June 6, 1944 letter to his father

24 Jun June 6, 1944 letter to his father

It hit me like a lightening bolt that my Dad also wrote letters to his father, Frank, who was living in Seattle, Washington. I realized it would be important to include those letters in sequence as well – so here is the letter he wrote to his father on D Day. Interesting how the tone of the letter is slightly different, mano a mano!

6 June 1944
To: Mr. F.J. Neibauer
1402 East Fir St, Seattle, Wash

Dear Dad – This is undoubtedly a great day for all of the Allied countries – but for us it’s just another day of training. In fact, we know nothing of what was going on until a captain came along and told us while we were having a formal inspection on the parade grounds. There was a little scattered cheering for a while, but then most everyone realized that a lot of guys were probably having a pretty rugged time somewhere – and we heard no more until we got back from a 12 mile hike in the afternoon, when we listened to radio reports on the public address system. You, on the outside, probably knew sooner (and will get more details as time goes on) than we did, because about the only news we get is in Stars & Stripes – the Army newspaper for this theatre of war.

By the way, did I tell you that the boys now call the bitters (beer) Lightning, because you drink one bottle and P38. Another funny thing to me, was a guy from Texas who simply can’t get this English money straightened out. He was in a crap game, and when he’d shoot he’d lay down a coin and say “Now never mind putting in change – just lay down a coin exactly like mine and then I’ll shoot you for it!” I’m doing fine, Dad – don’t worry about me -
Lots of love – Rollin