Tuesday, December 25, 2001
Christmas from patriot's past
Sampling of letters sent to The Enquirer
Click a card for a larger image & description:
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Enclosed please find a copy of my father's Christmas letter home from WWII. (And a copy of his card home-page 37.) It would be a great Christmas gift for him if you could print part of his card or letter. He is 79, and this would mean a lot, to be remembered at a time of year when he was in The Battle of the Bulge and Huertgen Forest. He earned a Purple Heart, Bronze Stare and five battle stars. I am also enclosing some of his experiences and an article about him that appeared in the Enquirer during the war.
Dear Dad and Kids:
Hope all of you are feeling well and happy. I'm feeling fine. Today is Christmas, hope all of you had a very nice one.
You won't hardly be able to believe this because I could hardly believe it myself. Last night I was laying in my foxhole freezing, with shells blasting around one minute, and the next hour or so I was in a small town. Then in a nice warm room, in the home of some family. In one corner was a Christmas tree with lights. I could hardly believe my eyes. We sang Silent Night and had a swell time. It seemed like we were in a different world. The to top things off, to day I received twelve Christmas boxes. Your old brother certainly is a popular guy back home. The boxes were from you kids, Uncle Al and Aunt Kate, Uncle Otto and Aunt Ida, Aunt Hilda, Uncle Carl and Aunt Marie, Aunt Kitty and Uncle Walter, Betty Skimmerton, Ernie Hanfbaurer, and Bea.
We ate so much sweet stuff we could hardly eat our nice turkey dinner. The afternoon we went to church, a Catholic choir sang some carols for us. We also sang some. What more could a Joe ask for besides being with his sisters, brothers and Dad? It was all wonderful.
I thought of you kids often throughout the night and day and just about what you were doing at certain times; also of the things I was doing last year at this time. I hope I can be with you next year at this time. I thanked God, that He picked me along with many other boys to have a such a nice Christmas in a war-torn country. Said a prayer for the boys up there holding the line too. May God soon end this war.
I went to Paris awhile back, well just about two weeks ago. Bought you, Lil and El a compact. I hope you get them before too long. They aren't on there way yet, but I think they will be shortly. I went out with some French girl. Had a very nice time. I didn't get liquored up either. Don't swear anymore either. When a guy comes through what I did he realizes the good Lord is really someone to be worshiped and the sayings of the Bible are something to follow.
About that close call I had kids. I was walking through the woods and all of a sudden, wham! a mortar shell burst in the top of a tree I was under. I was showered with snow and black dust. I kept going to get away from that spot. I glanced down the front of me and saw two shrapnel holes in my gas mask strap. I examined myself closer and found that the shrapnel had gone through my gas mask strap, raincoat, fatigue jacket, field jacket, cut a rip in my pistol hoster, glanced off my little pistol butt, after cutting a gash in the steel part of it and came back out the way it went in. From there it went through my gas mask carrier, through an interpretation book and layed in my gas mask carrier at the bottom. Slightly close what! My little pistol saved me without me having to fire it. The shrapnel went right through the middle of my fatigue jacket pocket. My Bible would probably have stopped it, if my pistol wouldn't have been hanging there. I carried that gun from Cherbourg, never took it off except when I had a chance to wash. God was with me is all I can say. I'm sending the piece of cloth from my fatigue jacket pocket. Keep it for me will you? By the way, the gun shoots as good as ever. I hated to see the gun get marred but it's not too bad and after all it probably saved my life.
The clock just struck twelve. One more Christmas gone by. A very nice one except that I wasn't with you kids. I hope by next Christmas I will be. You kids don't know how much your package meant to me. Everything was delicious and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Tell my little buddy Alan, to keep praying for his brother and all you kids do the same. Take care kids and until next time, as always -
Your Big Brother,
Henry
Henry Strecker was a Staff Sergeant and carried a Browning Automatic rifle throughout his combat infantry duty in Europe from Cherbourg into the Rhinland, where he was wounded in April of 1945. He only got to wash up twice during his whole tour of duty in Europe and remembers only two hot meals being served at the front. He was with the Fourth Ivy Division, 12th Regiment, Co. C.
The "kids" were this two sisters. Ellen and Lillian, and two brothers Ed and Alan. He's still well and the same size-fits into his WWII uniform. He also corresponds with a German Huber Gees who fought opposite his unite in Nov.-Dec. 1944.
