Letter from Clarence Williams to Gretchen Williams, April 16, 1945

Still no mail honey and I am about to tear out all my hair. This is eight days now since hearing from you however the captain just informed me there was almost a hundred carloads of mail sidetracked to let food and ammunition pass. Guess under the circumstances I shouldn’t complain. How have you been the past few days and how is the new job? I suppose Otto is home on furlough by this time. Sure wish I was there so we could have a get together.

We heard President Truman address Congress this evening. It was seven oclock when it started here so suppose it was 12 noon there. His speech was quite interesting and he is a better speaker than I had assumed he would be. For the good of all, I hope he works out.

We had quite an experience this afternoon when we received an English soldier for evaluation. He was captured by the Germans on Crete four years ago and I think he was about the happiest man I have ever seen. Said he was 31, had been in the army 5 years and spent 4 of them as a P.W. When I made out his Medical Tag and marked it ex P.W. he said that was the best thing he had seen in 4 years. He was from London and I had a little trouble understanding him. He had been in a German   Hospital for a week with a sprained ankle. He stated the Jerries told him the G.I.’s had captured the town but he couldn’t believe it until he saw a couple GI’s standing in the corridor.

Had quite a thrill yesterday when some of us got lost in our convoy and went two towns ahead of our company. Finally we ran into the infantry and asked them if they had seen any Medical vehicles pass. They soon told us no one had passed them in fact they were the front line. That was enough and it didn’t take us long to get back.

We had a swell dinner tonite. Have been eating “K” Rations but tonite the kitchen french fried a bunch of potatoes. We raided a few chicken houses and found some eggs to fry so had a feast.

The weather was beautiful here today with the sun bright and warm. We had a soft ball game with Anti Tank Company and beat them 8 to 7. I was so stiff afterward I could hardly move. Not as young as I used to be I guess.

Well darling thats about all the news for today. Bye for now.