PERSONAL PROBLEMS BEGIN TO PILE UP

Sara and I were still having problems with meeting. Fraternization rules were stronger than ever. We had all received instructions in writing regarding this from the Commandant. By chance I had met two elderly Italian ladies who had a large house in town. I had given them spaghetti and other food items before I found out that they had an apartment to rent. Luck was with me for a second time. We still had to be on post by ten or eleven. We would spend the evenings playing records and dancing . Our landladies would cook for us. Again, it was a relief to get away from the hospital, if only for a few hours. We became really concerned when one of the doctors began shooting off his mouth at the Officers' Club about enlisted men dating nurses. Another officer told him that if he didn't shut up, he'd see that his wife would find out that he had a girlfriend.

My relationship with Sara was becoming serious. We realized that there were two obstacles to marriage: the differences in rank and religion. We had a terrific Roman Catholic chaplain, who was also our baseball coach. I didn't tell Sara, but I went to see him, explained the situation, and told him that I wanted to leave the Lutheran Church and become a Catholic. He was very sympathetic, but reminded me that religion was not the major roadblock. There was no possibility of overcoming the military regulations. From then on, I had many sleepless nights. I began to realize the hopelessness of the situation. We never thought about the possibility of marriage when we were discharged, because we felt the war would go on forever. Our minds couldn't focus on any future beyond Caserta. I had no idea of what I would do if the war did end.  I had no money, and as a child of the Depression, this was a great concern. Sara was a nurse; she had a career to go back to.   I had nothing. As far as I was concerned, the situation was hopeless.  All this time we received very little news. No one knew exactly how the war was progressing.

                                                                                                  A NEAR MISS

 

My buddy, Ray Polzak and I had gone together on the apartment, and several months later, he married a girl from the Womens' Army Corps, and decided he and his wife wanted a private retreat. This necessitated my searching for another hideaway. I found one large second floor room with a bath down a flight of stairs. It had a nice balcony. Again I paid the rent in supplies from the PX. One night I was standing with some of the guys on the balcony. We heard planes overhead and suddenly the whole sky lit up. We knew the Germans were dropping flares, and that bombs would follow. Later I heard that the whole area from Naples to Caserta was alight that night. When we got back to the hospital we found that two bombs had been dropped on the hospital: one outside the gate and another next to ward eighteen where it knocked a hole in the wall. Neither bomb exploded, but the area was roped off to await the bomb disposal crew. There was always a danger of a delayed explosion, and this was on our minds

Sara and I continued to meet surreptitiously, and at times we were able to go to  dances, as long  as we were with a big group. We felt that we couldn't all be court martialed.  We would spend time in the clubs set up by the military in town.

        

   

Palace from the Highway

Caserta Royal Palace in December, 1943, from the highway outside our hospital gate.  Major changes were made in this area in past years.  When I visited this area in 1998, I found that the highway no longer runs right up to the Palace; it makes a right turn about two blocks before the Palace.  See the historical background immediately below.
 

A short history of the Royal Palace of Caserta, Italy.
This complex was taken over by the U.S. 5th Army which made its headquarters here from 1943 to 1945; and it is here where the Germans surrender was signed after Germany was defeated.
 

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