Letters Home: All the Army does for you is make a bum out of you

Aug 15, 1953
Vilseck [West Germany] 

Dear Folks,
I got a letter from you today so I will answer tonight. We just got back from Frankfurt. We supplied 10 tanks for the parade. [1] We are not doing much of anything lately. I make about 2 trips a week to Frankfurt. It's only 15 miles. A lot of the sergeants have got their wives over here now and I have to carry them back and forth night and morning.

I got a letter from Marylou. She wants me to send her a doll. Marilyn wants one. [2] I went to a carnival and got a teddy bear but I don't know whether to send it or wait till payday and buy one that looks more real. 

I bought myself a new swimming suit and have been in once. There's a lake not to far from here. They haven't got a place to dress and most people change clothes right in the open. They don't think nothing of it. Nothing like the States. [3] 

I had a flat tire on my jeep. I got something to do tomorrow. That's about all I will do. It's going to be hard to work again. All the army does for you is make a bum out of you.
It takes me at least 2 hours to even write a short letter anymore. I am sending a lot of pictures and junk in this letter. Some things I clipped out of the paper. 

I will send you $10.00 the first for the church. Well I guess I will have to sign off for tonight. 

Love, V. 

PS I don't write to anyone else in R.C.

__________________

[1] I have been unable to find anything on the web regarding a military parade in Frankfurt in August 1953. Photos (there must be some somewhere) would be nice.

[2] His niece and my oldest cousin, then about 2 & 1/2 years old.

[3] He himself lost such inhibitions later on. Read this story. Link

[4] A thoroughly execrable character named "J" called my father a bum today on Althouse. Link How did he know?  I am flattered twice: once because it seems that "J" must lurk here and second, as Winston Churchill said:

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

[added:  I'm glad that I put that link up to Althouse.  Remarks like that, obscene blog posts and creepy emails were pretty much the reason I stopped visiting the Althouse blog.  "J" is apparently a much valued commenter at that blog]