[Continued from previous page] He was injured seriously but given a fighting chance to live. Mines are a real problem over here and even when one is located, there is still the possibility of a booby trap being attached. They are one thing you don’t get used to. We received our rations today–7 Pks of cigarettes, 4 candy bars and a pack of gum. Not too bad for the front line. (The best we have had to date.)
I spent the afternoon and evening talking and writing letters. The war seems far away today except for the morning’s incident and the continuous artillery barrage (ours). The Russians are only about 90 miles from Berlin (need I say more). I hit the sack at 2100.
Wednesday, 31 January [1945] Braunlauf, Belgium
Got up at 0900. You are right, I did oversleep but what the hell, there was nothing else to do. I spent the morning scouting around, looking over a few German positions. I took with me, a long piece of string–Booby Trap protection. My brief outing netted me 6 Mauser rifles and quite a bit of other equipment, which I turned in for salvage. Some day soon the French army will be using it (I hope).
The weather has turned considerably warmer and this evening we had a little rain. The snow will soon be gone if this weather continues. I’d like to see it remain cold for another month. It will be plenty tough for our armored forces [continued on next page]
