day 2: traveling by night
Dearest Jessica,
Before we left camp tonight, the lieutenant was good enough to secure a blank journal from the paper stock. He was pulling quite a few strings, but he convinced the commissar that it was necessary for me to document my film usage. I didn’t quite know how to thank him for this remarkable gift, but he waved it off and assured me that I could return the favor in a few months with some good stories after we return to the camp.
I knew that I wouldn’t be able to send or receive any post from the front, at least for extended stretches between reinforcements, which are sometimes months apart, but now I will be able to document my days for you, and you will know how it was like.
We’ve been crammed on this truck for the last several hours now. The lieutenant and the other superiors called us shortly after dinner and announced that it was time. After grabbing our supplies – only a small travel sack, our rifles, and the uniforms on our backs, although I also got to bring the camera and its case along – we all got into straight lines (“in formation,” they call it) and filed onto the trucks by platoons. The trucks are like elongated automobiles, with open backs. It’s enough room for ten men, spread evenly over two benches, but it’s still a bit tight. Theo Calvin has long since fallen asleep, and he’s been giving my shoulder a cramp for the last half hour.
. . .It started raining a little while ago, so I helped the platoon sergeant secure the tarp. We’re still driving. The truck gives off some rather noxious fumes, and it’s very loud. While I was tying down my side of the tarp cover, I noticed that more trucks and vehicles – some look heavier, maybe they’re the personnel carriers that I’ve heard about – have joined us. I think they have been coming out of the towns and camps that we’ve been passing, forming one singular convoy. I tried to see how far it stretches, but in the rain, it’s hard to make out. Looks like it’s at least a mile-long though.
I hope we stop soon. I am very tired and somewhat dizzy.
Love,
T.
yesterday
- tomorrow
