Sun, Apr 2, 1944: thick of it

"Ruby and Homer have gotten word that Jack is at Anzio Beachhead in Italy. That means that he is getting into the thick of it....
"Daddy's hand 'Bato' the fellow who worked here last fall is supposed to come this week to start working here.
"Hope he doesn't change his mind as Daddy really needs some help and he (Bato) is a good worker even if he is a little queer.  He isn't as disagreeable to be around as some hands are."
--Letter from my grandmother, Bloomington, Kans., to my father, Asbury Park, N.J., Sunday, April 2, 1944.  My father was safely at a training facility in the United States, as he heard news of his childhood friend in "the thick of it" in Italy.