I carried Ralph in and laid him on a cot, next to Kurt's. I planned to bury both of them tomorrow, early in the morning. I wanted to find something to put over their bodies. I noticed there was a pile of worn dark green blankets on a shelf in the opposite corner of the room. I picked two of them up and gently placed them on Kurt and Ralph's bodies. I looked back at my watch as I sat down on a cot next to Kurt's. The time was 12:37 in the morning. I still sat there looking around the room, tapping my foot on the floor.
I then got up and went to the door and took off my boots and laid them next to the door. I walked back over to my cot and laid on it, starring at the ceiling. I put the dirty sheets over my legs. I adjusted my feet until I felt them touch something that was on the end of the bed, it felt like a cold, metal box. I sat up and buried my hands under the sheets and pulled the object out. In fact, it was what I thought. It was an old scratched up olive green box. I shook it lightly and opened it. There inside was a small box, 2 packs of cigars and cigarettes, family photos, an Iron Cross, a handkerchief, and a brown leather journal. When I held one of the pictures, I saw a wife and a husband. IÂ recognized the man in the photo, it was Kurt. It was one of Kurt's wedding photos. I put that one back in and looked at the other ones. I picked up the journal and began to open it. I slowly took off the strap that was around it and opened to Kurt's first journal entry. It read;
Dear family,                                               10:23pm, June 4th, 1944, West Russia
This war has been rough with the summer's heat and with no rest. We have fought day in and day out for a couple of weeks. The time I only get to sleep is for about thirty minutes a day. We have been given little to no food for the past week, all I've eaten is some raw meat from a rabbit that one of my friends, Albert Schroeder, caught for me and him. We both became sick after, throwing most or all of it up. Otherwise, I've been trying to ignore those struggles and have only been focusing on Germany winning the war and keeping my life. I'm not fighting this war for our leader, I'm doing it for you, the other citizens all around Germany, and our country, to keep everything safe from the Allies.
I will now tell you what I see, hear, and do. Everyday, I look at a valley filled with black smoke, craters from artillery shells, blown tanks, and dead bodies, German and Russian. What I hear day and night is heavy gunfire, artillery (close and far off in the distance), screaming soldiers, Stukas dive bombing, and the sound of enemy tanks passing by. What I do everyday is fight, that's all, nothing else. There are no laughs, smiles, talking, meals, or even drunken soldiers like there used to be. Sometimes in the evenings, we can have small breaks that are only about an hour long, then it's back to marching for miles across the Russian valley again.
Now I will ask how things are at home. Is everyone ok and well? How is Maria (Kurt's sister) doing? Has she given birth to her baby yet? I know Hanna (Albert's girlfriend) misses me the most, has she came over to visit a lot? I know she has, she loves me to bits! That's all of the things to ask you for now. All I have to say is stay safe and healthy.
Love, Kurt J. Smith
"Kurt Smith's first letter." I thought to myself
I wanted to read the rest but I had no feeling to do so. I put it back in his box with the rest of his personal things and locked the box. I walked over and put the box next to Kurt's body. I then walked back over to Kurt's cot and slept on it and did not wake up the rest of the night.