October 28, 1944 (to Marie)

A happy birthday card to his aunt Marie.

 


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June 11, 1945

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Epinal, France June 11, 1945   Dear Dad:               Received several letters from you, but this is the first chance I’ve had to answer. I am with a group of twenty trucks. We are attached to an engineer forestry company for thirty days and will haul poles and sawed timbers. We are at the southern end of the Argonne Forest in the Vosges Mountains. The Moselle River runs right through town. It’s very nice country here, a lot like Missouri. So you were surprised to hear where I was when the war ended. The jobs a trucking outfit gets would surprise a lot of people. Just because we have been lucky is no sign we just came over here for a boat excursion or sight seeing tour. When Patton raced across France he had no railroads so they moved the stuff by trucks. After the Rhine crossing the rails stopped. Again they hauled the stuff in trucks. After V-E Day all the truck companies got a letter from Ike. It was a letter of t...
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On December 7, 1941, the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, Milton "Mel" Janis was roping at Rivermont Ranch in House Springs, Missouri. Horses were his life, and he had no interest in going to war.  He had hoped for a deferment, but along with many others, he was drafted for military service.  On December 8, 1941, he was told by the Festus, Missouri draft board that he was to report to Jefferson Barracks on January 15, 1942 so that he could be inducted into the U.S. Army. He was 22 years old.  On January 21, 1942, he was inducted into the Army and sent to Fort Riley, Kansas. The picture above was taken just a few days before.   The following are letters he sent to his dad (Lawrence), grandma (Julia), aunt (Marie), and uncle (Clarence) from 1942 through 1945. He often signed them "Brown Jug," but unfortunately the origin of that nickname is lost. He called his Uncle Clarence "the dude" and he and Marie would spell each other's names backwards.
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Monday 8 PM. May 18, 1942   Howdy Dad:   The only reason I didn’t call you up in Kansas City is because I got a ride all the way across town. The ride I got when I left you took me to Weldon Springs. My next took me to Wentzville. Then a 40 Ford Sedan to Warrenton. The next a 41 Chev pickup to Kingdom City. My next ride took me a mile from the Kansas city limits and I got out of the car at 9:40. I would have called you but there was no phone handy. My next ride took me to the west side of Kansas City, Kansas. The next ride was from a soldier and I rode to the Ft Leavenworth turn off. The next ride was a Buick going into Lawrence. While I was riding with this feller we went thru a very heavy rain. It was about eleven thirty. When we got to Lawrence it hadn’t slowed up raining so this guy lets me off at the depot and I caught the Pony Express up at 12:50 and rode 98 miles to Ft. Riley. This cost me $2.21. I got in the Barracks about ten to four. Today we went on a problem and I ...
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