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Personal correspondence · Sicily · 16 August 1943

A Letter Home from Ralph Dutton

Written to his aunt Ada Wilcox after fourteen months overseas and published in Wisconsin the following month.

Publication introduction

From Sicily to Reedsburg.

“The following letter was received by Mrs. Ada Wilcox, Reedsburg, from her nephew, Staff Sgt. Ralph Dutton, Sicily. Ralph is one of four brothers in the service. All have been in foreign duty. Lt. Kenneth Dutton was returned to this country and is stationed in Texas. They are sons of Mrs. Pearl Dutton, Sparta:”
Sicily

Dear Aunt Ada:

Received your most welcome letter today. Am glad to hear things are well at your place and hope they remain in the same category.

We’ve had quite a few interesting and nerve wracking experiences in the past 14 months. At times things were very disheartening, but then in a short time they brightened up. For-instance, last Feb. 17, we were forced to withdrawn from our airdrome near Ferona in Tunisia. It was really cold and snowing a bit. We rode about 40 miles in an open truck, and all of us were about frozen when we arrived at our new field. We operated from there and another airdrome named Se Kenf during the battle of Kasserine Pass. In less than a month we were back to the field that we retreated from. Another bad element in that theatre was dust. When a squadron would take off you couldn’t see anything for about 15 minutes. We had a lot of trouble with our guns there, but soon found out how to remedy that situation. Of course, being bombed and strafed doesn’t go too far for building morale.

When this show started we operated from the island of Gozo near Malta. Things were pretty hot for a while, but soon quieted down considerably.

I’ll sure be glad when this mess is cleared up and we can get back to the states. At one time I thought I would like to travel around the world, but I changed my mind now. If I ever get home it’ll take dynamite to blow me out the next time.

I suppose you are getting bored by this time, so I’ll be signing off for now. Drop me a line when it’s convenient for you. May God bless you and keep you.

So long,Ralph.

Source & transcription

The surviving published letter.

The Reedsburg Times-Press, Reedsburg, Wisconsin, Thursday, 23 September 1943, page 9. Newspapers.com image 1026796735.

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