April 28, 1944
As reported earlier, unbeknownst to René, on January 28, 1944, Yvette Baumann Bernard(his second cousin) and her husband Jean-Guy Bernard were arrested by the Gestapo in their apartment in Paris. Both held senior positions in the Resistance, and Yvette, who was 25 years old, was 8 months pregnant. Alone in her cell, three weeks later, […]
April 27, 1944
April 27, 1944No. 19 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, It’s really a wonderful feeling to be absolutely up-to-date with letter writing for the first time, I think, since being overseas. I don’t owe a bloomin’ person a thing right now – or at least I won’t after I answer Henriette and Spiro’s sweet letter that […]
April 25, 1944
April 25, 1944No. 18 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Nothing new except the deluge of V-mail pages that I received from you this A.M., so, while I still have time I figured that I better answer them pronto. I was interested in Lois’ letter to you, Bobsy. I haven’t heard from her in a few […]
April 24, 1944
April 24, 1944End of No. 17 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, We had a feast the other night. My pal, Eddie Accomando really dished up a swell one! We had real live, honest-to-goodness steaks, fresh off the fire, cooked to the taste of each individual concerned, as we went through the mess line. It […]
April 22, 1944
April 22, 1944No. 17 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, We had an excellent U.S.O. Show out here the other night and it certainly went over with a bang. Act I: Blond songstress who hails from Whittier, California by the name of Rose Marie Meyers. Her most popular song was “Take Me Back To the San […]
April 18, 1944
April 18, 1944No. 16 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Things are really beginning to be “Springy” around here now — the blossoms are coming out, the flowers are beginning to bloom “tra-la, tra-la,” and some of the men have even taken up Victory Garden planting. One of the boys, the fellow who runs our showers, […]
April 14, 1944
April 14, 1944Un-numbered Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Our Officers Club and Bar is still a popular hangout and Pete Joseph keeps the varied liquor supply always plentifully on hand. Besides the usual local drinks of cognac, vermouth, brandy, etc. we even go in for such funny things as Planter’s Punch, Crème de Menthe frappe, […]
April 9, 1944
April 9, 1944End of No. 15 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Last night we had a big party in celebration — or really in mourning — for our beginning our third year as a unit. The committee that arranged the party did an excellent job, but the credit has to go mostly to Wally Greene. […]
April 8, 1944
April 8, 1944Continuation of No. 15 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Surprise!! Last night I attended Passover Services. There were services in one of the local churches and then a Seder dinner conducted at the Red Cross. Went with Liz Liss and Martha Morris and two non-Jewish officers who just went because they were interested. […]
April 7, 1944
April 7, 1944Continuation of No. 15 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, This seems to be turning into a continued story and I do not seem to be able to get it done in one sitting. This week, you see, has been one of more activity than most of the previous ones. To continue with the […]
April 6, 1944
April 6, 1944No. 15 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Well, here it is our Second Anniversary – just two years since the 59th was activated!! Day after tomorrow there is to be the big celebration. The recently appointed Majors are giving a cocktail party late this afternoon, however. The reason the big party is to […]
April 1, 1944
No letter from René today, so here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, written around April 1, 1944… April 1, 1944 During March several groups of officers took recreational trips around the island of Sicily. Chuck Schwartz and I took the trip together, which included five days. We started east along […]
March 30, 1944
March 30, 1944No. 14 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, I intended to write long ago to warn you of the arrival of my “foot-locker”. I think I told you way back in July that we were no longer allowed to pack them around with us and as a consequence some sold theirs and others of […]
March 29, 1944
March 29, 1944No. 13 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Yesterday I took a walk with Jack as ‘twas a beautiful day – wandered down around the water and though it was warm enough, the water did not look very inviting. The boys have been petitioning me to take another trip around the island with […]
March 27, 1944
March 27, 1944 Palermo, Sicily Dear Therese, Yes, my dear, I agree, women are strange creatures! The whole thing was a complete surprise to me, and that, I guess is what made it worse for me. I hadn’t had the slightest inkling of what was coming, until that 21st of December. The whole thing […]
March 20, 1944
March 20, 1944No. 11 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, On St. Patrick’s Day night I was roped into a bridge game by Collie. Usually those games are rather dull – Collie is good, but the Col. not so hot at bridge, particularly the bidding. Well, the other night turned out to be a very interesting […]
March 19, 1944
March 19, 1944No. 10 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Hal Williams & Pete Joseph finally arrived home after being almost 1 week AWOL. They had an even tougher time getting home than had Gil Bishop and Bob Treadwell. They got to Cairo alright, but it was just about then that things clamped down and one […]
March 14, 1944
March 14, 1944No. 9 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, George is still here, but we haven’t done anything very exciting at all during the week. In fact, we have spent most of our time just relaxing, reading and talking. The last two days, however, have been busy, for I have had to make rounds […]
March 10, 1944
March 10, 1944Conclusion of No. 8 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Some of the gals have gotten their first Lts. In the last week. Those that have arrived to date are: Danielson, French, Myren, Dottie Merrell and Ann Schleisman. There are several more to come yet, however. Incidentally, had Lois remained, she would have been […]
March 7, 1944
March 7, 1944No. 8 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Last Thursday night, being rather tired, I went to bed early — somewhere around 9 P.M. Then it seemed only a matter of minutes when I suddenly was wide awake again, with a familiar voice in my ear telling me to get up and have something […]
March 3, 1944
March 3, 1944Continuation of No. 7 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Remember a few months ago I was going to send my watch home to be fixed, well, I waited and waited and finally the other day when the stem on the watch Lois had her mother send me for my birthday last year came […]
March 1, 1944
March 1, 1944 No. 7 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Don’t be surprised at what might come out of this typer today, for it is the Chaplain’s typer, Wy being busy on some sort of requisitions on his typer – so I am not only using Daib’s typer but am closeted in his study while […]
February 27, 1944
February 27, 1944 Continuation of No. 6 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Our boys finally had their baseball game with our friends the rival hospital. The latter expected us to be easy pickings, and, after our pitcher walked the first three men purposely, they were even more convinced that it would be a cinch. Imagine […]
February 26, 1944
February 26, 1944 No. 6 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Everything has been purty slow during this last week. Bill Kuzell and I had a rushing business for some days there, everything in that line has calmed down and we could consolidate our three wards into one if we so desired. Have felt fine, […]
February 19, 1944
February 19, 1944 No. 5 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, When it rains it pours – and it has been doing just that of late, (i.e. on and off with occasional startling snow) – I wrote that we had finally gotten an ENT man – yes, but that isn’t all. We got another new Capt. […]
February 17, 1944
February 17, 1944 No. 4 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, The weather here has been rather invigorating of late, that is, if one has guts enough to stay out in it – it’s nice and crisp and the wind that comes down off the snow on the mountains kind of freezes your exposed parts. But, personally, […]
February 12, 1944
February 12, 1944 No. 3 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, This week our basketball team didn’t do so badly. They won a game for a change and then proceeded to give the M.P.’s a good fight, only to lose by a few points. However, that M.P. game was really not much of a basketball game, […]
February 8, 1944
February 8, 1944 Conclusion of No. 2 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, You should have seen me the other night. Not having slept well, and having been up rather late for several nights in a row, I decided that I would take some sodium amytal and go to bed early and get a good sleep, […]
February 5, 1944
February 5, 1944 No. 2 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Gee, I didn’t realize that so much time had elapsed since my last epistle to you, but I have really been kept plenty busy. Tho’ most of the hospital has been going along pretty much on an even keel, I, for some reason or other […]
January 28, 1944
Unbeknownst to René, on January 28, 1944, Yvette Baumann Bernard (his second cousin) and her husband Jean-Guy Bernard were arrested by the Gestapo in their apartment in Paris. Both held senior positions in the Resistance, and Yvette, who was 25 years old, was 8 months pregnant. In an interview in 1980, Yvette recounted what happened […]
January 26, 1944
January 26, 1944 Palermo, SicilyConclusion of No. 1 Dear Folksies, You’ll be interested to know that we have had weekly medical conferences here, the job of presenting the conferences being alternated between hospitals. Our last one was a really good one, given by Mattie, Bret, Wally and Frank. Heard one at another place […]
January 21, 1944
January 21, 1944 Palermo, Sicily No. 1 Dear Folksies, Things here continue pretty much the same except that once again we have some boarders. How long they will be with us, we know not. They are just female and I had to move three of my wards-full of patients down from the second to the […]
January 20, 1944
No letter from René today, but here’s the letter René Sr. wrote on January 20, 1944 in response to his son’s letter dated January 10. Dear Jr., My heart bleeds for you, knowing what it has and must mean for you. It has gone on for so long, it does not seem possible that […]
January 18, 1944
No letter from René today, but here is the letter that Lois wrote to René’s parents on January 18, 1944.{Click on the letter to enlarge.} The notation in the upper left corner indicates that it was received in San Francisco on January 27 – a week after René’s father penned his response to René’s January […]
January 15, 1944
No letter from René today, so here’s an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Philip Westdahl, dated January 15, 1944… We were greatly shocked by the sudden death of one of our nurses — a most popular and previously healthy girl. She complained of a headache somewhat suggestive of migraine, which became so severe […]
January 10, 1944
January 10, 1944 Not numbered Palermo, Sicily Dear Dad, Knowing you as I do I sort of imagine that you have been doing a bit of thinking about the underlying reasons for my admittedly rotten correspondence in the last three and a half weeks. I’ve not only written so little in quantity but I […]
January 9, 1944
January 9, 1944No. 71 (conclusion) Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, We spent a full day and two nights in Catania and had fun wandering around the town during the daytime. I had figured that the boys would enjoy themselves and do better by going off in groups of twos or threes, but strangely enough we […]
January 8, 1944
January 8, 1944No. 71 (continued) Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, The trip with the boys was quite a success. We took just one truck and there were 14 boys and myself. Left here at 6:30 A.M. on Monday and returned at 2 A.M. on Thursday, all rather tired but having had a fine time. We […]
January 1, 1944
No letter from René, but on January 1, 1944, Dr. Philip Westdahl takes stock of what the 59th has accomplished since they set up their unit in Casablanca in January 1943. He notes that the largest group of medical cases treated were: (1) malaria, (2) hepatitis and (3) diarrhea. He also reflects on the patients […]
December 31, 1943
December 31, 1943No. 71 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Yes, I’ve really been awfully bad again about not writing, but unfortunately I just haven’t felt in the writing mood. And despite the fact that I know you like to get letters whether they are worthwhile or not, I just somehow couldn’t sit down and get […]
December 23, 1943
December 23, 1943Continuation of No. 71 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Had a surprise awaiting Jim Hamilton the other day when he returned from his leave. He and Gus Stola went to Oran for their leave and had a devil of a time getting back. In fact, they were two days over due because they […]
December 18, 1943
December 18, 1943No. 70 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Here it is Saturday night, just one week till Xmas! I’m certainly hoping that at this time next year we will all be back home together anticipating a Xmas at 15-26th Ave. in the old style. Right now, despite the fact that we have been bad […]
December 12, 1943
December 12, 1943No. 69 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Things here haven’t been too rushing of late and yet we manage to have something to keep us busy most of the time. My medical ward has been rather interesting what with a boy with some kind of purpura and another with a nice big kidney […]
December 7, 1943
December 7, 1943No. 68 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Today I received the swell Roos Bros. shirt you sent me, Dad, Mom and Bobsy – likewise the tie from Sal that went along with it. Am deeply grateful as my others are plenty worn around the neck. I am a bit puzzled, however, I know […]
December 5, 1943
December 5, 1943 Palermo, Sicily Dear Sal & Dave, Lois and I feel as if we are certainly the most fortunate kids in the world getting all the things you people have been sending us. Yes, there are none better than Blum’s Almondettes & Coffeeteens. Thanks just oodles. Thanks, too, for the wonderful alligator […]
December 4, 1943
December 4, 1943No. 67 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Despite the fact that last Sunday night I fully intended to write this letter regarding all the wonderful presents we received, we both got awfully tired and didn’t get around to going through the long list. So, now, if you notice different words or typing when […]
November 30, 1943
November 30, 1943End of No. 66 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Some leaves are being dished out now, for the first time since we’ve been overseas, and, as a matter of fact, we are one of the last hospitals to receive leaves over here. Collie went first and had a nice trip, going to Cairo, […]
November 28, 1943
November 28, 1943 Continuation of No. 66 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Last Thursday was Thanksgiving. And what did we have as a Thanksgiving feast? Had chicken instead of turkey, but the chick was mighty good, and along with it went stuffing, sweet potatoes, peas, cranberry jelly, apple pie, cheese, nuts and hard candy. ‘Twas […]
November 27, 1943
November 27, 1943 No. 66 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Here is your very bad son again, being most repentant for not having written. Please forgive me!! Have no particular excuse except that we have been admitting some every day instead of every-other day and as a consequence it has seemed that every time I […]
November 21, 1943
November 21, 1943 Continuation of No. 65 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, I must thank you, Dad, ever ever so much for the wonderful pair of glasses you sent me. They are really marvelous, but I feel guilty when I think of how much you must have paid for them. And then again, I shudder […]
November 14, 1943
November 14, 1943 No. 65 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Here it is Sunday night and Lois and I are down in Supply again pounding away at the typers. Things have slowed down considerably as far as my business is concerned, but Lois is still going pretty much full blast. Somehow she manages to tear […]
November 10, 1943
November 10, 1943 Continuation of No. 64 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Numerous packages arrived the other day – packages that apparently were mailed after the glasses you got me. These, of course, were Xmas packages and I’m amazed that they arrived so quickly. Have not as yet opened them, but wonder if they will […]
November 5, 1943
November 5, 1943 No. 64 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, I have been kept busy for the last couple of weeks and never did manage to sit down at a typer long enough to do much good. When I have had some few minutes time then all our typers have been busy. Mine, at the […]
October 31, 1943
No letter from René on October 31, 1943, so we will enjoy an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Phil Westdahl. The mountains around Palermo are really beautiful. Behind us is one long ridge, about 2500 feet at its highest point. Behind the airport is a single peak about 1000 ft. […]
October 27, 1943
October 27, 1943 Continuation of No 63 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Have a new innovation in the hospital now. Have instituted a broadcasting system so that now the place almost sounds like the San Francisco Hospital with its system of calling “Doctor so and so,” but instead it is now “Captain so and so, […]
October 20, 1943
October 20, 1943 No 63 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, We are now having ice-cream twice a week. It’s made out of powdered milk and eggs, but it has been swell. They started us off with vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce and there was plenty for all. That is, all except Lois. She sneaked back […]
October 16, 1943
October 16, 1943 Palermo, Sicily Dear Gram, We are still working steadily, running quite a big joint all the time, but at least we have all the conveniences we could really wish for. In fact, one day someone got the idea that it would be better if the patients on the second floor of […]
October 15, 1943
October 15, 1943 No 62 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Yesterday we had quite a nice experience. We had little joy ride around the island — a plane ride that took us to such places as Sciacca, Agrigento, Castelvetrano, and a couple of other places. We were taken to lunch at Agrigento by the pilot […]
October 10, 1943
October 10, 1943 No 61 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Last night Bob Treadwell, Fran and I were invited to dinner by some Yugoslav officers for whom we have done some things. Lois was working anyway, but not knowing how great were their facilities, we three went alone without Lois and Hal. It was a […]
October 6, 1943
October 6, 1943 No 60 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Despite the fact that things are going on as usual, rather full blast, ‘tis rather quiet at the moment so here are a few minutes to chat with you. Lois is again working nights and sleeping days. As a consequence, haven’t done anything exciting in […]
October 2, 1943
October 2, 1943 No 58 & 59 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, About 12 days ago, Gil Bishop came in to eight of us and said that the Colonel wanted us in his office at 6 P.M. for a meeting. We all wondered what it could be about. Gil told us what we already knew, […]
September 30, 1943
September 30, 1943 No 57 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, I’ve been pretty busy on an off as usual for the last couple of weeks, but things have been running pretty smoothly. I saw yesterday a clever article that one of the boys made up for those returning to the U.S. You know that […]
September 21, 1943
September 21, 1943 No 56 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, On Lois’ day off we went up to George’s place in the afternoon, and though we intended to do some letter writing, the cool air on the porch, the nice scenery and the quiet were more conducive to just relaxing. George and another driver came […]
September 18, 1943
No letter from René on September 18, 1943, so we will keep up on the news of the 59th thanks to some excerpts from the journal of Dr. Phil Westdahl. We have been quite busy during these past few weeks. Our highest peak was about 1200 patients, about 3/4 of which […]
September 13, 1943
September 13, 1943 No 55 (final portion) Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Yesterday turned out to be quite a gala day. Fran, Hal (Harold Williams), Lois and I left here about 2 P.M. going in a truck with several others, to the beach. Fran and I had arranged with some of the mess men to […]
September 12, 1943
September 12, 1943 No 55 (continued) Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Al Jolson was here a few nights ago and put on a one-man show. He was fairly good — sang a few of his old songs, made a few cracks of the Bohemian Low Jinx type. In general he was entertaining for the patients […]
September 9, 1943
September 9, 1943 No 55 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, On September 8, Lois had her first day off, so we left here shortly after lunch and took one of my dispensary boys with us for an interpreter. His name is Syracuse and he has some relatives nearby, but strangely enough, not in the town from […]
September 8, 1943
No letter from René between September 2 & 9. Fortunately, we can get some important news – and local reactions to it – from Philip Westdahl‘s journal entry on September 8, 1943 ITALY SURRENDERS!! What news! It came while I was on my ward and even my sickest patients shouted for […]
September 2, 1943
September 2, 1943 No 53 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Yesterday I was kept plenty busy all day long, doing spinals for the most part, but also some pentothals. Nothing big, but just kept doing something all day and the early evening. Did get a chance, however, to get off a couple of short letters, […]
August 31, 1943
August 31, 1943 Continuation of No. 52 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, I have been rather on the punk side the past few days. Friday the 27th, I felt only fair, but not bad. The next day, however, I developed a constant mid-epigastric dull pain, which lasted all day. My temp. began to climb in […]
August 27, 1943
August 27, 1943 No. 52 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Since my last letter, I’ve been kept plenty busy. After the first several days of running around at various headquarters, arranging for medical corps prisoners to work in the hospital, etc., things slackened up, and as the hospital was awfully busy, I was put in […]
August 25, 1943
Here are excerpts from a letter that Lois McFarland wrote to family back in California. August 25, 1943Palermo, Sicily Dear Gang, I’ve been trying to write to you for ages, but, golly, we’ve been so, so busy. I never do anything but work, eat and sleep. And the whole night – from 7 to […]
August 17, 1943
August 17, 1943 No. 51 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Yesterday I had a “first” — you know, doing something for the first time. The Colonel wanted some pictures taken of our area just as he had done in Casablanca, and as a consequence, someone was needed to make the arrangements and to take our […]
August 16, 1943
August 16, 1943 No. 50 Palermo, Sicily Dear Folksies, Before I get started, thanks oodles for the birthday presents – received the soapy wash-rag or whatever you might call it, and it has been put to good use several times already. ‘Tis really swell. Also got more photo paper and more films. Have several […]
August 11, 1943
Between August 1 and August 15, René doesn’t write any letters to his parents. Fortunately, we can follow the activities of the 59th Evac. Hospital through the entries in the journal kept by Philip Westdahl and photographs from René’s albums. Below is Dr. Westdahl’s journal entry for August 11, 1943 Palermo, Sicily […]
August 7, 1943
Between August 1 and August 15, René doesn’t write any letters to his parents. Fortunately, we can follow the activities of the 59th Evac. Hospital through the entries in the journal kept by Philip Westdahl and photographs from René’s albums. Below is Dr. Westdahl’s journal entry for August 7, 1943 Palermo, Sicily […]
August 6, 1943
Between August 1 and August 15, René doesn’t write any letters to his parents. Fortunately, we can follow the activities of the 59th Evac. Hospital through the entries in the journal kept by Philip Westdahl and photographs from René’s albums. Below is Dr. Westdahl’s journal entry for August 6, 1943 Palermo, Sicily During […]