5/10/44 ITALY
MARFY:
I RAN ACROSS THE ENCLOSED FLOWER IN MY NOTEBOOK YESTERDAY, AND REMEMBERED TAT I PICKED IT FOR YOU SOME TIME AGO AND FORGOT TO SEND IT. IT WAS PICKED ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN ONE DAY WHILE I WAS WATCHING SOME ARTILLERY FIRE A NUMBER OF MONTHS AGO.
WHILE I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL, I REMARKED TO THE DOC THAT THIS TOWN OVER HERE, AS THAT WAS WHERE MY COT WAS AT THE TIME, WAS “HOME.” IT SEEMS FUNNY THAT I SHOULD BE TRANSFERRED BACK TO THE SAME TOWN AFTER ALL THESE MONTHS. WHEN I FIRST SAW THE PLACE, THERE WAS SEWAGE 10 INCHES DEEP IN ALL STREETS. NOW, THE ENGINEERS, SUPPLEMENTED BY ITALIAN LABOR, HAVE CLEANED THE PLACE UP AND IT LOOKS QUITE PRESENTABLE. IT IS YET DUSTY.
I HAVE GONE OUT TO THE HOSPITAL EVERY EVENING TO SEE ONE OF MY MEN, LT. KARL KRAUSE WHO JUST HAD AN APPENTECTOMY. I HOPE YOU GET TO MEET HIM SOME DAY AS HE IS RATHER A NICE LAD. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PROMOTED YEARS AGO BUT LIKE MANY OF THE BETTER PEOPLE IN HQ, WAS OVERLOOKED. THE TREND SEEMS TO BE FOR THE NOISY BTO’S TO GET THE GRAVY WHILE THE HARD-WORKING LADS GET THE SHAFT. IT IS MOST PRONOUNCED. ACTUALLY, I HAVE FOUND SUCH A SWELL BUNCH OF PEOPLE THAT THE OTHER STUFF DOESN’T MATTER MUCH.
CHUCK CASSIDY IS YET WITH US. HONEY, HE IS A GOOD KID, BUT NO COLONEL. HE DOESN’T WEAR IT HALF AS WELL AS JOHN DOES, AND IS ON THE EDGE OF BEING A PROMOTER OF SORTS. THAT IS NOT GOOD, BUT I AM THROUGH RAISING OTHER PEOPLE’S KIDS.
THAT’S ABOUT IT. BE GOOD. I LOVE YOU DEARLY. CY