Dear John-
Thank you for your letter. I miss you terribly and I’m glad you’re doing okay. I pray everyday for you that God would keep you safe.
Peter is growing up so quick. He asks everyday about you and wants to know when he will see you again. I wish I had an answer.
Mom is doing poorly. The doctor has ordered her to stay in her bed except to use the toilet. I am staying with her mostly but your brother Joey has stopping by every day to see her and help out around here. He has been a solid rock for me but now he is talking about enlisting as well.
I hope to hear from you again soon. Stay safe for me and Peter.
I love you.
Your forever,
Elizabeth
We lost a lot of men during OPERATION OVERLORD. Our equipment is shoddy and many of the men have torn uniforms. Our current mission is to create a defensive perimeter around the Cotentin Peninsula in northwestern France. The German resistance is heavy and not a day goes by that we aren’t in firefights of some sort.
It’s a relief when, finally, we get an opportunity for some sleep. Of course, I sleep with my sidearm under my pillow and no one ever truly sleeps well.
If there’s one thing that saves us from the mundane, it’s that our orders keep changing. As soon as we are able to settle into a routine, orders come in to go somewhere else. We’ve been supporting the VII Corps for a few days now, but the VIII Corps are en route to relieve us and bring our new orders.
All I can hope for is more action. I’m ready to shoot some Germans.
Camp was interrupted tonight by distant gunfire. Jake and I were huddled around the measly fire in camp. The Colonel insisted that it be kept very small for fear that our company would be spotted from the road a half mile away or by an occasional fly-over by the Luftwaffe. It isn’t common for the Luftwaffe to fly over France these days. The RAF has air superiority. But it does happen on occasion, particularly at night when they are hard to see.
Jake and I doused the fire and grabbed our rifles. By now, others from the company had emerged from their tents, still groggy but with helmets on. We crept to the top of the ridge sheltering camp from the main road. Hidden behind rocks and shrubs, we heard slow grumblings up the road. The sound of mechanized vehicles.
We’re not expecting reinforcements yet, Jake whispered to me. In a matter of minutes, bright spotlights appeared from down the road. Tanks!
Through the still of night, German accents filtered toward us. Tiger tanks emerged as silhouettes against the fog and pale moonlight. By now, the Colonel had joined us and he barked quick orders to fire only if spotted and to remain out of sight.
As the German column passed us on the road, bright spotlights brushed across the hillside and dark forest. We all pressed our faces against the ground, dirt and mud touching our lips and mouths. Within a few minutes, the German forces moved on.
Dear Elizabeth-
I’ve been on the ground for a few weeks now. I’m sorry for not writing all that much. I’m going to try to get better. Camp is boring. I’d much rather be out on patrol. We encountered Germans yesterday in the next village over from here. They were heavily armed and bunkered down in a farmhouse. Joe and Mike were killed by a mortar. It’s real dangerous out here, even in camp.
Tomorrow we are going to go back up there, I think, and clear those bastards out. Pray for my safety.
I can’t wait to see you and Peter soon. Say hi to mom and dad. Tell them I miss them and hopefully I’ll be home soon.
With all my love,
I am John Mathers. I am a Private in the United States Army in the 101st Airborne. I, along with my brothers, are operating in France in support of the allies.
We’ve encountered a great number of problems leading up to today. Our jumps went foul during OPERATION OVERLORD, and when I hit the ground, only PFC Naley was around. He was slightly hurt, but managed to walk off the pain in his leg. We found out later that his leg had been grazed by small arms fire from the ground during the descent. Nothing serious, fortunately.
We were all scattered and it took several days to identify exactly where we had dropped and where the objective was. We were to secure a road near St. Martin-de-Varreville that the landing forces might use. We managed to do so after re-uniting with more of the company. German resistance was heavy and we lost several good men.
It’s been about two weeks since then and we have continued operations along the Contentin Peninsula in northwest France. We have contacts inside the Resistance and their information is not promising. The Colonel is suggesting that we could be supporting the Brits or Canadians soon in the Netherlands, but we don’t really know for sure.
Time will tell. All I know is I miss my wife and little boy and God help me if I don’t get home to Iowa soon to see them.