Prelude: Here is another letter from young Hank. This time he is writing from Germany. This letter was written on February 8, 1945. The War is winding down and young Hank finds himself in Germany. He is writing again to Mr. & Mrs. Frank Fairfield of Hornell, NY.

THE LETTER:

Hello there,

I only have a few minutes so I figured the best thing to do with that time is to answer the grand letter I received from you last night.  Thanks a million.  It found me feeling fine and getting along the best.

Our weather here has improved a little. We had quite a bit of snow and cold weather there for a while, but right now the snow is gone and it’s a lot warmer. When it gets warm, we have rain so it’s hard to say which we are better off with.

We’ve or I should say I am having it sort of easy right now. They keep us pretty busy, but that’s to be expected.

You sure are having your share of winter weather this year, aren’t you? From what everyone writes.  There’s plenty of snow there at home now. I wish I could see it. For some reason or other, I always liked snow. Sometimes, over here, it gets in our hair, so to speak, but that’s all in a day’s work. I still would like to be home with all of you.

You wondered what or how we were Christmas and New Year’s.  Looking back on them now I guess they weren’t too bad. At the time it was hard to say.

We did eat good both days. We had turkey and all the trimmings.  Really it was grand.  We also had a house to stay in. That means a lot in the winter time.

I was glad to hear you are all well and that everything is going along good. You’re right about our “end” being the best “end” of town.  At least we think it is. Don’t we?

There really isn’t much I can write. There’s lots I could write but it would never get through. So, there’s no use in writing it.

I have to close now. Good luck and keep happy. Tell Mr. Fairfield I said hello and to be careful.

As Ever,

Hank

COMMENTARY:

There’s an unwritten sadness to this letter that I felt when I read it, do you feel the same? The war has been dragging on and young Hank is homesick. I wish I could tell him that the War is going it end in about 8 months. He is always writing such positive things about how everything is fine and he seems to look on the bright side of things in all his letters. I am sure he is just happy to be alive. “There is lots I could write about, but it would never get through,” I think that line says it all. What do you think?