Title: Margaret H. (Bauer) Henke Papers
Dates: 1930-1991
Collection Number: 10583
Quantity: .5 foot
Abstract: Consists of letters from sons Warren A. and Dallas C.,while serving in World War II, general correspondence, and ephemera.
Provenance: The papers were donated to the State Historical Society of North Dakota by Warren A. Henke in January 1992.
Property Rights: The State Historical Society of North Dakota owns the property rights to
this collection.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection number, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.
Transfer: Photographs and post cards were transferred to Photo Archives.
Box 1:
1 Correspondence from Dallas C. Henke, Feb-July 1943
2 Correspondence from Dallas C. Henke, Aug-Dec 1943
3 Correspondence from Dallas C. Henke 1944
4 Correspondence from Dallas C. Henke 1945
5 Correspondence from Warren A. Henke 1944-1945
6 Correspondence from Warren A. Henke 1946
7 Correspondence - General 1930-1991
8 Correspondence - General n.d.
9 Ephemera n.d.
Transcripts of selected letters from Dallas Henke to his parents:
To: Mrs. A. D. Henke From: Pfc. Dallas C. Henke 17084398
Box 213 Co. M. 328th Inf A.P.O. 26
New Salem North Dakota c/o/ Postmaster New York N.Y.
Dear Mom & Dad, Monday [postmark Sept 17, 1944]
I am writing this aboard ship, it will be mailed when we hit port. We don’t know when we will get there or even where we are going as yet. I was seasick for 2 ½ days but I feel like an old sailor now. We have had good weather so far, but it has rained about three times I believe.
Our company is on detail on the boat and I am a baker. We work from 6 P.M. until 1 A.M., and in that time make about 350 loaves of bread. Those of us who work get 3 meals a day, the others eat twice. Cigarettes are 50 cents a carton and cartons of candy are seventy cents. Pretty cheap isn’t it?
I was to church yesterday, that makes two times that I have gone while on the ship.
You can’t write much on these V mail letters so as soon as I can I will write more. I have a few airmail stamps left so it shouldn’t take very long to get it over there. Don’t worry about me, I will let you know where I am in the next letter.
Love,
Dallas
To: Mr. A. D. Henke From: Pfc. Dallas C. Henke RSN 17084398
New Salem North Dakota Co. M 328th Inf.
U.S.A. A.P.O.26 c/o/Postmaster
New York, N.Y.
Dear Folks, Somewhere in France 9 Sept 44
We are now in France and are bivouacking for a couple weeks I hope. The weather is cool and rainy and not good for living outside. This is very beautiful country. The grass in pastures is thicker and greener than the lawns at home. The fields are small and are enclosed with hedges and it is really pretty, there are a lot of apple orchards here but we aren’t allowed to pick any at all.
The towns we have seen are very small villages that the farmers live in. They don’t use machinery here, and so far I have seen only one civilian car. It is all so different too here, I never saw anything quite like it. I haven’t seen any wood houses yet, they are all stone. There are a lot of wrecked buildings but the greater share of them around here are still in good shape. The people seem poor but they are clean. A lot of them wear wooden shoes and their clothes are old and worn.
We are eating rations now but we may get some hot food soon. We aren’t working hard now so we don’t need too much food anyway. I don’t know just when this letter will be sent but they are collecting mail tomorrow. It probably won’t get out for a while yet. I’m writing to Bev airmail so check which one gets there first. It is getting chilly and dark now so I will close for this time. Don’t worry, I’ll probably be in the army of occupation anyway.
Love,
Dallas
To: Mrs. R. D. Henke From: Pfc. Dallas C. Henke ASN 17084398
New Salem North Dakota Co. M 328th Inf.
U.S.A. A.P.O.26 c/o/Postmaster
New York, N.Y.
Sept 21[1944]
Dear Folks,
I have moved several times since I last wrote and I have been very busy too. I have a job as a clerk now and I like it a lot. I don’t know though just how long it is going to last. The country we are now in looks a lot like home and on the farms they raise about the same crops. When we came here I saw them threshing on a few farms and that really reminded me of home.
We have seen quite a lot of France already and will very likely see a lot more too. Some of the cities are completely ruined. The buildings are just one heap of rubble, and you can’t imagine how it is until you see it. St. Lo was especially bad, I don’t think there was a building that wasn’t hit, even on the outskirts of town.
When the company left the last area I stayed back to guard one tent that was left. I was sitting there and a girl came riding up on the bicycle and started to talk English. I was surely surprised. We talked for a long time and I found out that it isn’t propaganda about the Germans killing the people in the occupied countries. Wherever we go they tell the same story so it must be true.
Last nite I spent my first money. We walked to one of the villages here and had two drinks of beer and cognac. It is a good imitation for our beer and whiskey. It cost us forty cents a piece. They don’t have much though. The Germans took everything even the whiskey. A lot of people we talk to tell of their brothers or sisters being in Germany and working in concentration camps. There are a few men who know French so we find out pretty much. They are very friendly people and if they have pears or peaches they give them to us. I guess they know that we will give them cigarettes. They will do anything for a cigarette. This is about all I can write on this page so I will close. Send me some stamps.
Love,
Dallas
1 March 45
Germany
Dear Mom & Dad,
The first day of March and it is really a nice day. The sun is shining and it is rather warm but not enough to make any sweat or anything like that. I suppose by now that you are getting some nice weather too. We got paid yesterday and I drew $25 which I will keep in my pocket and see how long it lasts. From now on I will tell the company clerk to put everything in deposit until I run out again.
We are in a new place again and although it isn’t as good as the last one I won’t complain because we have a roof over our heads. We had steak and French fries for dinner yesterday. We were issued rations but one of the boys managed to swipe some steak and we had potatoes and found some onions here in the house so we ate that instead. It tasted much better than rations too. While we are here from now on though we will get 3 hot meals a day.
I got a letter from Jean yesterday too and another Journal.
I will send a small flag I found here in this letter. I sent Bev a Swastika arm band but I don’t know if she ever got it. She never wrote of it anyway, but maybe the letter was lost. I sent that one around Christmas time.
Well, I haven’t anything more to write so I will close for this time. Answer soon.
Love,
Dallas
8 March 1945
Germany
Dear Mom & Dad,
I received a letter from you a few days ago but I haven’t gotten around to writing until now. We have been very busy again but they found time to give us another shot last Monday. It seems that as long as you are in the army you can’t get away from that.
How are you by now, Dad, I hope a lot better if not better all together? You better do what the Doc says and get will for good now and not be half well and half sick all the time.
We have a pretty good place now, but when we moved in the building was surely in a mess. We cleaned it up and now it is pretty good. We are getting two hot meals a day and there are plenty rations here if we want any more. Yesterday we found a bunch of tea and cocoa so we have plenty to drink too. How does Warren like the army by now? I hope he likes it better than I do. Give me his address so I can write to him and find out what he is doing. After a few months the newness of army will wear off and he will want to know what it is like over here.
We have two campaign stars for our ribbons now, and it shouldn’t be long before we get another one. One is for the Battle of Northern France and the other for the Battle of Germany Number One. Maybe I wrote you about that though I don’t know. I see in the journal about somebody getting the good conduct medal or expert rifleman badge and when I read it to the fellows we all have to laugh. Over here they wear the E.T.O. ribbon and combat infantry badge and throw that foolish stuff away. I hope we get another star for the Ardennes and there is talk that we will but it may not have been considered a campaign. There also is talk that we may get the Presidential Citation for our part in the Bulge. We were the first to drive the Germans back after we left Metz. I don’t know if we will get it though but we will find out in a couple months.
Well I will close for now; and take care of yourself so you get better, Dad.
Love,
Dallas
15 March 1945
Germany
Dear Mom & Dad,
Received your letter a few days ago, the one with the picture of the train wreck and the addresses. I wrote Warren a letter too the other day.
We are having very good weather now. The sun is shining and it is warm enough not to have to wear a jacket. It is hazy though in these hills and reminds me of the Badlands back home.
I was certainly shocked to hear of Hans. I hope that Mr. & Mrs. Kramer can get over the shock soon, but I know it will be hard on them.
Has Evelyn M. heard anything about her boy friend yet? It seems to me I remember reading in the paper that Fred Nagel was missing. Did they find out anything more about him?
How are Marvin & Herm making out in Center? I think Marvin would have been much better off on the R.R. the way they draft men nowdays.
I’m anxious to know how N.S. did in the tournament so don’t forget to send the clippings. I have been wondering about Jimmy Tolzman too, is he playing for Bismarck this year?
This isn’t much of a letter but more of a question sheet. There isn’t any news though that I can write about anyway. You get the news in the paper though I guess but of course they don’t say anything there either.
I got a letter from Mrs. Kriger yesterday and two from Bev. I guess that they are pretty glad that Rosamond finally left for California and the house is free of visitors.
Bev is going to summer school this summer I guess. At least I hope she does. Right now she is taking some kind of course and with summer school she will have enough for a standard certificate.
Well, that’s all for now, I’m fine so don’t worry.
Love,
Dallas
P.S. Dear Mom,
This will reach you a little late but happy birthday to you, maybe I’ll be there to celebrate the next one.
Love, Dallas
24 March 45
Somewhere in France
Dear Mom & Dad,
Just a few lines to let you know that I am alright. I am working in rear echelon now doing a little clerking. I came back here about five days ago but as yet I’m not sure how long I will stay. Maybe it will be permanent.
The weather here is very beautiful. It is warm and the sun is out every day. I’m hoping that it is just about as nice back home but I doubt very much if it is. It is a little early for that I think but with a little luck maybe it is nice there too.
Last nite we went for a walk to get some fresh air and in our ambling around we walked up to the castle on the hill. It is the first one that I had ever been in usually we just pass by and there is no time for sightseeing. Everything is in pretty good shape but it is musty and dirty. I guess no one has lived there for a long, long time. The houses in the town are very old too. Some of them have the dates on the door sills and we noticed one with 1616 on it. They aren’t very pretty and they are more or less dirty houses.
I haven’t had any mail now for quite a while but in a few days I imagine it should catch up to me. When it does I know that I will have a lot of it. I had a letter from Jean and Wilma just before I came back here.
In a few days again I hope to write again. It seems since I am back here I don’t have as much time as I did before. We work after supper and seven days a week and it is the type of work that never gets done. There is always something to do no matter how caught up you get. One thing I like very much however is the three hot meals a day and a roof over my head every nite.
So long now, answer soon and don’t work too hard.
Love,
Dallas
17 April 1945
Dear Warren,
I received your letter a few days ago and now I have a little time so I will try to give you a little news from over here. I am still working in personnel section but as soon as the regular comes back from the hospital I suppose that I will go back to the company.
It is just about time now for you to be on that three week bivouac you told me about in your letter. I hope that you have good weather while you are out, but if it isn’t you will probably get more benefit out of it. The rougher it is for you the better off you will be when to get in the real thing. We slept out this last winter in weather that was below zero with three feet of snow on the ground. You won’t run into anything like that down there in Texas but you will probably get your share of rain and mud, something you will always find where there is a war on. I am still hoping that you will be able to get into something else besides the infantry when your basic is over but I know it will be hard because they need more infantry than anything else and everyone is going into the infantry now as the war goes on.
There isn’t much going on now over here as you probably noticed in the papers. We are advancing fast and the opposition is very light some times there is nothing but the stragglers and a few Volksturms and they don’t stop an organized army very long. We see truckload after truckload of prisoners going back. Some of them are very young and some are old men with just a few good fighting troops in among them. Most of the people and we too think it won’t last too awfully much longer over here. Of course we thought that too last winter and it is still going on.
Just about every town and village in Germany has a large number of Refugees from the other conquered countries. They are dressed very poorly and live in buildings that remind me of the tarpaper shacks in some army camps. The men and women all live in the same barracks and have the double decker cots just like the army, except that theirs are made of boards and not steel. Thousands of them start towards France as soon as they are freed but many just stay in their camps now until things quiet down some. They walk on the roads with heavy packs on their backs. Every thing that they own they put in a sack and strap it to their back and start hiking. It is hard to realize just how these people live until you see it for yourself.
Well I guess I am coming to the end of the paper so I will have to close. I hope that you are coming along fine with your training and are learning how to use your weapons. The more you know the better off you are. Don’t let the officers worry you because over here it is different and no one bothers you. After you are in a while you will find out it doesn’t pay to worry about anyone but yourself anyway. Won’t be long now and it will be getting dark so I think that I will close for this time. Answer soon.
Dallas
23 April 1945
Germany
Dear Mom & Dad,
I got the letter that Dad wrote on the 4th of April in tonights mail call. I also got one from Warren and a bunch from Bev with it so I’m feeling pretty good tonight. The more letters I get the more I want but the better I feel so I guess it is a good thing to get plenty of them.
We are living in a former German army camp right now. I should say what is left of it, because most of it is bombed out but we have a few good buildings that are here. Maybe the air corps thought that they should leave a few buildings so the Infantry could set up a headquarters or sleeping quarters there.
The weather here the past few days hasn’t been very good. It rained all day yesterday and today it was cloudy and we had showers. I was on guard from 4:30 until 6:30 this morning and it was plenty cold after getting out from a nice warm bed. We have been getting guard every few nights here since we got into Germany but it is still a lot better than sown at the company where it is every night. I still don’t know when I will go back but I certainly am in no hurry and I’m not going to mention it if they want me they know where I am.
Warren wrote that he expected a few days home in May sometime. Too bad they don’t give them a longer time than they do. Over here they have started to give 7 day furloughs to combat troops. They go to the Riviera in France and after they that have gone and come back say it is really the place to go for a good time. The passes to Paris are cut out now and since we are in Germany there is no pass to the rest centers they had in the bigger towns in France. The soldiers aren’t allowed to buy anything from Germans or even talk to them except on official business. The few stores that are still standing though are not open for business now anyway and if the owner had anything to sell before we got here he probably has it hid now. In towns where there are soldiers the civilians are set up in one part of town and cannot come out of the yard until four in the afternoon when they have two hours to take care of their things. When we leave a town they don’t waste much time getting back to their house to see if it is still there. They are afraid of the refugees too after we leave. There is trouble once in awhile because the refugees go into the German houses and take clothes and other things when they think no one is there to stop them. In one town we were in the army brought several trucks of flour in and it was something to see the way the refugees ran to get their flour. They came and got it in gunny sacks or anything that they had. Old women carried big sacks of it on their back. The girls threw the flour around like it was feathers they had in the sack. I don’t think anyone back hone would do any complaining if they ever saw something like that. They live in shacks that remind me a lot of the tar paper shacks some farmers have for grain. The men and women live in the same building. There are no rooms except the one big one and their beds are the double bunk type with straw for mattresses.
Maybe I shouldn’t write about this but I suppose that the paper is full of things that we are finding out about the Germans now so I might as well. The other a few of us went over to see for ourselves something that we had heard about. It seems that a Polish girl went to our Headquarters and told a story about the Germans killing 21 Jewish girls. The officer asked the girl if she knew where they were and she took them to the spot. Our medics were notified and they dug up the bodies. There were six large graves for the 21 girls and the graves had been dug up by refugees. The autopsy showed that they were killed about two months ago. Some were beaten to death and some were shot with shotguns, others with rifles. The civilians of the town were brought down to see it too but they couldn’t find out if anyone knew who did it or not while I was there. I never did hear any more about it either so I don’t know what happened. I’m getting so I believe anything I hear or read in the papers about what happened over here.
We are getting to a poorer part of Germany now from the looks of the towns and cities that we have come through. No matter though how poor it is it is still better than what France had. If you see a big house you can bet your life if you go in you will find plenty of pictures of Hitler and plenty of pictures of some officer in the German army.
I got the letter from Bev today where she says more about her contract and the money she will get if she goes to school this summer. The contract is at Bismarck again and I surely am glad for her that she will be able to be home again next winter. I don’t know where she is going to go to school but she thought she would go either to Valley City or Dickinson.
Well I guess I will have to close for this time. I just about talked myself out. We are having a little music now from a radio that we have hooked up to a generator that the Germans left behind. It furnishes good light too.
My stomach is OK now so don’t worry about it any more. I never went to the Doctor with it because at that time everyone was having the same trouble and nothing could be done except maybe getting a good steady diet again.
Love,
Dallas
15 May 1945
Czechoslovakia
Dear Mom & Dad,
It has been a long time since I last wrote so I’m going to take off a little time this afternoon. We have an awfully lot of work now figuring up the points for all the men in the Company. Besides that there is a lot of other stuff comeing up since the end of the War.
The weather is very nice here. The civilians are going in swimming now to cool off a bit but so far the soldiers are all too busy working to do anything like that.
I suppose you wondering how I stand on the points and I might as well tell you I don’t have enough to even worry about. I don’t like the thought of going to the Pacific and so far there is nothing definite on it, but I am thinking that all of us young fellows will go there because we don’t have many points. I think though that we will get home before we go if we have to go at all. I’m still hoping to be able to stay here though as army of occupation. All the way around this Division is on the border line. I am on the border line as far as my points are concerned too.
I got two of your letters the other day. The ones with the pictures of Roosevelts funeral and etc. I surely was surprised to hear about Elmer Hasse. I think New Salem sure has had enough casualties all ready in this war.
We are in Checko now but the people in this town are all Germans, like the rest of Germany. A few towns up the road though where part of our company was until a few days ago the people were real Checks. They gave the fellows flowers had parades and had the band out for a real reception. Every night of the week they had a dance in the town square. They brought beer out in big tubs for the soldiers so they didn’t go thirsty either. They are friendly with the Russians who were in the town too, but would rather talk with the Americans. The people in this town are afraid to death of the Russians, and every day they ask wether we are going to stay or if the Russians are going to take over this sector. Yesterday when we went out for a little air we walked into the center of town and here was a big convoy of Germans who trying to get into our sector of occupation. They make the Gypsies back home look rich. All they have is cart or wagon that is all loaded down with household goods, and pulling it is a couple of oxen or horses. The combinations you see are pretty bad too. Some have an ox and a horse pulling the cart, others have a big Draft horse and a little pony with a cow tied beside them, and still others have two small ponies. Last night in the convoy that we saw we counted up to fifty wagons and then stopped. At night they just pull up into some open field and throw the mattresses on the ground and go to sleep. I don’t know where they get their food, but a lot of them go begging for it. There are little babies and small kids of all sizes with the convoy. It is quite a sight to see, and these Germans are finding out just what war is.
I have seen a few Russian soldiers but not enough to really say what they are like. They seem to be pretty strong fellows though and like to have a good time. They go fishing with hand grenades and shoot their weapons just like we do around town and seem very friendly toward us. The fellow in the company who first made contact with them said that they had a good time together and when it was time for our boys to go home they all yelled “We’ll see you in Tokyo.”
Well I think that I will close for now and hope that I can write again soon.
Love,
Dallas
1 July 1945
Dear Mom & Dad,
I got another letter from you the other day and it seems that I haven’t been writing to you very often. I thought that I was writing every week, but maybe I thought that I wrote and didn’t. I got the letter with the small picture of Dad about three days ago and also a letter from Warren.
Yesterday it was pay day and I went down to the company to check up on the pay of the men. I came back last night all tired out after listening to all the groans of the fellows who thought they should be getting more money. I brought someone back though to help me with the work down here so maybe it was worth it. Now that we have so many men leaving the division I am awfully busy with getting their records and papers fixed up. I still think it is better to be busy though than just sitting around and doing nothing. Down at the company the fellows are getting ornery already. They are going to start training though now so they will have more to do. I am glad to be back where I won’t be doing any of that stuff. We got our other battle stars the other day too and that brings my points up to 55. It still won’t be enough to get me out of the army but it doesn’t sound too bad. I got some of my pictures back that I took at the celebration but they aren’t too good. I sent some to Bev and I’ll put some in this letter and also some of the negatives that I sent the pictures to Bev. The pictures of the town are all right I think and are just about like the postcards that I sent quite a while ago.
Last night I went to the show after I came back here. The name of it was Cover Girl. Tonight is Mickey Rooney but I saw it when we were still back in the states and don’t think that I will go again. This afternoon I have to go on guard outside the building from 2:00 until 4:00. I was supposed to go on this morning from 4:00 until 6:00 but one of the fellows wanted to trade so he could have the afternoon off. I thought it was a pretty good trade and at least I got a good nights sleep.
We still have no more news than before on when we are moveing or if we will stay here. Since the high point men are leaving though I imagine as soon as we are rid of them we will find out something more definite. I am looking forward to being home in October at the latest, More likely it will be September, I hope.
I have to write to Wilma and also to Jean. I haven’t written to either one for a long time and I owe them letters. I guess that maybe today would be a good time to get that done.
There isn’t any more news so I suppose that I might just as well close. I am find and so don’t worry.
Love,
Dallas
8 Jul 45
Dear Mom & Dad
I just got back from church now and before I have to go eat I will write a letter to you. It is warm out today for a change but there are clouds comeing up so I suppose that it will rain before the night comes. I think that I will take a walk this afternoon and get a little fresh air.
Your card that you sent came this last week about three days ago.
We are still in the same town and doing the same work and it is a good thing there is plenty work to do or we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves. I would like to move someplace else again so we could see something new again. It gets on your nerves just sitting here and waiting for some news about when we will move.
I imagine Arnold should be home by the time you get this letter. He won’t know how to act being away for three years. I am not gone one yet and I feel like it has been about ten.
I got a haircut the other day down here from one of the Czechs and it cost me four Kronen which is equal to four cents. That is pretty cheap and I was almost going to tell him how much a haircut costs in American but I thought if I did that I would probably be paying that much for the next one I get. The guy shaved me too for a cigarette but that is about all that it is worth to give me a shave.
Bev sent some pictures that they took and I was sure glad to get them. Some of them are pretty good too.
The high school edition of The Journal came through here yesterday. I didn’t know hardly any of the kids in the senior class and didn’t recognize hardly anyone at all they sure did grow up. The look so different than when I last saw them.
9 July 1945
Well here I am again and I think I had better finish this letter and get it shipped out.
We got a little news from the Stars and Stripes this last issue and it says that we will be going home in October and not as soon as I had figured. Of course it also said that the lists they gave could be changed at any time, but if it is I hope that we can leave in November so we can be home for Christmas. If I can’t get home while it is still warm I would just as soon wait another month and be home during the holidays. You probably have heard the same news about us comeing home so maybe I am not telling you anything you don’t know.
They started to take the Germans out of this town yesterday and are working it the same way the Nazis treated the people. The Czechs are handling it except we use our trucks to transport them. We know now why we got the orders a few days ago that American soldiers would not interfere with anything the Czechs did with German civilians. We win the war for the Czechs and now they are doing the same thing that we fought a war to prevent. They take all the money away from them except $20.00, all their bed clothes has to be left behind, they have to give up their radios and even their jewelry. The Czechs let them take one change of outer clothing along and the rest they keep. I think all these people over here in Europe are alike and none are any worse than the others.
Well it is just about time to eat dinner so I will close for this time. I just happened to see this letter unfinished so I picked it up and decided to write a little before dinner and then mail it.
Love,
Dallas
Ubershulba, Germany
24 July 1945
Dear Mom & Dad,
Well here we are back in Germany again and I can’t say that I like it where we are now. We are sleeping outside in tents now and are working in a former beer hall. The town we are in is very small and we don’t have the shows or any other things that we had back there in Prachatice. I guess that was just too good to last back there. We don’t know just how long we will stay here but the rumor is that it won’t be longer than six weeks. Our next move is to Rheims France where we will get ready for the trip back home. Our new Personnel Officer warned us already that from now on we were going to have to work all the time trying to get things in shape. We will be inspected by just about everything and everybody in the ETO before our records are passed. He said though that we might possibly get passes while we are there at Rheims.
Our trip here yesterday wasn’t very pleasant because it was so very hot on the trucks and then to make it worse it rained for a while. We went through a lot of the towns that we went through when we were going the other way too. Some of the big towns we passed through are Passau, Regensburg, Nurnburg and Wurzburg. The nearest large town to here is Fulda which is about 20 miles north. We are very definitely in a farm town here, it is about the size of Almont I guess but maybe a little bigger.
The people in the cities we passed through were all dressed up and out walking enjoying the sunshine yesterday and it reminded me a lot of home. I think the Germans act and dress more like we do than any other people over here in Europe that I have been in. The towns are all wrecked though, that is the larger ones. The small places are in good shape. A good part of the ride was right along the Danube River and in the cities where the river runs through the people and the soldiers went swimming. It was so hot on the trucks that we just about jumped the truck and went in too. After being in all those nice places it is pretty bad being set up in a town like this. No Matter how bad a town has been smashed it always has some nice big buildings that you can live in.
Now that we are in this town most of the fellows are always here just sitting around if there is no work to do. In the last week there at Prachatice there was an awfully lot of work but before that there was always something to do other than work, even if it was just to go down to the beer parlor and buy watery beer with old German Marks.
I got two letters from you today. It was the first time that we have had mail for a week because we were the only ones left in Czech from our outfit and the mail all came here to the Division.
We are going to have to stand a lot more guard here too than we did in the last area. We just drew and I will be on form 5 until 7 in the morning which isn’t too bad. Then I probably won’t get it for another four or five days. I don’t mind standing this guard though, it isn’t like a long time ago when it was two hours on and two off all night long.
I got Warren’s new address and tomorrow I am going to write to him. He must be well on his way now and possibly he is where he is going.
Well I am going to close now and go up and fix my bed up for the night. I am going to have to go and get some straw too for a mattress yet.
Love,
Dallas
Address:
612 East Boulevard Ave.
Bismarck, North Dakota 58505
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Hours:
State Museum and Store: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. M-F; Sat. & Sun. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
We are closed New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. We are closed at noon Christmas Eve if it falls on Mon.-Thurs. and are closed all day if it falls on Fri.-Sun.
State Archives: 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. M-F, except state holidays; 2nd Sat. of each month, 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Appointments are recommended. To schedule an appointment, please contact us at 701.328.2091 or archives@nd.gov.
State Historical Society offices: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. M-F, except state holidays.
Contact Us:
phone: 701.328.2666
email: history@nd.gov
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