Between Nov. 1942 and Aug. 1945, Stanley W Safford wrote around 180 letters to his mother. These were found neatly preserved in the order they were received, in his old bedroom at his parents'. They were wrapped with a green ribbon. Stanley was one of the first Army medics. He spent 19 months at Fort Sam Houston, TX training other medics. His group was attached to the Ninth Army in the Summer of 1944. His letters give a front row seat to a medic's life during WWII.
Showing posts with label Atom bomb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atom bomb. Show all posts
Friday, March 2, 2012
Aug 8, 1945 - France
Sgt. Stanley W Safford 39539976
5th Auxiliary Surgical Group
APO 339
c/o Post Master
New York New York
Marseille Area, France - 22
Aug 8, 1945
Dearest Mother:
Sitting here in the doorway of the
dispensary, looking out over the camp toward the water. I can see a very beautiful sunset, which is
quite a bit like a California sunset in a way.
Have been C2 here all day and have done practically nothing other than
waste time.
Kupfer is
going to the Riviera tomorrow along
with some others. It should be quite
nice there, but perhaps a little warm. I
did not care for it as I want relaxation and a chance to get away from GIs for
a change. And I could not do it here on a trip of that kind. We have never really had any decent passes as
other organizations have had and a lot of them have been here a much shorter
time than we have.
Aug 9, 45
Well the news here today sounds quite
interesting and it begins to look as tho the war may be shortened some. From
where I sit I can still see no sooner release for me.
As the radio states, the main topic of discussion here is the Atom bomb[1]. Wild stories certainly start easily on
something of that type.
The other day I went into town with
another fellow here and we went out on the motor boat cruise around the
bay. It was quite interesting and it
made it possible for us to see a lot more of the bay. They have an extremely beautiful coastline
here and it looks much nicer from the ocean.
The other night we had a very severe
rain and lightning storm here. It was by far the heaviest rain I have ever
seen. In a short time we had a stream
running thru the tent. It at least kept
the dust down for a couple of days, giving us some relief from that for a
while.
I have seen three or four fairly good
shows recently. One was “Together Again” with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. I thought it
very good and recommend it to you for a good show. The other was “Practically Yours” with Claudette
Colbert. It was a very amusing story
and well acted. The other, which perhaps
you would not care for was “Salome When She Danced”. Very colorful and very expensively produced.
With nothing else to do a show provides
good entertainment in the outdoor theaters here, since we have no lights in our
tents. I grow weary of writing since we
have had no mail for some time.
I can think of no more to write of so
I will close sending my love to you all there.
All my Love,
Stanley
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