Plain Jane Plain Talk
Journals from the road, trails and at sea
Category: 1945 Letters
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Dear Elizabeth; You’ve probably been wondering whether or not I’ve received the package which you sent. I got it just before Christmas and in good condition. So I want to thank you all for it. We’re having our first taste of winter here now, with the ground being covered with snow, but it wasn’t very…
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Dear Helen and Wilson; Guess it’s pretty nearly time that I dropped you a line and let you know where I stand again but I hardly know what to begin to say. Anyway, winter has finally caught up with us over here and the ground is covered with a fine layer of snow. The snow…
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Dear Willard and Grace; I know that I owe you a letter, but have been holding off just to see if the package you had sent would arrive. Said package arrive this morning and the contents were in good condition. Thanks a lot for it. I want to especially thank you for the pocket dictionary…
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Dear Willard and Grace; Haven’t had any mail for several days now, but neither has anyone else. Won’t have any for a few days yet, and then there’ll probably be a lot of it. I have received several packages that I never expected, and if every guy over did as well, it can be readily…
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Dear Willard and Grace; By the time you receive this letter you probably will have received a letter which will answer most of the questions in your V-Mail of the 14th. There seems to be a “nigger in the woodpile” as far as Don is concerned, as we have a lot of fellows like him…
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Dear Helen and Wilson; Well, I can understand that you are having a real winter now. It should be swell for skiing with all that snow. But how about the floods later. Now listen to this. The weather here has been so warm for the past few days that we’ve been tossing baseballs around. I’ve…
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Dear Willard and Grace; I thought I’d better answer your V-Mail of January 26 which I’ve had for quite some time now. From all indications up to the time I received it, you had no word that I did receive the package with the French-English dictionary in it, but I did mail you a letter…
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Dear Willard and Grace; Well, I guess the best way to start this letter is to tell you that you can certainly anticipate my needs to a “T”. I had a hunch all along that you would probably return the money I sent, doggonit…Anyway, I want to thank you for your thoughtfulness.. I certainly glad…
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Dear Willard and Grace; Guess I’ll have to call this a business letter. To start things off, I am going to ask you if you will do another favor for me. Enclosed are two numbered packets of colored negatives; one is marked No. 1 and the other marked No. II. I would appreciate if you…
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Dear Elizabeth; Well, I received your Easter Card with the letter. I intended to write a lot sooner, but I simply had nothing about which to write and consequently, just kept putting it off until this afternoon. To start off, thanks for sending me the pictures. That one is the first one that I’ve had…
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Dear Willard and Grace; Well, I was a good boy this morning and went to Church, it being Easter Sunday. To give you some idea of what the surroundings were like, I’ll give you a short description. The services were conducted in one end of what was once a truck garage used by the Germans.…
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Dear Helen and Wilson; Yesterday I received three packages; two from you, with jam cookies and candy and the other with cheese spreads, etc, all in good condition. The one from Mildred was in good condition and had been on the way since Nov. Oh yes, I got the film OK, Thanks. I showed the…
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Dear Willard and Grace: I thought I’d get off a few lines to you to let you know I’m still kicking. Lately we have been able to buy Coca Cola in the PX here just about every day. They sure taste good the last few days as it has been quite warm and skies are…
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HeadquartersEuropean Civil Affairs DivisionG-2 Section MWB/rfwAPO 65818 April 1945 Subject: Information concerning S/Sgt. Russell F WadsworthTO: Commanding Officer, Headquarters Company, E.C.A.D. In compliance with your request for information concerning subject enlisted man, the following data is furnished: A. SuperiorB. ExcellentC. This non-commissioned officer has demonstrated for a period of one year the ability to take…
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Dear Willard and Grace; Happened to think that it is just about time that I dropped a few more lines to you. I was in a French home the other night and was asked to sit down. Now there is nothing wrong with being asked to sit down, but the expression itself was funny to…
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Dear Willard and Grace; A new location to write from and, consequently, a little something to write about. Had a good trip down here, and incidentally, drove a truck with a small trailer down. The first real driving I’ve done in several years. Fortunately, the men and material with got in unscathed. Saw some beautiful…
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Dear Helen and Wilson; First England, then France and now Germany. Yes, I’ve arrived in the land of the “Super-race”, but they’re not so super right now. In fact, more or less submissive. But coming here I had a little different experience in that I drove a small truck and trailer much of the way…
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Dear Elizabeth: Just imagine this set up. Living in a nice hotel room which I share with three other fellows. My particular bed has an inner spring mattress — at least it feels like it. Adjoining the room is a bathroom with all conveniences including hot and cold running water. It sure feels good to…
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Dear Howard; Well, how many points have you. I’ve only 59 so I’ll sweat out the Army for some time. You know, in a week or so I’m going to tack on a hash mark. Yep, three years ago this month. A little over a year ago, I left New York and landed in Scotland…
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Dear Willard and Grace; Say, no hear from you for a long time now. What’s up? Anyway, do you notice anything different about this letter? No, they’re not censoring them any more. But we cannot reveal our location yet. As it is now, we’ll soon be able to get furloughs back to England and southern…
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Dear Willard and Grace; I just got through writing you the day before yesterday that I was wondering what happened to you. Yesterday, I received the package with the films and colored prints. So now, I know that you are still there. As for the colored prints, I received 11 all told. Of course, there…
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Dear Helen and Wilson; Now that I’ve been in Germany a while, and you can tell just where I am, I thought maybe I could give you a little picture of what has happened in the past now that censorship has been lifted. I know that you will be interested in more of the details…
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S/Sgt Russell F WadsworthASN 52288468G-2 Sec., Hq. E.C.A.D.APO 658, c/o PostmasterNew York, NY Here’s that picturesque little German town that I told you about in a previous letter. This view is of the older section of it. Sunday I expect to go to another old town about 50 miles from here — Heidelberg. Russell Bad…
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S/Sgt Russell F WadsworthASN 52288468G-2 Sec., Hq. E.C.A.D.APO 658, c/o PostmasterNew York, NY The girl spoke a little English where I bought this postcard. She looked at the card and said “Beautiful”, and after a moment’s pause said, “was”. I have a picture of just how it looks now. It was just a typical example…
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Dear Willard and Grace; This morning things are kind of light around here so I thought I’d drop you a line and tell you a few more things while they are fresh on my mind. In this morning’s mail I got a letter from Howard, but that’s the first I’ve had from him in quite…
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Dear Willard and Grace; It’s rather quiet around here this afternoon, so I thought it would be a good time to drop you a line. It’s a beautiful clear, warm day here. We have not been bothered with the frost or the unseasonal cold weather that you have had back there. It can’t exactly be…
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Dear Helen and Wilson; It’s just before supper time so I though it would be a good time to drop you a few lines. What brought it up was just a few civilian thoughts. First one is ice cream. Why ice cream. Well we’re supposed to have it tonight and I was just thinking how…
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Dear Romayne; I wanted to let you know that I have received your letter and sure got quite a kick out of it, especially the part about naming that dog. If you’ve given him that name, you ought to get some stripes for him. I also want to tell you that I sent you a…
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Dear Helen and Wilson; Thought this afternoon would be a good time to drop you a few lines and let you know how things are around here. We now have a radio for our hotel room. But, we have to take the darn thing up to have it fixed. It seems that whoever had it…
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Dear Willard and Grace; I received all the V-Mails you wrote to me dated June 24 at the same time, and of course was glad to hear from you once again. So I’m going to try and answer some of your questions. In regard to the film, do pick up whatever you can. I know…
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… So you see we’re still civilians at hear regardless of what you might read in newspapers magazines or other sources to the contrary. Something has happened to our mail here though. We just haven’t got any in a couple of weeks. We know that people are writing, but I’m of the opinion that this…
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Dear Willard and Grace; Well, if you look at a map of France, you will find this place on the channel coast not far from Le Havre. It is here that we have come to be “processed” for our furloughs to England. By that I mean, getting clean clothes, money changed, showers and getting all…
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Dear Helen and Wilson; Thought I’d drop you a line from this little resort town located here on the northern coast of France, right on the channel. We’re all set to go on furlough to England and are scheduled to cross tomorrow sometime. We have to get up at 4AM. Down at the beach yesterday…
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Dear Helen and Wilson; Now I’m back at my home station again and have to resume my writing activities again and I’m really behind as these are the first that I’ve written since I’ve returned which is a week tomorrow. It takes time to get around to it now. There are quite a few activities…
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Dear Willard and Grace; I have your letter of Sept 14, so I’m going to drop you a line tonight. First is the 71 points and according to the latest orders all men with 70 or more points must be out of the theater by November 30. So that’s the most definite word we’ve had…
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Dear Willard and Grace; Well, guess what I’m doing tonight. It’s about 9PM and I’m listening to the World Series and what a game it is tonight. The Tigers have just come out on top in this fifth game and I’m listening to the steady chatter by Bill Slater, the announcer. He is probably the…
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Dear Wilson and Helen; Here it is Sunday night and nothing special to do. I was out to a football game this afternoon as that seems to have been the program for the past few Sundays. They get quite large GI crowds there every Sunday. Two weeks ago there were about 20,000 there including Ike…
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Dear Willard and Grace; Just wanted to get these few lines off to you to let you know that I have begun the return trip. Consequently, don’t write any more letters. We will be at this depot anywhere from 8 to 30 days, although we were told that we are scheduled to leave in about…
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Bad Homburg, Germany 1945
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The Autobahn between Bad Homburg and Frankfurt Germany. June 1945
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Russell Wadsworth (lower left)Next to Eisenhower’s carFrankfurt, GermanyI.G. Farber Building, headquarters 1945 Russell Wadsworth (left), Wendell Strom (right)Eisenhower’s staff carFrankfurt, GermanyUSFET Headquarters 1945
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Heildeberg, Germany 1945
Plain Jane Plain Talk 