I forgot to post this letter on the date it was written - August 1st. At least it’s still August - barely!
Letter #31 - from Stewart to Dad
HEADQUARTERS AND SERVICE COMPANY FIFTEENTH ENGINEER BATTALION ARMY POST OFFICE NUMBER NINE UNITED STATES ARMY1
August 1, 1946
Dear Dad,
Received your letters on consecutive days, so I was not kept in suspense too long as to the whereabouts of the pictures. The picture of you is the first I have seen of you for a long time. I notice that it was taken in the back yard at 1082.2
This morning, Air Force Day and 9th Div Org Day, we paraded for Maj Gen McBride and Lt Gen Keyes, Third Army Commander3. The parade was supposed to begin at 1000, but we waited until 1030, and it was announced that there would be a delay of 15 minutes until the Third Army Commander arrived. Finally, at 1100, a big, black car of foreign make, with MP's on motorcycles a block ahead and behind, drove up. Today is the 6th Anniversary of the activation of the 9th Inf Div in this war.
When I first came here, on the 6th of July, we lived in an apartment-style building about 8 or 9 blocks from the central part of town, about a 10-minute walk. But now we have moved to a Kaserne, which is a camp set off from the community around it by a wall. We are now about a 15-minute ride from the center of town. We live in barracks-like buildings, with the whole company on two floors. The center hall must be two blocks long, and it goes around a corner and the 138t Engr C Bn has some men on it. We have our own bus, which makes several trips downtown, but not always at the time that one wants the transportation. So, if we happen to see a 138 truck, why, we stop him and climb on. We moved everything in one big day. And when you consider that we had a number of desks to move, and quantities of records, besides our own personal belongings, it was not such a small job. I know that my roommates's and my stuff together filled the rear of a 3/4 ton truck.
Since I came down in the first shipment from the 10th Engr, two or three groups have left there, and many of them have come down here, consequently we have a majority among ourselves, almost, and have no trouble in finding old friends. It happens also, that the former S-3 officer in the 10th is now our company commander here. And the former first sergeant of B Co of the 10th is filling in here in the same position in H/S Co of the 15th.
________________________
1 Since Stewart's last letter (last March), Stewart had been transferred from Homberg, Germany to Augsburg, Germany (he refers to this move in ¶3). Shirley and I visited there in 1984 when we were driving around Germany, but we were not permitted to enter the camp.2 By this time we had returned to Minneapolis from Morganfield, KY, Dad was out of the service, and we were living at the home we owned at 1082 13th Street.
3 This is Geoffrey Keyes (1888-1967), who was closely associated with Gen. George Patton, and of whom Patton said "he has the best tactical mind of any officer I know." Maj Gen McBride is probably Horace L. McBride who in 1946 was commanding General of the 9th Division (Stewart refers to this day as the 6th Anniversary of the activation of the 9th Division). These were two very important generals.
In the second shipment, my old friend, Raymond Flynn,4 whom I went with to Ft. Leavenworth back in Nov 44, and met again at Camp Pickett, Va, and came over with and went to the 10th Engr with came down here also. He lives in Chelsea, Iowa, not far from Marshalltown. The Bn mail clerk, who also hails from the 10th Engr, lives in Jelley,5 Iowa, and says he knows where Anamosa is. As soon as I got your first letter, I went to a map of the U.S., and I found Anamosa is. It isn't far from either Minneapolis or the places in which we used to live in Illinois.6
I hope that you can sell the house for as much as you quoted, for then you would not be put out to get a new car. I would like to know about it, for I am interested in driving now, myself, after working around in the motor pool for several months. I learned how to drive in Homberg, Germany. I can drive a jeep and a 3/4 ton truck, and i know how to shift the gears on a 2 1/2 ton truck, but Iave never had one out on the road. Of course, I have not driven either a jeep or a 3/4 ton truck very much, but played around a little, for I never got a license and I didn't learn much about maintenance. I would like to get a brand-new jeep when I get back, if only they didn't cost so much. I heard that they cost $1000 new now in the states. Of course they are sold over here for $500, but they are used, and although good, would cost something to take home, and repair would have to be done at some time in the near future.
Today is supposed to be a holiday, but S-1 worked all day. However, we still have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Your faithful son, Stewart
4 I have been unable to find any reference to this Raymond Flynn online, but there is an older Raymond Flynn, my father's age, buried in Chelsea, Iowa - that may be this Raymond Flynn's father.
5 There is no "Jelley" Iowa, but there is a "Kelley" Iowa, and since "j" and "k" are next to each other on the typewriter, I'll assume this is a typo.
6 By the time this letter was received, we must have been very close to moving to Anamosa, or maybe were already there. I entered ninth grade in Anamosa High School the fall of 1946 - 75 years ago!
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