Thursday (I think)
24 May 1945

Darling,

Here I sit in a workman's flat in Germany. I arrived last nite after one of the most beautiful and arduous drives I've ever undertaken. The city is one of Germany's largest, Frankfurt-am-Main, you've probably heard of it. I arrived well ahead of anyone else except the major who flew in but since I can't locate him, I'll attempt to relate my trip to you while I'm killing time waiting for some orders.

I was supposed to come in a convoy of jeeps but I was left behind. I was at the motor pool well ahead of time but my jeep was crowded in the corner. Since I was the outsider in the convoy, I guess they forgot about me. Anyway, I got out on the street just in time to see the last jeep go around a corner in Reims. That was the last I ever saw of my convoy.

I chased them but wasn't sure which route they were taking. Just my luck, I picked the wrong one. I reported back and was told to chase them again. One jeep can travel much faster than a convoy. I was told how to get out of Reims and the first large town I would hit-Vanziers. That was all. I took off at seven a.m., one hour after the convoy had started. I kept going and when I stopped for gas in Luxembourg four hours later, I learned that the convoy was less than fifteen minutes ahead of me. I was told a road to follow to catch them. I turned into it and whoof, it was solid mud and straight down. I almost lost control of the jeep but managed to miss a tree at the foot of the hill. However, in missing the tree I side swiped a fence. At first it appeared like nothing serious had resulted. I got back to the main road under my own power but couldn't turn to the right. The left wheel was way out of alignment. I limped into an ordnance depot three miles farther into Luxembourg City and had it repaired. I ate lunch and called back to Reims to see if I should continue alone or wait until morning to see if I could pick up another convoy. I wasn't worried because I had everything I own in the jeep, plus a loaded carbine and two days K rations. I was told that if I could pull out by three p.m. to go ahead, if not, wait until morning. I was less than halfway and it isn't healthy to travel in Germany alone at anytime and even the convoys stop at night. The jeep was ready at two so I took off like a big bird and headed up the Moselle Valley for Koblenz. It was a little longer that was but the road was supposed to be better and the scenery more beautiful. I got through Trier without event and headed toward Koblenz. Just outside of Trier, I picked up the Moselle and drove right along its edge for almost fifty miles right into Koblenz. For the last twenty or thirty miles it was downhill all the way. I couldn't believe it. I'd go sailing down a long winding hill (mountain) and when I got to the bottom, I'd go around a bend and start down another one just like the last. This continued all the way to the Rhine. At six-thirty I pulled in Koblenz. No description of it can give a true picture. It's a dead, deserted city. No one building is untouched. It took me ten minutes of driving here and there before I could even find an MP to direct me to the route I wanted to take. (The highways have all been marked with route numbers just like in the States and sign posts point the way. Except for a mix up once in a while in a town or city they are easy to follow.)

From Koblenz I followed the Rhine south to Bingen, then over to Mainz and up to Frankfurt. I arrived in Frankfurt at nine-thirty, just as darkness was setting in. I got to the office by following signs along the streets and a fellow showed me to the billets. Again we are billeted two miles from work!

The beauty of the Moselle and Rhine Valleys is beyond description. Its just like the pictures you see. I thought England was a land of picture post cards but this is infinitely more so. Mountains with vineyards growing on terraces from the water’s edge to the summit. Trees and smaller vegetation covering the hills and the valley plowed and planted. Along the road, people passed endlessly, pushing carts, buggies or any other conveyance stacked with what belongings they had salvaged. And the girls! Wow! Not pretty of face but what bodies! Almost everyone I saw along the way was built like a brick-house. At Bingen when I stopped to ask my way from an RTO station, a pretty girl, well dressed was standing there. She had been talking to the fellow in the office. She told me in good English how to get to Frankfurt. Then she wanted to ride with me to show me the way. I asked her what she wanted to go to Frankfurt for and she said it was as good a place as anyplace. She had no place in particular to go and not much to do. She was about 18-20 years old. Had it not been for the law against fraternization, I would have been sorely tempted to take her along.

No one stopped me along the way and I was never asked for identification or travel orders, I was wearing ADs and leggings with the new battle jacket that we were just issued. The jacket is identical to the jackets the officers wear. Almost every MP on guard along the way saluted me as I drove past! Even this morning on the way to the office the guard at our billet gate threw me a salute. Guess I’ll have to put my stripes on to save embarrassment.

At Mainz, the MP asked me if I was traveling alone. I said yeah and he let out a whistle. I guess most people don’t do much single traveling in this country. It’s bad for one’s health.

When I parked the jeep for the night, it registered 390 miles more than when I got in it that morning, fifteen hours earlier.

I wouldn’t particularly like to drive it again but I wouldn’t have traded that once for fifty rides in an airplane. Patton has nothing on me. I crossed both the Moselle and Rhine and drove 390 miles all in one day! I don’t care if it was V-E plus fifteen.

These billets are quite nice. The one I’m in is a small room—three double decked bunks-with wallpaper. It even has furniture—now. I came in last nite and found a light bulb for the light then went looking. I found a big desk—like a teacher’s desk at school—and a chair. I even got all the drawers to go in the desk. I don’t know where I got all of it, but I’ve got it and if anyone tries to get it back it better be while I’m not here. All the room lacks is a clothes rack. The service company will probably provide one as soon as they get set up and in operation. Everything is a bit chaotic now. I’m two days ahead of schedule. I left word with the MP at the information desk to tell any officers from AG that they could find me at my billet. I expect to lie around and relax for a day or so until our supply trucks arrive.

Guess I’ll take a run back down to the office now and see if I can find the Major. It’s four o’clock and he knows I had trouble with the jeep yesterday and may be looking for me. I think the APO is there too so I’ll mail this. See you later. All my love and good luck.