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May 31, 1944

No letter from René today, so here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl with his comments about visiting Gaeta and Formia with Chuck Schwartz on or about May 31, 1944.            While waiting for our equipment to catch up with us at Sessa, Chuck Schwartz and I took a side jaunt up toward […]

May 30, 1944

No letter from René today, so here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl with his observations of the 616th hospital where the 59th is temporarily bivouaced on May 30, 1944.             The 616th was acting as a holding hospital just a mile away from the advance point of the hospital train that […]

May 29, 1944

No letter from René today, so here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl about what the 59th was up to on May 29, 1944 — including details René can’t tell his parents because his letters are subject to censorship in ways that Phil’s journal is not.             We left Naples behind us […]

May 28, 1944

No letter from René today, so here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl about what the 59th was up to on May 28, 1944.             Shortly after noon on May 28th, we steamed out of Palermo harbor on a Liberty ship as part of a small convoy accompanied by special sub-chasers, a […]

May 23, 1944

No letter from René today, so here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl commenting about what happened on May 23, 1944. Because of Army regulations, René can’t mention this news in correspondence to his parents until June 13.             On May 23rd, Bill Drew left this world suddenly and tragically. One of […]

May 21, 1944

May 21, 1944No. 26 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Sorry to hear, Dad, that you have again had teeth trouble. How many does that leave you, anyhoo? Yes, our food is O.K. though there are forever grumbles that one has gotten to take as routine. But then, maybe I’m not so particular as some of […]

May 18, 1944

May 18, 1944Conclusion of No. 25 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,          I’m Medical O.D. today so have to stick around and it has been most boring. Have caught up on all my reading and nothing else is handy.          The baseball game the other afternoon was really a good one. Wy played his first game […]

May 16, 1944

May 16, 1944No. 25 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,          Saturday afternoon we had a good baseball game with the same Headquarters outfit that beat us the first day that we played. This time we did better, coming from behind to whip them in the last inning. They’ve challenged us to another game, and we will […]

May 15, 1944

May 15, 1944No. 24 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Had a nice letter from George Wood and also from George Davis.             Thursday nite had good dinner with Fran & Hal and Serge & Ann. Had some good raviolis with good sauce and cheese, and also had some small mackerel that were very good. We […]

May 12, 1944

May 12, 1944Continuation of No. 23 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,          Tuesday evening I went walking with Chappie before the show and we walked for a little over two hours, before wending our way back toward the theater. ‘Twas a swell walk. Show only fair, but we stuck it out and then walked home after […]

May 11, 1944

May 11, 1944No. 23 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Well, the so-called Sirroco wind has gone, thank goodness. We are now back on a Spring basis once again – late Spring, however. At least we are once again to sleep at nite, and, in fact, can find adequate use for one blanket. We continue to […]

May 9, 1944

May 9, 1944End of No. 22 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,           Yesterday morning we all awakened alright, but it was torture to climb out of bed. Every one of us was stiff as the dickens. Particularly behind the knees and thighs. We finally managed to live through the calisthenics, however. Whether the knee-bending in calisthenics […]

May 8, 1944

May 8, 1944No. 22 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Here I am again and it’s hotter than Hades on a Sunday morn in May. My typer is cached away at the moment and the only free typer I could find was over here in Don’s Detachment Headquarters Tent. He used to have an office in […]

May 5, 1944

May 5, 1944No. 21 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             I agree with your feelings regarding the Jap situation. One cannot help but have a certain reservation in one’s mind when thinking of them as a whole group, for there are plenty of Japanese-Americans fighting just as hard as the rest of the Americans. There have […]

May 3, 1944

May 3, 1944No. 20 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies,             Father Clark is leaving us to go to George Wood’s outfit. He and George always got along together well. The Col. was not the least bit sorry to give him the transfer. In fact, when Clark’s request came in, the Col. was put in a fine […]