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BSO inspects it. There was no mail today. I hit the sack at 2200.
951Goetz inserted this number in the margin next to the entry date. The number refers to his days in combat. See entry of 17 March below for his notation on the 100th day of combat.
Monday, 12 March [1945] Lissendorf, Germany
Up at 0600. Shaved and had breakfast by 0730. Another day spent on maintenance. We will be ready for a move any time. The sooner the better. Bob came over for a visit this afternoon.2 Cpl. Robert J. “Bob” Hertz was a good friend of Vernon’s in the Army. He served with Goetz in B Battery, 549th Anti-Aircraft Artillery, 87th Division. He lived in South Carolina with his wife and they kept in contact for many years. Interview with Mary Goetz, April 14, 2014 I hadn’t seen him for about 2 months. We had an interesting conversation for a couple of hours. I really enjoyed seeing him again. We had a chicken dinner before he left. He brought me some magazines, which I shall read tomorrow. I struggled through a bath tonight, using an old tub, lots of soap and a little ingenuity. It wasn’t exactly a luxury but at least I got clean. We have a bridge head of about 48 sq. miles on the east bank of the Rhine between Bonn and Coblentz. It is as secure as time has permitted but we can look for plenty of stormy weather in that vicinity. Our P/X rations came today. Bombers came over in huge numbers this afternoon. Blowing hell out of Hitler’s already dead dreams. No mail again today. Hit the sack at 2200.
Tuesday, 13 March [1945] Lissendorf, Germany
Up at 0630. The weather cleared up this morning and we had a whole day of sunshine. It was actually hot. Visited F.U. 4 and spent several hours checking their guns and talking to the men. They are ready for action and raring to go. We have packed everything possible tonight because we leave
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