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.