Leonard's Story: January 15, 1945

In this letter Mac would of course refer to General MacArthur. G-2 is military intelligence, but of a higher rank than Uncle Len, who was S-2. EM would have been an an enlisted man. BAR indicates the Browning Automatic Rifle. And CCC stands for the Civilian Conservation Corps. 

I have been reading up on Operation Te-Go, the Japanese Paratrooper Attack on Leyte of December 7, 1944. The mission of Te was to attack several U.S. airfields, destroy planes on the ground, burn supply dumps and disrupt logistical operations. In particular the goal was to retake the Buri, San Pablo, and Bayug strips and destroy Tacloban and Dulag fields. The harmonicas, jewsharps, and other instruments were played as signals by the paratroopers immediately after landing; for instance, headquarters was to be identified by the sound of a harmonica. The mission was however hampered by bad weather and coordination problems with the ground units resulted. This was to be Japan's last major parachute operation in the Pacific. 

________________________________________________________

                                                                                     Philippines

                                                                                     Jan 15th

Dear Arnold,

     So you like my letters?  Personally I think you are trying to kid

me, as some of them did'nt sound like much to me.  When the Hqs moved

back to the beach I was left keep up the Order of Battle part of G-2,

and finally the Asst G-2 left and I stayed behind to run G-2 with one

EM.  I got in a good rest, as there was'nt much to do.  Our action

consisted of patrolling, and little groups of stragglers were being

knocked off at the rate of about three or more a day.  The other day

the remaining elements of the division turned over the sector to an-

other unit, and we all went back to the beach, or as the boys say,

"to a rest area."  When I got down here I found that instead of a

rest I had to go back to work, things to come you know.

     So the 11th Airborne Div and LJN have gone through their first

campaigns.  It was rough in spots, but it was a good starter and some

valuable experience was learned and earned by all.  However, I am afraid

that it is just a sample of the future, and we have many battles to

go.  According to the latest regulations down here, if you have two

years in you can apply for a 30 day leave, and with three years over-

seas service out\here you are eligible to apply for rotation. I am es-

timating my return to the states in 1946 in the late fall.  Any man is

crazy to want to come out here, and I admit I was nuts. If you take all

the letters I have written you and spread them out on the floor, and then

compare all of them, I think you will find that for every little in-

teresting word about something I've/seen or done you will find ten other

words bitching about being down here, or rather what it is like down

here.  It is'nt that I don't want to do my share of the war, but here

is the way I look at it.  Some men will have to go overseas while others

will have to stay in the states, its the way the cards are stacked.

But if you have a chance to stay in the states a little longer, then you

are just that much smarter if you take it.  To think I turned down a

beautiful job in the states.  So brother if you get a crack at sticking

around in civilization a little longer grab it, for I am certain that

eventually you will get over here.  Well I guess you won't listen to me,

so come on over and see what its like, some guys are just naturally hard

to convince.

     Well its all over now, and I can sit back and relax and think of the

tragic, gruesome, miraculous, and the humorous incidents.  Like the time

a patrol was hunting down some Japs they spotted in a ravine.  One of

the men made a wide circuit and crawled down into the bottom of the

gully where the Japs had been sighted, and he was in such a hurry that

he forgot to tell the other members of the patrol that he was going

down there.  Up on the rim of this little canyon the BAR man was cover-

ing the advance when he saw a figure sneaking down along the bottom.

As he opened fire the figure jumped behind a bush, so the BAR man gave

the bush the business.  When the patrol had finally pushed down there,

the BAR man found that he had killed his buddy.  One of the other men

grab him him just he was trying to turn the gun on himself.  In another

incident some troops were crawling towards a Jap position which was

under our mortar fire.  As they had to advance across an open area,

an airstrip, it was necessary to keep dropping the mortar shells in

until the men could reach some cover on the far side of the strip.  As

they were slowly crawling forward on their bellies, a 81 mm mortar

                                             1

[page 2]

shell hit one man right in the small of the back.  No this is not one

of the gruesome tales, as the shell was a dud.  Now of the shells that

were being used very few were duds, but just think, the that hits

this man does misfire.  A few hours later a medic found him, as even

though he had been hit by a dud he was throught to be dead, and turned

him over.  He suddenly regained consciousness and sat up, complaining

about his back.  Upon examination it was found to be all black and blue

with a knot as big as your hand where the shell hit him.  The medic

taped him up, and several days later he was hiking around again.

I always smile when I think of what happened fifteen seconds after

the paratroopers had jumped from their planes, naturally I am refering

to the Jap paratroop attack we had.  Most of us had scorned the previous

air raids, and had not bothered to dig any foxholes.  Even on that event-

ful night it did not occur to me to get into a hole, as I was busy

watching the AA show.  Then in a flight that came right over us the

paratroopers started to jump, practically in our laps.  We stood there

watching them come down, hardly able to believe what we saw.  Then it

seemed like one thought occurred to everyone just about the same time.

"I had better get in my hole."   But, gulp, there were many who did'nt have a

hole.  There was the damnest mad scramble for shovels that you ever

saw.  I could have made a fortune right there and then if I had had

any shovels to sell, but I was more interested in fixing up a hole

myself.  We were just out of range of where they landed, and consequently

it did'nt do us much good to shoot at them, although the machine gunners

around us opened up and did get some in mid-air.  Well thats the way

it goes, I could probably fill several pages of these little incidents,

but many I could'nt write about, and the rest would probably become

boring.

     Well everybody is now talking about cock fights.  The GIs have

seemed to have taken quite a liking to this great Filipino National

sport.  The only fight I saw was one little sparring exhibition the

day we landed here, put on courtesy of some little villager to show

his appreciation of the return of Mac and the boys.  At the first

opportunity I am going to try to see one of the big official bouts

that are being put on here.  You can slap down a 300 pesos bet and

get it covered ($150 U.S. value).  But I will save all descriptions

and wait until I can personally witness one fo these spectacular

bloody exhibitions.

     Brother please, why pick on me?  I don't want to remember any

of this that is too unpleasant, in fact the more I forget the better.

I am going to eat now and will finish this later, excuse please.

                                               2

[page 3]

                                                           16 Jan [45 written in]

     Due to etc, etc I did'nt finish this letter yesterday, but will

try to finish it off this morning.  About the remembering, I would

just as soon forget about most of my experiences out here.  There were

plenty of men from the last war that remembered and tried to tell how

rough it was, people would'nt listen because they did'nt want to

listen, and it will be the same thing twenty years from now.  In fact

those that did listen were the pacifist, and they did more harm than

good by their islolation policy.  These same people believed that any-

thing connected with war was bad too.  So there were the men, including

many generals and high ranking officers, who had fought in World War

I, and who tried to tell the people that it was hell, and that to

prevent another war we should build up our army and navy.  The pacifist

grasped only the first part of the idea, and with their conviction

that anything connected with war was bad, they were for cutting down

the army and the navy and opposed to any ideas of national defense.

Naturally the communist clap their hands with glee and jumped on the

band wagon, and I am sorry to say that many of our church leaders also

had a great deal of influence in this movement.  Even CCC was watched

like a hawk to see that no military training crept into their daily

schedule.  In the last mass-slaughter bout people decided that when

the war was won, then the peace had been won.  This time we are think-

ing a little different, but how far ahead will we think?  There are

men today who are advocating a  large post war army, and already there

are those who think that this is unecessary, and that armies are bad.

I think that every young man should be made to server one year in the

army, in a carefully laid out program that would include more than

just squads east and west.  The men should be mixed from all states,

as from my experience I found that this is a good means of breaking

down many of the prejudices of sectionalism.  They should be given

excellent medical and dental care, which would make for a better

healthier race of Americans.  They should be taught some or several

minor trade practices, such as mechanics, welding, clerical work,

etc.  They should be taught to use their iniative and to develop

leadeship abilities.  in other words they would follow a carefully

conducted program that would not only benefit Uncle Sam, but would

also be a benefit to each individual man.  No, not everything connect-

ed with mar is bad.  Think of the medical, aeronautical, chemical,

electronical, and even fertile (pertaining to birth rate) developments

as a results of this war.  However, it is deplorable to think that it

takes a war to producce such advancements, and weighed against the

havoc, destruction, and misfortune that war evolves it is doubtful

that it is worth the price.  No brother, the placard does not read

"You must remember," but instead it says, "Lest we forget."  It is

easier to kill the cub than to fight the lion.

     Frankly I am rather disgusted with humanity as a whole.  It has

not changed greatly or appreciatably in the last 2000 nor even in

the last 6,000 years.  The Id is just as powerful in man now as it

was then, although perhaps now it does not have quite the same amount

of freedom as it had then.  When man gets to the point where he can

disregard or eliminate the common and judicial laws, and follow laws

stemming from the golden rule, and when man is able to abolish all

law inforcement agencies, then he will not have to worry about wars.

For I believe that war and policemen will go out together, and when

men are able to do this, they will no longer be the men that are about

today.  Brother we consider ourselves covilized just because we

wear clothes, read, make love at home in a bed usually with our wive,

use a toilet, and pay five dollars a year to the American Red Cross.

                                                 3

[page 4]

But brother lets wise up, we are primitive, crude, and under develop-

ed in the full sense of the word civilized.  Between us and the coming of

Christ there are only 100 generations, back to the beginning of written

records of civilization  300 generations. To nature that is only

a few grains to the twll known drop in the bucket, in other words

we are not too far distantly related from our fathers the Cromagnon

and the Neanderthal men.  There are animals in exsistence today that

can have their ancestorial history traced back for 10, 20, or some

even back over 30,000 generations.  So you see Bud, your chest is

a chamber of primitive passions, and your head a bank of crude ideas.

But your ideas, and perhaps your passions may be the implements that

will give us an impetus to a future world of nobile, pure, and peaceful

ways and means of living in a 1,000, 5,000, or 10,000 generations

from now.  But will the children of your children's children's ....

offspring give you credit?  No, they will say that the man that lived

100,000 yrs ago was a very crude fellow, and the differentation

between you and the Cromagnon will be as great as our's is between

the Cromagnon and the Neanderthal man.  When you look at infinity

you can't see it, but you can see some point between you and infinity,

and if you go to that point and then pick out another point in the

direction of infinity, why eventually after an indefinite length of

time you will reach infinity.  So if we can pick out some point

on the curve in the right direction but within the limits of our

known capabilities, then we know we can and will reach it.  But if

we start off in a direction in which we can't see the end, then

we will reach no end.  In other words, lets look at man as he is

today, and what he is capable of doing or becoming, and then lets

proceed to do it.  When we get it done we can then make another

estimate and choose another mission.  And as long as man has hair

on his chest, will kill for lust, money, or power, and as long

as that type of man is in exsistence, there will be wars.  So the

immediate problem is to prevent that man from doing those things

which are detrimental to the progress and welfare of society, and

when we have curbed and destroyed this threat, then we can proceed

to attempt to change the race and our way of life to prevent

reproduction, not only in a biologicacl manner but perhaps more

important in a environmental manner, of this type of individual.

    Now do you see what happens when you write letters like that!

I won't apologize for what I have written, you started it and you

deserve it.  Well take it easy Bub, and write soon.

                                         love from

                              ye olde crusty caveman (horny too)

                              [signed] Leonard

                                             4

GO TO NEXT LETTER

Leonard's Story: December 21, 1944

This letter is a retelling of the previous letter but with the details of the Japanese counteroffensive. S-2 refers to military intelligence, as in collecting data on enemy movement and battlefield deployments. Knee mortar is likely a 30 ounce grenade launched from a grenade launcher called a leg mortar. G-2 refers to Army intelligence but it is unclear what a ghoal is. The Lodger is a 1944 horror movie, based on Jack the Ripper and starring Merle Oberon, George Sanders and Laird Cregar. 
_______________________________________________

                                                                       Philippines

                                                                       21st Dec

Dear Arnold,

     I just received your letter of 30 Nov today.  I have

received others since, and I don't know what the mix up

was.  Incidentally your letter and some clippings sent to

the 37th Div on the election, is the first mail I have receiv-

ed in over two weeks.  I hope I get some later mail before

Christmas.

     You mention the snow and the white barreness.  It is

beautiful in a bleak, cold white way, it will give you a

real White Christmas.  I'll never forget one day at Ritchie

when we had to go out on a map problem.  There was about

eight inches of snow on the ground, a sharp bitter wind was

blowing, bringing the temperature down below zero.  I would

take off a glove write a few figures or a few lines of a

sketch and then put it on before my hand froze.  We had on

hoods and masks with only our noses and eyes sticking out,

I thought my nose would freeze and fall outff.  It is hard

to imagine when spring comes that something so beautiful

and green could be so bleak and cold.

     Now it can be told!  At 1838 on the evening of the

6th of Dec, during a customary air raid, about twenty one

or more planes suddenly came roaring over at about 800 ft.

The strange thing was that they were Jap transports.  They

held their formation beautifully, and flew on without a break

or falter through a sky filled with flak.  Then to our rear

and right flank paratroopers came pouring out the doors.  In

less than thirty seconds they were on the ground and the

planes had disappeared in the distance.  Imagine the excite-

ment and confusion.  I will never forget that night.  Only a

few of themen had bothered to dig foxholes, but you should

have seen the scramble for shovels.  We dug them around and

in our G-2 tent.  Three of us were working together on one,

and it is quite an experience to dig one in pitch darkness.

Before we could finish the fireworks started.  Bullets were

wanging around everywhere, mostly our own.  Two men were shot

ten feet from me in the tent by our own fire.  This firing

kept up all night, and it rough spending the night in a

little foxhole with two other men.  There were no Japs

shot right in our immediate area, however the trigger happy

bastards were able to get some of our men, and would quite

a few more.  The next day or I should say that morning I

was assigned as acting S-2 or a mixed regiment formed to

protect a nearby airstrip.

     Once again history repeated itself, but this time there

were actually some Japs around.  The Japs threw over a few

[page 2]

mortar shells not far where I was holed up in a fortress of

stacked steel airstrip matting.  They were not knee mortar

shells, but 60mms, and Bub it is an unpleasant feeling to

hear them exploding around you.  For the few they/shot over

we dumped back a hundred fold so they finally decided it did'nt

pay and quit.  The main shooting was across the strip from

where I was situated, but the men around us did'nt let that

phase them.  I guess they thought it was the fourth of July

or something.  Every time out own troops would have somthing

to shoot at across the strip, the boys on my side would hear

the firing and would open up in any direction just for the

hell of it.  They shot one of their own men about fifty feet

from where I was.  These GIs are good shots and consequently

they usually kill what they hit.  About 0130 the Colonel sent

me out to find out why they were throwing grenades, and I'll

be damned if they did'nt almost get me.  About every ten or

fifteen minutes they would decide they needed some extra pro-

tection so some joker would toss a hand frenade out in front of

his hole.  The next morning they knocked off some snipers

nearby, but at that time I only had a .45 and they were out

of my range.  Shortly afterwards I drew a carbine.

     I have been out on four special patrols now, but I have'nt

gotten any more Japs since the first one - patrol.  In fact I

just came in from one tonight.  We went up to where one of

the transports crashed, to get some equipment.  The plane was

up on a cliff and the bodies were two undred feet below

in and on the banks of a river.  While we were up on the

cliff some of the men below got two Japs, but all I could

do was listen to the firing, I could'nt even see what was

happening.  I don't mind so much searching freshly killed

Japs, but when they get a week or two old, the odor gets

pretty bad.  I am fast becoming the official G-2 Ghoal.

I thought I was getting hardened until I heard about some

of the GIs digging the gold fillings out of the teeth of

rotting Japs.

     Well tonight we had a show, the first one I've seen for

a long time.  It was THE LODGER, fair for out here.  The sun

has come out a little in the last few days, I ate down at

another ourfit tonight and walked away with the wrinkles (not many now)

taken out of my stomach for a change, the action is going

along swell here, in fact things are almost looking up a

little.  Inclosed you will find a Jap major's insignia taken

off one of the deceased at the plane.  Write soon.

                                                  love,

                                        [signed] Leonard

P.S. Thanks for the wings, but I have'nt received them yet.

GO TO NEXT POST

Leonard's Story: December 10, 1944

CP is probably Command Post. 
_______________________________________________________________ 

                                                                    Philippines

                                                                   Sun, 10th Dec

Dear Arnold,

     How is the home front?  I have finally had a little

real combat experience, sleeping in a muddy fox hole all

night, being under fire, seeing dead of both sides, and

even killing a Jap.

     On Pearl Harbour day I was assigned (volunteered) to go

on a special / mission up to the front to search Jap bodies, recover and

capture all possible documents, and try to identify the enemy

force.  Searching bodies is not normally my duty, but identifying

is.  I was flown up to an airstrip about a milebehind the lines,

and hoofed it the rest of the way.  I finally found an officer

of the unit I was looking for and he supplied me with an ample

bodyguard, and four AA men on their day off decided to come along

for excitement.  We were on the right flank, and the road to the

main fighting area was under fire, so we had to go a long way

around.  The mud was over our knees at times, and often we became

mired and had to pull one another out, in addition we were travell-

ing in an area in which there were snipers.  We got lost once and

almost walked into the main field of fire, however we finally

arrived at an air unit which was more or less temporarily isolated

on a hill, as firing was going on in all directions around them,

in fact shortly after we arrived we neard firing in the direction

we had just come from.  They treated us well, fed us and gave

us water and directions.  We started out about noon and travelled

down a road whcih was practically one the line.  All the Japs

inside the area had already been searched, and I had to go into

a swamp fifty yards in front of the lines.  I took one of the

AA men who seemed like a reliable man.

     It was a messy ticklish job, in muddy, bloody water.  I

was'nt so much afraid of meeting a Jap, as having one get in

between us and the lines, and having out own troops shoot us

while shooting at the Jap.  We found some with grenades or their

weapons still clenched in their hands.  We finally reached our

last Jap.  I thought he looked in pretty good codition, and

he did'nt seem to be hit badly.  We had just finished searching

him, and while turning him over for a final check we pushed

his head under water.  The bastard was playing possum, but he

could hold his breath, and when we turned him back up he started

gasping.  He opened his eyes and looked at me, that was his last

earthly act and mistake.  I shot him in the head with my .45

at two feet, you can well imagine the effects.  He might have   ?

been helpless and merely recovering conciousness, and I could

have just as well cold-conked him, but in that one second I

forgot I was in intelligence and all I could think of was

what if he had a grenade or knife in his hands which were

below the water, it was him or me.  However I have no feelings

[page 2]

                                    [arrow, handwritten] I'll never know

about the matter, even if he was helpless, but I do which I

had taken him prisoner, we could use the information.

I got some good souvenirs; Jap flag, rifle, bayonet, watch, [arrow, vertical in margin] 

                                                                                        And a good cigarette

                                                                                        case that coincidentally,

                                                                                        see other side

other misc items.  I am going to send all home except the

rifle, which is verboten.

     That same night we had some most unusual excitement,

the nature which I am not at present permitted to disclose,

but you probably read about it in newspapers.  We had Japs

running around near our area creating a good deal of conusion,

but not too much damage.  These green troops were all "trigger

happy", and consequently those at the Division Cp hit more

of our own men than they did Japs.  Two men were hit in the

G-2 tent ten feet from me.  No Japs were found the next morning,

but some of our own wounded and dead were, shot with our own

weapons.  It is a sad situation when you are shot by your

own troops.  Some of these fools must have thought it was

fourth of July, and shot at everything and anything that

moved or made a noise and a great deal of things they imagined.

Someone would open up and everybody else would follow suit,

not knowing what they were shooting at. Consequently I spent

most of the night in my foxhole.  I have only fired oneshot

at the enemy.

     The second night I was on temporary duty with a temporary

unit guarding an object.  There were green troops again, just

brought up from the beach, and again history repeated itself.

A man was killed fifty yards from the CP I was at by a carbine

bullet.  About two AM the Colonel ordered me to go out and

find out what they were throwing grenades at, although I

crawled out on my belly, they almost got me.  Periodically

they would lob a grenade out in front of their foxholes.

In the morning we aggain found no Japs in their immediate area.

There were some Japs about three or four hundred yards away,

and we did receive some mortar fire, but I don't know if it

was from the Japs or our own troops.

     Things are almost back to normal now, and I doubt if I

will see some excitement again for some time.  For a while

the sun came out, but it has started raining again, nevertheless

despite the weather, our troops have made good progress as

you have probably been reading in the papers, and it should'nt

be long before things care cleaned up here.  I imagine in the

next operation I will have even more exciting things to write

about.  Well write soon and give me the latest news.  By the

time this letter reaches you, you will be at MIT, and Christmas

and New Years will be a thing of the past, but just the same:

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEARS FROM THE PHILIPPINES

                                                                         LOVE,

                                                         [signed] Leonard

P.S. That earthquake was convenient, I have been hoping for the

thatsame for the last three years.

[page 3]

(in pencil - very faded

                     AHN)

I was on pretty friendly terms

with our Native baggage boys

but since I killed the Jap

that I might have captured

there has been a change. Try

as I may they wont take

a cigarette from the Jap case.

                                         ?

GO TO NEXT LETTER

Leonard's Story: November 21, 1944

Looks like a fold in the paper in the second paragraph has hidden some letters. Tuba juice is fermented sap from coconut palms or date palms. Uncle Len's G-2 tent might be a GI 2-person tent. And the Japanese invasion money was officially known as Southern Development Bank Notes, issued by the Japanese Military Authority, but called “Mickey Mouse money” by local Filipinos.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Print the complete address in plain letters in the panel below, and your return address in the space provided
on the right. Use typewriter, dark ink, or dark pencil. Faint or small writing is not suitable for photographing.
          TO Lt A. H. Nevis                   FROM  Lt. L. J. Nevis
                78 Mt Auburn St.                            Hq, 11th A/B Division
                Cambridge, Mass                            APO 468
                                                                        c/o PM, San Francisco, Cal
        LJNevis
[CENSOR'S STAMP]     SEE INSTRUCTION NO. 2         (Sender's complete address above)
                                                                                                                 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
                                                                                                                 NOV 21, 1944

DEAR ARNOLD,

     I AM WRITING THIS NOTE TONIGHT BECAUSE: 1/. I AM TIRED OF WORKING ALL
DAY, AND DO NOT WISH TO WORK TONIGHT.  2. I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW WHERE I
AM.  3. TO TELL YOU TO SAY AT HOME AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, THIS AIN'T NO
FUN.  I HOPE YOU CAN FIND TIME TO ANSWER ALL THESE LETTERS, I HAVE'NT
RECEIVED ONE FROM YOU IN SOME TIME.  I AM USING V MAIL BECAUSE I DON'T
HAVE ANY MORE STAMPED ENVELOPES, STAMPS, OR EVEN ENVELOPES.  WE ARE IN
A REAR AREA, AND NOT IN ANY DANGER.  THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY I WATCHED
TWO F-38S SHOOT DOWN A JAP PLACE.  IT LOOKED JUST LIKE THE MOVIES, SO YOU
DID'NT MISS ANYTHING.  THE JAP STARTED DOWN IN A STEEP DIVE TOWARDS THE
OCEAN, AND BURST INTO FLAMES.  HE HIT THE WATER WITH A HELL OF A SPLASH.
WE ARE AWAY FROM THE UNLOADING ZONE AND CAN SEE THE FLASHES OF THE BOMBS
AND AA FIRE, AND CAN HEAR DULL EXPLOSIONS.  THE NEAREST GUN FIRE I HAVE
BEEN IN HAPPENED TODAY WHEN ONE OF MY SGTS ACCIDENTALLY SHOT OFF HIS FORTY
FIVE IN THE G-2 TENT.  IT RAINED LIKE HELL ALL DAY YESTERDAY, AND SPRINK -
LED TODAY, SO WE HAVE NOT HAD AN ALERT.

     FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE I HAVEBEEN DOWN IN THE SWPA, I HAVE SEEN
SOME HALF WAY CIVILIZED CIVILIANS (AFLATTERING TERM FOR NATIVES).  WE
HAVE QUITE A FEW FILIPINOS AROUND.  HEY ARE PRETTY RAGGED, AND WERE RATHER
HUNGRY WHEN WE ARRIVED.  THEY SOON BGAN TRADING AND SELLING COCONUTS, JAP
INVASION MONEY, AND TUBA JUICE (ALCOOLIC BEVERAGE).  THEY WERE MORE INTER-
ESTED IN TRADING FOR CLOTHES.  FOR ANOMINAL FEE OR TRADE THEY WILL DIG YOU
A FOXHOLE OR FIX YOUR TENT.  BIG BUSNESS!  THE ROUGH PART SO FAR IS GETTING
WET AND STAYING WET, CANNED RATIONS,LOTS OF WORK, TRYING TO KEEP CLEAN AND
THEN FINALLY TRYING NOT TO GET SO DITY, AND FINDING TIME TO HEED THE CALL
OF NATURE, I RESTRICT MYSELF TO EVEROTHER DAY, ITS A TOUGH PROPOSITION IN
INCLEMENT WEATHER WITH A SLIT TRENCH  I CENSORED A LETTER THE OTHER DAY
WHERE A GI SPENT WHOLE PAGE HUMOROSLY DESCRIBING THAT INCONVENIENCE.
IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE SNAFU ON THE HME FRONT, YOU SEE IT OUT HERE, IT IS
REALLY TARFU.  WE STILL DO THINGS TH ARMY WAY, SO FAR?  THE MOST RECENT
CS IS THAT OFFICERS HAVE TO STAND REILLE, OUT HERE.  WE ALSO HAVE TO WEAR
LEGGINS, BUT THEN MAYBE EVENTUALLY W WILL WEAR THEM OUT.  THERE IS LOTS OF
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS DIV AND THE 7TH DIV.  THE AIRBORNE BOYS TRY TO BE
A SPIT AND POLISH OUTFIT, AND SO FAR HAVE ONLY SEEN THE SPIT.  BY THE WAY
IT IS NOW EIGHT FIFTEEN PM HERE AND HE YOU ARE IT IS  ABOUT EIGHT FIFTEEN
AM, ALMOST EXACTLY TWELVE HOURS DIFERENCE.  A FIFTY MILE AN HOUR GALE WAS
EXPECTED LAST NIGHT, BUT THEWIND IS BLOWING IT MAY COME TONIGHT.
                                                                                                         LOVE, Leonard

HAVE YOU FILLED IN COMPLETE              REPLY BY         HAVE YOU FILLED IN COMPLETE
           ADDRESS AT TOP?                                   V-MAIL                     ADDRESS AT TOP?

GO TO NEXT LETTER