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Letters from Harold J. Dahl

December 2, 1943

PictureLt. Bernard H. Mason
U.S. Army
[Thursday]
12/2/43
 
Dear Mom & Lou,
​
I should have written before but didn’t get around to it - last night I spent, first drinking beer with Lt. Botman and second, trying vainly to figure out a plan for the holiday furloughs. We’ll have to work on it again later on.
 
Today we went thru the gas chamber for the 3rd time - this time we had a taste of the real stuff as well as the ordinary tear gas. Our clothes are full of the stuff so we’ve been having a crying good time.
 
Lt. Mason got back from Mine school today & found himself a 1st Lieutenant - we were all tickled to death about it.  And Captain Raynor now, instead of Lt.
 
Perhaps you didn’t get it, but I am certain I wrote you from Ft. Dupont not 10 minutes after Ed Milburn and I finished off that wonderful bird you sent.  It really was a grand treat to say the very least.
 
I am enclosing a couple of “Flat-tops” that contain articles of interest.  The Booby Trap Area I have not seen since it was completed, but I was loaned to the 3rd Platoon while it was being planned & had a lot to do with the ideas that were used.
 
This week-end [12/4/43] I am going down to spend a penurious week-end in Washington.  Have no date there but will see Betty who is a hostess at the Canteen on Saturday and I always go there for a free supper.  I think I’ll spend the afternoon at the National Press Club & try to get a free ticket to the Symphony on Sunday. [12/5/43]
 
We have a 5 mile hike every day now, plus the obstacle course which has become duck soup for me.  Today we had our physical exams for overseas service - of course I passed - and you should see the way my weight compares with what it was when I enlisted! Before 137 lbs - after 160, a gain of 23 pounds!
 
Well - there isn’t much more to say except that I saw Deanna Durbin tonight in “His Butler’s Sister” - It, or rather, she, was swell.

Love
Harold




  • Home
  • News
    • The Latest From Us
    • Ghost Army in the News
  • Gold Medal
    • Overview
    • What Can I do ?
    • Letters of Support
  • The Unit
    • Overview
    • Soldiers >
      • Rosters
      • Veteran Bios
      • Bio of the Month
      • Photographs
      • Honoring the Dead
    • Selected Operations and Maps >
      • Operation Brest
      • Operation Bettembourg
      • Mapping The Ghost ARmy
    • Sonic Deception
    • Secrecy and Leaks
    • Links
  • Archive
    • Archive Overview
    • Official History
    • Selected Interviews
    • Curtis Collection
    • Nussenbaum Scrapbooks >
      • Nussenbaum Book 1
      • Nussenbaum Book 2
    • Dahl Letters >
      • Training in the USA
      • Overseas
      • Back in the USA
      • Postscript: Love and Loss
    • Katz Letters >
      • Training in the USA
      • England
      • France
      • Luxembourg
      • Germany
      • Back in the USA
    • Tompkins Diary
    • National History Day
    • Selected Documents
  • About Us
    • Board
    • Contact
  • Donate
  • Multimedia
    • The Ghost Army in Color
    • WWII Museum Exhibit
    • Tintype Photos