From September through the early part of November 1944, Lt. Alvin Anderson served with the 112th Infantry Regiment as a weapons platoon officer for Co. K.
Here are some quotes lifted directly from his letters home during that time, including the period immediately after he was caught behind German lines, wounded and suffered trench foot.
Sept. 14, 1944 — “I am going to teach Rusty the value of freedom and liberty.”
Sept. 16, 1944 — “Darling, we were so happy together just a year ago in Colorado. I never dreamed that I would be where I am now.”
Sept. 17, 1944 — “I’d give anything to have you fry me some bacon and eggs. Remember, eggs over, plenty of butter on the toast and lots of milk in the coffee.”
Sept. 19, 1944 — “Darling, I miss you more than I ever thought humanly possible. It just seems you are part of me, and I ran away from that part. But I know you are right beside me every minute. When I know I have a wife like you, Darling, to love and to love me, nothing is too big to fight.”
Sept. 23, 1944 — “The prettier the days, the more bombs the Germans get.”
Oct. 8, 1944 — “I can see God’s power working and doing things for me every day.”
Nov. 17, 1944 — “Remember when I told you that I was going to apply everything I had learned in 10 years once I had to? Well, I did, and with God’s help, I am safe and sound today.”
Nov. 20, 1944 — “Sometime I think if it hadn’t been my determination to get back to you, something might have happened to me. But I was always thinking about you and hoping that God would answer my prayers by letting me come home to you. When a person has nothing to look forward to, he is liable to get careless. I never did.”
Nov. 27, 1944 — “As I told you, on account of my eyes, I don’t expect to have to go back to the front.”
Nov. 27, 1944 — “People who have never been to the front think that Germany has nothing. That just shows what they know about it. The Germans have plenty. But it can’t last too long.”
Nov. 28, 1944, on waiting for the birth of their child — “It sure is a job, sweating this out.”
Dec. 8, 1944 — “I hope you didn’t get excited about the telegram from the War Department. If you got one, I was so afraid it would upset you.”
— Compiled by Mark Wineka