Laurel outlook., 1945-05-30

Believe it or not. / have beer
given the Bronze Star medal fol
some little incident of which you
might have read.
l left Camp Swift on Christmas
night, crossed several States and
arrived in Virginia. We sailed from
Patrick Henry at Hampton Roads,
Va, on Jan. 5 and got to Naples
on Jan. IS. We had a nice big
boat and the trip was not bad. We
had to watch for submarines, and
those in charge of the ship were
glad when we came to the Strait
of Giberaltar.
We went to Naples, which was
then a long way from the front.
We got off the big ship and board
ed some LCI's, but were unable to
leave the next day because the
sea was too rough. We did walk
around Naples in formation, and
did not see much other than The
~cheapness of the place. We left
there the next day and got a good
start, but had to turn back because
the sea was so rough. We were
in the air and under the water and
some of the boats were about to
break in two.
We landed in a little town, inter-
esting because it was where the
Apostle Paul landed while on his
way to Rome. We stayed there
until the boats We're repaired. We
went around the town and found
it interesting, but talk about stink
ing places! We saw an excavated
amphitheater where at one time
Christians were fed to lions. 1t was
thousands of years old, yet the
structure was good. 1t was built by
slaves and was covered when a
volcano erupted in Bible times.
We left there about the goth
or 22nd and landed the next day
at Leghorn. You may remember
the story about the ships our air
corps sank in that harbor. 1t sound
fantastic, but | wish you could have
seen the mess. The story as re-
leased was not overdone, it was
undertone. Ships were everywhere
but afloat.
We went from there to Pisa, the
town with the leaning tower. | was
able to visit the tower and the
1dIlOuS Cathedral lHdC 10 JOO years
old. l went through the cathedral
and to the top of the tower.
After that we moved northward
to the front. You have seen the
names of the many mountains and
towns printed in the papers. l
passed through and around many
of the towns, some of which were
Pistoia, Montecantini (where I met
Loveen while l was in rest camp
four days and he was en- route to
Bolonga, Verona, Lake
Carda, Riva, the Pc river and Pc
You can follow the move
ment on a map. At Montecantini
the wife Of Mussolini is supposed to
be held at present. The other day
was near the northern border, and
we are living on a lake near
the Alps.
Our division moved so fast we
did not see much of the country.
| have been to Florence and at
tended an opera there.
l think you would be interested
in seeing the farms here.
Coming through the mountains,
it seemed there was not a house
or building other than churches that
had not been wrecked. All the build
ings are of stone.
We are now living in the Danish
legation, a beautiful mansion that
cost 100000. In the States a
palace could have been built. There
are many beautiful villas along the
AXE here and they make nice casas
(homes) for the dog faces. This
is a resort area and many big shots
have homes here-not only Italians,
put others. Carlo stayed here when
she toured the area. / went
one of Mussolini's palaces,
one he had recently used. Talk
about fancy! Yet in the richest of
he houses some of the materials
and fixtures cannot compare with
some of our cheap stuff in the
l don't know how near l am to
but l hope to hear from
him soon.
d. n |