Letters To Home - May 19, 1952

Grafenwohr, Germany
May 19, 1952

The weather has turned quite a bit cooler than it has been. The wind is coming from the East this time, gets quite cold at night. Our coal stove work well, though, and we have no trouble keeping warm.

I may take another leave before I ship back to the States. I'm hearing lots of good things about Denmark and Sweden, also Paris, but I'm not sure yet which it will be.
Jerry and Bob swear that Denmark would be the best, but we'll see.

We're starting to get in some replacements at last. Since last Thursday we have five new ones, but the problem is that they are just out of basic, and have no idea of how things work in the artillery. We'll probably have to hand-feed them for a month or so until they get their feet on the ground.

The new job is still the best one in the battery. I don't have to do anything at all except what pertains to the job; no extra duty, guard duty, KP, etc. My boss is a Warrent Officer. A Warrent Officer answers to the name of Mister, is considered an officer with all the benefits of an officer, but also gets all the benefits of a Sergeant as far as food and clothing allowance goes. Warrent Officers are administrative; they don't go out with the gun, just keep track of the paper work in the Battery. His name is Mister Sims; he spent 6 months in Camp Reynolds during the war, and remembers things about Greenville. He's been in the Army for 16 years, is good to work for, never gets excited, is never in a hurry. He comes from Virginia originally, has that Southern drawl. I think that he is just about the best officer in the battery.

I'm sending along an article from "Stars And Stripes" about the German beer industry around Munich and Berlin. I really believe that Munich has the best beer in Germany.

Nothing much else is new, so will close. Please write soon.