WW2 Chapter 73 - A Letter to his Father (April 17, 1945)

4/17/45

Dear Dad,

    Paid another visit to the hospital, the other day -- and there was mail there for me; -- three weeks since the last. It was all about two months old -- yours were Feb. 12th and 19th; -- and thanks, Dad, for the Easter card.

Have at times wished that we had somehow found more "time" to do things together -- though it was probably pretty much my fault.

    Saw "Objective Burma" -- don't know why, except that that happened to be the only show that night. Thought it was well done -- though parts of it were a bit artificial; and some parts of it were done too much "according to the soldiers handbook". The picture tried to stress Jap cruelty. The Americans wiped out the Japs at that radar station -- but when they (the Japs) did something similar to the G.I.s in that village, it was "cold blooded murder". The G.I.s aren't exactly angels; -- we never took live Japanese -- and we killed those that were wounded or defenseless.

    Whenever working with ammo, I think of how we had to handle it back in the states -- so carefully, so gently, so easily. Over here the way we throw it on and off vehicles, or off stacks, it might just as well be a sack of flour.
~~~~
    The Japanese on [Okinawa (censored)] are giving my outfit a bad time -- the casualty list must be very high.

Much love,

Franklin