Letter from Clarence Williams to Gretchen Williams, September 7, 1945

Well honey, here I am back to the old grind again. I made out the report this morning and am now on C.Q. until tomorrow noon. I just finished eating dinner and it was very good today. We had liver with onions, lima beans and ice cream for desert. Yesterday I felt as though I was getting the flu or some thing since I ached all over and had no appetite. I made up for it today by eating enough for two. Last night before going to bed I took a couple of A.P.C. pills with codeine and practically died when I went to sleep. I feel much better today however and think I almost got rid of it. I think I probably caught it coming back on the train and with being tired and all it had no trouble starting.

We had a new experience here yesterday, I was writing you a letter when Bob phoned for me to come over to the C.P. a minute. When I returned in about 10 minutes I found they had a kid in the station about 10 years old that they had caught ransacking our rooms. He had taken nine packages of cigarettes from me plus 6 bars of candy and a couple of “K” rations. We got all the stuff back and took the kid over to the Military Government. He told them   he was from a town by the name of Garing and that his sister had sent him down here to steal the things. Some of the boys have lost things before so now we think he has been here before. I don’t know what they decided to do with him but understand they took away his folks rations for a month. That should teach them a lesson if they did send him and I think they did.

We got out P.X. rations again this morning, 11 bars of candy and 12 packs of cigarettes plus a few other items. There was also two rolls of 127 film for which we drew names and I won one of them. Now I can take a few more pictures if I can only find some place to get them developed. I hear there is a civilian here that will do the work but to date have not located him. I wish now that I would have taken more cigarettes with me when I went to England. On the way back, I sold two cartons in Paris for $28.00. Of course that isn’t allowed so keep it under your hat. Every GI that goes there sells them however, in fact with the prices in Paris you have to sell some thing or you would soon be broke. I hear they are getting as much as a hundred per carton in Vienna. I think I would quit smoking if I had to pay from $1.40 to $10.00 per pack, wouldn’t you?

The weather is changing again today and the sun is starting to shine. It seems   good to see it as the weather was bad most of our trip and most of the time since I returned.

Went to the show last night and saw “Break the News”. It was I think an England picture and wasn’t worth a damn about a 10th rater I think. This morning I finished reading “Disputed Passage” and enjoyed it very much. I gave it to Insull and I knew he would like it and he was very happy to get it.

You asked in your letter about Cap’t O’Brien going to Field Artillery — he went there as Battalion Surgeon, he remained a Cap’t but it was a demotion in a way as there was a major’s rating open in our Bn and he having the seniority should have received it. He still stops in occasionally to see we fellows and chat a while. He really is a good fellow and Cap’t Benton who is now our C.O. is very much like him. He never gets excited about anything.

I was happy to hear that your back is again feeling much better and hope you have no more trouble with it.

I just finished reading in the S & S where men with 45 or fewer points will be held for Army of Occupation. Every time I read some thing like that it makes me boil. If men over 25 are too old to continue drafting why in the hell must they hold men in that are between 25 and 35. I would like to sit in on a congressional meeting with a machine   gun close at hand. I would gladly kill a few of those Bastards or at least wake them up. If any government ever needed reorganizing, ours is certainly one of the first on the list. The article also states that men with 70 points will be home by Xmas. Some of the boys here havn’t been in any longer than I but have three children so now have 70 or more points and are entitled to go home. Personally I can’t see a damn thing fair about it but suppose every one is selfish to his own point of view. I guess my only chance is to wait until I am thirty five years old.

You mentioned Vienna, we are still quite some distance from there about 180 or 200 miles I think. I do hope to get there just to see the city some time before leaving here. Two Battalions from our 222d regiment are there at present but only four men from our company went with them. They were the ambulance drivers.

Well darling, think I better close this for now and write you about my trip — Bye for now —