Camp McCoy in the Words of My Uncle: 2020-09-27

July 28, 1943

Wednesday

Hello Mother,

Will see if I can find a little news to-night. It won't be much as I can't think of anything to write about to-night.

I sent you a souvenir of Chicago. Also a couple of pictures I had taken.

Boy haven't we been working hard since coming back. Monday we went through a physical endurance test. Gee, the day was hot and did it wear the men down. At the end we had to make a 4 mile hike in 50 minutes. I still can feel the effects of it. Just think of running at full speed then make a dive head on into soft sand 8 or 10 feet out. Double time with a man of extra weight on your back for 100 yards. Oh well, it's over and I'm not dead and this Yankee made it.

I got my Battery picture and will send it home soon. I want to get a few names on it. (Remember I did a special post on the photo where he was able to get 66 names out of about 90 men in Battery B.)

I'm looking for a letter to-morrow from home.

Last night we scrubbed the barracks until 9 o'clock. After that I was tired so went to bed.

I have to laugh at these boys from the South. (Sorry, Glynn Raby Jr.) Last night it got cloudy and a little damp but it was swell to sleep. This morning those boys from the South complained about this cold as-- weather in the damn state of Wisconsin. Ha Ha I like it better myself when you have to work hard.

Think the fellow from Westbrook, Maine, Louis P. Marion on North Street has been discharged from the Army because of his ears. I think I told you about him when I was home. I didn't know he had gone. It was about the 10th or so. I'm glad, I'm well with good health but still wish I was home. Some people didn't think I'd make the Army. My T.B. from S. D. Warren left me quick Ha Ha.

I have to go to the gas chambers to-morrow with a special gas drill. One thing you never do is take off your gas mask without first testing to see if any gas is around. They tell us never take it off even if our mother-in-law tells us to. To catch us in our chamber is strong tear gas. When you get inside and the officer says "remove mask," that is one time you can disobey. One Staff Sergeant took off his mask and they had to help him out the door. Guess he felt he'd never stop crying.

The other afternoon we watched from a high hill a battle going on in the valley. Only one side fighting, that is, our troops were taking a German fortification. Everything was real, even the big guns firing over their head to soften up the enemy. Gee you can't begin to realize the roar and noise all at once. I bet it could be heard from many miles around.

Well, Mom, I've done good don't you think. Wrote more than I thought I could when I started.

How is Dad? Tell him I want the pig's tail this fall. How is Eugene's foot? Give my love to Helen and Joe.

Good Night Mom

Love Charles

^^Jul 26- Otto Skorzeny's commando group arrives in Rome. Otto Skorzeny was an Austrian-born SS-Obersturmbannführer in the Waffen-SS during World War II. During the war, he was involved in a string of operations, including the rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity. He died in 1975.

OTTO SKORZENY

^^Jul 27- 772 British bombers attack Hamburg, Germany.

On the night of 27 July, shortly before midnight,[8] 787 RAF aircraft—74 Wellingtons, 116 Stirlings, 244 Halifaxes and 353 Lancasters— bombed Hamburg.[9] The unusually dry and warm weather, the concentration of the bombing in one area and firefighting limitations due to blockbuster bombs used in the early part of the raid – and the recall of Hanover's fire crews to their own city – culminated in a firestorm. The tornadic fire created a huge inferno with winds of up to 240 kilometers per hour (150 mph) reaching temperatures of 800 °C (1,470 °F) and altitudes in excess of 300 meters (1,000 feet), incinerating more than 21 square kilometers (8 square miles) of the city. Asphalt streets burst into flame, and fuel oil from damaged and destroyed ships, barges and storage tanks spilled into the water of the canals and the harbour, causing them to ignite as well.

AERIAL VIEW OF BOMBED HAMBURG VIDEO BELOW

^^Jul 28- Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini resigns.