Letter 13
During the WW2 there were outfits that were so heroic Americans .. one was the 8th air force .. England would only bomb Germany at night … of course they bomb with no accuracy … so we sent the 8th over there… they had the norden bomb site … and they bombed at day with no fighter support .. they took such horrible casualties … before the 8th arrived it was common for the English to turn back if they encountered heavy resistance… on many missions the8th would loose 80 percent … sometimes not a single plane would return … but never …not one time … never never never did they turn back .. why were they so brave ? .. it was not their country … it was England that was being bombed and threatened by Germans … the English couldn,t believe
we were doing such suicide mission every day !!! …. I told you about George Huske my friend that flew the mail plane at night … he was a captain in the 8th..he was shot down twice and captured both times… and he escaped both times and made it back to England … why did they fight so hard ? … their mothers and sisters weren’t threatened .. they say that the only outfit that took a higher percentage of fatalities was the german u-boat crews .. the other outfit I admire is the 1st marine division .. those jarheads never took a step backwards .. they were fighting on small volcanic island in the pacific .. they didn’t have young girls throwing roses at them as they entered a city … no wine … no rest … no city … they fought relentlessly in sweaty jungles against suicidal japs… Tarawa … pelalu … iwo jima … guadal canal… Okinawa … the european war was so different … but the first marine division was unstopable … the stupid jarheads just kept going straight ahead … there was very few 1st marines that survived … there were lots of replacements .. lots of dead jarheads … but few that was the 1st that lived but why did those jarheads fight so hard ??? Japan was no real threat to our homeland .. tens of thousands of the 1st are stuilll buried on those forgotten islands .. and all those 8th airforce … a grease spot in german field … the germans knew that when they shot down most of the english planes the knew the planes would not be back soon … but the germans were so confounded when they shot down almost all of the americans planes .. we would be back tomorrow !!! it is like in Afganistan..we don,t seek shelter.. we don,t stop fighting at night .. and we don,t turn back ….
The 8th didn,t turn back .. the 1st didn,t turn back … why would they expect the 11th special force.. or the 10th mountain … or the 101st airbone??? … I,m so proud of those boys … did you know about in Bastogne in Belgium in WW2 ? it was December of ,44 … Germany was almost defeated … our troops were relaxed … suddenly Germany launched a surprise offensive in the Ardennes … our troops were caught off guard … thousands of us were captured … surrendered … full retreat !!! … it was a disaster … the Germans were driving for the seaport of Antwerp … nothing was in their way … it was bitterly cold … we rounded up the 101st from whorehouses and bars all over Paris … sent them to the airport .. they gad no winter clothes … nothing … but there was a crossroads town in Belgium the was crucial and the 101st was the only hope … everyone had already surrendered or being captured or retreated in that town .. Ha ! … those crazy fuckers jumped into Bastogne… they hit the ground fighting … outnumbered a thousand to one … but they held Bastogne… what was a big embarrassing retreat was now a battle … of course there were very few 101st … but they fought like tigers … but they didn,t have any food .. they were short of ammo … and they were freezing to death !!! … no help … no nothing … they gad two famous sayings in this battle … a radio message asking how things were doing .. the reply was ‘ they have us surrounded:” the poor bastards!!!” … and after 10 days the situation for the 101st was desperate .. they were freezing … little ammo . no food… they were all shot up … half dead … just a few guys left … the german general sent a messenger .. surrender or you will all die … gen Mccaulliffe sent back the reply “ Fuck you “ !!!!! … the 101st don,t surrender.. and they don,t run … and the germans attacked again but the 101st fought like crazy again… and eventually Patten,s third army,s fourth armored division broke though the ring surrounding Bastogne and saved the 101st … it was the 101st finest hour… but guess what … in one of those tanks that fought for 3 days .. day and night to get to Bastogne .. to make the last tank battle of the war … in one of those tanks that fought their way into Bastogne was Russell M.. my uncle .. my dad,s brother .. my uncle… but so what don,t f… with 101 … when everyone else runs send in the screaming eagles !!! they are a proud outfit .. rightly so… you know probably now more about American military untits than about different Russian units … but I can,t say anything about Russian soldiers because it was so secret …