Sunday night and again it is time I wrote a
few lines to you. This week my mail finally
arrived. I guess I received letters from most of
you folks. I had a letter Harley had written
on Dec. 27. Said he had a nice Christmas, but
from his letter and his location now in
Luxemburg he must have had some bad
moments. I saw an article in the Stars & Stripes
about his outfit and how they fought. I looked
up the name of the town it gave and it is rather
far in Germany.
We have had a little thaw in our weather
and it is getting so it is rather nasty out again.
We have had very little snow this season over
here. But I have seen more snow already here
in France than I've seen since I was home
last. Gosh that is over two years ago. Seems
as if it was longer than that. I have been across
now so long that I have three overseas bars.
I received a letter from Charles Stutzman this
week. He gave me the latest dope on the home
front. It seems as is Irene's lattest fling went
sailing and he landed on Saipan. Now I wonder
just how lonely she is. He has just left the
states and I am eligible for rotation. But don't
get excited there are fellows that have more
time in than I have. We won't get it for a long
time yet. There are lots of rumors going around
but none that we can say are true. If they would
only come true I would really be happy.
Had a letter from Marie saying Cliff had
been laid off or something like that. Hope to get an
airmail letter telling more about it. Also a letter
from Audrey. From the sound of the letter I guess I
will have some more relation by the time I get
back home again.
It is so hard for me to write very much
in a letter anymore. I never go anywhere and there
is nothing but work around here. We have movies
here at the base so we just have our own entertainment
here and all we have are the title pictures and
no newsreels. I would really like to see a good
newsreel.
Well this is about all I can think of for
tonight. I am sending the church bulletin to you. The
chaplain is writing a story. "A Look into the Future."
It is rather comical and keeps our moral up
a little. Goodnight for now. Please write soon.
Love Ralph.
The next letter will be posted on Jan. 12th.
Background Information (and comments):
- There was no church bulletin in the envelope with this letter.
- Here is a link to a newsreel from December 1944: Battle of the Bulge that Ralph would have liked to see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hYFjn2JS1k
- Here is what I found about Saipan:
- Saipan is the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific. It’s characterized by sandy shores and mountainous landscapes, and has several championship golf courses. Its highest point is 1,555-ft. Mt. Tapochau, a limestone peak at the island's center. Close to the northern tip, Japanese memorials mark Banzai Cliff and Suicide Cliff, sites from the 1944 Battle of Saipan.
In the spring of 1944, U.S. forces involved in the Pacific Campaign invaded Japanese-held islands in the central Pacific Ocean along a path toward Japan. An armada of 535 U.S. ships with 127,000 troops, including 77,000 Marines, had taken the Marshall Islands, and American high command next sought to capture the Mariana Islands, which formed the critical front line for Japan’s defense of its empire.
AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE
The brutal three-week Battle of Saipan resulted in more than 3,000 U.S. deaths and over 13,000 wounded. For their part, the Japanese lost at least 27,000 soldiers, by some estimates. On July 9, when Americans declared the battle over, thousands of Saipan’s civilians, terrified by Japanese propaganda that warned they would be killed by U.S. troops, leapt to their deaths from the high cliffs at the island’s northern end.
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