France. Jan. 28, 1945.

                1
Dear Mother & all,
      Received your welcome letter
of Jan. 4th today. In fact I received
five letters. Two from Luella one
from Freeman, on from Harley
and yours. Harley's was written
Jan. 15 and said he was ok and
was receiving his mail and
Christmas packages.
     Your letter told me about your
winter you are haveing at home.
I know just what you mean. It
is 10 or 15 out tonight and the
winding [sic] blowing hard. The snow
is drifting in a lot of places. It
snows anytime it feels like it.

                   2
    Everyone tells me about the old
fashion winter at home. I don't care
how cold or deep the snow is. I
would gladly trade it for my little
space in this 16 foot tent of mine.
   Everyone is hoping the war will
soon be over. Uncle Joe says he
will be in Berlin by spring and I
really believe he will be. The
news really is good.
    Yesterday I received six V mail
letters. I had one from Pearl
Myers. She said Uncle Levi
isn't getting along very good just
now. Well he sure isn't getting
any younger. I guess none of us
are. I suppose when you see the
pictures I sent to Cliff's you

                     3
probably wonder if that is me
standing in the door of our tent. Yep
that is me. I still have a little
hair left to. Maybe you can't see
it in the picture though.
     In your letter you mentioned
about the Abbott boys. I worked on a
plane one day. The pilot's name
was on the ship. It was Abbott.
I thought about them but just
couldn't think of his first name. I
forgot what the name was now, but
do remember the Abbott part of it. I
wonder if it was his ship? I
know I must have seen or been
around some ships fellows I know
have flown in them. It is such
a big Air Force though one never

                    4
gives it a though just how large
it is. You have often heard say that
the sky would be so full of planes
it would blacken out the sun. I have
almost seen it happen.
      I hope Rev. Meyer decides to
stay. Our chaplain is in the hospital
now. He had an operation for appenditis [sic]
his assistant took charge today and
had a very nice service. We miss
him an awlful lot though.
     Ask Ruth what's the matter
with her. She owes me a lettter.
Well this is about all for now.
Please write whenever you can.
                                     Love Ralph.


The next letter will be posted on Feb. 4th.

Background Information (and comments):

• The things I'm learning from these letters. Uncle Joe is a reference to Joseph Stalin.

In 1940, Stalin, one of the most hated men in the world made the cover of Time Magazine as Man of the Year. Three years later, Stalin was suddenly transformed into a serene and saintly figure. Churchill and Roosevelt called him "Uncle Joe".

• Here are some of the things Ralph would have been hearing or reading about (obviously not the entry for Jan. 30th, and probably not the 28th either). Also, these were events in 1945, not 1944 as it reads just before the timeline.

In January of 1945, the Allies had made huge strides in securing much of Europe from Nazi forces. The detailed World War II timeline below summarizes events in late January 1944.

World War II Timeline: January 15-January 30

January 15: Commercial shipping resumes in the English Channel for the first time in nearly five years.

January 16: Hitler moves both his residence and base of operations to the underground bunker at Berlin's Reich Chancellery.

January 17: The Red Army liberates the Polish capital of Warsaw.

January 18: Japanese stragglers at Peleliu attack U.S. ammunition dumps and the American air base.

January 19: The Germans retreat before the Red Army's advance through Poland. The Russians occupy the Polish cities of Tarnow, Lodz, and Krakow.

January 20: President Roosevelt is sworn in for his fourth term in office.

January 25: In the largest naval mining campaign of the Pacific war, the Allies seed the waters off Singapore and Indochina with nearly 370 mines.

January 26: The Soviet Union army liberates Auschwitz. They find nearly 3,000 inmates still in residence, with many near death.

January 27: The Japanese lose about 100 planes in U.S. counterattacks on Japanese air bases on Okinawa.

January 28: The Battle of the Bulge draws to a close as the last German soldiers are forced into retreat.

For the first time in nearly three years, supplies reach China over the Burma Road, which is newly reopened and renamed in honor of Allied general Stilwell.

January 30: With the Red Army less than 100 miles from Berlin, a defiant Hitler delivers his final radio address.

Seven thousand die when the German liner Wilhelm Gustloff is sunk by a Soviet Union submarine.