The following account is a letter sent
to me by Frank Bailey, brother of John Bailey (B/270) who is
deceased. It is a letter written by John on board the U.S.S.
Mariposa, en route to France.
14 January, 1944, at sea, to Mom:
This is probably the first letter in three weeks and I can imagine
what you are all thinking, but that is the way it will be from now
on. We are still on the water so you can see there isn't too much I
can write about. Leaving out all details that are unmentionable, I
can say that the trip is not unpleasant. The ship is a former liner
designed to accomodate [censored], it's
present load. Our cabin has [censored]
where two would normally stay in peacetime. Despite this, our
sleeping quarters are far superior to the majority of the men. Why!
we even have our own bath and toilet. Many liners don't have that
this day, but all these cabins seem to. You would be surprised at
the odd places they have jammed bunks to hold these men. In spite of
all this, little has been done to convert the ship to a transport.
It is fairly modern, well built, but prone to dip and roll over the
swells rather than drive through them. This is probably because it
is not a large ship, but large enough for it's (sic)
pre-war job. A sheltered spot between life-rafts or if one is lucky,
a few square inches on the promenade with its hundreds of troops,
replace the deck chair. As for the food, it's the same old army
food, abundantly but haphazardly tossed into the ever present mess
gear. I've enjoyed every moment of it, for the time has been
completely ours. I found some very interesting bits of reading
matter that have really given me something to think about for quite
awhile. Then, too, with the crudest of methods at hand, I succeeded
in plotting the ship's course each day. After the war, I would
really like to take some of the money saved up to purchase a small
boat, anything that will float. The sea has always held it's
(sic) fascination for your two sons and it's a shame at least
one of us never went to sea. So much for the trip thus far. When I
land, there will be much more to write about, so till then we'll
have to wait.
In a field ceremony in Germany in
the Spring of 1945, Maj. D. M. Matheson, CO of the 270th Engineer
Combat Battalion (2nd fr right) awards decorations as Capt. Keith
Morrill assists. Honored soldiers are (from left to right): Cpl John
Bailey, who was awarded the Bronze Star for valor; T/4 Oliver Brown
and T/4 Martin Schwerthhoffer, Bronze Star recipients; Pvt George
Ornsby, who received the Purple Heart, and T/5 Jacob Carpeal, an
attached Medic who was commended by Gen. Allison Barnett.
