The Boats Have Been Passing All Day
Thurs. 29 Nov. ‘45
Manila, Luzon
Dear folks,
Two forty-five and nothing doing so I’ll write a letter. Thought I’d try some lined paper for a change. No new developments today. Last night we went to a movie and show at another outfit down the road. It wasn’t bad. They had some Philippino acrobats and musicians that were pretty good. After we got there we found that we’d already seen the picture “George White’s Scandals” but we stayed anyway. We got back a little after 11:00. I think I’ll skip the movie one of these nights and catch some as I feel awfully sleepy mornings. We have breakfast from 5:30 to 7:00 so I’m usually up at 6:45 and over to eat. Then I sleep until 8:00 before I go to work.
No mail so far today and not too much to do. Tomorrow should be pay day. We had ice cream today with apple pie and I got a little extra hungry and went through twice. The meals vary a lot. Some are real good others not worth mentioning.
I am sending along an article I found in a magazine about Manila. It is slightly exaggerated but some of it is quite accurate and I thought it might be interesting. [The article, from Esquire, Oct.’45, is titled “Renaissance in Manila.” On the back is the beginning of a story “This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise,” by J.D. Salinger.]
According to today’s paper all 55 pointers should be on their way by Dec. 31 at the present rate of shipping. It has really speeded up now. I haven’t been down by the docks lately but I understand there are a lot more ships than before. There is a replacement depot near here and long convoys of men going out there to be processed and headed in the opposite direction for the boats have been passing all day. Even late last night they were going past. That’s what I like to see. The faster they leave the better our chances become. Maybe we’ll make it before summer yet.
Well there’s not much else to say so I may as well sign off for today. So long for now,
Arlington
Where Do We Go From Here
Wed. 28 Nov. ‘45
Manila
Dear folks,
Wednesday night at about 6:45. I think I shall go to a movie in a little while so I shall write this first. Not much new today. No mail today except for a few packages but I didn’t see anything of mine yet. Last night we went to a show down the road at another area but they had a Philippine stage show of some sort which was pretty corny so we left and came back here to our own movie. We saw “Where do we go From Here” with Fred MacMurray, June Haver, and Joan Leslie. Tonight they are having Patrick the Great which we have seen so Miller and I are going up to the other outfit to see what they are showing.
I haven’t done much work today as usual. I am getting so I do just as little as I possibly can and still get away with. The personnel sgt gets just a little disgusted with me but he already knows how I feel about things. I figure I have done enough already to last out the three or four more months that I have left.
This afternoon I went over to the hospital again to see how the X-rays came out on my wrist. They were just the same as the ones in England in April. The doctor a Lt Col looked the situation over and didn’t think he should try anything. As near as I can tell he didn’t want to mess with it. He said unless the pain got so it caused a lot of trouble that he wouldn’t recommend any operation on it. He said about all they could try was to cut a little of the bone away. It must be a rather tough job because he didn’t seem at all interested about doing it. He said the best thing to do was to leave it as it is but to be sure it goes on my discharge when I get out so I will have something to show should the need arise sometime. I talked with the Capt here when I came back and he said the same thing. He figured that they just don’t want to fool with it. I put the statement from the Dr in the back of my service record and I know enough about discharges so that I won’t sign mine unless it is fixed up to show what it should. The fact that I have had this job is worth something at least in that I know what the score is on a few of these things. So as before I guess I am stuck with a bad wrist. I guess I should have stayed in England when I had the chance. Oh well. I’ll be home before too long I hope and maybe I won’t have to do any heavy work with it.
We have our work fairly well in had now so unless something unexpected comes up we should be able to take things easy for a few days. There isn’t much else to say for things tonight so I think I shall call this enough and get ready to go to the show. Be seein’ you next time,
Arlington
The Old Navicular
Tues. 27 Nov. ‘45
Manila
Dear folks,
Tues. afternoon and not too much to do so I’ll write a short letter. The navy left a lot of this tinted [pink] onion skin paper so I thought I’d get fancy and use some of it. Things are going along in a fairly normal manner once more. Yesterday morning I took some time off and played some tennis with one of the kids in the section. I was pretty rusty but we managed to win a set or two of doubles. We were playing on a cement basketball court and the lines weren’t the same as a standard court. It’s my first time since last May in Germany. Then yesterday afternoon I took a ride up to the 4th Gen’l Hosp. and had a little talk with one of the Drs. about the old navicular. Judging by what he said, which was practically nothing, I imagine there is nothing that can be done about it but one can never tell. I gave him the whole story as to what has happened to it in the last 2 years and he wrote it all down, did a lot of twisting & feeling of my wrist and compared it to the left one. Then he sent me down for X-rays and I’m to go back tomorrow afternoon to see how they turned out. Actually I don’t really know what they could do, probably nothing, but I decided to find out. If it is possible I’d like to have it fixed before I get out of the army. If I had a few more points now, I’d be in a much better position as I might be able to pull a deal of some sort. We’ll see how things turn out.
No mail yesterday & I got Gram’s letter of Nov. 17 & 18 today. That’s only 8 days enroute so the speed is picking up. I see you are getting mine in better time also. There won’t be so much mail coming this way as more men are shipped home so we will probably get better service.
Everything we read is very encouraging. Supposedly we’ll have plenty of ships by Jan. I still figure they won’t get to us until in February – either by dropping the points to 45 or the service period to 3 years. I guess I was about right when I said spring. I suppose I should not complain about it because 3 months or so really isn’t too long after 3 years, but still it seems a long time now.
I am looking for those Xmas packages but haven’t seen any yet. No one has received any Xmas boxes. Maybe they’ll start coming in pretty soon. I didn’t mean I’d received Edna’s, I had just got the letter saying she had sent it. We should cash in on quite a few packages as they aren’t forwarded to the men who have left. One fellow who used to get a couple a week left his to us and not a single one has come in so far.
Last night we had “That’s The Spirit” with Peggy Ryan and Jack Oakie. It was a rather farfetched sort of plot but rather entertaining to me at least. A lot of the fellows didn’t care for it, but for an Oakie picture it was pretty good. Tonight we have “Where Do We Go From Here” with Fred MacMurray & Joan Leslie which should be pretty good.
Our E.M. club opened last night but I didn’t go over. There’s nothing there that I’m interested in particularly. I’ve collected over $300 in tickets & dues so far so that’s pretty good.
Well that’s about all there is to say for this afternoon so I’ll close and go back to work. So long ‘til next time,
Arlington
If I Ever Had To Work
Friday 23 Nov. ‘45
Manila 7:10 p.m.
Dear folks,
Another week about done with. Not too much new today. Last night I went to a movie. It was my first time here and they really have a swell theater. It’s outside naturally but there are plenty of seats and a very nice stage. The screen is full size for a change. Last night they had “Conflict” with Humphrey Bogart & Alexis Smith, which was pretty good – one of those psychological plots.
Today things have gone along fairly well. There wasn’t much doing this morning but this afternoon we moved across to our new office so that involved a certain amount of confusion and work. We went back after supper tonight for awhile and have things in pretty fair shape once more. A little time in the morning and everything will be back to normal. We are in a regular building now and it’s really a nice setup. They seem to get better as we go along but it’s due to the fact we inherited it all from the Navy. Now if we can just stay put for awhile, everything will be O.K.
We had our Thanksgiving dinner last night and what a meal – all the white meat I could eat, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, peas, bread, butter, biscuits, cranberry sauce & pumpkin pie with cream frosting. I was pretty full when I quit.
Today I got Gram’s Nov. 12-14 letter. I’ve been averaging about one a day lately. There’s no show here tonight. Some of the boys went to one at another camp up the road but I’m in fatigues and didn’t have the ambition to change.
For the first time in quite while my work is caught up. I was talking to the medics today about my wrist and I’m going up to the hospital Mon. and see what they think about it. Personally I doubt if they can do much about [it] but as I see it, it doesn’t hurt to find out. The Dr. in England said it might be possible to graft the bones together but he couldn’t be sure. Actually it doesn’t bother too much but if I ever had to work (which is quite possible) it would give me trouble.
That’s about all the dope from here for today so I’ll be signing off again. So long until next time,
Arlington
Changing The Official Mind
Wed. 21 Nov. ‘45
Las Pinas, Manila
Dear folks,
Wednesday evening and I am on C Q again. They changed the roster and took off some of the men so I was moved up about three days. We are in our new area finally. After changing the official mind several times in about three days, we finally got started yesterday and moved over here. We were busy all forenoon with reports and stuff on all the new men that were shipped in. That was the largest number that we have had to pick up since we were back in Maxey a year and a half ago. This was messed up too with a lot of Regular Army men and what have you.
We loaded up our stuff on two trucks in the afternoon and came out here. We’re about 10 miles from our other area on a different edge of town. I guess Las Pinas is the name of the locality or suburb of Manila. We are still about 6 miles from downtown but it is slower to get in as the traffic out in these parts is really heavy. We unloaded all of our equipment and the spent the rest of the time trying to get our personal stuff in order.
At present we have the section set up in what was a library when the Seabees were here. It is quite a nice setup now that everything is arranged and in working order but we expect to have to move in a couple days to a building across the way which the navy is vacating today. I would personally prefer to stay right here but my opinions don’t seem to mean much. Over here we are a little bit out of sight of the brass and as someone said, out of sight out of mind. Maybe that would apply here. Anyway no matter which place we eventually land in, it will be the best that we have had in a long time. This area was all occupied by the Seabees and they really had everything first class. Of course the navy has a much better deal than the army no matter where they happen to be.
As for our living quarters, well that is pretty good. We are in pyramidal tents, with plywood floors and all manner of gadgets built into them by the sailors. We will eventually move into a different section of the camp but all of it is the same. We have 5 in our tent although it was built for 8 men. That makes plenty of room for all of us. We have a table and by scouting around we have accumulated about 8 chairs as well as any number of odds and ends of things. The boys left stuff all over the area and naturally some of the boys went after what they could find. It’s OK I suppose but I never seem to go for it myself. I have enough junk with the stuff I am issued. Unless there is something that will make me more comfortable while I am in a place I am not interested. We have lockers built into the frame the tent is on so we have places to put our stuff. Also I got hold of a footlocker before we left the other area so that makes things pretty good on the whole. We are in a real shady area and it stays cool no matter how hot it is outside. It is a sort of dark and gloomy looking place but it is worth it to have it stay cool all the time. Showers are right by the tents and the water is warmed part of the time. There is a concrete court near the tent where we can play basketball, tennis, or volleyball. There is a swell theater with plenty of seats and a full sized projector and screen. I was out for a few minutes this afternoon trying to shoot a few baskets but couldn’t do any good. My wrist kicks up a little fuss whenever I try anything like that. I have been doing a lot of thinking about it the last few days and I have a notion to have the medics take a look at it and see if there is anything that could be done. It is a little different now than when the outfit was still going along in normal fashion. When we were in England there was still a lot of the war left and I wanted to stick around but now all there is to do is wait and I might as well be doing myself a little good while I am waiting. I may be getting out of the army in about 5 months and after then it will be a little late to try to get anything done about it. Of course I don’t know for sure that it could be helped any but I believe it is worth a try. If I don’t change my mind in the next week or so I intend to see about it. I don’t see where there is much I can lose by it.
Today our request for the battle star came back rejected by good old Mac. It was approved all along the line up to him. So there goes 5 points out the window and at a 5 point drop per month it means at least another month over here. Actually we didn’t earn one but I never turn up my nose at 5 points and if I ever get transferred out of this outfit I sort of think I will pick up a few points in the process. The army has never been very conscientious in its treatment of us. I guess I sound sort of bitter but I can’t help it.
There is a movie tonight but since I am on CQ I can’t get over to see it. We had steak for supper tonight. The food is pretty good but after all it is the same type rations we have been getting. We eat in a large battalion mess hall which is the one thing I don’t like. My only objection to it is the long chow line. The first three graders eat in a separate mess by themselves. Personally that sort of thing stirs up a lot of resentment on my part. Perhaps it is a little jealousy but I don’t think so. I feel that if a person is good enough to work with all day to live in the same tent with, he is good enough to eat with. But that isn’t the army I guess.
I got a letter from Gram yesterday written on Nov 6 but none today. The mail is all muddled up but gradually seeping in to us. We still have the same APO after our move.
I worked a little this forenoon and for the first time in several days got caught up with everything so this afternoon I took it just a little easy. I have been doing a miserable job of writing lately. I have a whole stack of letters in my bottom drawer here from people that I should answer. Most of them have heard from me once since I have been out here.
Maybe I can get at a few of them tonight if something doesn’t come up to give me a different job.
That is about all there is to say for things in the pacific tonight so I will call this to a halt and say so long until the next time,
Arlington
Sing Your Way Home
Sat. 17 Nov. ‘45
Manila
Dear folks,
Well Sat. afternoon and once more we are getting ready to move. We are moving tomorrow morning early to our new area so I rather imagine we’ll be a bit busy. I haven’t seen the place yet but from all I’ve heard it must really be swell. Perhaps that article did some good after all as the general is supposed to have said we were to get the best area in Manila. It’s pretty hard to understand. Tonight we plan to load all our office equipment on the 2 ½ and take it down. Then in the morning all we’ll need do is pull down our tents and load our personal belongings.
Big stories out on points today. Supposedly they drop to 55 Dec. 1. That gets Miller but leaves the rest of us pretty high and dry. Even this battle star we have pending wouldn’t get me over the hump as it would make 51. I was hoping for 50 as the new score. The story is anyone over 35, or with 4 years service, or with three children or with 55 points is eligible. According to the paper the 2 year system make [may?] begin in March and then they’ll toss out the points completely. If it’s 4 years service in Dec. maybe it will drop to 3 yrs. by January or Feb. My 3 yrs. are up Jan. 1 but I don’t know how much good it will do me. All troops are to be out by Jan. ’47. Boy that’s really an encouraging thought. But someday I’m bound to fit in on one of these plans. I hate to see Miller leave if he does as we’ve been together a long time but naturally I’ll be glad if he can get home. He’s got a really cute little girl that he only saw for about 4 days right after it was born. She’s about 14 months old now. Incidentally that’s where he got all the points.
I got one letter today – Gram’s postmarked Nov. 1. Delivery is pretty slow and unpredictable. It’s been pretty hot today, too hot for any sort of comfort. We had an inspection this morning but outside of shining up my shoes a little I didn’t do anything about it.
Last night we saw “Sing Your Way Home,” a Jack Haley musical. It was pretty good, not much of a story but entertaining. I had thought I might go into town tonight but with the move, it’s out.
Well that’s about it and I have a report to get out yet so I’ll call it off until next time,
Arlington
Something He “Et”
Monday 12 Nov. ‘45
Manila
Dear folks,
Well it’s about 4:00 in the afternoon and for a change things are a bit quiet so I shall write a letter. Today started out a bit busy but has got better as it progressed. The boss was sick last night and spent the forenoon in bed. I guess it must have been something he “et.” With only one of us down here naturally it made a little extra work for me to do but I get along pretty well now. He came in this afternoon for awhile but had to give up and go back to the tent. He isn’t feeling too good on the whole. I seem to have picked up a slight head cold someplace which hasn’t made me too happy about things but it’s nothing serious.
I have the payrolls all set to get out so if the officer gets back in time to sign them I’ll run them down to the finance office yet this afternoon. By the looks of things now they’ll wait until morning. We are getting in a lot of new men today. Some of them in fact most of them have from 5 to 9 points. That is definitely not good. Of course they may not be permanently assigned to us but if they are it will really drag down our unit average. It was about 43 but this would haul it down into the 30’s someplace. I hear units may be regarded as such when it comes to ASR scores from now on. The squad of men and officer who got into the scrape with the Japs up in the hills got a battle star out of it and the 5 points that go with it. They put in a request for them first and then as an after thought they applied for the Bn as a whole. The fact that they got it may put aside any chances we had of getting it. They should have applied for all of us right at first. If any part of a unit engages the enemy the whole outfit is entitled to credit. But somebody is always messing things up. Maybe 5 points wouldn’t make any difference but I’d like to have them just in case. No mail today again. I imagine there will be a movie again tonight as there is one very night lately. We saw a good one last night so we will get a few not so good ones for awhile probably if it runs true to form. That’s about all there is to say for things today. It has been pretty hot but is getting a little cloudy and may rain now. I’ll call this enough for today and get back to work, so long again,
Arlington
Oh Well, So What!
Sunday 11 Nov. ‘45
9:15 a.m.
Good morning folks,
A really nice Sunday morning here so far. It’s clear and sunny and still cool here in the tent. But outside the sun is getting pretty hot. It’s hard to realize it’s already mid-November and still so hot but it is. Personally I still like the 4 seasons pretty well. I’d like to see some snow and ice skating this winter but probably won’t get even close. Maybe it’s as well as we’d we have a little trouble getting used to the cold. Our blood is pretty well thinned now after 3 months out here. Incidentally those 3 months have really passed quickly. Time should drag considering conditions but I guess we’ve been too busy to notice it. I hope the next two months go as fast as maybe by then things will be looking up a bit. Sometimes it seems as if everything looks swell, then again it looks as if we’ll never get out of here. Something came up yesterday which made us do a little thinking. It’s still possible we might hit Japan before we’re through. We hadn’t thought of that one before.
Oh well, so what! I crawled out at about 7:30 this morning for breakfast of eggs. After eating I got ambitious and shined all 2 pairs of my shoes. Then Miller & I went over and got our laundry. They upped the prices on us. It costs 75 cents for 2 sets of suntans now. There is a Flip family nearby which does the work. They really get all they can out of us but at least they do a good job.
This afternoon some of us are going into town for awhile so I’m going to shave and clean up when I finish this. I don’t suppose there’ll be much to see or do but we’ll find out. There is a pretty nice Red Cross I understand. After all the good places we’ve been in we have to come to rest over here. Our little trip out here kept us overseas probably three months longer.
Well, there’s not much else to write this time so I’ll call this off for now.
5:45 and we are back after spending the afternoon in town. I showered and cleaned up this morning but you probably couldn’t tell it. A clean uniform stays pressed just about long enough to get it on. A few minutes and its sweated all out of shape. We had a swell dinner today, fried chicken (I had a whole breast), potatoes, string beans, bread, butter, cake, lemonade & ice cream. About 1:30 four of us took off in a jeep. We hit a couple Red Cross clubs and rode around most of the town. We were down by the harbor and saw a big ship come in. There are a lot down there now, which looks good. I guess our battle star sort of fizzled. The officer & men who were in that scrape got it but so far nothing is heard about the battalion as a whole. No mail today, I see.
Well that’s about the story so I’ll call it off. Think I’ll see a movie tonight.
So long
Arlington
I Am Not Paid To Think
Saturday 10 November 1945
Manila
Dear folks,
About 10:00 p.m. and we just got back from a movie. Miller and I came back over to the office to turn out a couple letters. We saw a pretty good picture tonight “Junior Miss.” I had seen the play in Cheltenham when we were in England last spring. The picture was even better and a little funnier I thought.
Not much that is new today. The mail came in a lot heavier and I got three letters from Gram, 2 postmarked Oct 29 and one on the 30th. It seems to come in in bunches and from what she wrote mine must be reaching you the same way. I guess there is nothing to be done about it though. We were fairly busy today and from the appearances of things perhaps we are about caught up for a few days once more before something else pops up for us to tangle with. I finished checking the payrolls and got out a half dozen or so reports. It seems that higher headquarters dreams up more reports and rosters for us to do every day. I can’t see any sense or use for most of them but I guess I am not paid to think. We had an inspection this morning I guess but I wasn’t around and haven’t heard anything of what happened. I made a little trip over to finance this morning. I get around quite a bit now on various reasons. Tonight Miller and I went into Manila with the Personnel Officer to pick up a new man transferred to our outfit. On the way back we stopped at that snack bar I was telling you about and got some more hamburgers. I am going to be a steady customer of that place whenever I get into town. So far I haven’t been in except on some sort of business or when I have just ridden along. Tomorrow some of us may get passes and go in to see what we can see of the place. I don’t suppose there will be much to see. Our prime mission is to find some good ice cream. I got a little the other day but the equivalent of an American ice cream cone cost us a peso (50 cents). I’d like the ice cream concession for out here. The town is pretty much messed up from the burning the Japs did on the way out and is so crowded with GI’s all the time that I expect once will be just about enough for me.
Tomorrow is an off day in so far as we know now so I expect to do a bit of late sleeping. It is automatic for me to wake up at 6:00 though lately. I sleep really sound all night but as soon as that time rolls around I’m wide awake. Nothing new on the “home” front. We have a campaign (all troops out here) underfoot as you can see by these envelopes. All letters leaving this theater will be stamped with something of this nature. [envelope has rubber stamp: Get Us Home/No Boat Votes] At least it will let a lot of people back there know we are still around and what they can expect once we get out of here. Supposedly shipping is getting better but who knows. 80 point men are still out here. They had 180 destroyers back to New York for Navy day. That sort of thing is just what we all needed I’m sure. I suppose it gets pretty tiresome for you to hear this same old thing from me all the time but naturally it is our chief thought most of the time. Supposedly 60 points is the discharge score now but none of the 60 pointers that we transferred to the 37th division have gone anyplace. We can’t get rid of any that are in our outfit now.
Well so much for the complaint department. Tomorrow is the old Armistice day but I guess it has lost most of its old meaning. It should be forgotten altogether in my opinion. Incidentally just which day was called VJ day back there, Sep 2 or 3? Yamashita surrendered up here on Sunday the 2nd but perhaps it wasn’t all official until the next day.
Well that is about all there is worth writing about for tonight so I shall close this and head towards the bed, So long again.
Arlington
Out Of A Clear Sky (Almost)
Monday 5 November 1945
Manila
Dear folks,
Monday night and here I am on CQ again. This is getting to be too much of a habit. Yesterday I was on voluntarily and my regular turn was this Thurs. So tonight the fellow scheduled for it wasn’t around and naturally I get the job. I think I and a couple people are going to have a little heart to heart talk. I am sort of good natured but there is a limit to everything.
Nothing worthwhile talking about today. Last night we went to a show but it wasn’t too good. It was “On Stage Everybody” with Jack Oakie and Peggy Ryan. He is getting a little worse in each picture I think. Today we have been pretty busy again getting things out of the way. We got paid this afternoon so that was a little more work. Then out of a clear sky (almost) we get an I.G. inspection for tomorrow. So we had to get on the ball and get things in shape so far as possible. I think after all our rushing around things are all right. Anyway I don’t let an inspection bother me much anymore. It is just a little late in the war to worry about it. If we pass it fine, if not well so what. We’ll still get home at the same time and that is all that matters to me. I think this inspection was brought about by some of our “smarter” gentlemen who sought to remedy a situation about which they knew practically nothing. It seems a S/Sgt drafted a letter of complaint about our future move from this place and got 369 signatures to the thing before sending it in to the Pacifican for publication. I’ll send you a copy of the letter. Personally I had no sympathy for it and refused to sign it. I sign the payroll once a month and that is all. I can see no sense in starting a thing like that unless it can accomplish some good for us. Certainly this could only do harm and no good. The thing was printed much to our surprise and when the Major saw it this morning he predicted that the IG would be in his hair in no time and it was only a couple hours later.
We are supposed to have all our stuff in the tents arranged for it but since I shall be over here in the morning I may not be able to make it. We had a good dinner today of fried chicken again but the supper tonight wasn’t much. No mail yesterday or today. Nothing but packages and newspapers for the last three days. It ought to break loose again about tomorrow.
I had intended to go to a movie tonight but naturally I can’t make it now. There isn’t much else to say and I’m not in a very good writing mood right now. I’ll send along the clipping. Notice that bright article by the poor neglected officer. It’s about time they realized they aren’t going to boss the former Enlisted Men around once we all get back home. It will give me a lot of pleasure to deflate some of these ex-officers when this is all over.
Well I’ll sign off for tonight until next time, so long again,
Arlington
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