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Webster County
IAGenWeb
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DEAR JOE: That American spring misery is still with us— house cleaning.
Every place you go, you've got to move carefully. Fresh paint—look out! I've got
house maid's knee and painter's pink eye. And outside it's still raining. For a
moment I thought it had stopped—but no, there it goes again . . . What have I got
to gripe about? Here we are, sitting on the edge of our chairs wait- ing for the
invasion to begin. Listening, waiting, watching the teletype, wondering how and
when and where, our lips forming silent prayers, our hearts heavy with dread . But
I guess being griped is as American as fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy.
So, Joe, when you are winning freedom by being very rugged with the Krauts and the
Nips, nail down some of that freedom for griping for me. I’ve always thought I'd
like to spend the declining years of my life sitting in a rocking chair on the front
porch, chewing tobacco and making uncomplimentary remarks about the president, the
weather, housecleaning, women’s fashions and politics . . . Oh, yes, we’re in the
middle of paint-up, clean-up week.
TOWN AND COUNTY. Nels Isaacson's All Girl Choir
will appear in a concert at the high school, May 29th . . . All the dentists are
in Des Moines attending their state convention. Dr. Foley is president
of the state society . . . Kids’ll get shoesies, too. 5,000,000 pairs, selling for
less than $1.60, have been released unrationed . . . Callender Red Cross has completed
17,200 dressings.
ORANGE BLOSSOMS, WAGNER AND GOLD LACE. Dorothy Stahl
and Lt. Dennis A. Weideman, in Ardmore, Okla., a few days ago .
. . Mildred Simonson and Worley King, lst class
petty officer, of Anderson, S. C., in Hollywood, April 14th . . . Rosamond Ruppert,
of Iowa City, and Pfc. Dean Cooper, April 22nd, in Iowa City .
. . Bonnie Kurtz and Lt. Russell Pederson, at
San Marcos, March 18th.
DOWN UNDER. Second man to land on Hollandia was former Dodger
S/Sgt. Howard Boggs . . . Somewhere in the Southwest Pacific, Eugene
Wilcox, S 2/c, with the Seabees, sat down and wrote a letter to
Y.
L. F. H., got up, shaved off a two weeks beard, took a shower. Hadn’t seen a shower
or a razor in two weeks. Thanks for “Beelines,” Gene . . . Paul J. Halligan,
EM 3/c, is with the fleet in the Pacific.
OH, TO BE IN ENGLAND. In England now is S/Sgt. D. R. Champlin,
of Vincent. A few days ago he got a flat fifty of cigarettes from Home Town Canteen.
. . 3nd Lt. Dwight W. Swanson, of Harcourt, is with the weather
corps in England . . . Cpl. Arthur Zuetlan, of Otho, is in England
at a fighter base. At this same base, flying P-47’s, is the famous Col. Hubert
Zemke group. Ari says hello to everyone at Tobin's.
GLAD TO SEE EACH OTHER. At Camp Croft, S. C., John Scully,
Floyd Messerly, Earl Messerly, John Maddox, and Chas. McPherson
. . .In the Southwest Pacific, Cpl. Joe Eckerman, Ray Crist, of
Lehigh, and Otto Hanson, of Thor. Thanks, Joe, for the “Guinea
Gold” . . . At Keesler Field, Miss., Gene Person, Junior Pearson,
from Callender, and Cleo Price, from south of Fort Dodge, had a
swell time talking over old times around Burnside . . . In England, and near London,
Lt. Margaret L. Boland, and Carl Wrede, of Dayton.
Marg. saw him going thru the hospital with a copy of the Messenger under his arm.
Had a swell talk . In England, T/5 R. H. Peterson and his brother-in-law,
Laurence Greenfield of Harcourt . . . At the U.S. Navy hospital
at Seattle, Corpsman Forrest Livasy, Raymond Hair
and Don Campbell. Ray is now at Camp Elliott, Calif., with the
marines, who have no corpsmen of their own . . .In San Juan, Harold E. Campbell
and John Halligan, of Moorland. Yes, sir, we'll take care of that
request the 9th of May . . .In Norman, Okla. James Peterson, 5
2/c, WAVE Gloria Gray and Don Johnson, C 3/c.
Jim says hello to his brother, Lucian E. Peterson, over in England
. . . On the Anzio beachhead on Easter Sunday—Sgt. Edwin Davis,
of Duncombe, and Harry Slawson, of Lehigh. Ed says their best program
in Haly is one broadeast from Berlin, called “Sally and George” and dedicated to
the American soldier . . . Going into the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, Michele
Sherman, Keith Nordeen, Jim Constantine, Mary
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Elinor Minkle, Betty Minkle (she’s married now but I can’t remember
her married name) and Ensign A. L. Brooks
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GEE, EVEN IN NEW GUINEA it’s a problem. Ray Fallon,
late of F. D. and KVFD, is working in the man power office, and at night entertaining
on the piano. Here’s what they like, “Boogie” is still on the beam and really sends
‘em over—the more variations and the more low down I play it, the better they like
it. But requests for things like Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” or Herbert’s “Indian
Love Call” pop up quite often, too. One mate persists in Rochmaninofi’s ‘Prelude
in C Sharp Minor,” a song which depresses me thoroughly, but, nevertheless, I play
it.’ The other night Ray met W. A. Wendle, of Humboldt. He used
to work for Horn Mfg. Co. Sure enough, even in New Guinea, they are eating Tobin
products.
VISITING THE HOME FOLKS. Major Vaughn McIntire,
from Alaska, He's been up there testing planes at 70 degrees below zero . . .
1st Lt. Jack Larson, from Ft. Bliss, Texas. He’s with an A. A. unit
. . . Cpl. Don Zakeer, from Ft. Knox, Ky. . . . Pfc. Harris
Renquist, of Gowrie, from the Aleutians. He was there 16 months . .
. Mrs. Ralph Bastian, who has been with her husband at Key West.
Ralph is a Lt. in the Navy . . . Bruce Kenyon,
from Farragut . . . Capt. L. H. Smith, from Camp Pickett, Va. He
is awaiting reassignment . . . Pvt. Floyd Peterson, of Harcourt,
from the air base at Alliance, Neb. . . . Carl Selk, S 1/c, after
16 months of foreign service . . . Lt. Chas. Atwell, from Yale
University . . . Major John Shrader, enroute to Camp Forrest, Tenn.
. . . Pvt. and Mrs. Russell Forsberg, of Dayton, from Camp Ord,
Calif. . . . Bob Hedberg, and Walter Brockman,
both of Dayton, and both S 2/c. . . Pvt. Jess Fisher, from Aberdeen,
Md. . . . 2nd Lt. Gerald Steussy, pilot on a B-17, from Savannah,
Ga. . . . Cpl. L. E. Baughman, of Judd, after twenty-six months
service in the South Pacific with the Marines.
BULLETIN BOARD. Ft. Dodge and Corpus Christi will enter the Sectional
baseball tournament. Dodgers are unbeaten. At the Drake Relays the Dodgers took
two firsts, a third, and a fifth— best showing in years. Ray Prohaska
took the mile in 4.33.8 on a very slow track. It goes into the books as a relays
record . . . So far in the season, the Dodgers have beaten Thor, Dayton, 4 to 0,
and Webster City, 18 to 1. . . Corpus Christi beat Moorland 5 to 3. Jim Donahoe
pitched five hitless innings for C. C.
THE ZOO. Just when I think I’ve seen everything, along comes another
censor. Latest freak is a guy down in the Hawaiian Islands. You can imagine what
a hot spot that is now— if you stay away from the falling coconuts—as safe as Central
Avenue at noon on Sunday. Well, from down there, George Daniel
sends me a paper, “Hospital Hi-Lites.” Thanks, Geo. No letter with
the paper. You'd swear there was nothing to censor, but this duty-stricken censor
takes an ink bottle top and smears it over all of George’s address. Just left his
name. Even removed his rank.
OVER HERE. Pvt. Alan Breen is now with the Light
Field Artillery at Camp Roberts, Calif. . . . S/Sgt. Ernest Christenson,
of Vincent, is now at Camp Cooke . . . Still “Fighting the battle of Georgia,” is
1st Lt. Grant Henry, at Atlanta Army Air Base . . . Darrell
Nash is at Camp Crowder, Mo. . . . Joe Vratny is at
Farragut . . . Bob Michael is at Luke Field, flying AT-6's. Hopes
to have his wings in June. Nice goin’, Bob . . . S/Sgt. Harold Bemrick,
is now at Lake Chas., La., at the army air base with the 336th Bomb. Group . . .
Pvt. Don Sperry—ex. A. S. T. P.—is now at Camp Switt, Texas. He
writes, “I'll start my second year in the army taking engineering basic over again.”
. . . Pvt. E. H. Anderson, is at Yuma, Arizona . . . Pvt. Cecil
Markley is in the army hospital in West Los Angeles with his ankle
broken in four places. Sorry, soldier. We'll say hello to the little woman . . .
A/C Irvin C. Wogenson is now on twin engines at Columbus, Miss.
Looks for those wings about July 1st . . . Lt. Bob Alken is now
at Geneva, Neb., with a bomber squadron.
DAD'S DAY. How about remembering Dad on June 18th? We thought
about doing this for Mother’s Day, but the thought
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came too late. We'll play requests for Dad—as many as you send in for Father’s Day.
Mother misses you and your best gal misses you and believe me, Joe, so does your
old man.
PERSONAL. Hank Ash, Jr.
, somewhere in Italy. One of these days, Hank, we're going to have some Webster
county girls’ pictures for you. Yes, sir, the cream of the Foot Locker gals.
MILK FED CHICKENS. An Iowa boy, Pfc. George Eden,
of Titonka, writes from North Ireland that dressed poultry of excellent quality
served in their mess hall came to them from A. R. Loomis and Son,
in Fort Dodge.
MOVIN’ AROUND. To Camp Pickett, Va., Pvt. Fred J. Miller
. . . To Newcastle Army Air Base, Wilmington, Del. 2nd Lt. Richard J. Mulroney
. . . To Camp Barkeley, Texas, with the medicos, Pfc. Wayne O. Aurand
. . . To Norman, Okla., Robert Ewing, S 2/c, of Gowrie . . . To
Camp Grant, Ill. from Camp Blanding, Fla., Pvt. Harold Foran .
. . To Indiantown Gap, Pa., Pfc. Warren Phillips . . . To Camp
Breckenridge, Ky., Lt. M. J. Tierney . . . To Camp Bowie, Texas,
Pvt. K. J. Quinn, with an armored division . . . From Pvt.
V. E. Cannon, “The Camp Barkeley News,” from Camp Barkeley, Texas.
Virg. is now at Camp Reynolds, Pa. . . . Pvt. Pat Derrig, who left
Tenn. and came up into God’s country. is now at Camp Atterbury, Ind. When last home,
he married Ruth Tilton, of Humboldt.
CAMP PAPERS. “The Dope Sheet” of Norfolk, Va.,
from J. K. Roberts, AM 3c . . . “The Bainbridge Main Sheet”
of Bainbridge, Md., from R. Rex Funk, PhM 1/c . . . From
Pvt. Don Johnson, in New Guinea, “Guinea Gold.”
Thanks, Don . . . “The Camp Adair Sentry” from Pfc. Howard
Jordan . . . “Lightning” from Camp Pickett, Va., from
Pvt. Marvin McCody . . . “The 13th Special Service Memo”
and a picture of Rita Hayworth, hey! hey! from Pvt. Warren Slawson,
at San Bernardino, Calif. . . . “The Upton Nooz” and pic. from
Pfc. Irene Miller, Camp Upton, N. Y. Thanks, Irene . . . The
“Camp Reynolds Victory News” from Pvt. H. L. Whitaker
. . . “The Desert Bomber” from Lt. Howard B. Johnson,
Tonapah, Nevada . . . “The Ft. McArthur Alert” from S/Sgt.
Ted Rule . . . “The Camp Howze Howitzer” from S/Sgt.
Robert Sherralt, Camp Howze, Texas . . . “The Pendleton Scout”
from Pfc. Don Hood, Oceanside, Calif. . . . “The Army
Times” and “The Camp Rucker Reports” from
Sgt. Robert
Riggo, Camp Rucker, Ala.
SUNNY ITALY. J. H. Clark, with the Canadian Army
in Italy, and his brother, Guy Clark, with Co. G., met once in
Swindon, England. Both in Italy now, they hope to meet again. Even in the Canadian
army, J. H. says, they sometimes get Rosedale milk . . . From Dick Welch,
somewhere in Italy, Bill Mauldin’s cartoon classis, “Mud, Men
and Mules.” Thanks, Dick, and for the swell letter . . . In Italy,
T/5 Lyle Ricketts, S/Sgt. Edwin Hausch and T/4 Allen Roth.
HAWAILI. Lt. Paul R. Smith, Jr., is on the island
of Oahu, in the Hawaiians. By way of the grapevine, we learn that the Lt. took the
martial vows with a cute little red head from the deep south soon after graduation.
Congratulations, Lt.
GOIN’ UP IN THE WORLD. To S/Sgt., Warren C. Burleson
. . . Lt. Ray Holmberg has been made commander of an engineering
combat battalion at Camp Chafee, Ark. . . . He’s now flight officer, Don Collins.
Don got his wings as a bombardier at Kirtland Field, Albuquerque, N. M. . . .
Darrell Wayne Bailey to AMM l/c. . . . To Sgt., Joe Presler,
at Marietta, Ga. . . . To 1st Lt. L. H. Pfaff, and transferred
to Camp Funston, Ft. Riley, Kansas . . . To S/Sgt. Everett L. Bock,
somewhere overseas . . . To 1st Lt., Don Tierney, now stationed
at Flora, Miss.
MISSING IN ACTION. Sgt. Richard Wretman, on a
raid
over Poland April 9th. Dick had been a gunner on a bomber based in England. It was
his 13th mission . . . Sgt. R. P. Moore, on a raid over Romania
April 2nd. A gunner on a bomber, his squadron was based m Italy . . . 2nd Lt.
W. L. Stagman, over Romania since April 4th. He is the navigator on
a Liberator.
ANYONE IN ITALY OR ENGLAND have a copy of that great German popular
song that Ernie Pyle says has almost become the song of the war for all nations?
The name is “Lili Marleen.” We'd sure like to have one.
FROM THE FIVE CORNERS OF THE WORLD. Walter O. Kruse,
C. S. F., Australia, “Just received four of your letters from home and it sure gave
me a lift to read them, after a stormy trip on the sea. And I had the pleasure of
finding out that I wasn’t an old Salt. I was confined to my bunk for two days and
two nights from sea sickness during a tropical storm at sea. I am now back to civilization
again here in Australia, and it is a welcome sight to just see people after nine
months in the Jungles of New Guinea. We are here for a much needed rest period,
and we are really relaxing now. Arnold Osberg, of Fort Dodge, just
joined us here in camp, from the hospital. Looks fine and ready to go again.”
T/5 Bob Bowers, Italy, “Well, this finds me in a house that Musso
built for one of his Facists tribe, and one thing good about it, it
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takes a battery of Jerry 170’s about four hours to wreck one and believe me they
At Cassino, they air-conditioned the one that I had my switchboard in and it makes
a fellow feel funny when a wall goes, then the roof, and a door. You don’t know
when your room is going to be next. Well, we got real spring weather over her now
but a fellow can’t enjoy it cause Jerry snipers keep knocking holes in our sand
bags, which we have in front of our door and windows. Oh! yes, I slept on a real
spring last night and were cutting cards to see who sleeps there tonight.”
T/Sgt. James Lucas, England, “Have wondered for almost four years
just what had become of the old bunch of Olympia Cowboys. Your letters furnish all
this information, for which I am grateful— both to you and to the people who make
it possible. Met Bill Todd and Stuart Peterson
at Lowry Field in the latter part of 41, and one of the Redenborn
boys here about three months ago— which constitute all the Dodgers that I’ve seen
in almost four years.
Mark H. Nelson, G. M. 3/c. Treasure Island, “Have only one more
ocean to see end that is the Artic. Personally, I don’t care if I never see it.
Seeing water month in and month out really gets tiresome. Have seen two trips on
which I have made jumps of 40 days without seeing land. Stop a day or two and shove
off again.
Lt. Col. B. G. Marchi, Italy, “We are, as they say, in the hottest
spot over here and I think they are right. But any way, every now and then everything
shakes to the tune of very good sound effcets. We have had a lucky horseshoe in
our pockets and I hope that we continue to have. It seems that a place is either
shelled just before we move into it or right after we move out, and the others have
the heartaches. I hope we can keep on missing them while doing our job. You should
see the boys!!! They took to this like ducks to water and seem right at home. Hope
they can keep it up and don’t get down. I was in Naples only a short while on the
way up here. Saw Gordon Gammock just before I came over, and he
might be home now. He knows all about us. One swell guy.”
Pvt. Robert Wickwire. Camp Fannin, Texas, “Take good care of those
pretty gals as I hope to get home in a few weeks.”
Pfc. K. M. Meltvedt, U. S. M. C., FPO, San Francisco, “Cpl.
Keith Nordeen’s remark about false teeth in your March 31 issue made
me
think of New Zealand. It is outstanding in the false teeth field, due to the lack
of minerals in the water. It also recalls to me the many times that I’ve thought
to myself, ‘If I should ever kiss a stateside woman with slipping molars, I would
cheerfully be able to bash her skull.”
Fauncey Beminio, New Guinea, “I had the pleasure of seeing my brother,
Nuncio, again last week, and we had quite a time. He was here for
two weeks this time. I sure wish you all could see the beautiful home we have built.
It’s as modern as a home in town. Some day I shall send my wife a picture of our
home and tell her to show it to you all.”
And there it is. The 28th letter in this series which began last October. The mail
brings us news of you from everywhere. And back into our letter we try to tuck the
most of what you’ve had to say. But when the dead line comes, when our space is
exhausted, there always remains a pile of letters, from everywhere, that we haven't
used. We read them, we enjoyd them. In that pile this week are letters and cards
from
Cpl. Howard Libbey, England . . . Dwain Edwards,
S 2/c, Point Loma, Calif. . . . Pvt. Donald Derrig, APO, New York.
. . T/S Theodore E. Hayek, England . . . S/Sgt. Willis T. Johnston.
(We said that hello, Willis.). . . Pvt. Eric M. Nelson, Davis,
Calif.
. . . Pvt. Donald O'Connor, England . . . Pvt. Robert L. Ackerson,
Camp Croft, S.C. . . . Pvt. Leonard E. Hill, APO, San Francisco
. . . A/C Irvin Wogensen. Columbus. Miss. . . . Pfc. Arnold
Block, Camp Van Dorn, Miss. . . . Louis Katzman, Aberdeen
Proving Grounds, Md. . . . A. B. Petrie, FPO, New York . .
. A/C Wallace Wise, Victorville, Calif. (Thanks for the magazines,
Wallie.)
. . .
Cpl. Roy Felkey, APO, Seattle, Wash. . . . Darrell Bailey,
AMM 1/c, FPO, San Francisco . . . Lt. Bessie Norstrum, APO, San
Francisco . . . Pvt. Charles Walker, Aleutian Area, (Thanks for
the pic, Chas.) . . . Junior Williams, S 1/c. FPO, Norfolk. (Thanks
for the pic. Jr.) .. . Pfc. Donald B. Hood, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
. . . Pfc. Cecil C. Scott, Italy . . . S/Sgt. Stanley Pingel,
APO, New York . . . Pfc. Merton I. Sweet, England. . . S/Sgt.
John M, Ryan, England. . . Pvt. Verl S. Pugh. New
Guinea . . . A/S Vyron W. Frye, Santa Ana, Calif. . . . Cpl.
Glen E. Brown, England. . . Pvt. Max Kanner, Ft, Devens,
Mass. . . . Cpl. Lester M. Nesvold, England.
Thanks so much, all of you. The lawns are green, the trees are budding into tiny
leaf. Most of the oats is in but some farmers are slll planting. In this warm spring
rain, the world is beautiful. It’s still good old Iowa. We miss you terribly. Our
first thought in the morning and our last at night is of you. We hope you'll soon
be home, all of you. Good luck.
Your home town correspondent,
Ed Breen.
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