5 October 1944

Sgt. Stanley W Safford 39539976

5^th Auxiliary Surgical Group

APO 339

c/o Post Master

New York

New York

5 October 1944

Dearest Mother:

Again I sit down and will write you a few lines.  Received your letter of 16 Aug., just four days ago, and have also a few others to catch up on answering for you.

As you may have already guessed our team was working in Brittany at the time of the Fall of Brest.  Sometimes the headings on my letters may give you a hint.  We were, I guess, about 12 or 14 miles behind the lines and as you know our duty is caring for casualties.  We could hear and see the sound and the smoke from the bombardment.

After our duty there our or part of our team came back to headquarters for a few days to again, after a couple of days, leave to rejoin our hospital again, and believe it or not I really enjoy being away from headquarters and all that goes on there.  We all here feel the same.  But I guess we were there for such a long time and we all needed a change.

Again I also had the chance to see Paris and again I purchased a few more things which you will I hope soon receive. Also enclosed you will find a small lace collar which I picked up in my travels which I hope you can use in some way, if for nothing other than a wash cloth.  You might find use for it on a nice black dress of some kind.  I hope it reaches you in good shape.  I sent a large photographic book on Versailles and a rare Botanical book which I picked up on the famous bookshop row on the Seine River.  I also sent Miss Mosher some stationary from Paris.  I will get some more things when I have the chance.  Lace is of course my favourite and I hope to get a centerpiece for Marshall and wife as a wedding present.  He should like that.  I am quite anxious to hear of Nina’s receiving the perfume.  She is quite hard to please.  She also wants a lace tablecloth, but I have seen none as yet.  You will get one when she does.

Paris is indeed a changed place since I saw it first.  The city is full of people and practically everything is open again.  The ladies and gentlemen of wealth are again out in their carriages up and down the “Champs Elysees” and the Boulevard Housmann.  The Place de l’Opera is the place for you to see some day.  The styles and the clothing of both men and women is the latest thing.  The coiffeurs are simply out of this world for smartness.  How they all can afford the clothes they wear certainly surprises me.  One of the officers bought it beautiful handbag of brown suede for about fifty American dollars. So you can see what conditions are, and of course the soldiers here have helped matters along some.

The Louvre and the Palace of the Tuileries are as yet not open but will soon be open again. Most of the fountains are running in the gardens of the Palace’s Tuileries and Luxembourg.

Again I had the chance to see something of great beauty.  That was the famous cathedral of Reims and as I expected the famous Rose window is not there.  The altar is not as grand as some but ornate and rich with gold candlesticks etc.  The ceiling is of great height and still quite a bit of other stained glass remains.

This may be hard for you to believe but our group of teams here with us have traveled over seven thousand miles since we left Fort Sam Houston. What would we have paid for such a trip otherwise?

In answer to your question regarding the evacuation of patients.  All are sent back to the states that will not recover in a very few months.  All the ones not going to the states are all but a few going to England for recovery.

Received letters also from Marshall and Frances Whelchel.

You can send me in one of your packages some tea and also some dehydrated milk and also some chocolate for making cocoa on cold days.

While I was in Paris I was able to get some film.  They have film and camera supplies in abundance there.  So I have enough for awhile.

Thanks a lot for the “Air Mail” stamps which you recently sent.

Mailed my ballot in today and sincerely hope it does some good.

I do not seem to have the piece of poetry right here but have it in another place.  If not I will ask for another copy.

Yes the War damage is as bad in places as the pictures you see.  Some of the roads are littered with tanks and wreckage of other kinds.  Some cities or villages are suffering from very little damage.  The Engineers have repaired quite a bit of the damage in the places they are using.  We saw one air field which is certainly a big mess and you should see some of the railroads, yards etc.

Well this is about far enough for today and I had better bring this to a close and get it on its way to you.

Is it not quite strange to you about Barbara Ellen leaving Greenacres?

Send me also a can or so of popcorn and some salt also when you get a chance.

Love as always,

Your son,

Stanley

Note from the transcriber:

BELG = probably for Belgium, don’t you think?

10 August 1944

Sgt. Stanley W Safford 39539976

5^th Auxiliary Surgical Group

APO 339

c/o Post Master

New York

New York

10 August 1944

Dear Mother:

I have before me here your letters of 27 July and 1 August, the latter received today.

I have started on a new method of writing now.  I have decided to write at least one letter a day, and in that way, will I hope avoid to have an accumulation of owed letters.

Received letters from Cousin Gertrude, Frances Whelchel, Dorothy Kinsfathers and yourself today, which made a nice receipt of letters.  I always look forward to the mail each day and always appreciate letters.

Today was our pay-day and we all received our money in English currency, which by now is quite easy for me. At first the change was a bit of confusion.

Gertrude tells me that Edmond Hess is over here and gave me his address, but that will not do me much good as it is merely an APO, so perhaps I may have the occasion of meeting him some day.  He may be too great a distance from me for us to see each other, because of a time limit.

Your grape crop should be a much larger and better (one) next season.  It seems just a very short time ago that I put the plant in there, and then never thought that t would do much.  Have the large leaved Caladiums in the orchid garden done very much this year?  They are the ones I transplanted while home on furlough. Have the cymbidiums shown much in the way of growth this season?  Dad’s small vegetable garden certainly sounds good.  He should have had something like that all along to spend his odd moments with.

I was out cycling the other evening and rode all the way to the small village near here.  I am certainly going to get myself one if we ever become more settled.  You have heard me mention Major Skinner.  Well he has a lot of fun with his and several other officers have nice ones.  They are the only thing for this country.  We have to walk up or down a hill once in a while but that is not much trouble.

Took a short trip a little distance away today to return some equipment and saw some very nice homes, some of which are very old.  This country is full of them.  Those that I have seen are most of them old barns, but quite a few of them are still lived in and quite nicely kept.  I brought back a little bouquet of lavender, which I bought and it is certainly fragrant and will be nice for my stationary box.  You can very likely see where I am beginning to enjoy myself over here, can’t you?

You can look forward to the balance of the short story which was not completed prior to my departure.  You well very likely get in a couple more installments.

I heard from Catherine Hunter, Esther’s sister.  She tells me that their business is very poor now.  What can they expect.

Well enough for now and more later when I have a better pen hand.

All my Love,

Stanley

12 June 1944

Sgt Stanley W Safford 39539976

5^th Auxiliary Surgical Group

Dodd Field

Fort Sam Houston

Texas

12 June 1944

Dearest Mother:

Just a line to let you know that I am still here and have not dried up and blown away yet.

The heat here has been extreme the last couple days and today the weather was very changeable.  It tried to rain a couple of times but never really got anything wet.

Major Skinner and his party of two or three are leaving tomorrow on the advance party for POE. Of course I do not know where it is and it would be a military secret if I did know.

We have been quite rushed here and the officers are about all signed in now and we are in the midst of processing the whole bunch.

The nurses training program begins tomorrow and that is the beginning of more trouble. They have already been a big pain already.  They are not able or do not want to do one thing after the other, and the head nurse is the fault of the whole mess.

Major Grubin is back from his week at home in bed and as yet is not feeling any too spry.

I went into town yesterday and had dinner and saw a show with a friend of mine here.  We had turkey and I had fresh green corn on the cob and it was certainly delicious.  And of course my favourite of course is always iced tea with my meals and believe me it really is nice on these days.

I have been hunting a Parker 51 pen for dad but have been unable to find one so far.  They are quite scarce.

I at last have the saber all wrapped and will mail it tomorrow and will hope that it goes thru alright.

Received a letter from Frances Whelchel yesterday and she tells me also of Esther’s arm not yet getting any better.

I got a lot of new clothes today and I am going to have some work done on some of them since they are quite out of fits in places.

Sgt Ryan is back again and feeling quite well.

Sgt Rapp’s wife had some delicious fried liver with onions which was very good and it was the first liver I have had in a long time that I really cared for.

I delayed sending the letter you mentioned since I wanted to mail it elsewhere for certain reasons.

I look for the European Theater first since the monsoons are just beginning and all the other disagreeable things are starting in Asia.

No I never expected to get that much returned and there was no place on the blank that indicated that I would get any certain amount back.

I heard from Newton Eberhard whom, you once ran kindly home, remember him?

Well enough for now and will write more later.

Love,

Stanley

Furlough September 1943

May 2, 1943

PFC Stanley W Safford

Co “B” Med Serv Sch

Barracks No3

Ft Sam Houston

Texas

May 2, 1943

My dear Mother:

Here I am about 9:30 Sunday evening after listening to Roosevelt give his little spiel.  That man can sure do more playing around with a vital issue.  Instead of dealing with them as he should, with a little force behind it.  It sure shows how much back from(?) he has to be told by someone else how to run things and it gives me a laugh and a pain in the neck.  And the mess which we every day see around us here.  Even some of the boys who here a month ago were for him are beginning to get a little tired of him in this affair. I wonder if he would win with such a great sweep of victory if he runs again.  We hear more anti this and that every day and the anti Jew idea is sure gaining more ground every day. There are a very few of them that I have seen in the army anyway and when they apply for officers training they are snapped up like gold and rushed off to school and the gold bars. And the Jews that are the captains up here in the section (Surgical Section) teaching just make me sick.  Two of them are hardly understandable that is their English.  And their idea of the enlisted man is sure a poor one because I have talked with them enough.  One of them asked me why I and the rest of us didn’t play golf and a few things of that type.  He thought we had just lots of spare time in which we could do such things.  Believe me I sure put him right on that point. Sgt Elkins was sure amused over it.

He and I sure can get together and have a good time complaining about this and that he is about 26 years old and he comes from Wichita Falls Texas which is north of here.  His wife teaches school there.  And he has no children.  Did I tell you in my last letter that he is leaving here within the next 6 weeks.  He applied for a transfer some time ago and has gotten it at last.

I am very glad to hear of Esther getting married.  The letter she wrote me was dated April 16^th but she did not mention it then you may keep you mentioning the fence reminds me of the first that I always hated to take pictures there because of the awful looking fence.  Are the cannas amounting to anything along the back of the house? Maybe the tree will set seed and you can plant some more of them along the fences.

Yes you can still cut the plants back out in front.  If you don’t, they (will) more than likely get too big and break down.

The article on the Chilniks was an interesting one evidently drew a back page, didn’t it and the one with the Japanese writing is a very good form of propaganda. And the other Japanese items also.

Yes, I saw in the paper the Library get here from LA (The Examiner) about your blackout.

Yes, you are right about LA bad district.  The emergency room get all kinds of stab, gunshots etc wounds that all come from the Mexican district which is a big one and a bad, and the list of prohibited restaurants etc is a long one.

What was the man’s name that was there one time when we went out? Or do you remember?  I shall have to write Frances at once.  Wonder if I should and how to mention it to her.  I think the same as you do that she would not take a bum of any kind.  And as you say I suppose Frances does hate to see Esther do something for someone else for a change.

I am wondering just how Nelson and Muriel are going to come to.

Yes, the pale yellow iris which you speak of is one that Joseph spoke of and he gave me one when he had an extra plant of so if you can, will you keep tract of it for me.

In this letter I am going to enclose some of my negatives which you can have some made of for me if you will.  And the ones which I sent you are for yourself to keep and if you want extras I will pay for them myself.  The ones which you can put away for me are the scenic ones etc.  Any of me that you want.

The weather here has been miserably hot and sticky for my comfort.

As for my OSC it shall have to wait about another month now that I am leaving here.  But as you say I am trying to study for it. Altho I may have to take something else other than MAC but according to what I hear, a person can transfer after becoming an officer.  Who can tell?

Monday May 3, 1943

Well today was payday and the barracks has been deserted and is well gone empty of all of the occupants.  Any of those that are left are all gambling and a couple of them are here in my room making a good job of annoying me and if they continue I shall have to ask them to leave in the same way as I have had to do in the past.  But they sure don’t now what it is to leave another person alone.  I broke them quite a while ago of laying on my bed and otherwise.

Today was the first time that I have seen them not have enough money to go around and I was one of them that had to wait until they had gone and gotten some more. They can certainly make a big mess out of a very small item.  The smaller the problem the larger the mess it seems to be.

Mrs. Tedesco tells me that my name was not on the clearance list which they sent ones to be cleared by the library.  Altho they may have gotten it in too late to be put on the list. I wonder.

I am going to send home my Audubon[1] book and I may send my Hortus[2].  It just depends on how much room I have.  And then you may send it on later for me again or maybe after if and when.  Maybe I become an officer and can carry a couple chests and all.  I shall have to write the Matsons a letter.  You know they have not written me since my sending the vase.  You may ask Mrs. Barrow where she is using the little vase or if she has seen anything else of it, just for my curiosity I certainly feel sorry for him having that business on his hand all alone because I know what it was like.

I truly believe that I shall close for now and get this on its way, and let you know that I have not forgotten you.

Love,

Stanley

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[1] http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Book-The-Birds-America-John-James-Audubon-1942-/140629880835

[2] http://www.archive.org/details/hortussecond029161mbp  - HORTUS SECOND. A concise dictionary of gardening, general horticulture and cultivated plants in North America. Compiled by L.H. Bailey and Ethel Zoe Bailey

20 December 1942

December 20, 1942

Dearest Folks,
I suppose you have been worrying about of late because I have not written you since a week ago. The reason is this. They have been planning on moving for weeks now and the first of the week they started on some of the supply, sgts and headquarters tents. And of course the usual confusion that takes place whenever they do anything here started, and I do mean started. And on top all this confusion there are once 20% of the company in the hospital with the flu or severe colds. With these conditions they continue to feed starches potatoes every meal and the big farce of a ceremony in the morning (roll call where they do not check whether you are there or not, which takes about 6:45. It doesn’t get light here until 8:10 and it is usually quite cold also and they would tell us not to wear overcoats after breakfast. So, Monday night they pulled another trick and had a nice road march and I was perfectly well up to that time, they had us carry loaded stretchers and then had us sit down and rest that is where it started and I got chilled as soon as we got back. I gargled my throat good and poured the Vicks on well. The next morning I awoke with a minor sore throat. Some of them were not able to come out at all. I continued the same procedure because I did not want to find myself in the hospital with the rest of them. I attended classes Tuesday and Wednesday when my throat was practically well but you know my old fault of losing my voice which I did, so Thursday I decided to stay in the tent. My throat was probably just overworked for every time you speak you have to speak twice as loud as is necessary to be heard over the constant noise that goes on here 24 hours a day. Then Friday we moved into our hutimets? And more confusion well as soon as we got moved in I got into bed again to be still and have some rest and I stayed yesterday also and am here today also although my voice is much improved.
They are taking measures to control it now forbidding spitting on ground which used to almost make me sick. Of course I do very little of it as you know and they are cramming us into stuffy mess hall classes either well, I hope we are all on the road to good health again and that I managed to escape with what I did.
Our new hutiments (?) are very nice. They are brought in in sections and put together and the walls and roof are about 1 in thick of some kind of pourers material coated on both sides with a type of tar. It is made by Johns Manville[1] because the initials J M are printed about a foot large on each peace. Jonnie Manville should be able to get rich of a few more wives with what he is making on this war. And of course they are all built lower than the ground around upon cement blocks these dumb Texans do not know any better and don’t want to and the government lets them put up such messes. Then they dig trenches around them to keep the water out. And on top all these conditions the government picks out a site like this for a camp so large. The old outhouses they used when we first came here became full. They started to fill them in. It flooded then they had to spray the entire length of house locations and what a sensed they have down there now then the brilliant sargeants got the idea of building raised walks yesterday so they did making them sloping towards the center and if everything is not a mess now for is rained all night and parts of today in fact right now.
Well enough for the woes of Camp Barkeley and to a more agreeable subject. There are fourteen in a building and thankfully we have quite an agreeable bunch. One in particular who has an IQ of 131 which by the way is ten higher than mine which is very good and you would think him to be a regular rattle brain to see him, but anyway he is inclined to gamble and never loses. He is supposed to have won a thousand dollars or more. In fact a few have seen it but I haven’t. They had quite a rumpus the other evening. One of the lieutenants mishandled one of the boys gambling who I guess he shouldn’t have and the boys were quite a few drunk. I think this boy has a pull of some kind I think.
Yes, I received the package Thursday and it is upon the shelf unopened, we had to buy the four electric light bulbs ourselves for our hutiment, quite a joke is it not. And I sincerely want you to know how much I appreciate it and I am quite sure I will be overjoyed when I open it.
But as to the presents for you, Muriel and probably Frances. I have not been able to get into town as much as I regret to say it so. I will make it up to you after Xmas although I am awfully sorry for it doesn’t make them seem like a Christmas gift if you get it afterwards.
I received a very nice card and note from the Miners, thought some of sending them a card but did not know their address then thought better of it. Is there any one I have not contacted that you think I should write to. You might get me Mrs Bourgonne’s correct name spelling and address and I will write them a note for she asked me to and I am going to send Paul and Thelma a card and addressing it Chappin. If I am wrong you can call her and tell her I made a mistake to cover up for me, She sent me a nice Birthday card I cannot understand Marshall not mentioning my letter if he got it. I will mention it on my Christmas card to him. He is not as prompt as answering his letters and he probably has quite a lot more time now also. I do not have Clarence and Frances Wilde’s address. You might send it to me and I might drop them a note. I also wrote Jay a line.
You asking me if it has seemed a long time since I have been away. Yes, it does. It seems months but I might be him soon for time sure flies especially as busy as they keep us here. I understand the next place will not be so bad then I hope to be able to keep up with my correspondence in a more business like manner. Fred spoke of going out for truck driving, yes I suppose he will. They have literally hundreds of trucks and ambulances. I have seen as many as one hundred ambulances in a driving test convoy, most of them are Dodges while most of the trucks are GMC and the big ones have ten gears in them including reverse and they also have quite a few half tracks. The average training class usually manages to do 1000 dollars damage to the ambulances and trucks and some of them are wore out at 10,000 miles and they are now claiming the Dodges are no good, use a quart of oil in one night fifty miles, quite an expense. Of course they are all governed(?) to 35 miles per hour. If they didn’t they would be wrecked sooner I suppose.
My letter is perhaps getting very long and boring by now, but it is perhaps my last one to you before Christmas. Has Marie returned the pictures as yet?
And Mother, whatever you do, do not work too hard Christmas. Have you gone to see a doctor about your arm and have you as yet gone on the dinner I told you anniversary if not you had better or I am going to do something else about it. Have you seen Matson’s recently, it is funny they have not answered my letter, it seems that people mention me not writing but when I do they don’t seem to answer it. How funny. Did Mrs. Barrow take the job at Matsons? If so, does she like it as well now. By the way what do you think of their house. Do you think it is very nice or is it what you expected.
I suppose Grandpa keeps the room all closed up now that I am away?
Have you found anything more on the camera as yet.
How is Uncle Bill coming with the draft?
I had better be closing now and I hope you have a very happy Christmas and lets hope we can look to a better and happier New Year.
Your son, Stanley
[1] Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality building and specialty products. In business since 1858, the Denver-based company has sales in excess of $2 billion and holds leadership positions in all of the key markets that it serves. Johns Manville employs about 9,000 people and operates 43 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China.
1945: Government mandates production of asbestos-containing insulation products (silica/asbestos combination) to insulate Navy vessels, and products for other war purposes.
1939: Johns-Manville shifts into wartime production.