Letters Home (54)

14 Feb. '45
Beloved,
     Oh boy - mail!  At last it seems we've established contact.  ...  Sparky [Maj. Francis Adams] just read this joke and darn if I don't believe it.  Two GI's captured a Jap and spent three hours coaching him in English.  When the intelligence officer came to question him, he asked, "Do you speak English?" to which the Jap in great eagerness said "Where do I stand on the rotation plan?" [In an effort to shore up morale, a system was set up in March1944, so that one percent per month of the troops in hardship areas could be allowed to go home for a visit at the discretion of the theater commanders; the use of a lottery system was suggested, but it didn't work to the satisfaction of most of the troops.]  ...

Japanese dual purpose gun (27 mm anti aircraft gun) in Guimba

     This morning I took a picture of a Jap dual purpose gun that commanded the road near us and of the Jap ammo car on the track that had been blown up.  I looked in at the rice mill where rice is polished and put in bags.  I can see why brown rice isn't popular.  The stuff is just like barley with the hull on!  And I located where they hold cock fights Sunday mornings.  It is a large shed with a galvanized iron roof, with bleacher seats!  Of course it may be used for other things as well.
     The soldier whose arm I amputated is doing much better and is much more cheerful.  [Capt. John] Mihalick just came in with a tale.  He took care of two civilian women who had fractured femurs [upper leg bones] and had just been put in casts today.  They were injured about three weeks ago.  One said she hadn't urinated since morning.  The woman staying with them tried to catheterize her and couldn't so John did.  Then the other one decided she hadn't urinated either!  John told her to try some more!
  Today I had a haircut.  These F.'s [Filipinos] are certainly strong on the neck line!  There is no use arguing in making the man unhappy (or rather, there is just no use arguing!) so I let him go ahead, only making sure he'd take some off the top.  They don't use lather on the neck just wet it and shave!  He used no clips but did a good quick job.
     All my love, Eugene

February 15, 1945  I have a ward of women and children - mostly transferred from the 98th Evac at Tarlac.

Some of the patients on Gene's ward in Guimba who had been wounded by American bombs

15 Feb. '45
Beloved,
     It's good I saved two letters to answer for none came today and other outfits keep getting packages, but small matter.  Say, I just realized that yesterday was Valentine's Day!  Honey, are you still my Valentine?  (Says I out of the corner of my mouth "If you aren't I'll tan you good when I get my hands on you!")  You know (coy look with downcast eyes!) I'm still your Valentine!  I just finished an appendectomy on an F. young man.  It was plenty hot [infected]!  But it was easy to do.  I had some new patients on my officers' ward - FUO [fever of unknown origin] and possible kidney stones.  So it goes.  An F. came in this evening who tried to move a dud artillery shell.  That was one thing the N.G. [New Guinea] natives learned in a hurry - to stay strictly away from anything that looked like a bomb or a shell!  [Gene tells about a tragedy that wouldn't have happened if children had learned that lesson in my next post]  These confounded F.'s are getting worse than the Aussies ever were [about price gouging].  Some of the fellows said one charged him P4 [about a dollar] for 4 eggs and two small pieces of pork!  P6 for cooked chicken.  There is no excuse for it.  An hour and a half later.  [Capt.? Herb] Nigg and I worked on the F.  He had the darnedest set of holes in his hide.  There must have been 50 in all - most of them very tiny.  But I've seen some soldiers who had as many as 200!
     What a snow you're having!  Honey, can't you get someone to shovel it for you?  It's too bad I can't mail you an F. to do the work for you.  One or two pesos a day and some food is all he'd ask. ... But maybe he'd want to plow using carabao and that would scare all the kids and dogs in town!
     All my love, Eugene