European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 9, 1945, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Yank army 1945 went on to explain that there once had been a distinct German minority group in the Ukraine which had been they figured that the soviet government kept american publications from the russians in order to prevent material which might Foster disunity from getting in the hands of the remnants of the pro nazi Koski recalled the night of the Normandy in what a night he Vodka and the dancing and singing were Wilder than they really pounded us on the Back and cheered the second Albin Narlock of said the Standard greeting to the yanks was Well meet you in each Village has a movie theater which shows swell said russians Are shown plenty of news both Good and defeats and pictures of the russian dead Are not Cut each base had a russian club which was built for our forces by the soviet the club was open from 1800 to 2300 daily and sold Vodka and Beer at prices that were plenty Steep with the official rate of Exchange at five rubles to a Beer Cost 14 Champagne was 117 yet no one Ever went said and food was somewhat of two three a vegetable a fish Brown bread and ice Cream and a Glass of Vodka Cost Pipkin said he had been asked to the enlisted mens canteen on a couple of occasions but that the big pastime there was too Tough for it consisted of flinging around a 50pound Iron the talk turned to the relationship Between the russian officers and enlisted they work hard but they dont fraternize off the said All russian ranks and officers Salute each other and return the then quickly follow it with a this Means that privates Salute corporals and so on right on up the theres no doubt but the officer is the said Estill a former Coal Miner from you can quickly see but every officer starts As a private so there not the pay is but the differences Arent As great As on our the the men was about like it is in our Middle it got up to about 100 degrees but didst seem so the Countryside reminded them of the Middle West the soil is Black As far Down As you can said the land is divided into Small farms which Are All part of big collective the farm Man Ager gets the same pay As everyone but there poorly Sarenson put around my All i saw was crude horse drawn wooden they May have been mechanized before the because i saw machines in the area the germans didst reach who Speaks visited lots of rus Sian four or five room buildings put up by the they were made of mud and topped by thatched they were neat and clean even though two or three families sometimes lived in one dwelling because of the housing russian women keep things very said they manage although theres hardly any russian Are an other i figure that the fact that we kept and that our uniforms were is one of the big reasons we made a hit with the the Koski proved to be most i bummed around with a couple of other polish speaking he and every where we we were always offered food and Many times it was a fun course the girls would always bring us an Apple or something else to eat when we had the vre a generous when we went to their houses we would sit around in the room they used As a combination dining room and living and they Tell us about their country and the there would always be Tea and they pour Vodka into you like water and really get insulted if you dont Down it in a youd better learn to drink it their else dont go Koski said that although the poles and rus sians knew there was an ancient hatred Between both Felt it want Good for he told of meeting Many poles serving in the russian you never hear anybody talk said they dont seem to worry about such things As the Russia polish the men found the russians quite impressed by the Quality and the amount of american equip All the motorized sections of the red army depend upon american said they have developed a love for the Studebaker Sixby Sixes and Call everything that dependable a they use plenty of jeeps Koski recalled giving two red army men such an exhibition of the jeeps agility in overcoming obstacles that they took him to town and got him tight toasting jeeps and sundry vehicles with the russians thought the b17 was a Fine plane but  figure out Why such a big aircraft had such a Small bomb they make bombers or fighters out of every Type of aircraft that said Treyve put top turrets mounting two guns on c47s and use them As heavy bombers by kicking the bombs out of the Side they also use c47s for hauling freight and dropping they compare the p51 with the and that quite a tribute coming from since they rate their Yak the on june 2 the Fields of the Eastern command became operational with the first shuttle raid made by the forts of the fifteenth air Force coming up from the planes were quickly turned around with the Aid of russian Avia Tion gasoline and did another Job on the Way the men saw rebuilding and rehabilitation constantly increasing during their stay in the they noticed steadily increasing populations in the towns near their bases As a result of citizens said the rus sians still make men do the work that we make a machine Treyve got a lot to but there i visited a tank factory and an aircraft Plant where most of the workers were women and their machine tools Arent up to our but they work Damn hard and get Fine the americans thought the possibility of future Contact with their russian friends was the soviet government wont let letters be sent into the said the girls can write out to but we cant and you know How Long that kind of a correspondence we  visit relatives we were told to apply through channels for time off and permission to travel if we had any relatives we wanted to one i and shortly after this he was shipped out of the apparently the soviet government didst want such contacts for their Koski found a few russians who had been in the United but none of the men met any one inquiring about my Cousin in rapier and Pipkin were two of the Lucky few who got to As guests of the american each spent a couple of Days exploring the i could have used a couple of Pipkin but i did hit the High rapier said he did just a Little freelance sightseeing the first the next morn ing he went i had breakfast in the metro pole dining and while i was eating i noticed what looked like a couple of japs at the next i called Over a waitress and asked what nationality these Guys and found i had hit it on the they were members of the staff of the japanese i stared right at the bastards but they deliberately avoided my i kept it up until they raised their news papers in front of their later i went to an exhibition of captured German War just across the River from downtown Treyve got everything there from German pfc stripes to Royal Tiger i spent several hours there and then went to red Square and some of the Public then i chased through several department stores looking for souvenir picture Post but i didst find then i had to go Back to my Pipkin had an even livelier we arrived by air plane at 2 Oclock in the he and were met at the Field by some american officers driving i Drew a major with a they took us to the hotel at 4 Oclock they picked us up for a sightseeing which included the War College and the school of and we took a Quick look inside of each with a russian officer As they Are modern buildings All then we drove Bank through red Square and went into the Kremlin where the main government offices Are finally we visited stains country what a Beautiful layout Hes we went Back to the hotel for dinner and had a Choice of the opera or the i chose the we were late in arriving and found that the performance had been held up 35 minutes for and it didst get going until after we were seated in the Box Down the next morning we started off on our i went to the place where the germans had been stopped in their drive for the red army just got them stopped in i looked at some of the City Parks and just bummed i looked at a couple of Art Gal then i went to the its totally Dif Ferent from our its More like a fun House or an amusement several nurses had come up to Moscow with and we had arranged to see so that evening we went out to the american embassy where they had been invited to stay by Kathleen the ambassadors 21yearold we came in just As a diplomatic reception was and miss Harriman invited us to meet the All of a sudden i found myself getting a big handshake from the com Missar for foreign and then from marshal who had been called to Moscow to be and from ambassador the British the chinese the soviet commissar of Public health and lots of other soviet and diplomatic big i dont re member their i always did have trouble with those russian it was mighty interesting listening to those people some of the questions put to Molotov seemed kind of but he answered them through his i got an Excel Lent impression of we stayed around for a while and then Kathleen told us the dinner to follow the reception would get pretty so we took off for town to see the Moscow night Pipkin said he discovered four Heaters in mos cow showing american mostly first run but our jazz was practically in except for a few pieces Bei Meir bist do to which russian words have been a russian band plays american jazz at the hotel Pipkin but it Doest Start until Midnight and you need a card to get Kathleen had fixed us there were no other americans there As we were the Only couples dancing to this some gorgeous russian girls began cutting wanting to dance american pretty soon the place was a with lots of people and we were having ourselves a hell of a i was in Moscow the night that stains order of the Day declared that the last German had been driven from russian ill remember those Victory salutes As Long As i what a scene Vodka galore and dancing everywhere in the id give anything Tobe there the night the russians get to Page 9