Hq & Hq Sq (Signal Section)
IX Air Force Service Command
APO 149, c/o Postmaster
New York, N.Y.
Mr. L. H. Dicus
C/O Paul J. Campbell
IX Air Force Service Command
APO 149, c/o Postmaster
New York, N.Y.
Mr. L. H. Dicus
C/O Paul J. Campbell
215 Eveningside Drive
Ferger Place
Chattanooga 4, Tenn.
[LINK: Modern Day Look at This Address]
Luxembourg City
May 27, 1945
Dearest Mother, Daddy, and Anna Ruth,
Luxembourg City
May 27, 1945
Dearest Mother, Daddy, and Anna Ruth,
I have a good system now, but I am afraid to use it today, because it might not work much in a row. I hadn't gotten a letter for about three or four days, and I told one of the fellows that I would cut his throat if I didn't get a letter day before yesterday. He got one for me that was dated back in March. Yesterday, I made the same offer to another boy, and he brought me two letters. One for the 17th & 20th of this month. It has worked out pretty good so far.
It has been raining a lot here lately, and has turned cool enough that you need a jacket when you go outside. The wind is blowing pretty hard now, and it looks like more rain today. Guess it is pretty hot there now, but the weather at home reminds me of the weather here a lot.
I worked in the Enlisted Men's club last night, and gave out ice cream. It is hard as a rock, and was very hard to dip. If you had a store back home, and could have as much trade as we did last night, you would be rich in no time at all.
They have had several dances here lately that have been a lot of fun. There are several good bands around here, and a couple of GI bands that a are OK.
Several of the boys have been going on furlough back to England, to the Riviera, Paris and etc. since the war is over. Before I take off, I am going to find out a little more what is going to happen to me, and how it would effect my furlough when I get back to the states if I should take one. I plan to take a 48 hour pass to Brussels pretty soon. It won't give me much time there, but I will get to see the place, and they say it is almost as nice as Paris. If I get a furlough, I will probably go back to England, and make a tour of London for a couple of days, Oxford, Glasgow, and all around. I think that would be a lot of fun as well as interesting.
You need not expect me to come rolling in there for some time yet. We will probably be over here for some time yet, I think. I will either be sent to the Pacific Area, or be in the army occupation here. Really doesn't make much difference which way I go. If I do go to the Pacific, I will probably get a nice furlough home first. Probably will stay over here though I would say, but don't have the slightest reason to think so, because no one knows what is going to happen next. Of course, there is still a lot of work for this headquarters, because under it, there are huge depots that are filled with supplies that will have to be taken care of. There is also the Service Groups that will have to be redeployed to the other theater, stay here, go home, and etc. You see, our work has changed a lot. It is a question of going from actual operations to breaking the thing down.
You ask me who I paled around with here. It is not the Jones boy that I was best man for at the wedding. He is not a bad guy, but he is older than I, and acts like he is 90. He is very slow, and expects you to wait for him. When we would go to chow together, he would want to sit in the mess hall about an hour, and would get mad if you wouldn't stay there with him, and little things like that, so I just make it a point to stay away from him now. I have two very close friends. One of them is from Maine, name, Robert Kimball, Cpl. U S Army. He is the draftsman for the section, and he makes all the diagrams charts, and any work that has to be printed up nice. We are always together. You never see one of us around here unless the other is along. The next one is Morris Parkhill, M/Sgt from Maryland. He works in ground radar, and is an excellent maintenance man. He makes a lot of inspection trips, and is not here all of the time. He usually can get some kind of vehicle most anytime we want to go to some town close by. Part of the time he as a car that we ride to chow in, and anywhere we want to go. These two boys are tops, but there are two more that come right under them. The first one is Joseph Lennert, Cpl, from New Jersey. He works in the same section with me, and is a swell guy. We get along fine, and there is no friction between us even though there is an opening for a Sgt. if the ratings ever let go. They are being held up now, and will probably never open. If it should break though, it would be a toss up between us. The next guy is Phipip Jeminez, Pfc. from San Francisco He is a Spanish boy, but much above the higher type. He makes up the third person in the Sub-Section (Signal Maintenance). He is a hard working boy, and we like him OK. Jack Hammonds, Cpl, from Michigan is also a goy boy and we go around with him some. In fact, there are about ten to break down into a smaller click, and then it breaks down into two or threes. Do you understand what I mean? The officers that I work for are OK. The Major that I work for is about 40 years old, and his hair has started to turn grey around the sides, but he still is like a young man. Plenty of life, and he just can't seem to do enough for us. He calls us his boys. There are also three officers that we work for. Two Capts, and a Lt. One of the Capt. came from 2nd AADA with me. he is a real worker, and a smart man. He will give you plenty of work to do, but he is nice about it, and if you know him, it is easy to get along with him. Since I have been with him for so long, he more or less depends on me for the routine work. I get it out, and he checks it, and then if it is to his liking, it goes on out. The other Capt. is from Brooklyn, and does a lot of hollering. He doesn't expect you to take him serious though, so we manage to get along with him. The Lt. is one of the nicest fellows anyone would like to know. He taught History at the U. of Fla. for a number of years, and he is just one of the boys. These officers are all OK, as I have told you, but the one that we really go for is a Capt in ground radar. He is the officer that Barkhill works for, and he just can't be good enough. He would give us the shirt off of his back if we would let him. Didn't think that I would go into all of this detail, but now you know who I work with, and what I think of them anyway.
What makes you think that I would even think of getting married now? You might just as well forget it, because I am a long way from it.
I only saw M.D. one time. I talked to him several times on the telephone, but every time that we planned to see each other, something would come up to prevent it. I was only 15 miles from Paris the. We were about five miles from Versailles, next to a little town called Villacoublay.
At one time, we were supposed to move right into Germany. Now there is a hold up, and we don't know if we will or not. My old outfit, the 859th, has been in Germany for some time. They were in Frankfurt for some time, but they have moved again, and now they are farther in, and I don't know the exact location. I have only been into Germany one time, and I think that I told you about that, didn't I?
Sure does seem funny that old David could be old enough to be out of high school. Tell him that I said congratulations, and for him to look around before he starts to get any ideas about joining anything. Personally, I think it would be a good idea for him to join the Navy, but if I was him, I would look around, and try to go in as a store keeper or some other kind of specialist. It is too late in the game to make something after he gets in.
I have got enough work to keep me busy the rest of the day, so I must get started.
Take care of yourself, and remember that I am thinking of you, and sure will be glad when I get back there.
George
