Sept. 21, 1958. From Bob to his sister, Ruth

Bob, an American soldier writing to his sister on his arrival in Germany.

Sept. 21, 1958

Dear Ruth,

Glad to hear from you. I wasn’t seasick on the ship coming over, maybe because it was pretty calm the whole trip. I was lucky that I didn’t do any work on the way over. They picked certain guys for K.P. and they had it all the time. The same went for clean up details, etc. All I did was eat, sleep, and play cards.

The buildings here don’t look like castles but they remind you of them a little. I’ll try to send you a picture of them. Maybe they’ve got some post cards in the P.X.

It seems that almost everybody from seven to seventy rides on bicycles over here. They have a lot of motorbikes & motorcycles too, and some of the oldest vehicles you ever saw. There are a few American cars on post belonging mostly to sergeants & officers.

I’ll look around for some binoculars for you some time, and I’ve got plenty of it (time).

We pull quite a bit of guard duty over here. I’ll probably get it twice a month or so. I had it this week and I didn’t mind it. I’d rather pull guard than do some other things around here.

How was the Fair this year? As busy as usual I suppose. Everything is cheap on post. Over at the E.M. Club a bottle of German beer is only 10 + 15 cents. American beer is 15 cents. In the P.X. you can get lighters, clocks, radios etc. for a lot less than anywhere else. A carton of cigarettes is only $1.20, we get a ration card that allows us four cartons a month which is plenty.

I guess I’ll go to that show on post this afternoon. “No Time for Sergeants” is playing. All the other shows they have in off post in town are spoken in German although they’re American movies most of them. You can rent these cool lines at P.X. if you want. I’ll try to take them.

I hope this is a satisfactory letter, and that it’s soon enough. That’s what you wanted if I read your letter correctly. Maybe some time I’ll be able to write you one in German,

Love, 
Bob