Hq XIX Corps Arty
APO 270
Somewhere in Holland
15 Sept. 1944
My dearest darling Sminx,
Your letter of Sept 5 arrived last night just as I was writing to you along with another letter you wrote me on May 28! They were both wonderful letters and especially the one of Sept 5. I was much touched by your discussion of the baby now on the way and how you felt about it. It is a great blow to me not to be with you now and later when the big event happens. It seems that I always forsake you when you are pregnant and when you need me more than at any other time. I can assure you it is not intentional and I would give anything to be with you now. Nothing would please me more than to be able to look after you, take care of you and cater to your whims such as a desire for celery at odd times. I am certainly glad and I will be thankful all my life that I was present when Billy came and you were sweet to say that the memory of my presence then would be with you for the next one. You can be absolutely certain that I will be with you in spirit and I shall be on edge until I get the good news.
* * *
As you can see from the heading on this letter we are now somewhere in Holland. We are getting out of the area where my knowledge of French will do me any good. But soon I hope to be able to practice my German. I don't think the people here will be as friendly to us as were the Belgians and the French but maybe they will. I have seen a great many interesting things which I would like to write you about but I am afraid they will have to wait until I get home.
That was good news about Muggins [Dad's brother, Martin] promotion to Lt. Col. I shall write and congratulate him. He certainly need not have worried about my getting it before him. But I am contented now and I am not worrying too much about promotion. That will come when and if it is deserved. I am sure Muggins did a good job and deserved his.
Yesterday I found time to play two rubbers of bridge. I won the large sum of 7 francs which is the equivalent of fifteen cents. But it was fun to play although it would have been a lot more fun if I could play with you.
Don't worry about my health. I am perfectly well. The only casualty I have suffered is the loss of one tooth which I already reported to you. When the campaign is over perhaps I will be able to get it fixed. I don't know whether I have gained or lost weight because I have not had an opportunity to weigh myself. I may have gained, though, because I eat too much and don't get enough exercise. The weather has warmed up a lot and we are much more comfortable now.
* * *
I miss you horribly sweetheart and I long for the day when we shall be together again.
Your adoring husband,
Bill
_________________________________________________________________________________Dad expressed himself beautifully in the first paragraph, apparently in response to Mom's "special" and "touching" September 5 letter to him which he received that day, 10 days after she wrote it, and two months and two days before Griff was born on November 17. Dad was not there for the birth, and Mom, as she promised, must have been thinking of Dad's presence at Billy's birth.
And Dad's second paragraph leaves so much unsaid, so much to be told when he returned. If only he were here now, we would certainly want to hear it all. And what did Mom's Sept 5 letter say to elicit Dad's beautiful response? Hopefully, we will be able to answer that question when we find that letter upon our return home.
Dad would get to use his German very soon for, by mid-October, 1944, the XIXth Corps had already entered Germany. I think they may have entered Germany before the end of September but cannot confirm that without more of his letters and those also are at home. Dad told us that he used his German to interrogate mayors, as before, and sometimes to "ask" residents of a house to vacate the house because the General or Colonel wanted to use the house for headquarters or sleeping quarters.
And my third favorite part of the letter (and one of my favorites of all we have seen) is Dad's reaction to Muggins' promotion and his Buddha-like feeling about his own position and chances for promotion:
"I am contented now and I am not worrying too much about promotion.
That will come when and if it is deserved. I am sure Muggins did a good
job and deserved his."
I can't leave Dad's letters at a better place.
We love you, Mom and Dad, and miss you. Thank you for leaving us this precious gift.
To be continued another time...
Love, Nat
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