Belgium June 27

Dear Mother & Dad,
        Well mother I must say
I completely forgot about June
12th being your birthday. On
June 12th I did think of it but
it was to late to send a card
then.
     Freeman's letter was the first
one to tell me of the new
nephew. Marie wrote to me
and just mentioned about Audrey
being in the hospital. Then a
little later in the letter she
said we couldn't see him
very well so I figured it
out to be a boy. Some newsy
letter I would say. Maybe there
is still another letter on the
way. Marie always writes

nice letters to me. Our mail
has been awlful slow in coming
through lately. I had a letter from
Marie, Luella, Freeman and you
this week.
     I sure will see a change in
all the kids when I get home.
I don't know when that will be.
I see by the Stars & Stripes
where to 9th Air Force is going
to the Pacific. Only a few will
be kept here in the E.T.O. The
quartermaster that has been with
us since Texas has left
already. So I really don't know
if they figure the rest of us
will follow or not.
     Well mother, as I told
you once before, I didn't enter
the hospital as I expected to.

The hospital outfit that we
have been doing business with
is going to move, that is one
reseason [sic] for not entering, and
second it hasn't bothered me good.
It is right on the end of my
spine and not on my head
so figure out where it is. It is
quite an operation, so I may
wait to see how it turns out
and when it gets cooler. It
will keep me from going to
the Pacific if I get back in the
states first.
   In your letter you asked what
I did when the alerts came.
It would wake us up and we
would lie awake until it was
over with or until we heard
the planes comeing. Then out

side and watch. If they got to
close by wh we would get
into slit trenches. We always
had to wear our steel helmets.
During Feb. & March of 44 we
didn't have time to dress sometimes.
I saw the anti air craft guns
shoot down a couple of planes.
When the buzz bombs started
to come over, they were so
fast we just laid there and
listen to them go over. We did
have some close ones but none
on the field. I guess that was
about all there was to it.
    Well I guess this is all for
now. Hope everything is all
right back home now, and
Audrey is home. Goodbye.
                        Love Ralph.


The next letter will be posted on July 1st.

Background Information (and comments):

• Ralph's newest nephew, Leon Earl Brown, son of Glenn & Audrey (Dings) Brown was born on June 7, 1945. 
• Glenn & Audrey lived in the back part of the homestead house as Glenn helped his dad with the farm. Most interesting to me (as a child) was the water pump in their kitchen sink instead of running water and watching my Aunt Audrey sort, clean, and size the chicken eggs she had collected to prepare them for selling. Whenever we needed eggs, we went there.