May 22, 1945
Dear Mother & All,
The censorship was lifted on our mail yesterday so while
I am on radio duty I will try to tell you a few things that you have been
wanting to know about me since I have been overseas. When we were on the East
coast of the states last April a year ago, we were at camp Kilmer in New
Jersey. We left Kilmer on the 6th of April and got on board the
ship, El De France in the New York harbor. Then early in the morning of the 7th
we sailed. We landed in Glasgow, Scotland, on the 16th of April. And
from there we went to a camp in Whales and stayed there for a week. From Whales
we went to a big transport airbase at Aldermaster Field right outside of
Reading, England, protecting it against enemy air planes. And after that, we
just went form one air base to another protecting them in the same way and
shooting down these robot bombs. I had to laugh at you the time you asked me if
I had ever seen one of those robots. Then on the 9th of July, we got
on the boat down at Plymouth, where the Pilgrims left in the Mayflower to come
to America. We crossed to English Channel and landed on the Utah Beach on the
evening of the 10th. I need a map to tell you about where we went
from there but I will try to name some of the places and make a stab at
spelling them. We were all up and down the coast and the Pin. Of Cherbourg. We
were at La Hay De Putt, just outside of St. Le, at Avranches, we shot down
several places at Avranches. After the push in France or during it, we went to
Rennes and from there to Blain. I sent pictures of Blain. We were all around
Blain in all the little towns there. We were holding the St. Nazaire pocket.
That is why we were there for so long, from August until the first part of
December. Our mission there was holding the enemy ground troops back and not
shooting down their planes, although we did shoot down one big enemy transport
in Blain. We would the line there at Blain for a few weeks then we would be
relieved by another outfit and go back to that little rest area I used to tell
you about. We would then get passes from the rest area to go in to Nantes. We
left the St. Nazaire pocket on the 6th of December and came to
Germany. I have already told you have we came, in the forty-and-eight box cars.
Ha. On our way to Germany, we came through the outskirts of Paris and could see
the big tower in the distance. We went on up to Brussels, Belgium, then on to
that big seaport of Antwerp, Belgium and was sidetracked for two days. When we
got going again, we came back through Brussels and into Holland. We came
through Liege, Holland, and on through Maastricht and that was the last big
place until we hit Germany. When we came up, we stayed with the civilians in
Holland just inside Holland from Germany for two days. You know I told you
about staying there and sent you pictures of the family I stayed with. When we
left there, we only went three or four miles inside of Germany and set up in a
little town of Paliburg that was about twenty miles south of Aachen, Germany.
We shot down plenty of planes there. On New Year ’s Day, our outfit shot down
18 enemy planes and got several on Christmas day too. Being just a few miles
inside of Germany was how we went back and forth from there to Holland all the
time. We had to go back into Holland for bathes and want on passes into
Holland. Kenneth was only about 25 miles from me then in Maastricht, Holland,
then and that is where I got to go see him. I caught an officer that was going
into Liege, Holland, after whiskey and he had to go through Maastricht so I got
him to let me go along. At that time, there was a lot of Holland that was in
German hands so that is why we kept moving back and forth from places in
Germany to Holland. The pictures I sent of the graveyard and the knocked out
German tank was in Holland and the Grave yard was all of English soldiers. The
English doesn’t gather all there dead men up and take them to one cemetery,
they usually bury them right where they gall. They mark their graves and I
guess come along and pick them up later. Anyway, we left a place in Holland on
the 25th of Feb on the big push and crossed the Roar Riveren the
night of the 26th I think. Then on another push of the 25th
of March, we crossed the Rhine. We crossed it early in the morning. I sent a picture of it taken while we were crossing.
We crossed the Rhine up close to Dusseldorf, Germany. We were with the Eight
Armored Division all the while in Germany. An armored Division is mostly tanks.
We got with them to protect them from the air and to set up and protect the
bridges that they have to cross over on. We get nearly up to the Elbe River
before the war ended, but have come back a ways since. The commander to the
ninth army is General Simpson and the commander of our division is just a
little one star general that you wouldn’t know or have ever heard of. I don’t
know him myself. The little town that we are now at goes by the name of
Olderhausen and you will have to have an awful big map to find it. It is only
about the size of Thatcher. But we control several little towns just like it
and will until we find out what they are going to do with us. We should know in
about two weeks whether we will stay here as occupational troops or go to the
Pacific, we will have lots of bananas and those dark gals. Ha. I have got to
see a lot of pretty sights and funny ones since I have been gone. And there is
a lot of it that I would have missed for nothing, but I have got to a point
where I have seem damn near all of it that I want to. Oh yes. We have three
battle stars so far and may get a forth one. We have one for Normandy, one for
Northern France, and one for Germany. We may get a forth one for taking part in
shooting down the Robot bombs in England. Each battle star counts five points
on getting out of the army. You need 85 points in all to get out if you are not
essential to the army. Ha. I’m not about to get out. I have 51 points and am
essential anyway. All radio operators are classified as essential. Hell I’m
planning on being one of those thirty-year men anyway. Kenneth has only 42
points so I’m not exactly at the bottom of the list. I heard from Kenneth last
night and he is doing the same thing that I am. I mean his outfit is.
Well that takes up the most of where I have been since I
left the states and I doubt if you can read it or understand it if you do. By
the way, we have three types of half-tracks. One like I ride on is just for the
platoon headquarters and comm. And the radios of course, it is called a
personal carrier. Another has four fifty caliber machine guns mounted in the
back and the other one has two fifty caliber machine guns and a 37mm cannon.
All these guns are supposed to be used for shooting planes down with, that is
why they call us AAA or ack ack. These guns for ground forces down in Blain and
around the St. Nazaire Pocket. I’ll tell you about it when I get back sometime.
Well I’m going to step down now and write to Rosalie.
Love to All,Your son,
Max
P.S. – That answer all your questions Mama? Ha!
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