In June 1945, the war in Europe that Private Charles J. Lowry fought had been over for a month. From his hospital bed at Fort Benjamin Harrison outside Indianapolis, Indiana, my grandfather no doubt read the news article about the battle around Berlin, the death of Hitler and the surrender of the German Army. It was that Army that put him in the hospital in the first place. While fighting around Brest, France, he was injured by a German grenade, perhaps a potato masher.

This letter was sent to my great grandmother by the Army Service Forces at Billings General Hospital indicating that her son was coming home on a 35 day leave starting 4 June 1945. Due to the efficiencies of the Army, that was the date the form letter was drafted.