A day at the beach, WWII style: Anzio, 1944.

[357magster]

Recently came across some V-Mail from WWII.

They were, of course, heavily censored, so they never contain battle details, but they do offer interesting glimpses into the daily lives of the young soldiers, sailors, and marines who were in harm's way.

This one in particular stood out.

Thought it was worth sharing.

Transcription below.





"So Oscar is going swimming in Hawaii?
Well, I think I can top that one for I took a swim on the
Anzio beach head about a month ago. The water was very
clear although a little too cool. Swimming on the beach
here is slightly more perilous than back home. There is
always the chance that you may be blown out of the
water by either a shell or a depth charge. However the pleasure
of a dip a-la-nude is enough to make taking a chance
worth while. The beaches are strung with barbed wire
but one can always find a clear spot where one can relax and
enjoy old Sol. Relaxing around here is an art which is
seldom practiced outside of a hole since the traffic in
the air is rather heavy. But what can one expect? After
all this is war and war is hell."

 

[steveno]

my uncle got a bronze star and purple heart at Anzio

 

[S-W4EVER]

I pushed broom at a Ford dealership when I was in HS. One of the salesman had a pretty bad scar on the right side of his stomach caused by shrapnel at Anzio. He said the water on the beach ran red (and I believe him)...

 

[crazyphil]

I had a good friend, who is gone to Heaven now. I remember one time
we were conversing and I told him I had quit deer hunting. Too many
nuts out there. Last time I hunted I was stalking up a draw where I
had spotted a couple of deer. A car stopped on the road below and a
couple of knotheads jumped out and started shooting over me at the
deer. I asked my friend if he ever heard bullets zinging over his head.
Yes, he replied, on the beach at Anzio.