The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1945-01-18
Sill Sd((o Is
With 7th Army
In France

The editor is in receipt of a let
ter from Sill Sacco. former printer
/ with the Western News and now
fighting with U. S. forces in France.
ST. has seen great deal Of fight
| ing. He was with the forces that
first landed in the African inva-
sion, was later transferred to Sicily
and then Italy, and eventually into
France through the southern route.
lie is with the anti-aircraft forces.
The letter was written December. 3,
1914. Parts of it follow:
Well, sir, we're moving along
pretty good here now in spite Of
the bad weather that has been
breaking against us and with the
krauts. It's been raining almost
continuously here and everything is
boggy as the devil and it's bound to
slow things down in addition to
making living conditions miserable.
We had one snowfall sbut ii only
lasted about day but / don't think
It viii be long before we have all
kinds Of it.
don't remember whether YOU
knew | was in France or not. We
covered the biggest part of the
country and it's not bad country in
the summer and to visit it as a tour
list, but there's not much endowment
IN it from soldiers standpoint.
The towns here have not been hit
as hard as those in Italy, but there
are lots Of forests and the fighting
IS around them and lots of towns
are bypassed.
believe that this is a much rich
er country than any I've seen over
here The people as whole don't
seem to be hard up, or hungry as
they We're in Italy and Sicily. The
towns up in this section, that aren't
shelled, are rather pretty and pic
turesque with their various colored
tile roofs and surrounded by little
hills and green meadows They are
mostly farming communities. One
thing that it noticeable to me is the
abundance of wood, after italy
where a piece of wood was as pre-
cIous as gold You know I've seen
SO much country that | don't have
interest in places whatsoever any
more. The only place I have a burn
ing desire to see is home, and | can
assure you there is no place like
Home, Sweet Home.
While in Italy we got as far as |
Leghorn and then were called back
to Naples where we shipped out to
France. We had an uneventful trip
but rode iii on u Storm and got the
Wettest, muddiest greeting possible
on our arrival in this fair country
We waited around there in an open
field until our equipment was un-
loaded and then took off and we /
kept going until we couldn't 60 any /
farther and here we are. l can't (
tell you where but I'm in the Sew
enth Army. There's plenty of ex-
cltement here and we're pretty
much on our toes all the time. We
have lots Of visits from the Luft-
waffle and plenty of our visitors
aren't getting back to fly for the
little man with the mustache. These
krauteating b - ds are fighting
hopeless thing but they're too bull
headed to see it and are hanging on
uiiu lighting ike me fanatics LnGY
are. 1t isn't over yet by a long shot,
but | hope to see the end before too
much longer. We're all hoping for
it, you can be sure. This time they
are going to get beating that it
will take them long time to re-
cover from.
So your son-in-law is near Be-
logna. Well, all | can say is that
he's fighting in a tough spot and / 4
believe that Italy is the hardest spot
to fight in Of this European war.
One has to see the conditions and
the terrain to appreciate what is
going on there. You don't pass
towns there. You blast them and
then fight on through them.
I hear from Dave (Dove Holz)
quite often and he's still in the
same place. Id hoped to see Hal
Hall as | knew where he was when
we landed but didn't get chance
before we left. He's in the Rucria
area and that's perhaps the incest
part Of France and very peaceful,
too. Id surely like to meet some
one from home, but no such luck.
Yes, that son Of mine is getting