07 Jul July 7, 1945

letter
from: PFC George W. Shonkwiler
to: Mrs. Alice Shonkwiler
Compiegne, France
7 July 1945, Saturday 11 PM.

This is the new French money and it is worth three dollars.
GWS.

My Dear Alice and Ronnie,

Just walked out of the most profitable poker game I have ever played in to
write this letter.  So now you must know how you rate.

Otherwise today has been very unexciting.  The Major, who only looks at us once
in a while, was in this morning.  This makes the third time he has seen me.
Said I was much improved, but recommended a new salve.  So I’m off again.  I
really am much better and unquestionably I will be out next week, I think.
After four weeks I guess even you must think I have loafed

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long enough.  This after noon saw a fair French-USO show, and tonight a pretty
good murder mystery with Joel McCrea.  After that, the usual poker game until
just a few minutes ago, which has made me some fifty dollars richer for the day.
However, I lost about $15 last nite so, I am really not fifty dollars ahead.
I am enclosing sixty dollars, which has accumulated in the last three weeks,
and tomorrow will send another fifty dollars.  Once I send it home, I can’t
lose it.  So, I guess that is the best policy.

I sent you a box yesterday with a short letter enclosed in the little article
I made

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for you.  Also, Ronnie’s little gift is inside yours.  Plus some of your
letters I have received here at the hospital.  I have no place for them here
and since I am going to send all I have home I thought this a good time to get
started.  Don’t be destroying them.

In the French show this after noon they had a fair five piece orchestra, two
girl dancers, a very cute girl who couldn’t sing but she didn’t have to and a
couple more.  As a rule the French shows are pretty corny.  This was just
slightly better than most I have seen.

We still have the ward

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filled up here now and quite a few of the boys have plenty points to get out.
It seems before they embark for home they give them a fast physical and that’s
where so much of the skin trouble is showing up.  Those boys are griping
plenty but it does no good.  They stay until they are cured -- or at least
nearly so.

There is absolutely nothing new about when I’m going home.  Naturally I don’t
hear much while in the hospital but then it is so close to camp that we do
get an occassional rumor.  It’s still sometime in Sept. according to the best
rumor

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todate.

Oh yes, I forgot, I played ping pong for about an hour this morning and got
beat every game.  My old [opponent] has left.  This new fellow is pretty tough,
or I’m not on to his style yet, or something.  Since ping pong is absolutely

the only exercise I get now, you can imagine how soft I’m getting.  In fact
I’ve really had things pretty soft now for the last six months.  I really won’t
know what it is to work anymore.

I hear they are going to start having [reveille] back in camp again.  Boy that
will really be tough.  Getting

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up at 5.30 a.m. won’t be fun.  I haven’t done that now for a heck of a long
time.  It seems, now that the war is over here, these armchair generals have
to think of something new to make their job look important.  Have the reveille.
At least, that’s the only reason I know of.  We still don’t go to work until
8 a.m.

Guess this is about enough of this message for this week.  Spend this money on
something for yourself for a change.  It was all earned through sweating out
the right kind of cars so I guess you can afford to get a little something good
out of it for yourself.

Now all my love to you both and good night,
Daddy