Nothing to do today. Read most of the day and played the 81st Recon tonight. We lost 6 to 3. I just couldn’t pitch at all. Tough we had to lose, but you can’t win them all. Went to the show after the game. Came home and went to bed. The name of the show was “Meet the People.”
Dear Mother & Dad;
If you only knew how hard it is to write a letter from here. There’s just nothing to write about. You just keep busy all day long and in the evening after supper we have a ball game. I’ve been pretty lucky this year. I have pitched five games and haven’t been beaten yet. We are to play a very good team tomorrow night so I imagine my winning streak will come to any end. I wasn’t going to pitch at all this year but our other pitcher seems to blowup after a few innings. I have been playing shortstop. I got a few hot grounders, but managed to knock them down and throw the man out. It still seems awful funny to be playing ball right under Jerry’s nose. Goodbye for now and I love you both
Your Son,
“Chick”
Not much to do today. Read most of the day. Had to go over to the Bn. a few times. Played the 1st Pl. ball tonight and won 8 to 5. Played cards and wrote letters. Went to bed at 11:00pm.
They really had a big air raid last night. Wow. You could hear planes diving all around over the beach head and the bombs would practically rock you to sleep from the jar. Wynegarde and I went down to Anzio to see if we could get some baking powder. There were a few LCI and LCT’s in but all we were able to get was 5 lbs. Came home, ate dinner. Layed around all afternoon and then went fishing. We tried a hook and line for a while and all we caught was an eel. Then I threw in some TNT and we got about 8 fish 7 in. long. Must have weighed about 1/2 lb a piece. Came home and played cards. Had a big mail call.
We received a few clothes in today so I issued them out. That took up most of the day. We played the 1st Platoon tonight and I pitched again. We won 4 to 1. I felt pretty good tonight for a change and they shouldn’t have hit the one run. Mel and I stood Wellman and Wynegarde in Pinochle. Mell and I won.
Nothing to do today but look around for odd jobs to do. Wrote a couple of letters. After chow we played “B” Co. a ball game. I pitched again and won 4 to 2. Not a bad game, and we were just lucky as I didn’t have any pep at all. Read and had a bull session until 10 pm, then went to bed.
Dear Mother & Dad;
Very little to write about, but I will write you a few lines to let you know that I am fine. I had a letter from Billy and he said that dad was out digging up the lawn and planting his grass seed as spring must be in the air. The weather here now is swell. It seldom rains any more which is quite a relief. I haven’t been able to see Snook lately. Maybe I get over one of these days. We had a ball game tonight with the Headquarters Company. We won 5 to 4. We were behind 4 to 0 and I went into pitch. Got by pretty lucky and we won. I have been playing shortstop and a was the first time that I have pitched this year. Old Jerry sat up on the mountains and takes in the games. This is the first time combat soldiers ever played ball under combat conditions. Goodbye and write.
Your Son,
“Chick”
There is just nothing to do but lay around. Nothing to write about. Funniest damn war. Everyone just seems to be waiting for something to happen. We played Head Quarter Company tonight and won 5 to 4. We were licked 4 to 0 and I went into pitch in the fourth inning. Lucky we got some runs and won. Mel and I went to the show tonight. Came home, wrote mom & dad & went to bed.
We have been in Combat four days now. The 29th I will have 18 months over seas and 6 months of actual combat. Our Division has the most days of any division. Not much to do today. Worked a little on the diamond. Went to the Battalion a couple of times and played a ball game after chow. We lost 5 to 4 to the 3rd
Dear Mother & Dad;
What’s cooking at home. Gee, but I would like to see the inside of a clean house for a change. But we do have a pretty good shack to live in here or I should say dugout. Mel and I dug into the side of a hill, put a board top on it and covered it with dirt. We have it well on the inside two. We have enough room for two cots and a ledge to put our things. We have the side lined with burlap and pin up’s all around the walls. Believe it or not we even have electricity. The company got hold of a German generator in Sicily so we carry our light plant with us. Very seldom we ever get to use it in combat though but this is an exception. We even put a 
cardboard floor in it and sweep it out every day just like our mother used to make us sweep the house when we were kids. We call our house Melgard & Bruns “Flack Shack” Some house eh!
Sorry I am not able to send you a mother’s day card but maybe this one will take its place. Guess this is all for now. I hope you both are feeling well. By By and I love you both very much
Your Son,
“Chick”
