Overseas

To: Mrs. Anna M. Dahl
Towaco
New Jersey

From: Sgt. H. J. Dahl 12151982
Co. D - 603 Eng. Cam. Bn. Sp.
23rd Hq. Sp. Trs.
A.P.O. 655 c/o Postmaster
New York, N.Y.

[Wednesday]
March 7, 1945
France

Dear Mom & Lou,

Bruce Zillmer's book plate for Harold Dahl

Received Lou’s letter of Feb. 22nd today, was glad to read that Claire [Van Duyne] got her collar and that my request for some maple syrup got there O.K.  I’ll be waiting to hear that my Mauser followed suit.  I never did get the caps and stockings for the kids - don’t know what could have happened to them.  You told me that Whistle is O.K. again, but I never heard what happened to him.  Couldn’t have been very serious.   What outfit is he in?

I did some work on my fiddle the other day after a trip through a place large enough to have a music store where I could get supplies.  It really sounds fine now.  Also had a chance to see a  cathedral I’ve been unable to get really close to before and also to dunk a few A.R.C. doughnuts, the first since November [1944].  Crider is full of stories about his trip to Paris - I can’t say I didn’t envy him.

A recent Paris “Herald Tribune” had an article on the dead appearances of German towns that have been visited by the American Army.  Boy, they aren’t kidding!  When I saw some of them I had the feeling of being in another world, long since fallen into decay. One village more or less coincided with my impression of what the 5th or 6th layer down of Troy must be like.

Our PX is doing great things for us - I’ve been very happy to get plenty of cigars, right now I have a hoard of about 35!

The place where I am now is very uninteresting so I am spending my money on a couple of things I want - one, a design for a book-plate. Bruce Zillmer is making it for me - when I send it home Lou can have them printed up.
​
Love -
Harold