July 6, 1943

Tuesday
July 6, 1943

 

Dear Dad:

 

Finally got a spot and will answer your letter that I received last Sunday. We just came back from going thru the infiltration course which is about a hundred yards long. You run about twenty yards, hit on your belly in the rocks and cactus and crawl flat on your belly for about fifty yards and then turn over on your back and go the rest of the way thru barbed wire entanglements. Finally you get to a deep ditch and you stay there until the officer in charge tell you to return to the trucks. All the while your going thru there are two 30 caliber machine guns cross firing over you approximately 30 inches over your head and they set off dynamite charges and land mines and they really rain the sand on you. Incidently Mr. Janis’ little boy was the first one thru and I beat the others by about a minute. There was about fifty went thru at a time. Pat and I do six miles road work every night and about 1 ½ miles of it is running so I guess I’m in pretty good shape now. I’ve lost fifteen pounds since I came out here.

 

Went swimming at Topock, Arizona last Sunday in a big bay of the Colorado River. You could dive off the bank anywhere and the water was clear and cold. I guess swimming is one of my favorite sports. Pitching lots of horseshoes lately and having pretty good luck. That’s all I know for now. Say howdy to all. So long & answer soon.

 

Mel

 

P.S. Don’t know that 1st Sgt. What’s his outfit and address.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

May 18, 1942

Image
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 ...
Read more

June 11, 1945

Image
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...
Read more

Drafted!

Image
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.
Read more