"Under The Weather" January 1945

On January 1, 1945, I woke up in a bombed out German pillbox with about six other members of my unit. We had slept all night with an unvented fire burning. I think it was coke (the fuel, that is). We noticed no smoke or smell, only the heat. I was in an upper bunk and felt fine until I jumped down. It felt like someone hit me in the head. From then on I felt very weak and my heart was pounding. We crawled out into the open air and after that I felt much better, but not great. About 11 a.m., we were taken back to the rear area. From then until I went back to the hospital on February 15, I continued to feel very weak and never hungry. I was diagnosed as having yellow jaundice and sent to a hospital in England near Hereford. After recuperating, I re-joined my outfit in Czechoslovakia near Pilson. We stayed at Camp Lucky Strike for about three weeks and then sailed for the U.S.A. Art Pranger (3/7/99)