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 […]