Laurel outlook., 1945-06-13
Letters From
Our Boys
and Girls

Cpl. 1nOmaS j. WlnIerS, IIdIo
Itlay, June 1:
1t is time l wrote and thanked
you for the Outlook. l have been
reading it for quite some time since
/ have been in the service. 1 find
many interesting articles in it, and
the Letters column is especially in
teresting. 1 like to know what the
fellows from home are doing and
where they are.
1 have been in Italy a year and
six months and find it an interest
ing country. 1 was stationed in
Rome eight months, and while there
I saw many of the historic places,
such as the Coliseum, st. Peters ca
thedral and many others.
1 have seen but few buildings con-
structed of anything other than
stone and tile. Wood seems to be
quite scarce.
1 am now stationed in a small
town, Prato. There are just a few
of us here. The rest of the COM
pany is in Florence and Bologna.
So far l have not had an oppor-
tunity to see Bolonga.
Between here and Galzzano, the
railhead, there are several tunnels,
one of which is IL miles long. 1t
has a small yard constructed in. 1t
is quite a thing. The railroads in
this country were certainly torn up.
What the Germans didn't do, the
American air force did. Anyway,
it's quite a job repairing it.
1 haven't seen anyone from home
for quite awhile. l guess Jiggs De-
Nittis is still in Leghorn. He is the
only one close by.
Pvt l.. E. Nave, Germany, May
10:
Since we have run and whipped
these krauts, l figured l could take
some time to write you a few lines.
Since volunteering for service in the
infantry 1 have been so busy l have
not had much time for anything ex-
cept ducking bullets and shrapnel.
That took up "a hours a day. l for
got to duck once, but l came out
with only a minor wound, which at
least gave me a little rest.
1 was very glad to hear the war
was over in Europe. 1t vas a long
and strenuous fight, but well worth
all the toll.
1t was a happy sight to see the
different nationalities we freed
when taking these German towns.
Among them were Russians, Poles,
Czecks, Ukrainians, Belgians, French
and a few Americans and English.
They were all glad to see us and
we were as happy to free them as
they were to be freed. They helped
by identifying German soldiers
in civilian clothese (there were a
number of them), also they showed
where the mines were and hidden
guns of all sorts. We had some
trouble with the Hitler youths, kids
of IL and ID years. We were
forced to kill or capture them when
ever the situation demanded. Also
We were troubled by women snipers.
The majority of the people here
were mighty sorry to see us as they
thought, and still do, that Hitler
was unbeatable. 1t is comical to
watch them hang their heads in de-
feat. The towns were surely trying
TO throw us off the track by dis
white flags of surrender
when a few days before they were
f1xrino fha crracfiEo |
At one time we we're the outfit
to Berlin when we were
along the Elbe river. That also put
Us closest to the Russians. We did
not get the chance to be the ones
20 meet the Reds first, but we were
as happy as anyone to hear the
forces had made connection. The
Elbe is about half as wide as the
Yellowstone, but it is deep enough
float food barges and ferries. We
;ank two boats with u bazookas
md we captured a few prisoners
Who had crossed the river to hunt
God. There were thousands of
soldiers trying to get away
rom the Russians, of whom they
mighty scared. They have
rood reason to be, after the way
hey treated the slave laborers.
I hope to be home soon, but there
8 yet plenty of work to do here and
n the Pacific. I'm saving my cele-
until Pm back in a civilized
world, which is no less than the
rood old U. S. A. No schnapps,
ognac or vodka for me-give me a
lass of good Yellowstone river
water and a Montana beefsteak.
Henry Barthuly, S. s. &c, South