Captain Harold F. Kleindienst
June 15,1944

(No Beachhead) June 15, 1944

Hello Gang!

Well, here I come creeping back into the fold again after what seems like weeks of neglect. Fortunately, the delay was only on one end -- mail from you all continuing to pour in.

The many kind birthday rememberances were so appreciated -- it was so thoughtful of you all to remember me and thanks so much.

Of course, I need not dwell on the news.....you know all about us and our escapades and, most important, our "escape" from the Beachhead. Golly but it's good to be able to omit that part from our letters. Now I know how it feels to be a castaway on some lonely isle, despite the excellent system of supply and the fine system of communications we had with the outside world. It was all very much of a nightmare.....one I'll gladly consent to forget if at all possible. It was pretty much of an exhausting and very tiring grind, but the Krauts are definitely on the run and the Lord only,knows where at they'll stop. For my part they can keep going until they hit the gates of Berlin and then be squeezed and crushed by our forces on the west and the Russians on the East.

Got to see St. Peter's and was very much thrilled by it's rare beauty. Mighty captivating, I'd say, and to do its magnificance full justice, it would take volumes of single spaced type. I won't even start.

I'm very much afraid that I'll not get to see all that I want to see in Rome, but perhaps someday I'll be able to make a return trip -- under different conditions of course and then, take my time in taking everything in. The hotels and bars are much like our own and being a graduate of the Winslow, I am a past master at elbow bending.

From what I'm told of the doings at the Factory, there are not many faces I'll recognize when I get back. What the army isn't grabbing up, the advertising agencies seem to grab.

After hearing of Gate's and Elmer's latest escapades, I'm almost certain that this fox hole stuff is safe..... at least we don't have 5th Ave. busses and stairs to contend with.

Glad that Ev. Thiele is keeping up the good work......tell him to eat more of that Bl enriched bread, of which he's written so much and, educated so many others into adding to the daily ration. Give him my best regards, along with the sincere wish that he'll soon be *aring down! *** is on bakery prospectuses once again.

Don't know whether or not I'd mentioned it in a previous letter, but my address has changed once again, as you will note on the envelope. Am now, or that is, have been for two months, on the Division Artillery staff as assistant S-3..... plans, operations, etc.

Incidentally, Rome itself seems to have been overlooked by the destructive hand of war. It's a mighty good sight too, to find at least one city that remains unscarred. So very many have been ground down to crumbled masonry dust...matter of fact, Rome is the first city or town I've seen which still appears intact. Our bombers and fighters have done a magnificent job but, in my book, the real heroes -- with glory still very much unsung -- are the doughboys. Those grand fighters have continued to plod onward.....fighting, taking, holding......ever onward, taking losses with

"Stan-bits", thank goodness, arrives regularly and it's mighty refreshing to read of all the news on the home front. The Club's meetings and parties always make for good reading and too, the letters from fellow servicemen and women. Too, it's mighty nice keeping abreast of the Company's remarkable progress in the field for which it's long been so well known. Though now in a bleacher seat, such gains by our team never cease to recieve the keen interest and enthusiasm of employees now far distant from the pulse of industry and manufacture.

Well, I think I've chatted for as long as I dare right now, but promise to be back ere many moons and do, if at all possible a better job of reporting an the backyard of the Ceasars'

So long then and good luck, best wishes to you all.