Hal Cohen Letter - May 19 & 20, 1943
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Title
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Hal Cohen Letter - May 19 & 20, 1943
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Description
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Wed. 5/19/43
My dearest -
I’m waiting in the barber shop for the
barber to appear. Was here last night too
but no barber. I’d better get a haircut
soon, otherwise I won’t pass inspection.
Well honey, it poured to-day and the
bivouac was called off. But we went
on a hike with full field packs. That
includes shelter half, pole, pegs, cartridge belt
with canteens, gas mask, musket, 2 blankets,
helmet liner, leggings and raincoat. It’s not
as heavy as the infantry pack but it still
is heavy. We went about 6 miles out and
6 back. We marched about 4 mile before
the water soaked into our shoes. From
that point on it was hell. Kept sloshing
around in the shoes. What an uncomfortable
[page II]
feeling! After 6 miles we had a 10 or 15 minute
break, then turned around and headed
back. On top of this we double-timed
about every 20 minutes. That almost
finished. But we all made it. I was
soaked (perspiration) thru and thru. I
took a shower and stood under it about
20 minutes. If I didn’t have anything
else to do I’d still be there.
Thurs. 5/20/43
Hello again Hon -
The barber didn’t show up last night
so I went back to the barrack. I looked
at my arms and noticed that they were
covered by little red spots. Thought it
might by prickly heat but asked the
1st Sergeant about it anyway. He sent
me over to the dispensery and, yes I
suppose you’ve guessed, it was the
measles. Well hon you could have
knocked me over with a feather. I’d been
feeling pretty well and couldn’t believe
it. (Don’t know if they were right yet) So
[page III]
they sat me down in an ambulance and
took me to the hospital.
All of us fellows are quarantined in
a clean, roomy barrack. I’ll draw a
picture of it.
So far there are 13 of us. We got the
last one, a staff sergeant about an hour
ago. Oh, oh, here comes a nurse. They
don’t bother us, just walk thru.
[page IV]
Last night they took my clothes and gave
me a pair of G.I. pajamas. We have swell
beds with all nice clean linen. I don’t
have a pillow back at Camp. It was
stolen the first day so last night was
the first time I slept on a pillow in 7
or 8 weeks.
They woke us up at 6 A.M. Took our
temperatures and then we made our
beds, washed and ate breakfast. We
each got one of those large serving
trays to eat from. The bill of fare was
an orange, cornflakes, 2 hard-boiled eggs,
bacon, toasted bread and butter and milk (Grade A).
Not bad eh?
The best thing of all is the we have
a large kelvinator in the kitchen from
which we can help ourselves at any
time. It is full of orange, grape, apple,
grapefruit and tomato juices. There may
be other kinds but I haven’t seen them
yet.
Bevvy, it seems that I’m in for
a good rest. Frankly I can’t say I’m
[page V]
sorry. That hike yesterday was kind of
tough and I feel stiff.
Hope they bring me mail here. I’ll
write every day. Guess I’ll be here about
a week.
Brought my sketch pad down so I’ll
get plenty of practice drawing. I’ll send
you sketches.
By the way, the book I meant was
FM 21-6. It’s “List of Publications.”
Bevvy I don't know when I’ll call.
But it will be the first night I’m
out of here. Either the end of next week
or the beginning of the following week.
Should I tell my folks about this?
Don’t know what to do. I don’t want to
[page VI]
lie to them. Oh me. What a predicament.
Guess this will give you enough to
read for a while. More tomorrow.
Almost forgot. Had a horrible dream
last night. Had a 3 day pass. Got home
and realized I hadn’t called you. Tried to
but couldn’t reach you by that time it
was almost time to get back to camp. I
woke up at this point relieved to realize
it was all a dream. Went back to sleep
and it happened all over again. And once
more besides. What does it mean?
I’ll say toodle-oo now my little
censor and hope I hear from you
soon.
with all my love
Hal
P.S. Address your mail the same way as before
Hal
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Contributor
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LeBourveau, Emma
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Coverage
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World War II
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Creator
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Harold Cohen
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Date
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1943-05-19
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Format
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Written Document
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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Keene State College
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extracted text
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