Hi! I do believe these will be the last of the letters in the "Letters From Home" series. However, I am working on something else a bit longer and will post it here once it is finished. I would like to thank everyone for their kind words and encouragement along the way. Thanks for everything and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Take care!
Dear Dick,
I cried after reading the last letter you sent. I cannot believe such evil really does exist in the world. I wish I had some words or bit of advice that would make things seem better but unfortunately, I do not.
All I can say is that I miss you! I wait anxiously for the day when you will return home and we can talk again like old friends and perhaps with time the horrors of war will begin to lessen for you.
I know that I will never fully understand the things you have seen and done while fighting but please know that I will always listen to you and try my hardest to comprehend.
All is still well here-at least as well as it can be.
Do take care of yourself. And, once more for good measure- I MISS YOU!
Yours Always,
DeEtta
Dear DeEtta,
It warmed my heart to read your last letter and to know that someone from back home does understand the things that have happened during this war. We have moved out once again and are heading into Austria.
DeEtta, I do believe the war in Europe is almost over! I can feel it in the air, something is starting to change and I can only hope that we will be home before the year is out.
Home. It's what every soldier dreams of during the dark of night when his fears get the best of him; it's what he thinks of when he is so exhausted he wonders if he can take another step; it's what keeps every man going, this desire, this need, to return home once again, to see those he loves so dearly and to have the chance to tell them what they mean to him. Home-and we are one step closer to getting there.
Do not worry about me, DeEtta. I will be fine and with a little luck and a lot of work, may return home and see you sooner than you think.
Do take care of yourself. Remember always that I miss you and keep you in my thoughts.
Always,
Dick
Dear Dick,
I cannot tell you how happy your last letter made me. Just think, in a few short months-maybe even weeks-we could be talking to each other in person. I am glad you are moving on out of Germany and into a nicer place.
Do be careful! I know that you are, but I don't think I could bear it if something were to happen to you when you were so close to coming back home.
Things are fine here, the wildflowers are blooming, the trees and grass are a beautiful green and the air has the first hint of summer's warmth in it. Everything is so lovely it's hard to believe there's still a war on.
Well, I won't ramble on any longer, as I don't have much to share anyway. Take care and you are in my prayers.
Yours Always,
DeEtta
Dear DeEtta,
This will be the final letter you receive from me while in Europe. Do not bother to respond to this but rather you can write to my parents address for in two weeks time I will be home. That's right, home. The war, as I am sure you know by now, is over. We are all coming home regardless of points, decorations, or wounds.
This will be a brief letter as I am almost too excited to write. It is a surreal feeling, for sure, to have actually lived though all I have seen, to have survived combat for well over a year, and to finally be sent back home to live in peace. I have been having a difficult time comprehending it all. It is a wonderful feeling to know that I will, with certainty, see home again.
I can't wait to see you again, DeEtta; to talk to you, to hear your voice once more. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I have missed you and everyone else I left behind.
These next two weeks will be almost impossible to bear, knowing that I am so close to being back in the States but yet, still here. Oh well, I suppose that if I can survive jumping out of an airplane in flight then I can survive this wait as well.
I've missed you dearly, DeEtta, and want to see you so badly. Take care of yourself! I will see you shortly, but until then know that you will always have a special place in my heart. I'll be thinking of you!
Always,
Dick