September 29, 1943
Wednesday Morning
To Mother, Dad and All,
Here is Wednesday morning and the time has come. I won't write tonight because -------------
Everything is OK. Cheer up, Mother Dear, give my love to all. I'm thinking of you all. Will write as soon as possible.
Good bye Mother, Dad, Eugene, Helen, Flavilla and Waneta. Don't forget Ralph, Joe and all the children.
Good bye Mother Dear
Love From Your Son,
Charles
September 29, 1943
Wednesday Night
11 o'clock
Dear Mother and All, As I promised, I'd write every day that I can. I sent you a letter this morning in a hurry, figured it would be my last but here I am. Plans and orders were changed a little.
We are on the alert and everything is packed. Barracks' bags have gone but you should see the back pack you carry on your back.
(Drawing by Uncle Charlie on the letter) Do you get the idea? One thing I wished I had was my hunting knife. Mother, I am going to send this letter by one of the new fellows from the 76th Division into La Crosse to be mailed. (It was sent from McCoy) Some of the (I should say just a few) new fellows from the 76th Division that are coming here when we leave, are already here to take over. I received your long air mail letter to-day. The other one came Monday as you thought. You told in the letter about hearing me so plain on the phone. You sure did as I put $1.85 in and didn't have the nickel.
Mother dear, this is Wednesday, September 29, 1943, and it will be my last letter for sure (from Camp McCoy). I saw Marian last night and told her a few last things I wanted her to do. (September 28, 1943 was the last time Uncle Charlie would see Marian. He will never see her again.) I do not know how long it will be until I write again but don't worry. You know I'll send you a letter the first chance I have.
You said I didn't keep my chin up when calling the other night, that's not the reason. Mom, I never dreamed as long as you were here on earth that the day would come when if I really wanted to see you that I couldn't. I just had a feeling come over me that I'd like to be home. I'll keep my chin up but what about you folks at home?
Not a thing here I can write about. I've already written more than I should. Say good bye for me to all the folks around home and friends. I won't write them all down but you know I'm thinking of them all. Tell brother Eugene to be good. Give my love to Helen and Joe, Waneta and Leroy, Flavilla and Ralph. Tell the little ones Uncle Charlie wants them to be good boys and girls. To you, Mother and Dad, I'm proud of you so I will do my part like many a son is doing so you too may say, "We too have a son fighting for freedom and liberty and giving his all."
Good bye Mother and Dad. I'll write some day from somewhere and may God bless you.
Good Bye, Love
Your Son
Charles
P.S. For Mom - X
I know some of you can, but I can not even imagine what Uncle Charlie is feeling right now as he writes these letters. He has never imagine there would be a day he couldn't see his mother, dad, brother Eugene, sisters, Waneta, Flavilla and Helen and also his two nephews & three nieces.He is 27, but some are just out of high school. Many have never even been away from their towns or at least never out of their state. They don't know where they are going except overseas to countries they have only read about in school books or maybe in newspapers or heard them mentioned on the radio. Countries where battles are happening and they have not a clue what a real battle looks or feels like.
For those who return, they will never be the same nor probably their families. Those who lose a son, father, brother, cousin or uncle will live with an emptiness that will never fully go away. Having lost a son when he was 25 from illness, I can relate to that feeling very well.
May our country never forget all the men and women that have fought and even died for our freedom, our liberty, our way of life, and our Constitution. May we never give those freedoms and rights away because of fear or selfish desires. Other countries have given away their freedoms and they have paid dearly. The grass is not greener on the other side of the fence.
^^Sep 27 Anti-fascism opposition begins in Naples, Italy.
^^Sep
29 1st Silbertanne-murder by German occupiers in the Netherlands.
A.M. DE JONG MURDERED (AUTHOR)
DUTCH RESISTANCE GROUP
Operation
Silbertanne (silver fir) was the code name of a series of murders
that were committed between September 1943 and September 1944 during
the German occupation of the Netherlands. The assassinations were
carried out by a death squad composed of Dutch members of the SS and
Dutch veterans of the Eastern Front. At least 2,000 were killed. One
of the most famous of the Dutch resistance group that was assassinated
was author A. M. Du Jong.
^^Sep
29 US General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro
Badoglio sign an armistice. He was an Italian general during both
World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the
fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, he became Prime Minister of
Italy.
British Battleship NelsonThe
British battleship Nelson, moored to No. 8 buoy in Grand Harbour. It
was moored in the same place when the final Italian armistice
document was signed on board the ship on September 29, 1943.
The
group of VIPs walking along the deck of the battleship Nelson on
their way to sign the final armistice agreement with Italy. They are (from left to right)
Governor of Malta, Lord Gort; Air Chief Marshal, Arthur Tedder; Marshal
Pietro Badoglio, Lt General Noel Mason-MacFarlane, General Dwight
Eisenhower, Commodore Royer Dick (face only) and General Harold
Alexander. Photos National War Museum Association
