We were looking through some of my grandfathers old stuff, and found a couple hundred letters he sent during the war. There's a couple of really cool ones of him before and after battles (such as Anzio and Sicily.) We also found out that he was pretty well acquainted with Bill Mauldin, and in a letter he wrote to my grandma, he said something about sending some sketch books Mauldin gave him back home, which IMHO is really cool if we can find them.
We also found a newspaper article titled "Italians and Germans Poor Shots, 'Bud' Snell Writes." I'd scan it but it's already photo copied, so I don't know how good the quality would be, so here it is word for word:
German and Italian soldiers are poor shots, and the Italian soldiers don't give much trouble, usually surrendering after firing a few shots, writes Pfc. Rollie (Bud) Snell from Sicily, where he is with the invading 45th Division.
"The island (Sicily) is beautiful in places but the towns are ugly and the people and animals stay and sleep in the same house," Pvt. Snell reports in a letter to a friend here, "The night we hit the island looked like a Fourth of July celebration, with flares and tracer bullets and shells flying in the air. In my boat, we had on big scare when a shell landed close [to us?] (article ripped, can't tell). We all thought that we were goners.
"We didn't meet any enemy on the shore except one Italian soldier and he surrendered without firing a shot. The Italians and Germans are rotten shots; they could shot at you all day and not hit you."
Pvt. Snell has been in several tight places but "by the grace of God" came through with only minor damage.
He writes: "At one time I thought that I was a goner. I didn't have much of a fox hole dug as the ground was so hard. The enemy dropped three mortar shells around my hole, one burning my pants and shattering my rifle. The good Lord sure was with me."
"I was awfully seasick when on the assault boat, which we rode around and around in for three hours while the Navy and planes shot over our heads. We got off in water to our chests and boy, did solid earth feel good to me, but I was too weak and sick to enjoy it.
"One day a bunch of us lived on tomatoes and green watermelons we found after being separated from our unit. We have managed to get fresh vegetables from civilians. At first the prices were pretty high, but they finally came down. We met a few of them who formerly lived in America and made there money and came back. They all seem glad to see the American forces, but they surely are beggars for cigarettes, candy, and gum. Those are some American words they mastered quickly."
Pvt. Snell who is the soon of Mr. and Mrs. James R. Snell, 808 Idaho, closed his letter with the thought, "Wish me luck and please write a poor, lonesome, scared, homesick boy."
We found a whole bunch of other cool stuff, and I'll see if I can scan some of the letters he has about Bill Mauldin, and him in combat.
