Copyright: 01/2021 _

Fan-Fiction based on TV Show Combat! Copyright Selmur Production, Inc., ABC, Image Productions etc. Disclaimer: Combat! and its characters do not belong to me, this WWII story is a piece of fan-fiction and I am not being compensated in any tangible way for this story.

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A Letter to My Brother

Prologue

Kirby had written the letter several times. He read and re-read it until he figured there wasn't anything too graphic in his story. He made sure that he didn't mention his wound. He wouldn't want his family, especially his mother to worry, she had enough on her plate keeping George in line and a roof over their heads.

"Hey Kirby, aren't you done with that letter? I gotta get goin'."

"Yea Doc, it's ready."

He folded the letter, sealed the V-mail (1) and handed it to the medic.

The young man sat on the bottom step of his apartment building sipping a bottle of grape Nehi. It was unseasonably warm for Chicago in October. He remembered the cartoon from the Chicago Tribune. Yea, he thought, it was Indian summer. (2)

The mailman stopped in front of the young man. He rearranged the envelopes in his hand. "Got some mail for your family and here's one for you," smiled the man.

"Thanks, it's from my brother. He's fighting in France."

September 12, 1944

Hey Kid,

I know by the time you get this, your birthday will be over. But I still want to say happy 17th birthday to ya. I was glad to hear from Ruthie that you are getting good grades. Keep it up, so you won't end up like me, passing by the skin of your teeth.

Every time you write me a letter you always ask me what it's like over here. Well, I guess you are now old enough now to know a bit about what our squad has been doing over here.

Two weeks ago we were moved by truck several miles to another small town in France. If I say where, Mr. Snippits (3) will only cut it out. Anyway, we bivouacked in a brick building that was once a machine shop. You could still smell the oil that they used.

Sarge put each of us guys on guard duty for two hours. Around 0400 hours, I heard shots coming from the edge of town. A platoon of krauts thought the town was clear. Boy did they have a rude awakening when they came upon all of us. Our men began firing at them and they gave up pretty fast.

That wasn't the end of the fighting. Some of the Germans had stayed by the edge of the forest which was about a quarter mile or so from the town we were staying in. When they heard all the ruckus going on, they headed for a hill overlooking us.

Caje happen to see what they were doing and reported it to the lieutenant. It was getting on to daybreak and the lieutenant wanted the platoon to cut them off.

Half of the platoon went towards the forest and the other half which included our squad began chasing the krauts up the hill. We began firing and were able rout them before they could get to the top. And before you ask, I don't know if I killed any. We try not to think about those kind of things.

I hope you're not thinking of quitting school and having Ma give her consent. If you are, you better pray you don't get anywhere near me. I want you to finish school, you're a smart kid.

Well, I'm running out of paper and Doc is waiting for me to finish so he can get it posted. Say hi to Ma and Ruthie. Tell them I'll write soon.

Your brother,

Bill

V-Mail or Victory Mail was a single page stationery. The letter was written on the front side. The return and mailing addresses were repeated on the top and on the back of the stationery. The form was folded in half, sealed and sent off.

A cartoon and story called "Injun Summer" by John T. McCutcheon was originally printed in 1907. The Tribune reprinted it in 1910, in response to readers' requests. It was then annually printed in their Sunday magazine from 1912 to 1992. It has since disappeared from the Tribune due to political correctness. The original cartoon is part of a collection held by the Chicago History Museum.

Mr. Snippits was military slang for the censor.