Received the letter of March
4th that all of you folks wrote
at Marie's. Gee I guess you
folks really had a big meal
that day. We don't have the
variety but I guess the food is
plenty wholesome and good for us.
We don't get to many of these
rations. We get more garrison
rations and not combat or field
rations.
I am glad you folks all
received letters from me. I
haven't been doing to much
writing lately. I sure don't have
much news to write about. Our
weather has really been good.
This letter was written by
everyone I guess. Harold and Myrl
even wrote to me. I believe it
is about the first time either
one of them have wrote to me.
Tell them they will have to
do a little more writing to me
from now on.
Our mail has been rather
slow in comeing through lately.
I hope I get some other of my
back mail soon. I have sent
a box to Luella for all of the
girls. I am going to try and find
something nice for you and send
it. I have been looking around.
I had a letter from Pearl Meyers.
She told me all about Armands
death. It seems as if he was
comeing over here to France when
there boat was hit Christmas
day. That channel sure is cold
and especially that time of year.
From the news we hear on
the radio and read in the Stars
& Stripes it sounds as if rationing
is getting a good grip on things back
home. Then we read a lot about
this brownout. I haven't seen a
town lit up for almost two years
now. Sometimes I wish they could
send all the people that are
complaining right over here. Then
maybe they would dig in and try
to get this war over with faster.
Well this is all for tonight.
Please write soon.
Love Ralph.
The next letter will be posted on March 25th.
Background Information (and comments):
- Harold was Ralph's oldest brother and Myrl was his only brother-in-law.
- Most of you probably have heard of a brownout. Here is a definition:
- A situation in which the voltage in a power grid is reduced below its normal level but not entirely eliminated. (Compare blackout.)
- I looked up information about a ship that sank in the English Channel on Christmas 1944. It was the SS Leopoldville. There were 763 deaths of the 2200 soldiers aboard. Only 270 bodies were recovered. If you'd like to read an interesting article, here is a website that I found:
http://www.omaha.com/news/military/a-christmas-eve-tragedy-kept-secret-the-story-of-the/article_931e9ce5-0b1c-56e7-9f74-af0596d3cd05.html
- Here's an explanation of garrison rations vs. combat or field ration:
A garrison ration is the quantity and type of food served to a soldier when they are stationed somewhere. It is generally not the same as the rations fed to troops in combat or transit - usually termed combat rations, field rations, marching rations or some other task-specific term.
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