My Funny Valentine

SCOTUS is like the New Testament

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. ~Ecclesiastes 1:9 (KJV)

The Supreme Court echoed Ecclesiastes' "new thing under the sun" language in a case concerning the patentabilty of oil-eating bacteria, i.e., a species of living things engineered by humans. The decision recited:

The Committee Reports accompanying the 1952 [Patent] Act inform us that Congress intended statutory subject matter to "include anything under the sun that is made by man."
~Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 U.S., 303 (1980)

Compare "there is no new thing under the sun" with "anything under the sun that is made by man."  Novelty was inherent in the Supreme Court's phrase because they were construing 35 U.S.C. § 101, which provides:

Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.*

SCOTUS affirmed that micro-organisms constituted a composition of matter within the meaning of the statute.

Can we reconcile SCOTUS with the Old Testament?  Yes, if we consider Ecclesiastes to refer to matter per se and not to compositions of matter. New chemical compounds, even living organisms, are just old atoms put together in new ways.

On the other hand, SCOTUS was also saying that there was such a thing as something new under the sun, so long as it was made by man.
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*Emphasis added. The language came from Jefferson, but he originally used the term "art" for "process."

More "I, Pig"

Jack Muller was a Chicago cop and detective from 1946 until his retirement in the 1980's. I already wrote about his take on the 1968 Democratic Convention riots here.  He worked the 1952 Republican and Democratic Conventions (both were in Chicago that year) and was assigned to Douglas MacArthur at the former.  Muller describes the General as grim earnest and his Party as overly serious if anything. He ascribed it to their having been out of power for so many years.

Muller goes on to describe some debauchery at the subsequent Democratic Convention in August, 1952 and then concludes:

Of course, there was so much of this at the Democratic Convention, I could make a whole book out of it alone. And I'm not against men having their fun. It's just that you'd think nominating a candidate for President would be a little more serious, without being the gun-to-the-head affair it was with the Republicans. What a lot of kids are doing these days against the Establishment bugs me, but if they'd known the kind of 'pigs' who were running and trying to run the country in '52, they'd have started twenty years earlier. I know--it's the cops the kids call pigs. But we only do what we're told--by the Establishment, an Establishment whose rule of thumb is: 'No matter what the laws are, we're above them.' It really shows when they nominate a President.

My dad passed through Chicago almost 60 years ago and saw a parade for Robert Taft, a Republican nominee that year. link  He must have gotten within a few blocks of Muller. It's funny how real-life people and their stories can intersect in the past. But I digress.

My Funny Valentine

Who first lichened politics to a type of moss?

The chemical definition for litmus disambiguates to the political expression "litmus test."

The OED says that the political usage first appeared in 1957. link

WTH happened in 1957?

[Update: Twitter friend Meadabawdy reports that Merriam-Webster dates the usage of "Litmus Test" back to 1952: link]

Irony

Iron has so much history that I may have to make a little hash tag label for it like I did for carbon with bloghetti carbonara. There is just too much for one blog post.

In my last year in college at Madison, I took a graduate level course (Chem 714) called Organometallic Chemistry of the Transition Elements. I may have been the only undergraduate in the course. One of the reading assignments was called "The Iron Sandwich. A Recollection Of The First Four Months" by Geoffrey Wilkinson (Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 1975, 100, 273-278).

Wilkinson narrates the story of how he deduced the correct structure of ferrocene, shortly after its incorrect structure was first published. The work was seminal and led (in part) to his sharing the 1973 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with E. O. Fischer of Munich.

Here he sets the stage (annoying footnotes are mine):

In early September of 1951, I arrived at 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Mass., as a new Assistant Professor in the Harvard Chemistry Department. I owed my appointment largely to my nuclear background. Harvard had originally intended to appoint a tenure member in nuclear chemistry, a plan which did not materialize, and had settled for myself and an Instructor, Dick Diamond, a newly graduated Ph.D. from Seaborg's laboratory in Berkeley. I was given a laboratory in the Mallinkrodt Laboratory, and went to work collecting chemicals and apparatus and built myself a small vacuum line.*

______________________ 

* By vacuum line, Wilkinson means a glass tube contraption having numerous valves and fittings designed to allow working in the absence of air. Organometallic chemistry included many interesting chemical species which reacted with atmospheric oxygen- see for example the contemporaneous catalysts Ziegler was exploring an ocean away.

Wilkinson went on to describe adjusting to Harvard faculty life in a chatty way before focusing on his eureka moment:

So the story for me actually began on Friday, I think 30th January, 1952. I normally went into the Departmental Library lateish on Friday afternoons, and as usual I picked up Nature, in which I found the celebrated note by Kealy and Pauson.*  On seeing the structure...I can remember immediately saying to myself  "Jesus Christ it can't be that!"

 ___________________

*T.J. Kealy and P.L. Pauson, Nature, 168 (1951) p. 1039.

Wilkinson intuited that the published structure was wrong because it was inconsistent with any other existing iron compound. The published structure (above) implied that a central iron latched onto just one carbon of each five-sided carbon ring (cyclopentadienyl). In a flash of insight, Wilkinson immediately sketched what was later redrafted for publication as:

He proposed the two hourglass-shaped structures differing only in how the five-sided rings (the bread slices of the iron sandwich) aligned with each other. He quickly went on to show that other sandwich structures existed for other metals, discovering a new genus of compounds now generically called metallocenes.

One irony in this story is that Harvard failed to offer Wilkinson tenure after he did this prize-worthy work, despite the widespread acclaim it engendered during his time there.  Harvard either didn't recognize the importance of his work or, as I suspect, he made some academic enemies there.

I recently found myself at an informal meeting of chemists and a story regarding Harvard Chemistry came up: "Yeah, Harvard--they never tenure anybody" a friend said.  After sixty years, they haven't shaken that reputation. To many, Harvard broke the code of not rewarding merit.

Wilkinson's subsequent career certainly didn't suffer.  He went on to chair the Department at Imperial College in London. He wrote an outstanding textbook used by generations of chemists. He discovered "Wilkinson's catalyst" (something that became near and dear to me).

The tenure story gets better when Harvard's Robert Burns Woodward is considered. Woodward is a co-author on the original ferrocene paper with Wilkinson but did not share that prize with Wilkinson. Woodward, perhaps the greatest American organic chemist ever, had previously won a Nobel Prize alone and probably would have shared another--had he lived--but not this one. Wilkinson thought that Woodward had had the same flash of insight as he. But did he? You can read the story for yourself here,* retold by Professor Roald Hoffmann of Cornell University.  Hoffmann knew Woodward. They shared a Nobel Prize together. But that's another story worthy of bloghetti carbonara.
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*Warning: Hoffmann invokes Rashomon, and quite aptly I think.

Rock-A-Bye Bear

I have a higher quality DVD version of that classic Tex Avery cartoon from 1952 [without the annoying laugh track]. My brother and I used to laugh so hard at the "burp scene" whenever we saw it in rerun on Saturday mornings in the 1960s. I'm putting it here a propos to nothing in particular.  I just don't ever want to lose touch with that classic piece of genius.

Letters Home: "I Don't Know What They Will Think Of Next"

Dec. 29, 1952


Dear Mom,


I guess I had better drop you a line and let you know what I am doing.
I had a nice Christmas. I took a 3 day pass and spent Christmas with a family (German). It's one of the 3 we met when we was stuck in Marktredwitz.

I have been trying to get a jeep-driving job for about a month now and I finally got it. I have to drive a lieutenant around. I also have to keep the jeep taken care of. Change oil grease etc. When we go on maneuvers now I will be driving instead of going on the train. It’s a lot better job than riding on a tank.

We still don't have any snow, but where I was there was some.
I got the billfold and like it. Also the letter with the handkecheif in it. I can't spell for beans. Just like M. used to be.[1] 

Some time in Jan. the company has to ford the Rhine river in barges with the tanks.[2] I don't know what they will think of next.
Tell B. I am sending a watch this weekend.[3]
Bye for now,


Love, V


P.S. See you in 7 to 8 months. I also got the tankers jacket today.

______________________
[1] M. is his oldest sister.
[2] The Rhine was west of his position, so this may have been a Dunkirk-like retreat exercise in the event of a successful full scale Soviet thrust westward.
[3] B. is his youngest sister.

Letters Home: Hanau

Dec 18, 1952
Hanau


Dear Mom,


We got back to Hanau this morning. I sure was glad to get down out of those cold mountains. We have a little snow here but it isn't cold outside.
I would like to keep some of the pictures if you don't mind. I am sending some I took while at the range.
I can get a watch for around $10.00. I'll get one the first of Jan. and send it. As usual there is nothing to write about. I haven't got the jacket yet.
I might go to the show tonight.  "Last Train to Bombay".
This just a note but will try to do better next time.


V

___________________________________

Photos from the firing range:

I think that people who don't approve of guns, weapons and other means of defence have no business being in the military. Join the ranks of diplomacy instead. Of course everyone has the right to oppose the military, but they should stay within the limits of hypocrisy.

Letters Home: Boxes of Cookies, Candy and 90mm Rounds



Boxes of 90mm rounds fired that day

December 10, 1952
[Baumholder, West Germany] 

Dear Mom,

I got a letter from you today and 5 boxes. 2 of them was from you, 1 from Jr, 1 from the V.F.W., and one from church. I got enough candy and cookies for a week.

We fired the 90 MM yesterday. I got to shoot 20 rounds. They cost about $60.00 a round. HE and AP-T. [1] We are going to fire the sub-machine gun Sat.[2] It's been a long time since I have shot anything.

That new Range finder on these tanks sure are accurate.[3] They should be for $35,000 dollars.

I sold those skates to R. before I left. I'll find out how much watches cost the next time I go to town. We are going back to Hanau the 17th.

I never heard about old Bob. He should have been locked up long ago. [4]

Did you get that jacket sent yet? I could use it over here now.
Well I guess I have run out of things to write.
The light go off in about a half hour. 10:00 o'clock
Bye for now

love,
V.

_______________

[1] HE and AP-T stand for "High Explosive" and "Armor Piercing-Tracer" respectively. link

[2] He probably shot M3 or M3A1 "grease guns." These were standard until the late 1950s.

[3]  M47 "Patton" tanks were originally equipped with M12 stereoscopic range finders. These were accurate but proved difficult to use and were eventually replaced.

[4] "Bob" was a notorious drunken no-good in Richland Center--probably like a Bob Ewell of "To Kill A Mockingbird." I wish I had access to the papers from that time so I could give more details.

Letters Home: Moved Again

December 4, 1952
Baumholder

Dear Mom, Dad and All,

We got moved again. We will be here about two weeks. We had a bad thing happen already. When we was unloading the tanks from the flatcars, one of the guys fell on the tracks and it cut his leg off just below the knee. I got there just after it happened. It sure didn't look nice.

It was 2 in the morning and was dark yet.

We won't start firing till Monday. It's all hills in this place, and slick with ice and snow. Cold too. We got plenty of clothes though.

This is a short note, but nothing is happening lately.

Love, 

V.

Letters Home: "These German girls are fat homely beer drinkers"

A letter from my then 20 year-old father to his 18 year-old brother:

November 29, 1952
Fliegerhorst Kaserne

Dear R,

I got another letter from you today, so before I do anything else, I'm going to sit right down and answer it.  It's Sat. night and I haven't got anything to do. The movie theater is only a stones throw away, but I  already saw it.  I usually go everytime it changes. Everything else over here is dead. The girls over here aren't worth taking out. I have only met a couple of nice ones. One is French the other Polish. These German girls are fat, homely beer drinkers. They seem to be that way in all of the American zone and I've been all over it. We're going over in the French Zone the first of the week. I'll see how they are over there.

I sure was surprised to hear about Albert.  If you can get his address, send it across the pond so I can drop him a line. You better forget about joining anything like the Navy. 4 years is a along time. I only got 11 more months. I've been in 13 months today.  It don't seem like it's been 5 months since I've been home but it has. 4th of July to the 4th of Dec. I think the time will go faster after the first of the year.  I don't write any of the kids around R.C. so I don't hear much news of what's going on. I guess a lot of them are getting hitched around there.  

I don't know for sure what kind of car I will get yet, but I think it will be a convert. Merc. or Olds 88. 1950 or up. Depends on how much money I got when I get out. 

How are you making out with the girls? I suppose you got one in all the towns around there. Muscoda etc. Yvonne, that girl I write to in Milwaukee said she saw your car, and thought it looked nice. That was about a month ago. She said you was going with a Miller girl. 

I don't think you will get drafted till about March. They can't draft 19 year olds now (so the papers over here say) till it comes down from Congress again.  Albert was 20 wasn't he?

It's been a little cool over here, but the snow don't stay long. If I can get through this winter, I will have it made. Monday is payday and 3 of us are going in together and buy a radio for our room.

I guess I will have to sign off for this time, 

love, 

V

Letters Home: Thanksgiving

November 27, 1952
Fliegerhorst Kaserne

Dear Mom and Dad and All,

Today is Thanksgiving and we got the day off so I guess I'll answer your letter. I got it yesterday. We sure had a lot to eat. I'll send the menu.

By the time you get this letter we will over in the French Zone firing the guns.

We had 2 more inches of snow today but it is melting fast. We are in the warmest part of Ger. here around Frankfurt. It's lower land I guess. I wished it wouldn't get any colder than it does in Ky. That's where I was last winter. I got 11 more months yet in the army. I sure wish I could get home for my next birthday, but I doubt if I will make it. They like to keep you in over here till the last minute.

Maybe after the first of the year I will find out more about it.

Has any one around Center been coming in the Army lately? [1] I never get to see the county paper anymore. I wish you could send me some.

Did you get that Beer Stein yet? What did you think of the book? It's about right too.

I think I'll send out about 10 Christmas Cards this year. To everyone that I got their address of.

I'll cut this short now.

Love,

V.

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[1] "Center" is Richland Center, his hometown.

Letters Home: "I don't know how they live on that"

November 20, 1952
Fliegerhorst Kaserne


Dear Mom and All,


I thought I would get a letter from you today but I didn't. I got one from M yesterday but haven't answered it yet. [1] We had our first real snow last night. About 2 inches. It isn't too cold yet over here but it won't be long. By the way now that I got my boots ok you just as well could sent my tankers jacket. I think you can send it by air mail. It's cold enough now to be wearing it. You should be getting a box from me one of these days. M wanted to know if I could use some homemade candy. That sure was a foolish question. I can always use some candy (homemade).


We are going over in the French Zone of Germany the 4th through the 19th of Dec. to fire the 90 M.M. on our tanks. [2]  We have to load them on flat-cars again. [3] It's about 100 miles. If I get back in time I might go to Marktredwitz for Christmas. That’s the place we stayed for that week. [4] Two different families I got aquainted with there want me to come back.


Santa Claus comes on the 6th of Dec. and Christmas is on the 24th. [5]  The people over here don't have too big a Christmas because they can't afford much. The average income a month is 200 marks ($50.00). I don't know how they live on that because the price of food is about the same as in the states. Not much cheaper.  I guess they don't spend much for entertainment. The kino (movies) are about all. I know quite a few German words already. Some day I'll make a list. Nix means no. Barnhof means train station. [6]


Next Thursday is Thanksgiving. We get the day off. I think we will have turkey and all the trimmings. What are the kids around town doing? I guess I never will get around to writing R. I guess I go to the show nights too much. It's only about a block away. I just got back from one tonight. "Bells On Their Toes." [7] It was good. It was "Cheaper by the Dozen" number two. A family picture.


Bye for now,
Love, V.

_________________

[1] M is his older sister.

[2] Here's a photo of them firing the big 90 mm cannons on the M47 Patton tank:

[3] A link to a photo of Patton tanks on flatcars around the same place and time as my father's service. link

[4] There seems to be something missing in the chain of letters.  I will figure this out and post the missing letter if I find it.

[5] December 6th is St. Nicholas' Day. German tradition (Dutch too) has children receiving gifts on that day. In Holland, kids put out little wooden shoes on the evening of the 5th in hopes that Sinterklaas will leave them candy.

[6]  Gotta laugh at his earnestness. Years later, when my parents visited me in Zurich, he still called the Bahnhof the "Barnhof."  A few other GI-German phrases from the era that I heard growing up:
Was ist los? was mistranslated into "Wash his clothes?" When asked that, an annoyed GI would reply: Wash your own damn clothes! Then there was the phrase:
 "Shlaffen mit die Froyline, das is prima good!" which needs no translation.

[7] IMBD link

Letters Home: All Quiet on the Eastern Front

I just wanted to wish all the veterans in my circle of acquaintances (real and virtual) a great day and to also thank them for their service. There was a time when I was around people who cared very little for people who were or had been in the service.  Most of them were students and academic types, mostly of a different generation.  I'll never forget the looks on some people's faces about 10 years when we decided to moved to Oceanside. And also what one Canadian dweeb said to me all in earnestness: "You do know they have flagpoles in their yards up there?"
Priceless. 

"Letters Home" is a year old today. I posted the first letter here: link.  I know it gets boring but there is sporadic excitement. Not this time though. Here he doesn't even mention Armistice Day (the name wasn't changed until two years later); nor does he mention Eisenhower's election victory.  He was 20 at the time and the 26th amendment (giving 18 year olds the vote) was still decades away. Plus I remember feeling distanced from American politics myself while overseas. I missed Clinton's whole campaign and election in 1992. I didn't vote that year.

The Eastern Front of the Cold War as is looked in 1952

November 11, 1952
Fliegerhorst Kaserne

Dear Mom and All,
I just got back from the show. It sure was funny. Abbott and Costello, "Lost in Alaska." [1]
I still haven't got the boys watches. I sent that stein and a book today. [2] I suppose it will take a month for them to get there.
We had one snow here so far. It melted before too long though.
I forgot about Halloween this year. You know we were on those maneuvers and I didn't remember about it till we got back last Tue.
I got that letter quite a while ago. The one with the pictures of R's car. I thought I said something about it in one of my other letters. In that picture of duke standing by the planes, sure looks like R.
Tell Jr. not to get me a Spot Light. It will be a long time yet before I need one. I suppose 9 or 10 more months of here.
This picture of myself is a 8 minute job. It isn't took bad for a quick one. I still got the same old mug.

I weigh 175 and am still 6 foot tall.
Have Jr. snap a picture of his pickup and sent it across the pond. I guess this is it for now, no news.


Love,

V.


P.S. I heard R. is going steady again. I'll have to write to him. How's P. coming with the (fussy) boys? [3]

_____________________

[1] IMBD for "Lost in Alaska": link

[2] I wrote about the stein here. I wish I knew which book he sent back.
[3] R and P were his teenaged brother and sister. His seven siblings were all spaced less than two years apart.

Letters Home: #31

October 25, 1952
Fliegerhorst Kaserne
Sat morning


Dear Mom,
We are getting ready to go on a road march with the tanks. We have to load them on flatcars and take them to the Russian border. [1]  It will be about 2 week before we get back. 400 miles round trip.
Last Sunday I went to Sababurg to see the castle. It was just like the ones you see in the movies. High walls, and a moat around it. Looked something like a fort.
I haven't been to Frankfurt lately. I am going in before December and get some things to send home. Tell R. I will write him, one of these days.

I bet dad would really cuss if he was over here. It rained 42 out of the last 54 days. It's been cool here, but no snow yet.

How is Jr. coming along? Has he got that new pick up yet? I hope I can save enough money to get a new car when I get out. At least the down payment.  How much does John want for a Hudson Hornet? [2] I suppose around $3,000.  I won't have any new a.p.o. number, it's still 46.

I sure was surprised to hear Donna B. and Skip C. and Bill K. got married. Things sure will be changed before I get back. So Vern and Ilene are supposed to get hitched too, but the last time I heard Ilene's mother wouldn't sign for her. I think there all foolish to get married the way the world is now. You always got the Draft Board to face.

I heard they wasn't going to draft any more 19 year olds till they got all the 20-21 year olds. R. might not have to worry for year. I hope he don't have to come. I know he would hate it worse than I do. I'm just easy going enough to put up with it. Just waiting till they cut me loose. The 29th of this month and I've been in 1 year, and still a private. Ha! Ha!  Sure different than Jr. I don't care myself if I get anything.

Love, V.

___________________

[1] I found a link with several photos contemporaneous with my father's service here.
[2] Ah, the Hudson Hornet. He must have been smitten back here. (footnote 2).

Letters Home: #30

October 14, 1952


Dear Mom,


I guess I owe you a letter. I haven't got that one from R. It's been a bad day. Raining. We stayed inside and had map reading. We won't be going to the field till the 26th.
They're trying to teach us what way to go if we get lost.
Say can you send me my boots? The pair in my box with the Zippers.
If you send them by airmail I don't think it would cost to much. If you need any money for anything use my money.
Has Dad got a job yet?
I got one tomorrow. K.P. It comes once a month as sure as the sun rises.
By the way, we are 7 hours ahead of you.  At noon here, you're just getting up.
I met a kid from Sun Prairie today.
I think Don E. is over here isn't he? The last time I saw him he said he was going to Germany.
There just ain't a darn thing to write about. It rains all the time. 23 days out of September.
The leaves are just starting to fall. Some parts of Germany had snow already. The higher places.
I guess I will have to sign off for this time.


Love, V.

My father on the left, age 20 yrs

P.S. Didn't go to town this weekend. we had a P.T. test. I passed. Done 35 pushups. 7 pull ups. I had a score of 300. 250 was passing.

Letters Home: "I hope the other outfits over here are combat ready because we're not"

Click To Enlarge

October 6, 1952
Fliegerhorst Kaserne

Dear Mom,

Well we finally got moved. I don't like this camp as well as the other one. This used to be a town. The barracks look like a college or high school. Long hallways and rooms. I'm in a 3 man room. Number 17.

I'm about 3 miles from Hanau and 15 from Frankfurt. Only 20 miles to the Russian border. [1] We are going there on patrol about the 13th.

I got your letter today. I think Marvin is stationed about 5 miles from here but I don't know his address.

What kind of deal will Le Vake give Dad for the Mercury? I don't think he should trade it before winter. It needs a bigger battery.

I gave Les Jim's address. I doubt if I will write to him. I don't like to write. I'll talk to him when we both get back.

It's not too cold here yet. It will be this winter though. I'll be camping out most of winter I suppose. In Dec. we fire the 90 m.m. for the first time. [2] I think if Russia ever attacked the 141st would have to run. I hope the other outfits over here are combat ready because we're not. [3]

Put plenty of mothballs on my leather jacket and tankers jacket, because I will be wanting them when I get back next Fall.

I go to the show every time it changes. It costs 20 cents; I think the price is going up to 25 cents after awhile.

I took a carton of cigarettes to town and sold them to a German for 15 marks ($3.75).  They only cost us $1.00 a carton but I still can't afford to smoke. I can't see it anyway. You have to be careful who you sell them to because that's Black market. Coffee sells for $2.50 a pound.

Love,

V.

_______________

[1] He was stationed near the Fulda Gap, then strategically considered the most likely flashpoint of a shooting war between the US and the USSR.  The Fulda Gap was defended on our side (in part) by the 3rd Army Armored Division. On the other side was Russia's 8th Guards Army, defending a still prostrate Eastern Germany.

[2] The new Patton tanks were equipped with 90 mm cannons.

[3] I wondered what may have caused this momentary shudder in confidence. Nixon's Checkers Speech? The Brits going nuclear?  I think what may have been bothering him was a sense that Eisenhower really was going to be elected.  Ike was leading in the polls at the time. For a young soldier, this meant that the leadership at the very top was about to change--and that change would come on his watch when Ike took office in January the following year.  What effect could that have had on his mind?  Eisenhower after all had been a very successful general--a European war general.

Letters Home: "No wonder our taxes are so high."

September 19, 1952   Friday

Dear Mom,

I got a little news for you. We are moving again, up near Frankfurt. That's about 200 miles north of here. By the time you get this letter I should be there. I suppose my A.P.O. number will change again.

I got a letter from Dad yesterday. My driver's license came too with it. I won't lose them this time. I can get all the film I want at the P.X. Most everything is a lot cheaper than back in the states. Everything is tax free and that makes it cheaper. 17 jewel watches are about $10.00. American made Bulova sell for 1/2 price in the P.X.

Does Jim J's folks still live in R.C.? That Muller boy would like to get Jim's address. He went to Korea.

Has Jr. applied for his combat pay yet? He will get $45.00 a month for every month in combat. Also under the new law you can get a GI loan. [1] Go to school and get $110.00 a month. They pay 75% of the costs of learning to fly. I might take them up on that after I get out. [2]

We were told it cost $3 billion to equip the 141 tank Bn. When all our tanks, trucks, jeeps etc. once running it takes 250 gallons of gas a minute. No wonder our taxes are so high. I don’t know for sure how many tanks is in the battalion but each one is worth a quarter of a million. The Range Finder in one alone costs $36,000. [3] I'm going to send a picture of one as soon as I can. They sure ride smooth. 810 HP motor. No shifting either. Automatic transmission. [4]

It's raining again today. It won't be too long before it turns to snow. I think my pen is running out of ink. It did. It's the ballpoint one I got from R. last Christmas.

Love, V.

______________________
[1] He's probably referring to the Veterans' Adjustment Act of 1952.  His older brother, Jr., reenlisted and did a second tour in Korea.
[2] He never did return to school.
[3] Those numbers must have seemed mind-boggling at the time to rural folks.  Adjusted for inflation, the numbers astound even now, and this was 1952!  This was the sense of out-of-control spending that Robert Taft warned about. And though Eisenhower prevailed in 1952, even Ike famously warned about the Military-Industrial Complex upon leaving office.
[4] The new M48 Patton class tank.  I linked to their specs here: footnote 5.

Letters Home: Not His Brother's Keeper

This letter is the first that he wrote to just my grandmother (note the salutation). I'm not quite sure of the significance of that if any, other than to signifiy that the contents were personal and probably shouldn't be conveyed to his younger siblings, especially his younger brother, R.

Apparently, some sort of breakup occurred and his brother's girlfriend wrote to him, asking him something or explaining something to him. The identities of both "K" and "that girl in Milwaukee" are unknown to me. None of them ever married each other or became a couple.

September 12, 1952
Nellingen Casern

Dear Mom,

I guess I owe you about 2 letters so I will get busy and answer tonight. It's been misting and raining for the last week.
Did my drivers licences come yet?
By the way, how much money have I got in the bank now?  Another check should be coming. I still haven't got the cookies from M. [1]

I don't suppose Jr. will be going back to Madison to work. R. should be working down there.

I got a letter from K. the other day. I don't know why she wrote to me. What happened is between her and R. I don't know whether I will answer her letter or not.

I've been writing to that girl in Milwaukee. She would like to go with me when I get back, that is if I want to.  I'm sending some more pictures.

I guess there’s not much to write about this time as we aren't doing anything.

Love,
V.

________
[1]  M is his older sister.