Dear Folksies, Mathilde, as you know, died in Nice in March of this year. Jeanne and David were with her, but Lilice and family had already had to leave. Why Jeanne and David remained, Jean-Pierre knew not, but apparently they got away with it at first and […]
December 5, 1944
December 5, 1944Epinal, France No. 70 (continued) Dear Folksies, The rest of the news which I can give you has all come from Jean Pierre and Jacqueline Marx, rather than direct from Lilice as I had hoped – tho’, of course, none the less – and probably more authentic. Lilice, George and Claudine […]
December 4, 1944
December 4, 1944Epinal, France No. 70 (continued) Dear Folksies, After I had gotten a thumb-nail sketch concerning each and everyone of the family and being still none too clear how the Horvilleurs are related to us, I asked whether Jean Pierre knew Jacqueline Marx. With that both J.P and Doude let out a howl, […]
December 3, 1944
December 3, 1944Epinal, France No. 70 (continued) Dear Folksies, Jean Pierre at present is continuing his traveling-sales, and has as his line a selection of briefcases, folders and beach bags – all made from a form of oil cloth, rather than leather. Now his latest line is a construction game for the kiddies, constructing […]
December 2, 1944
December 2, 1944Epinal, France No. 70 (continued) Dear Folksies, Next A.M. off we were again, pounding the poor little jeep for all she was worth. And then we find that the bloomin’ Rhone has pulled a “Mississippi” and overflowed at just some of the points we wanted to transverse — so naturally the detours […]
December 1, 1944
December 1, 1944Epinal, France No. 70 Dear Folksies, It’s again with mixed emotions that I write, but let me begin where I left off with my last letter where we were still in the throes of hard and constant work. And then, bingo! Came a lull, adequate sleep one night when I should have […]
November 30, 1944
No letter from René on November 30, 1944. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, as things calm down and the unit prepares to leave Epinal, France. After 7 weeks of feverish activity here in Epinal, we have finally closed our doors and are preparing to move. We are mighty proud of […]
November 28, 1944
November 28, 1944Epinal, France No. 69 Dear Folksies, Tonight I am a bit more calm and collected and yet again with rather mixed emotions. When I awoke at 5 P.M. this afternoon, I found awaiting me on our desk, a card from Lilice, and in it considerable news for which all of us have […]
November 27, 1944
November 27, 1944Epinal, France No. 68 Dear Folksies, Before I begin, I must warn you that this letter is bound to be the most misspelled and probably the worst typographically written letter that I have written in a long time. I am at the moment so bloomin’ happy, yet sad, and my eyes are […]
November 23, 1944
November 23, 1944Epinal, France No. 67 Dear Folksies, It’s Thanksgiving and I just finished a really scrumptious meal. While the meal is still fresh in my mind, or I should say stomach, and the gastric and duodenal juices haven’t had much of a time to get to work on it, I shall give you […]
November 19, 1944
November 19, 1944Epinal, France No. 66 Dear Folksies, I have been going steadily today, except for a slight interlude, luckily, when George Davis showed up – much to my surprise and joy. George arrived with an MP Major friend of his and stayed around for a few hours, going over and getting Major Kay […]
November 16, 1944
November 16, 1944Epinal, France No. 65 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, Had a visit today from a Major Kay Barber. She is a good friend of George Davis and the head nurse of a hospital that is not too far away. She had seen George a couple of weeks ago and knew that if she was […]
November 15, 1944
November 15, 1944Epinal, France No. 65 Dear Folksies, Since my last letter, I have been kept on the go, as you might well imagine and we never seem able to know what day of the week it is. Only those that make it a practice to visit the Padre weekly are the ones who […]
November 10, 1944
November 10, 1944Epinal, France No. 64 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, Busy today until just a little while ago. Mom, YOUR TYPING IS MARVELOUS!!!! Heck, you have many less mistakes than these letters of mine! Keep it up! I should think, however, that now you would be kicking yourself for not trying to type long ago! […]
November 9, 1944
November 9, 1944Epinal, France No. 64 (continued) Dear Folksies, At the moment, the Old Man is wandering around sort of like a lost sheep, waiting for his time to go home — tho’ he has not any definite time of departure, nor have we any inkling who the new C.O. will be. At any […]
November 8, 1944
November 8, 1944Epinal, France No. 64 Dear Folksies, Have been plenty busy, tho’ in the last couple of nights we have managed to catch up on much needed sleep and am now feeling well rested. Someone got a brain-storm and decided that since some of the other hospitals seem to prefer the 8 to […]
November 2, 1944
No letter from René on November 2. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, reflecting about their time in Epinal, France. [During October] we have been going quite steadily. About every other day, following a drive, our receiving and shock wards pile up with a backlog of 80-90 patients, requiring a bout […]
October 28, 1944
October 28, 1944Epinal, France No. 63 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, We got a good break today alright, got done at 6 A.M. and even made rounds before breakfast, leaving a few stray things only to be done after breakfast. Saw Leon M. after that and he seems able to sit rather comfortably. Just had lunch […]
October 27, 1944
October 27, 1944Epinal, France No. 63 Dear Folksies, Another breather, and that only because there were not enough beds, so here it is afternoon and I have already finished doing a couple of weeks worth of laundry. Worked from midnight to breakfast alright – in fact, another brain, not a bad one thank goodness […]
October 25, 1944
October 25, 1944Epinal, France No. 62 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, The weather has been none too pleasant – pretty much of S.F.’s miserable type, i.e. foggy, drizzly, etc. Some of the patients come in dripping wet, and in fact, at first the chills that some of them got when transfusions were started were thought to […]
October 24, 1944
October 24, 1944Epinal, France No. 62 Dear Folksies, Have just had lunch and for the first time since last writing, have not had a million and one things to do on Wally’s ward in the P.M. Yes, we’ve kept plenty busy and tho’ our team hasn’t operated twelve hours straight each of our shifts, […]
October 20, 1944
October 20, 1944Epinal, France Conclusion of No. 61 Dear Folksies, The “Cohn Regime” of the Officers’ Club is over! Roy’s 6-month reign was terminated and a new group of officers elected for the next 6-month period. Had anyone challenged the count of the votes for President and Vice-President, it would have really been something, […]
October 18, 1944
October 18, 1944Epinal, France No. 61 Dear Folksies, Am now on the “swing-shift”, Mattie having changed everyone around again when we hit a twelve-hour slack period, and one group has been able to sleep well during the time that they usually were operating. Still working with Wally and Carroll, now on the midnight to noon […]
October 16, 1944
October 16, 1944Epinal, France Conclusion of No. 60 Dear Folksies, The other night when Wally, Carroll and I worked straight thru supper and finally went over to the Mess at about 9 P.M. to find what they said they had kept hot for us was plenty cold, despite the fact that they had had […]
October 15, 1944
October 15, 1944Epinal, France No. 60 Dear Folksies, Last night we got stuck with a nice longie that kept us going way past midnight – in fact to after 3 A.M. Got up this A.M. thinking I might help as I was wide-awake, but they seemed to have caught up pretty well, so shall […]
October 14, 1944
October 14, 1944Epinal, France No. 59 Dear Folksies, Got to bed at midnight last night, but was able to pile out of bed to take off in search of Lynn Rudee this morning. Got some info as to where I could find him, but as usual such info was a bit haywire – why […]
October 13, 1944
October 13, 1944Epinal, France No. 58 Dear Folksies, At the moment I am in surgery, but as there are no cases for our team of Greene, Russell & me, I’m taking this opportunity to write. News items: Cy Kiernan got his Captaincy. Bessie Lawrence and Irene Gallagher, who used to be in our […]
October 10, 1944
October 10, 1944Epinal, France No. 57 Dear Folksies, A bit more of a breathing spell than I anticipated when I pounded out my last letter to you. Sooo, here I am in Receiving at the moment with good night’s sleep behind me and nothing in particular to do this afternoon unless things get good […]
October 9, 1944
October 9, 1944Epinal, France No. 56 Dear Folksies, Just a shortie to say: “am fine, am busy as h…, and have no time to write”. Pete got sick with ?? what about a week ago and just now walked in the door. The night I got here Paul was assisting Gerbode in place […]
October 7, 1944
No letter from René on October 7, 1944. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, about their arrival and early days at Epinal. We arrived in Epinal itself in the evening, after a 3-hour trip. Epinal is a textile industrial city, through which flows the now battle-famous Moselle River. The “Krauts” […]
October 5, 1944
No letter from René on October 5, 1944. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, about their trip from Rioz to Epinal. We bade farewell to Rioz and headed north by truck convoy to Epinal, which at that time was about 5 miles behind the lines. Our route north took us […]
October 4, 1944
No letter from René on October 4, 1944. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, about the end of their time in Rioz. Much to our surprise [after a lull] we had a second spurt of activity at Rioz before actually closing. This was due to an unusual number of casualties […]
October 1, 1944
October 1, 1944Rioz, France No. 55 Dear Folksies, Yesterday took a ride with Jones and Eddie Welles, going to a fairly large town, but unfortunately Jones had a lot of business that took up our time, and then we spent a good bit of time going to a factory where they make pipes. Eddie […]
September 30, 1944
September 30, 1944Rioz, France No. 54 Dear Folksies, With nothing to do at the moment, a good music program on the radio here in Receiving, a good typewriter un-busy, and never knowing what the next days might bring to cut short my letter-writing for while, guess I might as well pound out a few […]
September 29, 1944
September 29, 1944Rioz, France No. 53 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, The new dietician plus the French cooks we have acquired have been putting out a damned good mess, despite no change in foodstuffs. The greatest improvement in the mess has been in the flavoring and the addition of some excellent sauces for otherwise tasteless canned […]
September 28, 1944
September 28, 1944Rioz, France No. 53 (continued) Dear Folksies, Our “Planning Commission” of Gerbode Inc. picked out a decent enough area alright, but their fatal mistake was to fix the Mess Dept. and a couple of other spots that need vehicles coming to them, up on the top of the area, so that the water-truck […]
September 27, 1944
September 27, 1944Rioz, France No. 53 Dear Folksies, Another breathing spell, so another letter. Have been kept plenty busy anesthetizing for the team of Armanini & Russell. They’re fun to work with as Russell has about the best and oddest sense of humor of any of the officers and Armanini is always the butt […]
September 26, 1944
September 26, 1944Rioz, France No. 52 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, I’ve just heard the 10 P.M. news — sounds pretty good. It looks as if the next big deal is going to be the Philippines. A lot of people seem to feel that Germany is going to fold rapidly, but it looks to me as […]
September 25, 1944
September 25, 1944Rioz, France No. 52 (continued) Dear Folksies, I was sure glad the other day that I had my high English-type boots, for there I was in the middle of a river, stuck!! But, let me tell you more about that cute little incident. I had gone over this particular section of road […]
September 24, 1944
September 24, 1944Rioz, France No. 52 (continued) Dear Folksies, This kind of country would be, and probably was, wonderful golfing country. There were so many spots I passed that would have made wonderful golf courses that I was all for starting one. The funniest thing in that connection, however, was at one spot where […]
September 23, 1944
September 23, 1944Rioz, France No. 52 (continued) Dear Folksies, I have seen some spots that are truly amazing. I never thought that the sight of destruction would be a swell sight to see, but the places I saw were just that — for the wreckage was not of buildings in the towns, but wreckage […]
September 22, 1944
September 22, 1944Rioz, France No. 52 (continued) Dear Folksies, The last few mornings I have been trying to catch up on the sleep I missed pounding the highways. I wasn’t actually so tired, but my eyes were rather sore from doing some typical California Skyline Highway driving at night — yep, fog! There was […]
September 21, 1944
September 21, 1944Rioz, France No. 52 Dear Folksies, Just about a week since last writing to you. Yep, have been rather busy. I’ve done quite a bit of bouncing around the country and then, when I settled down to work, there was plenty of it. Working the noon to midnight shift again and at […]
September 20, 1944
No letter from René on September 20, 1944. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, about the rest of the trip north from Carpentras and their first few days in Rioz. Near Bourg [Bourg-en Bresse] we could see the western-most mountains of the Alps – impressive, rugged and beautiful. The architecture, […]
September 18, 1944
No letter from René on September 18, 1944. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, about what he saw on the road north from Carpentras…illustrated by the photos that René took along the route. We left Carpentras in mid-September and again headed north in the wake of the fast moving 7th […]
September 16, 1944
No letter from René on September 16, 1944. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, remembering various experiences with the local people of Carpentras. Every evening, and particularly on Sunday, [French civilians] would come by the hundreds, men, women and children, leisurely strolling or riding about the hospital grounds. They were […]
September 15, 1944
September 15, 1944Carpentras, France No. 51 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, Have in the last few days, managed to get around a little. I’ve seen a couple of good sized towns — St. Tropez, Avignon and Marseille. Of course, I’ve also seen a lot of the smaller towns around and about. Marseille is a civilized large […]
September 14, 1944
September 14, 1944Carpentras, France No. 51 (continued) Dear Folksies, The Old Man has been awarded the “Legion of Merit”. Who actually was behind that in higher headquarters, I know not, but the citation sounds as if he or Collie might have done the writing themselves. In the citation he is given credit for organizing […]
September 13, 1944
September 13, 1944Carpentras, France No. 51 Dear Folksies, Yesterday was really nice – a good day for wandering about. Some have been borrowing bikes from local friends and have been doing considerable cycling. In fact, Serge and Ann went for a total of about 30 miles the other day and upon their return, Ann […]
September 10, 1944
September 10, 1944Carpentras, France No. 50 Dear Folksies, You will be interested to hear the news that some local French people gave us the other night, and that is that the postal service has been re-established between the French and the American people. So, it should not be too long before you get some […]
September 7, 1944
September 7, 1944Carpentras, France No. 49 (conclusion) Dear Folksies, Have again made use of Polly’s movie picture projector the last couple of nights, showing the pictures out in the open. However, it has been a bit chilly and somewhat on the damp side, but nevertheless the open is still the best place to do […]
September 6, 1944
September 6, 1944Carpentras, France No. 49 (continued) Dear Folksies, Sunday was really funny here. I thought it was like a carnival even before that, but Sunday was really the payoff. It seemed as if there were hundreds and hundreds of people out here just milling around all day long — in their Sunday-best. There […]
September 5, 1944
September 5, 1944Carpentras, France No. 49 Dear Folksies, Have used Fadley’s bicycle a bit in the last few days and cycled into the nearby town. It beats walking all to heck and since the roads are very good and smooth one can cover ground rapidly. These small French towns are really rather interesting […]
September 4, 1944
September 4, 1944Carpentras, France Conclusion of No. 48 Dear Folksies, Three little French kids just came in with a basket of grapes and wanted permission to go through the wards and give the grapes to the wounded. Give, mind you! It has been interesting to note the difference between the German prisoners we […]
September 3, 1944
September 3, 1944Carpentras, France No. 48 (continued) Dear Folksies, Glad you are receiving the “Stars and Stripes” O.K. There are a lot of good things in them and many of them are worth saving. Am wondering how you like Maudlin’s cartoons – believe it is hard for those at home to realize true humor […]
September 2, 1944
September 2, 1944Carpentras, France No. 48 (continued) Dear Folksies, Heard today over the radio that Nice was taken. [Nice was liberated on August 28, 1944.] It is good news alright, along with all the other news of fast moving Allied troops. From the looks of things now, it’s going to be tough trying to get […]
September 1, 1944
September 1, 1944Carpentras, France No. 48 Dear Folksies, Well, “Cohn’s Commandos” are back again with the 59th and I must say we were pleasantly surprised to find that they could get going far more rapidly than ever before, and were able to put out the work mighty well and without too much confusion. When […]
August 30, 1944
No letter from René today. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl about what the 59th was up to in Carpentras around August 30, 1944. My most interesting case was a shell fragment wound in a German, which perforated the left chest and diaphragm and the large bowel at the splenic […]
August 28, 1944
No letter from René today. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl about what the 59th was up to in Carpentras around August 28, 1944. We arrived at our destination near Carpentras late at night and the following morning all pitched in to set up the hospital. By late afternoon we […]
August 27, 1944
August 27, 1944Southern France No. 47 Dear Folksies, We’re still loafing and enjoying the countryside at the moment, and keeping out of the range of the 59th, which is somewhere around. We’ve seen some of our boxes, but no men. And, as we know they are not as yet working, we’re going to let […]
August 26, 1944
No letter from René today. Here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl about his arrival (and that of the rest of the 59th Evac. Unit) to the South of France on August 25 and their move to Carpentras on August 26, 1944. On Friday morning August 25, we sighted the southern […]