Letters To Home - August 23, 1951

Hammelburg, Germany
August 23, 1951

Our maneuvers have turned into something called "border patrol," which means that we drive around in our territory close to the Soviet territories, and keep watch on things. Something like the British "showing the flag" thing. We are in support of the 22nd Infantry, which is with us somewhere in front.

We're in all new territory. I don't know exactly where we are, but one of the officers told me we are fairly close to Hammelburg. Hope the 631st doesn't come visiting. We'll be out here for about nine days, go back to Schweinfurt for pay day.
Next month we'll be moving into the French zone, somewhere near Worms, for maneuvers with the French army. Should be fun, and something different.

Last week I got to shoot the big 3.5-inch bazooka. We shot a packing cases used to cover our big trucks when they were shipped over. Instead of practice ammunition, we used the high-explosive anti-tank rockets. They really make a mess of things. Fun to shoot; absolutely no recoil, much noise.

The weather has been quite warm for the past week. On Tuesday, it rained all day, but stayed warm. Saw three large deer Tuesday afternoon. They seem a bit smaller than ours in Pennsylvania.

From our gun position I can see ten small towns in the valley. This part of Germany is almost as pretty as Wildflecken, but the mountains aren't nearly as high.

I tried sleeping without a tent last night. Worked quite well. We're set up in a pasture, with grass high enough to make a good mattress. Sleeping out is very nice; I seem to sleep better here than back in camp.

Nothing much more to write about, so will close. The papers haven't been coming lately. Maybe back in camp. Please write soon.