July 4, 1945

Egling, Germany

July 4, 1945

Dear Mother, Dad, & Girls:

           I had a letter from you the other night and have been too lazy to answer it. Everything is going on here as usual. I have been doing a lot of hunting the last few days. I have killed one more since I wrote last, that makes three for over here. We are going again tonight if it isn’t raining. It has really rained a lot here the last eight or ten days. I finally got a hold of a German rifle Dad. It is nearly new, just been shot a few times. One of the boys took it off a German soldier the other day. I think that you can buy shells for it back there. I believe the shell is a 31 cal., I have a few shells but can’t send them with the gun or not at all but I will slip them in another package some time. I oiled this gun up good, made a package out of it and mailed it this afternoon.  – I had to take it apart so it would fit in a smaller package but I think you can put it together Dad. If you can put it together and get shells for it, it will make you a damn good gun to hunt deer with and at the same time be a souvenir for you from Germany. I will try to tell you a little about getting it together. The stock is off and that is about all but I put all the rest back together again just like it is supposed to be after I took off the stock. So again just like it is supposed to be after I took off the stock. So when you take it apart - - - look down under the gun by the trigger and you will see some little screws that will have to come out before you can put the stock on, that is the whole trigger group. Then to take out the bolt, just pull out on that little leaver on the left side of the bolt, and it slips right out. Then down on the end of the stick are those iron braces that hold the barrel and the stock together, take those off before the barrel goes on. Tied on the inside of the stick is a little round piece of iron that is the guard for the sight on the end of the barrel and the other piece or part that is tied inside of the stock goes right on the end of the stock, I left the pin for it in the hole in the end of the stock. The strap is there to put on the gun too to carry it with. Hell you probably know more about it than I do, just put it back together like you took it apart. I got a good hunting knife and a new German bayonet to send you too. I’ll try to get them wrapped up and mailed in the next day or so. That riffle will probably take a couple of months to get to you but you should have it all ready to go by deer season.

            Well how did you all make out this Fourth of July? I guess there wasn’t much doing there – Mrs. Whitaker said they were having a rodeo down at the apache grove. I was just thinking what I had done the last two Fourth of July’s – two years ago I was cleaning out toilet bowls in Camp Wallace. Ha. Then last year, I or rather we were moving and was on the road all day moving from out of around the straights of Dover, England, down to the port to cross the channel to France. We went to south Hampton at Plymouth.

            I am using a different typewriter this time and this one is wore out so I will stop for this time. Hope you are all well. There isn’t much to write about here.

Love to all,
Your Son,
Max