Show kathleen N orris norris says what A veteran wants bill bell syndicate feature 4 44 4 4 when she iho met us I 1 began to say my what id planned im sorry lorry ive teen been then we ive were crying on each others other shoulder by KATHLEEN NORRIS ERE is a letter from a HERE 0 L I 1 joe who finds himself stationed in northern germany he comes from a small american town and he wants to get back to it german frau leins dont interest him nor germanys germanas Germ anys devastated cities he like the language and he is tired after three years of army food im 22 and im going to take an engineering course after the war he writes boy I 1 cant wait to get going all that has kept me sane through these years is the thought of home and the family I 1 haye have some family I 1 have three sis sisters one married with three kids and one brother who has two little boys my grandma is living and she and one of my aunts live with Ls us and help mom with the housekeeping my youngest sister is going to marry her captain at christmas the middle one was married last july never look twice at 0 our ur house though it stands back under big trees and has a lot of space around it for or bum barns and f fences ances and pops chickens and the w windmill Ind mill but the TulU TuIlle eries rles dont look any better to me what food what punt funt saturdays yum yum yum does cooking go on in that housel house pried chicken and strawberry shortcake and mom with a a big apron on and the grandchildren falling around under feet and maybe pete my older brother in law bringing in a sugar cured ham he rates raises hogs out in the country the ills kids put on a play or we have games pt at tho the table my girl comes over with her brother and we play tennis on the municipal courts we all go eo swimming after dinner and when we come coma home something good to eat Is on the table with ft a message from mom dont make any noise and wake dad the ne fellows out here the letter goes oes on who come from homes like that homes with lots ol of laughing lau ahing wd and cooking and good times to in them cou cousins sins coming coining and going sisters try trying g to get moms attention the ones that axe are coming back sane every little custom every association with home Is dear to us now we compare snapshots we read sections of letters to each other some borne nights three fellows and I 1 get pencils and tablets and draw diagrams of main street or the farm the way the trees and the houses stand nothing else counts these girls over here dont mean anything to us nothing means any anything wing except that it if we stick this out and see it through well get back and the folks wont be ashamed of us there Is a a letter to put heart into any woman whose job of running the house and somehow providing meals for the family sometimes seems routine and dull to her the fellows who come from real homes lre are coming back sane says joe rots lots of others arent lots of others are never going to find that cure of love and home life just to find M mom 0 an c cooking 0 0 k I 1 n g the remembered j doughnuts i ough nuts to hear dad mildly cuss tag ing as he be washes the car to have a pretty cousin turn up with tennis rackets or to sit with a small appreciative precia tive nephew in his lap listening wide eyed to war stories in these things there Is healing healing tor for your boy and healing tor or the world home Is the unit of 4 e ra K ki r X 11 fried chicken end and shortcake ort cake BACK TO DEAR OLD WAYS most sol soldiers dieTs dont go crazy cray or develop strange desires while they are abroad they just want to get back to the life they used to know it I 1 perfect but it at sats satisfied fied them I 1 pretty well nothing they have I 1 seen in europe or the orient I 1 has really changed their tastes I 1 or longings the soldier whose letter appears 1 in this issue just wants to get back to his farm home to his family and friends and sweetheart the memory iney nory of the simple pleasures the hearty and delectable food the many jolou J joyous associations are all that kept him sane in faraway germany he writes the T te german girls Is dont ont appeal to him nor do t the h e foreign language and customs in short he just wants to get back home and pick up tip where he le left f t off he Is 22 which i is s still young enough to start afresh so he intends to study engineering this young man i is s no doubt a typical serviceman althou although 9 h saddened and weary after his harsh experiences he is not bitter or di disgruntled grun fled he is ready to slip back into the old grooves as soon as he is as discharged most wives wiles sweethearts and mothers who have been worrying about the impact of f war on eta the men they love will be pleasantly surprised to find them little changed after all which the whole worlds safety rests in lust just to so much as you can make it 1 normal happy affectionate fre from quarreling debt worry yoi help to cure your son of the effects C 0 these years of insanity A splendid gift thinking of what to send ye yeata for his birthday writes a young vi alfa ll 11 from memphis 1 I made up my mind that better than any tangible tha thing would be the news that his mother and I 1 were friendly with his bathen ive always been on good terms buts but in all the five years of our marriage id never spoken to his mother because of a message she sent me by yeats when we were engaged 1 I took our three small toys boys all clean and fresh and went boldly to my father in laws house when she met us I 1 began to say what id planned im sorry ive always been sorry then we were crying on each others shoulders and after that we sent yeats what he called the finest present anyone ever received just the news that we were friends im happier than ive ever been in my life and so Is she and when yeats comes home ill feel ashamed at his happiness so its a gate gain all round some other woman reading this might think up a slin similar flax gift for husband or son |