Everybody Is Home But Me
Sat. 27 Oct. ‘45
Wack Wack Country Club
Manila
Dear folks,
Sat. night and we just got back from the movies. They had “Bell for Adano” tonight and it was a pretty good picture although I didn’t care much for the ending. Not much new today. Last night I got Gram’s and Dad’s letters postmarked Oct. 16. No mail today so far and I guess there won’t be any. We were pretty busy all day and worked most of the afternoon, even though it was Saturday. So far as I know we won’t be working tomorrow unless something comes up.
It’s raining hard outside and has been almost continually for 3 days. We were lucky to be able to sit through most of the movie before it started to rain again. I washed my boots 3 days ago and they are still wet. Nothing is able to dry out with it like this. It’s a good thing we aren’t still down on the rice paddie we hit the first night. What a mess that would be by now.
Our P.X. opened up tonight so I picked up a few things including this paper & some shoe polish so I can get garrison. We went back into suntans again today at Hqs. It’s going to create a laundry problem as I see the pants are pretty dirty already. There must be mud inside my poncho by the looks of things. So far we have no provisions for laundry. We are supposed to build one for Quartermaster before we finish I understand.
We have things set up pretty well and as soon as the hospital unit moves out we’ll go into their barracks. With lights, radios and everything we need we are sitting pretty and I just hope it lasts until we have to leave for good.
Its swell Donald is home. From what you folks write I guess everybody is home but me, but maybe I’ll make it yet. They’re bound to run out men to discharge some day and then I’ll be all set.
I think I’ll catch a shower and get to bed fairly early tonight so I’ll call this it.
Be seein’ yo’all
Arlington
Wack Wack Country Club
Fri. 26 Oct. ‘45
Wack Wack Country Club
Manila
Dear folks,
I have an hour left of my lunch time so I’ll get on the ball and write for the first time since Mon. We’ve been pretty busy since then and I’m not kidding a bit. We spent practically all of Tues. getting our stuff loaded on to the truck and a couple trailers. We must have less stuff or something because we seemed to have lots of room left over for a change. We were up at 4:00 Wed. morning, got all our personal stuff loaded, ate breakfast, struck our tents and were ready to leave by about 6:00. It hadn’t rained for 2 weeks so Tues. night it started and rained off and on all day Wed. We pulled out at about 7:00 and after an all day ride came into our area at about 5:30. What an area. When we saw it we were just about ready to quit completely. We had a nice big rice paddie [sic] at the foot of a slope. It’s still the rainy season down here and there was 2 inches of mud and water all over the place and in many places it was a lot deeper. The caribou had been using it as a wallowing place.
There wasn’t much we could do so we dragged off our tent, though [sic] it up in the mud, ate, and got to bed at about 8:30 just to keep our feet dry. It rained just about all night and was still raining when we got up at about 9:00 yesterday morning. When we stepped out of bed the water was ankle deep inside the tent. What a mess. About that time somebody finally got a little backbone and went to higher headquarters to get us out of there. It had reached the point where you needed rubber boots to walk around. So we took our tent down once more (you can guess what it looked like in all that mud and water and was it heavy!), packed up and pulled out.
When we saw this area it was like a paradise in comparison. We got here at about noon and had to work the whole day but it was worth it.
We are in a Philippino golf course or what used to be one. An evacuation hospital has been here but their patients are all gone so we got the areas where their wards were. There are floors and side frames built so all we had to do was pitch our tents over the frames. Our section was about the only ones around so we ended up putting up roughly 10 tents which involves just a little bit more work than I had done in quite some time. We did far more than our share but eventually got finished and had a chance to fix things up. It’s the first time we’ve been “off the ground” since Germany in June and it feels pretty good. Of course we now have floors to mop but it’s worth it. I have my stuff set up pretty well now and I hope we won’t get pushed out of here. The hospital unit is leaving so we may get into barracks then although I’ll be satisfied where I am. The shower room is about 20 feet from the back door and there is running water in the tent. If this can only last we’ll be all right. The boys had lights installed before dark last night. By the time we finished I was mud up to my knees and filthy dirty but I finally got cleaned up and got to bed.
We were up at about 7:00 this morning and at about 8:00 we went to work. We have the best deal for an office that we’ve had since Maxey, believe it or not. We got all our stuff unloaded and got the office arranged pretty well this forenoon. By tonight we should have everything under control.
It’s still raining and has been nearly continuously since we’ve been here. I guess it just stays that way all the time.
Our APO is 75 again, the same one we had when we first hit the Philippines. I got Gram’s Oct. 14 letter Tues. night. I don’t suppose we’ll be getting any for a day or 2 now.
From what the C.O. said we have plenty of work. We have enough construction work to do to last a good long time. If we are surplus troops they surely intend to put us to good use while we wait. I may be wrong but it sounds as if we’re good for 3 or 4 months here as a unit so unless points drop or something else pulls us out we’re stuck.
That’s about how things look now and it’s time to go to work so I’ll have to call this enough until next time.
So long
Arlington
The Guerrilla Posts Are Gone
Mon. 22 Oct. ‘45
Luzon
Dear folks,
Not much to write about tonight. Yesterday afternoon a few of us got a jeep and went up to our waterfall for a bath, probably the last time up there. Now that it hasn’t rained for a couple weeks you’d hardly recognize it as the same road up there. All the guerrilla posts are gone and things have been restored to their normal appearance except for an occasional Bailey bridge which will always mark the path of the Engrs. Last night there were 3 letters, I believe, for the whole company. The mail got in early today. There was plenty of it but I got but one letter – Gram’s of Oct. 11. Ten days seems to be just about the average speed nowadays.
I’ve been pretty busy today. The boss got back from Manila last night. We had to have another copy of all the pay vouchers so I’ve worked all day typing them and have just about finished. Tomorrow we’ll probably pack and load our vehicles so we can take off Wed. morning. B Co. left this morning. They must have been up at 3:00 for we got no sleep after that. How one Co. can make that much noise beats me.
We have a movie tonight – “George White’s Scandals.” I saw it back in Angeles when we first got here I believe but I’m not sure. It’s a pretty fair picture any way so I guess I’ll enjoy it even if it is the second time. Between now and then I think I’ll try and catch a little sleep as my head has been giving me a bit of a bad time today. I understand we may have a pretty fair setup in Manila but I’ll know better by Thurs. or Fri.
There’s not much else to say now so I’ll be calling this to a halt. So long again,
Arlington
Number 23 Is Finished
Sunday 14 October ‘45
Luzon
Dear folks,
Sunday afternoon and I’ll write awhile. Well number 23 is finished and this starts number 24 today. It’s a whole lot different from last year. A year ago today I was on a train heading for home. I wonder how long it will be before I’ll be there again. It can’t be any too soon for any of us but it still isn’t in sight. The only thing which is encouraging are the rumors which are many but unfounded. The best that even the rumors do for us is Xmas. I hope its right but I won’t be very surprised if we are eating Xmas dinner in Manila.
The 60 pointers are about all cleared out now. Originally they were leaving in mid November but the latest is about 10 days from now. The 38th Div. has already gone and I believe the 37th is the last so maybe we are just about next. About all that are left are ETO troops and kids who’ve been over here 4 or 5 months as replacements. Most of our new men have from 18 to 20 points which looks pretty good. Before they came the organization was split in half at 45 points. Now the average must be down nearer 40 so that makes my 46 look a whole lot bigger than it used to. So if they lower points to 45 or start 2 year releases I ought to make either one. There aren’t many in the outfit with more service than I now. A lot can happen in 1 ½ months between now and December 1.
Last night we had a movie. It was “Our Vines Grow Tender Grapes,” a rather serious story with Edward G. Robinson in a new type role with little Margaret O’Brien. Remember her in “Lost Angel” when we saw it back at the Gladmer? It was a good story but the generator went out near the end and I got disgusted and left. I guess they got it started later on but I didn’t go back to see the end.
Back at about 8:10 p.m. We got a lot of records in this afternoon on some of our new men so we went down to check them over before supper. We had some good macaroni tonight, almost as good as yours. We have practically a completely new group of cooks and we’ve been eating the last few days. We had fried chicken yesterday noon, roast beef last night and chicken for dinner again today. It’s good and in large quantities for some reason. Hope it keeps up.
This morning I got up at about 7:30 for breakfast of fried eggs and then lay back down and slept until about 11:30 when I got up for dinner. I decided to get enough sleep for one morning while the rest of the boys were working.
That’s about the story for today. Tomorrow it’s back to work once more. I’m getting awfully tired of this old routine day in and day out but I guess it will go on for awhile yet.
There was a railroad bridge out someplace between Manila and San Jose today so we didn’t get any mail. Maybe we’ll get twice as much tomorrow if we get any. I was going to write several letters today but as usual I didn’t get it done. I don’t seem to get much of anything done anymore but someday I’ll get ambitious (maybe).
Well it’s nearly bed time again so I’d better be on my way for today. I’ll be back again next time, so long for now.
Arlington
Nothing To Do And Nothing To See
Friday 28 Sep ‘45
Luzon
Dear folks,
I’m on CQ this noon so I’ll start a letter while there is nothing doing. It wasn’t quite my time but the next three men in line are off at various places so I got it. There is nothing to do except watch over the switchboard. For some reason it has been unusually quiet so far. Maybe everyone is eating I hope. We had a swell steak dinner today. I ate early and got a well done piece. Nothing new around here much. We got 4 letters for the whole company last night. The adjutant is going to try to see just what the score is on our mail, why we don’t get any. It must be held up someplace here on the island because it seems to be coming across pretty fast now. Maybe it will bring some results. We are losing all of our 35 year old men so they won’t be in the army long now. I’m glad I’m not that old naturally but it must really feel good to know that it won’t be long before you could get away from all of this sort of thing.
Our work goes up and down. One time we have twice as much as we can handle and the next time there is absolutely nothing to do. I guess I had better get back to posting some of the publications we have lying around. That’s one job I really dislike but the other clerk who was doing that sort of thing is down in San Jose on DS so I guess it is up to me. I am getting so that I do less work every day and I’m not doing any more than I can possibly help from now on. There is no future and now that the war is over I have lost all my ambition and just want to get back where I belong. Things in general appear about the same around here. Nothing is definite enough to put any confidence in.
It is the usual hot afternoon. We had some rain last night but not as much as usual. There hasn’t been much for a couple days which is good. It has made it so they could get the boys out of the mountains. If it holds for another 4 or 5 days then it can rain all it wants and we won’t care. By then it shouldn’t be our worry any more. We just have our fingers crossed. Well that is about all there is to say today. I know these letters don’t amount to much but every day is just like the last one out here. There is nothing to do and nothing to see and talk about. So for one more time, so long and I’ll be seeing you,
Arlington
A Blisterer
Thurs. 27 Sep. ‘45
Luzon
Dear folks,
Back to work after dinner. I’d have been off this afternoon but a colonel is supposed to come nosing around today so we had to stick around. Today is really a blisterer. There’s no place one can go to get away from it. I’m sitting in the coolest spot I could find and sweating anyway.
We got a little mail last night & I got Gram’s letter written Sep. 16. It’s the first one I’ve seen addressed to 198 and it got here in 9 days. The other letter she mentioned sending before hasn’t come in yet. We have a lot of mail out someplace that hasn’t come in so someday we’ll get a lot at once.
Last night we had a rifle inspection after supper. I had cleaned mine in the forenoon and figured it was O.K. But when the Lt. looked at it he couldn’t see a bit of light through the bore. I got a patch and ran through it and it came out all mud. It seems some of these little mud-dobbers or whatever they are called had started to build a nest in the barrel. I guess that goes down as an embarrassing moment. I got a hair cut last night also. I guess he took it pretty high around the edges but it’s growing out on top finally. My hair seems to grow awfully slow down here. We expected a movie last night but naturally it didn’t come in.
We are going around here with our fingers crossed hoping and waiting to see what will happen. Things still look pretty good unless someone tosses in a monkey wrench. That’s about all there is to say for now so I’ll call this it for today.
Arlington
I Still Don’t Run The Army
26 September 1945
Luzon
Dear folks,
Another afternoon. According to the boss’ figuring this is my afternoon “on” so here I am doing just as little as I can get away with. Yesterday afternoon I was off for an hour or so, so he decided to take off today. From now on we are going to try to arrange it so only one of us is at work all the time. That way we get half of the time off. It reminds me of the setup I had back in Maxey when I took off those two times last fall and went home. The only trouble here is there is no place to go anyway.
The mail last night was nothing much to speak of. Just a few v-mails and a very few letters. The air mails that did come in though were postmarked Sep 17 so they made it in a week. That is really good. One of these days we should hit a heavy mail again as we surely are due for one.
I was off for a couple hours this morning and spent most of the time trying to get my rifle clean. I guess the CO must have gone through the tents looking at them this morning as we have an inspection scheduled for 6:00 tonight. I wasn’t sure that I could find a way of skipping it so I gave it the once over. It hasn’t had much care since I have been here but was in pretty good shape. This damp climate would rust anything. Everything is soaked in the morning when we get up. Our clothes are damp and any metal surface is wet. That black outside covering on my camera has come unstuck believe it or not and is just about off. Envelopes in our desks just stick shut of their own accord. Oh it’s a great country. But they can give it back to MacArthur so far as I am concerned. All I want to do is get out of here and maybe it won’t be too long. If I can ever get anything that is halfway definite I intend to cancel my allotment the end of October but I’ll let you know if I do and I won’t do it unless it is pretty sure that I am going to lose that 20% overseas pay. If we should hit the states someday I want to have a little money on me for anything I might want. They are going to do one big business in ice cream when we get back to Frisco I can bet them that. Can you get stuff like that again now. From what we hear most of the rationings is just about over. Another thing we were wondering about was shoe rationing as we want to get some low ones as soon as we can. I can’t see wearing a pair of GI’s all across the country. If it is winter then the boots would be all right but they are pretty hot in summer. I have a nearly new pair. I haven’t decided just what I am saving them for yet. You can’t put a shine on them unless you work so long that it isn’t worth it as they are rough leather.
We have all of our junk yet and from the looks of things we will keep it. I can’t see dragging the gas mask and a lot of this stuff around anymore but I still don’t run the army. I have carried it on and off of two ships so one more won’t make much difference but I’ll bet one thing – I won’t have the junk when we leave here that I carried from France. When we left New York we had practically nothing but our minimum GI stuff. By the time we hit France we were all loaded down again. How does it accumulate? We turned in our overcoats and all but one set of OD’s in Marseilles but got 3 sets of suntans, an extra set of fatigues, mosquito bars, mattress covers and a variety of smaller items so we were just as loaded or more so when we took off. I have one set of woolens left and they are just a little small as some of those European laundries shrank them particularly the one in Gloucester. Oh well one of these days they’ll all be put off for the last time I keep telling myself.
We can’t get any dope on things here but it still looks pretty good.
Well that’s about the size of things here for today. Maybe I can get a new crop of rumors by tomorrow. Something must have cooled them off as there haven’t been any today. So long again until next time.
Arlington
All The Dope
Tues. 18 Sep. ‘45
Luzon 10:30 a.m.
Dear folks,
Time for my morning break. I got sort of tied up over the weekend and as a result didn’t get a letter out yesterday. Sunday I got your Sep. 4 letter so that was quite fast. Our mail comes in quite steadily from day to day now instead of in large bunches at long intervals. Letters take about 12 days to get to us and ours must make it to the states in 5 or 6 days. The situation is much better. Yesterday the train didn’t get into San Jose so all there were, were a few V-mails. Should be a lot today.
Sunday afternoon 3 of us decided to take a little hike to see some of the country since there was no work to do. So we started out and caught a ride up to C Co. about 7 miles from here. There we met a B Co. truck on its way up to one of their bivouac areas so we rode on up with them about 18 miles further. What a ride. We had to go clear up to the top of the mountain range and then on down the other side. I have never seen or expect to see again anything to compare with it. For the most part the road is wide enough for one vehicle with occasional bypasses where 2 can pass. There are places where a solid rock wall rises on one side of the road and on the other edge is a 2000 foot drop practically straight down. The view was really beautiful and I’m glad I had a chance to see it but just between the 2 of us I don’t think I’d care to travel that road many times. It’s just one twist and turn after another. We got up there about mid afternoon and spent the time watching them build up part of the road which had washed away and we watched our little yellow friends come trudging down out of the mountains. They are sad looking characters if I ever saw any. In the first place they look more like animals than humans anyway. Now they look like beaten animals. They come slogging down, some with there [sic] legs swollen to twice the normal size. They started out with a large number on stretchers but by the time they had gone 6 or 7 miles the stretchers were practically all empty. They just tossed them off a cliff. One General came down with a flock of colonels and lesser officers and was he an arrogant boy. As long as they cater to them the way they do we’ll never get it across to the Japs that they have actually lost this war. They seem to look at it as just a sort of strategic retreat or interlude. Sometimes I wonder if we didn’t make a mistake in letting them quit.
We got ready to leave at about 5:30 but it started to rain so we waited awhile. When we finally got on our way we rode about a mile and met another truck coming back and they told us the rain had caused a slide and the road was partially blocked. So all we could do was go back and stay there all night. We borrowed some blankets from our boys at the water point and slept on some tool chests. Yesterday morning we took off afoot and walked up to the top of the pass – about 4 miles before we got a ride. We could have waited and ridden but we thought the road was in worse shape. On the way back we found 2 bridges out. One had collapsed under a load of rations and the truck was lying on its side. So we finally got back about 10:30 yesterday morning. A few people were a little unhappy but everything seems all right now. Think I’ll stay at home for awhile.
So that’s about all the dope. We had quite a bit of work yesterday but got it out so things are rather quiet today. It’s dinner time now so I’ll sign off and see what delicacies our cooks have dreamed up today. We have a P.X. now and it’s a pretty good deal. So long for now,
Arlington
What A Hole
V-MAIL
Thursday 6 Sep. ‘45
Luzon
Dear folks,
Once more censorship has been lifted. The last time it lasted about 3 days before we were alerted for movement to the staging area. I wonder what will happen this time. We left Troidorf [?] June 2 and spent 5 days enroute to Calais, a few miles from Marseilles. We traveled by truck and really had an enjoyable trip. At least over there, there were a few things to see. We stayed in the Calais area until July 10 and what a hole that was. I was in Marseilles a few times just to get away from the dust for a few minutes. We left Marseilles July 10 and arrived at Panama July 22 and stayed overnight. Then we took off once more and arrived at Hollandia, New Guinea Aug. 16. Then on to Manila Aug. 21. We have been at 3 spots out here, Angeles, San Jose, and now near Baga Bag [?]. Its rugged country all around and the hills are full of boys waiting to come out.
So long for now
Arlington
The Forgotten Group
Monday 3 Sep. ‘45
Luzon
Dear folks,
Guess it’s time I took a break as its 2:15 already. We still haven’t any mail. Our mail clerk left 3 days ago but hasn’t come back. Not much new around here today. The points are lowered to 80 and the age to 35 if the man has 2 years of service. I’ve got the 2 years but that’s all. My new score is 46 and I don’t ever expect it to do me much good. The way I see it they should forget about points and discharge men on the basis of service time. Older men and those with dependents were the last in and will be the first out. In the meantime we sit back and wait while the best years creep away from us. I know I shouldn’t sound discouraged but it’s pretty hard not to. There is a large group of us who are from 20 to 24 and have between 40 and 50 points. Most are fellows who were in college. So far we seem the forgotten group. But maybe times will change before long. If they carry out present plans, at least some good ratings will open up for the boys. If we can’t get home we may as well grab all we can.
It’s a rather cloudy day today. It rained during the night so I was able to get my water supply off the roof. Last night we went about a mile to see a movie and it was the same one we saw Sat. It was worth seeing again anyway. There is none tonight so I guess I’ll get to bed early. I should clean my rifle since I fired it yesterday. It’s good I never needed it as the shells don’t feed right. I sent out my laundry this morning. Supply collects it and gives it to the natives to wash for us. They take it down to the river and beat the dirt out. I don’t know how long the material will hold out but it gets the stuff clean. I don’t know what it will cost. Our pay is supposed to come in with mail. That’s about the story for today. These envelopes get stuck due to the damp weather in case you notice the tear.
So long,
Arlington
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