A Nice Little Furlough

Thurs. June 15, 1944

9:45 p.m.

Dear folks,

Just a note tonight because unless something gums up the works I’ll either be reading this over your shoulder or quietly snoring in some corner of 1010 Beech St. Monday when you get it. I have a nice little furlough all set starting at midnight Sunday June 16. It’s typed and signed by me and I hope nothing will block it. If I can get a break I’ll take off Sat. noon and be home at 1:25 a.m. Mon. about ½ hour after my furlough starts. I applied for this furlough this way on May 23 and I’m taking every bit I can get out of it. If it weren’t against army regulations I’d have bucked for a 3 day pass also. The main thing is I’m to get a furlough and when I asked for it. I have to take mine the last ½ of the month because of payrolls and stuff. The only thing that might block me would be the fact that a lot of new men are coming in. I’ve worked for 3 days to get things in order but more came in so there’ll be plenty for my successor to do. I don’t think they’ll let that stop me though because the Sgt. Major is going at the same time and he’s more important than I. So that’s it and I hope to be there when you read this. As you can see by the envelope I’m no longer a Pfc. I haven’t been since June 10. I’ve been putting Pfc. on my address all week to keep it as a surprise if I got home. It all surprised me too. You know the night I mentioned I almost got it. Well the next day Fri., the C.O. ran me up before the board and on Sat. I was a corporal. I’ve tried to keep it and the furlough both as a surprise. I imagine the hints I’ve dropped have tipped you off to the furlough but I might surprise you a little. That’s why I wanted the bag but I picked up a cheap canvass one which will hold a few things, enough to get by on. You have lots of underwear & socks, etc. around there. All I need to bring is uniforms. Well I’ve said enough I guess so I’ll quit and get to bed. I sure hope I’ll be seein’ you really this time.

Love,

A.A.A.

Something I Ate

Tues. June 13, 1944

7:00 p.m.

Dear folks,

Back again for awhile. Last night I got to bed as soon as I finished your letter. I was up as usual this morning, dressed and fell out for reveille. Then I made my bed and went to breakfast. I didn’t feel so hot this morning and I’ve felt a little grumpy all day. I’m not sick but my stomach was a bit out of sorts this morning. I ate corn flakes, milk and an orange and came back and swept and mopped. I went to work at the usual time and got at it. I did my morning report and tied into the pay roll and finished it before dinner time. I emptied out a couple times during the morning but I decided I better be a bit careful so I didn’t eat much dinner. I’d like to get away from this food for awhile and get some light, cool, refreshing stuff that I like, like we had at home. It’s hot here and the food makes you hotter. For dinner I ate bread, butter, jam, a few potatoes, salad, and jell roll. After dinner I lay down for about 45 min. and almost slept except the flies wouldn’t let me. At 12 I went back to work. The Sgt. checked my payroll and then I did the finishing touches and got it ready to sign. Then I did some typing until about 3:45. We had to quit and go over to the motor pool and spend from 4:00 to 4:45 doing “after operation maintenance” on our vehicles. It’s a crazy setup but I guess we’ll be doing it from now on every night. It’s a bit out of my line. At 4:45 we came back and I showered during retreat. For supper I had potatoes, salad, bread, butter and cake. After eating I got the payroll signed by the boys and then got some suntans back from the P.X. Now here I am. That’s today. I think I’ll get to bed early tonight and get my sleep. Maybe I’ll feel more in shape tomorrow. My stomach feels pretty good again now. I guess it was something I ate. Several had it pretty bad so I was lucky. I didn’t get any mail today so now to your Fri. June 9 letter — I hope my mail has caught up again by now. I’d like to be on my way there but who knows. It’s sure hot enough here for anybody. You could get Pop to stretch those curtains for you. I haven’t had too much to say about the invasion yet. I’m waiting for developments. They must have taken Nate out of the hospital. He used to be a hosp. attendant. Gee, don’t work so steady to get your chest to bothering you so much. I’m willing to sign a contract as table-setter if you can fix it up for me. Julius might be able to get what he wants. He knows how to get things for himself. George probably misses his wife plenty. Well that hits most of the points in your letter so I’ll bring this to a close. I hope my letters are up to you now. Don’t get excited about me as I’m not sick.

Be seein’ you

Love

Shon [??]

He’s A Good Boy

Thurs. 8 June 1944

7:00 p.m.

Dear Folks:

Well here I am at the typewriter again tonight. I’m CQ again but I’m not on next week so I guess I can’t complain about it. I have swept the place and I don’t think I’ll do any mopping tonight as the floor looks pretty clean. Last night as soon as I finished your letter I got to bed at about 10:00. I was up at the usual time. I skipped reveille and shaved while the others were out. Then I swept and went to breakfast. I had cakes, syrup, jam, farina, milk, and an orange. After eating I mopped and then I took off for work early to get my report out of the way. I spent the morning getting ready for the inspection which we were expecting. I guess I checked everything about a half dozen times just to make sure. We left at the usual time for dinner this noon. I had sweet potatoes, steak, salad, bread, butter and pears. After dinner we went back to work and got ready for the inspection. We were inspected by a major and he didn’t even look at my records. He just inspected the office and our methods of doing things. While he was there I had to type up a recommendation for promotion for a fellow and after he left we had practically nothing to do. We sat around for awhile and then I almost went up for a promotion myself. Maybe I better back up a little. I’m supposed to have a corporal’s rating coming pretty soon. I haven’t mentioned it because I didn’t want to give it away until I got it but I guess it will be awhile yet before I do get it if I do so I may as well mention it. The personnel officer has been trying to get me up for it for a couple weeks. He told me he would get me up for the board about June 2. Remember when I made some vague remarks about that date? Well he tried but my CO turned thumbs down for a while. He told him that I was too stubborn and cocky although I don’t see exactly how he gets that way. Anyway I didn’t go up for the first board meeting about two weeks ago. Since then the personnel officer and my first sergeant have both tried to get it for me but no go. Then today all of a sudden I get orders to report to the board meeting that was in progress. I thought there was something suspicious about it but I went over anyway. I and another kid waited around until the end and they told us they didn’t have our records and that the board would convine [sic] again at a later date. So that was that. I was pretty sure that I wasn’t due to get anything because I had all my records yet on file. When a person goes up for a promotion they dig out his records to see his experience and stuff. So I went back to the company and the first sergeant asked me if I had gone before the board. I told him no and what had happened. The CO heard the story also and he didn’t like it too well that I didn’t get a chance to appear. He said that it was his fault. That made me feel better anyway. It didn’t get me very far but it’s encouraging anyway. It means that I probably will go up for the next meeting and that he also thinks I deserve it. He and I had a little disagreement one day about two weeks ago but I guess he has forgotten it now. That’s why he said I’m stubborn I think because I wouldn’t give ground and back down. I guess that isn’t a very healthy thing to do but I’m not built that way. If I have anything to say I say it. Anyway I guess I’m not out of graces or he wouldn’t have sent me over there today. He just waited a little too long and didn’t have his recommendation in for me. I hope I can make it next time. We got some new men in today. Our company got 2 clerks. One is a Pvt. and I don’t have to worry about him but the other one is a corporal already. I hope I can hang on to my job but nothing is too certain. I rather think that I’ll be left on the job though as I have a sort of priority. Once I get my stripes that the job calls for I’ll be pretty sure of it. They came close today but I won’t get them for maybe a month now or longer. So that’s the picture. As I said I haven’t mentioned it before because I thought I might be able to surprise you like I did before. I got back at about retreat time and got dressed to come on CQ over here. Then I ate supper—macaroni, corn, bread, butter and a roll. Then at 6:00 I came over here and got to work. I swept out and then here I am. So that’s today. I got your Monday letter today so I now have two from you to answer. We are getting quite a few men with ratings and it makes it sort of tough on the fellows who have been working for them here. I think that’s why the CO decided to get me in. He wants his men to get the stripes before someone who already has them is sent in. This Cpl. we got today seems to be quite a nice acting kid but I’d hate to see him get my job if you know what I mean. I like it myself pretty well. I doubt if the officers would kick any of us out of our jobs now after we have been doing the work for a while and working our way up. That wouldn’t be fair to us. I’ll feel more secure when I get them for myself. It would also mean a few more bucks in the pay $66 a month. Also if I can make ASTP it would be very nice to take a rating with me. I haven’t heard from my application yet but the personnel officer said he put in a good word for me. He changed his mind and is trying to get it for me. You see we can send only one man every couple of months. He tries to do all he can for his boys. He got me the Pfc. and has done his best to get me the Cpl. He’s a good boy. My CO is a pretty good boy too. He doesn’t give anything until he thinks you deserve it and I don’t want anything until I do deserve it. We have a radio here tonight. Henry Aldridge is on now. Well I guess I had better get to your back letters. Sat., Sun. – June 3 & 4 ********

Your tires must be getting a little worn out if they pick up all the tacks and nails. They have ridden a lot of miles. You ought to have a pretty nice garden in the back yard. I’d like to see things around there now. Maybe I will before the summer is over. I have high hopes of doing it but I’m not counting on anything until I get it from now on. I think I can get my furlough when I want it. I hope so. I won’t tell you when that is until I know I can get it. If you think I might get home in say August then if I get it before then we’ll both be happy and surprised. That’s the way I like it. It isn’t cold here. It got chilly just one night. It’s plenty hot here now. We got a new patch to wear now. We can’t wear the 4^th Army anymore so I’ll have to take them off my shirts. We have a XXIII Cps patch now. It’s blue and white with 3 arrows on it. It’s pretty nice looking for a corps patch. I don’t know when we can get some. I always like to have a patch on my clothing. It takes away a lot of that bare look of the uniform. Crawford’s must have plenty of gas. I gather from what you say that they go away just about every weekend. I still haven’t sent out any laundry. I’ll try to get it out this weekend. Hold it until I tell you to send it back when you once get it. That laundry that I said I fixed up to go out was for the GI laundry. I don’t have any trouble relaxing. You two don’t have much of a day off on Sun. with one or both of you feeling down. I bet if I were home you’d both perk up a lot. I know it and don’t think I don’t want to be there but I can’t do a single thing about it. I usually have a rough time putting on one of these small mattress covers that we have. I can imagine what that big mattress would be like. Hmm, chicken pox. I’d hate to get that now. I imagine you could request that a dentist use novacaine when filling teeth and he would probably do it. Yes the tooth decayed away from the filling all right but probably because the decay wasn’t all drilled out. Then maybe it’s just because my teeth weren’t so good. Our outfit hasn’t gone out in the field yet. I don’t think that it will for a while yet. This typing is pretty bad tonight. When I type with this big machine after using the little portables it seems very sluggish and heavy to operate. I’m buzzing right along and making plenty of mistakes too. Now Mon. Jun 5——-

I don’t know where my Fri. letter is. Maybe you got it Tues. I hope so. We had a different mail man there for a couple days. He never picked up the mail in the company until noon a couple times so it might not have gone out as early as usual. That might be the reason. I don’t think much of this PT first thing in the morning. But that’s the way they work it here. We used to have it just before we came in for a meal in the 393^rd. I don’t know which is worse. Freese is alerted the same as my outfit was when we first got into the 99^th. Remember that week when we couldn’t go anyplace. They rotate so that some outfit is alerted all the time. The 99^th is getting to be a pretty hot outfit though and I’m not wishing that I were in it believe me. Those boys will be someplace by September at the latest I predict. You are right. Mark is the one who used to come home with me on furlough. Building bridges is a lot of hard work and I don’t care for any part of it if I can help it. None of us three were looking for anybody to take to a show. We just went in to see a show. I’m not looking for anybody and neither were they. One of them is engaged to some girl back in New York and he doesn’t pay attention to anybody. The other fellow is a pretty good acting kid. Well I guess that answers your two letters. I hope you get that letter from me OK. It’s just 9:00 now. That makes it 10:00 back there for you so you are probably writing to me now too. I have a couple letters from Fred and Marie that I could answer but I don’t know if I will or not. My ambition is not too strong. My daily letter is the one that counts. The rest come when I’m especially ambitious. They don’t hurry to write to me so I’m not worried about writing to them. I sure hope that things stay as good as they are around here. I’m in unless something unexpected comes along. I’ll feel much better about the situation when I have that other stripe on my sleeve. Then I can feel that I have the job for good although I know that the personnel officer wouldn’t let anybody squeeze me out anyway. Well I guess that’s about all for today so I had better bring this to a close. I don’t know how this compares with a written letter but I guess it’s about the average length. For tonight so long and love to yo’all;

Sonny

Dirt Balls

Wed. May 24, 1944

About 5:45 p.m.

Dear folks,

I intended to write tonight and answer your letters but I don’t guess I’ll get very far. The Lt. slapped a 3 day restriction on the company today because of a dirty latrine & barracks. I guess it lasts until Fri. I hear we have to work tonight. I can’t see any way of getting out of it although I don’t see where its’ my responsibility. The 1^st Sgt. didn’t put anyone on as latrine orderly so naturally it wasn’t cleaned. So it looks as if another evening is shot.

Back at about 10:00 I guess. Kay Kyser is leaving the air. I did more actual work tonight than I’ve done in months. Last night as soon as I finished my note to you I got to bed. I was up at 6:00 naturally. I dressed, fell out for reveille, swept, mopped, ate breakfast. I had French toast, syrup, milk and an orange. Then at 7:30 I went to work. I got my report and a couple of typing jobs done and then had very little to do the rest of the morning. I got your swell long weekend letter today and also a V-mail note from George. I was surprised to hear from him. At 11:30 we quit for dinner. It was a lousy meal. I had peas & carrots, buns, butter and cookies plus some of the stuff you sent me. At 12:30 we went back to work. I had a few allotments to type up and then I cleaned my typewriter. Before we left we swept and scrubbed out our office. Somebody has raised a kick so now we have to go out for calisthenics. The Co. clerks alternate. I get it ½ hour Mon., Wed., & Fri. I guess it’s good for me. I don’t get any exercise on this job and I should get a little. I came back at 4:30 and washed, shaved, and showered during retreat. For supper I had potatoes, salad, bread, butter, and caramel pudding. After eating I put on my fatigues and started writing but not for long. We fell out at about 6:00. I got on a dirt detail. We had to haul dirt to cover a place they have been filling in with coal of all things to use. I shoveled some but most of the time until we quit or finished at 8:30 I pushed a wheel barrow. Then we came in and scrubbed the barracks upstairs & down. We did a good job and in only about an hour. So that’s today. Tomorrow night may be the same way. Sun. it was my fault but the last 3 nights I haven’t had time to write. I’m sure way behind but I’ll catch you yet. Well I’m sticky & sweaty & need a shower again. The dirt balls are rolling up on my chest. What a life. Well I’ll call this it for tonight & see what happens tomorrow. 1 year ago today I got to Stanford & I sure was happy over things.

So long

Love,

Rampant Decay

Sat. May 20, 1944

9:15 p.m.

Dear folks,

I was at the Dental Clinic most of the day. I came back at about 5:00 with a headache and a sort of tooth ache and I’ve been sleeping it off up to now so I’ll wait and do my writing tomorrow. I just wanted to start it tonight.

Sun. May 21 – 11:30 p.m. Well I’m sort of gypping you on a letter this weekend. I just got in from the late show. I owe you a couple long ones by now but I’ll catch up to you yet. Fri. night I got to bed at about 10. They pulled a fast one on us yesterday morning and got us up at 5:00 to scrub the upstairs of the barracks. I got up and dressed and did just as little as I could. I did sweep one length of the aisle & then brought the broom down and cleaned around my own bed. We finished by 6:00 and fell out for reveille at 6:15. I got my bed made & my mopping and straightening up done before breakfast – scrambled eggs, bread, butter, Wheaties, milk and an orange. I laid around until 7:30 when we took off for the dental clinic. Boy they really run a lot of people thru that place. First of all they examined us to see just what had to be done. My teeth were in pretty bad shape. Worse than I thought. I had 15 teeth with either cavities or defective fillings. Those fillings of Meghan’s were all going or gone. They started working on me at about 9:15 I guess and worked until 11:45. They did 2 on the upper right, the two molars next to the wisdom tooth. One of them was an old hole where a filling had been. He started to drill & it hit tender stuff & I guess I flinched a little. Anyway he got his needle & filled that side of my jaw with novacaine. It deadened it and he went at his drilling without my even feeling it. It felt as if he left just a hollow framework to hook the filling to. It’s a cinch there’s more filling than tooth there now. At 11:45 they quit for dinner & told me to come back at 12:45. I was 8 blocks from here so I ate a pie & some ice cream at the P.X. and then went back. I turned in my appointment & waited for them to call me. 3:00 rolled around & nothing had happened so I investigated & my slip had been mislaid. Finally I got under way. I had a different dentist & he really worked. He put 10 separate fillings in in 1 hr. & 45 min. One upper left molar was bad. He filled it & one next to it in 2 places each. Then he dropped to the bottom left & filled two front teeth along the gum line & 2 double teeth. He really drilled. Wow. I finally decided it couldn’t hurt anymore & quit worrying. I was thru at 4:45 but I have to go back Tues. night at 6. Oh me. He says I have rampant decay and to lay off candy, whenever I eat ice cream or sweets to rinse my teeth & to use Ipana. He says Colgate is too much powdered sugar. I came back & lay down at about 5:30 & woke up when I started this. Then I ate an orange & went to bed. My teeth are pretty sensitive but I believe the worst ones are taken care of. Maybe I better lay off the candy. That’s yesterday. I’ll take up today next time as I guess I better head for bed. So I’ll be seein’you.

Love

Son

I Thought Hash Was Out For The Duration

Sat. May 6, 1944

4:00 p.m.

Dear folks,

Well this week has gone pretty fast. I don’t know whether I’ll go to town tonight or not. I’ll start this now and get a start on it in case I do. Last night after I finished your letter I got to bed. I was up at the usual time this morning. I dressed, made my bed, fell out for reveille, swept, mopped and ate breakfast – potatoes, bread, butter, bran flakes, milk and an apple. After breakfast I fixed up my locker, dusted around and then shined my shoes. At 7:30 I went to work. I got my morning report out & signed and then started to mimeograph some classification cards. What a job. I never did it before and that made it harder. When I was partly through I found I’d left out something from the morning report so I had to make another and run down the Lt. to get it signed again. He didn’t say anything but I can’t afford to let that happen very often. Then I went back to my cards. The Lt. came in and wanted a recommendation for promotion typed up so I started that. He stood behind me waiting for it so naturally I gummed it up a little. Oh I only made one mistake but you know how it is when you know somebody is watching you. When I got that done I went back to my mimeographing. I got through at 11:30 for dinner. I got yours & Julius’ Wed. letter this morning. For dinner I had roast beef, potatoes, gravy, salad, biscuits, & butter. At 12:30 we fell out and went down to the theater to see #2 in that series of orientation films. We got back at about 2:00. It was my Sat. afternoon off but I went back to straighten out a few things and got stuck for about an hour. I guess I don’t understand all I know about the mimeographing machine. Somehow ink was on a lot of places it didn’t belong so I cleaned it up and got it back in shape. Then I came over here and showered and cleaned up. I took a set of suntans over to the cleaners but they don’t clean them so I’ll have to send them to the laundry. I can guess what they’ll look like. I put on a clean set this morning. The life of a press is about 15 minutes but they’ll have to go for 2 or 3 more days. That ink didn’t do them any good either. This afternoon I got a V-mail from Hugh, somewhere in England and a card from Leonard Freese. He’s still in the 99^th but in the field artillery now. He was over looking for me the other night but I wasn’t here so he wanted me to know where he is. He’s way over on the other side of camp. Hugh’s letter was written April 22 so it only took about two weeks. That’s not too bad. He didn’t say much but there isn’t much room and its’ censored anyway. He’s in a replacement company whatever that is but it sure doesn’t sound good. I gathered he didn’t like it too well from what little he said. So that’s what’s cookin’ up to now today.

Back at 6:30 p.m. Sun. May 7, 1944 –

Well I guess I better get at my mail and get it caught up. After I quit writing last night I walked across our “back yard” over to the 1267^th. I sat over there talking to Rudy and Sam and stayed over for supper. They have the same stuff to eat that we do so there isn’t much difference. I had potato salad, cheese, bread, butter and apple pie. Then after supper Sam & I got passes and started out. We walked 5 or 6 blocks to where the busses weren’t crowded and got on one for town. It was a nice night and has been a pretty nice day today except for a little wind. We got in at about 7:30 I guess. Sam hadn’t been in before so we walked around the square and neighboring territory. We stopped and watched them bowl awhile. He got a castle for his blouse. Then we went up to the U.S.O. and played a little ping pong. We ran into several old Arkansas men. Some have been put into recon outfits, ordnance, signal corps and artillery within the division. They are still in the 99^th but not as infantry. From there we just walked around. We wanted to go to one of the shows but it was full both times we tried. We got some ice cream and at about 10:00 we decided to come back. I got back and to bed at about 10:45. Actually there’s nothing to do in town. I just like to get away from here for a while but when I get in to town there isn’t much to do and there are just about as many soldiers in there as here. I guess I don’t know what I do want to do. I may as well stay here and sleep and go to shows. I guess I’m trying to escape from things but it’s useless. I wonder just how much longer this is all going to last. Oh I shouldn’t complain I know. I’m so much more fortunate than many are but still it’s gone on long enough to satisfy me. I was up at 7:30 this morning for breakfast. I had pancakes, syrup, butter, Wheaties, milk and grapefruit. After eating I shaved and cleaned up a little. Then I lay down and went to sleep. I woke up when the mail orderly stuck your big Thurs. letter in my hand. I read it and went back to sleep until dinner time. For dinner I had chicken, dressing, potatoes, salad, bread, butter and ice cream. After dinner I changed to my suntans and walked over to Ferd’s. The poor kid was pretty disgusted with everything. I thank God I got out of there when I did. They just got in from the field yesterday. They were out all week and it rained just about every night. Monday night we had a terribly hard storm with a regular cloudburst. He said they rolled up their equipment at about 7:00 and then stood around in the rain about 3 hrs. They were completely soaked so then they started out on an 8 or 9 mile march. The reached their position at 2 a.m. and he said they just lay down on the ground and slept in the water. Another night he said they were digging foxholes at about 3 a.m. He said he got down about 1 ft. in an hour but it was rubbery mud that none of them could go deeper so they just quit and went to sleep. The remarkable thing is that none of them even caught a cold. They were on tactical problems all week but he says he hasn’t the slightest idea what was going on. He just followed along. They chased the enemy all week but he only saw one or two of them. They are going out tomorrow for 2 days and then next Sun. they go out for 3 weeks of D series maneuvers whatever they are. I wouldn’t be surprised if they move out after that. He’s really down. He’s assigned to his Co. as a rifleman. We talked awhile and he straightened up his stuff. Then we took a bus and he went over to the division finance office. He saw the major over there about getting a transfer to finance. You see he was a sgt. in charge of an officers pay section before ASTP. The major treated him real nice & took his name & experience but he said they were already over strength so I guess he’s stuck. We stopped at the P.X. awhile and then came back here to his barracks. At 3:00 he went to get a haircut and I went to the show. He didn’t go because he had too much to do. His mail was backed up for all week. The show was “And the Angels Sing” with Dorothy Lamour, Fred McMurray & Betty Hutton and was a pretty good comedy and musical. I got out at 5:00 and went back over to Ferd’s. I sat there & talked until supper time. I ate with him – potato salad, cheese, bread, butter and apple cobbler. Then I came back here and here I am. He wanted me to stay over there and write my letters but I wanted to answer your back letters so I came back. I tried to tell him maybe things would turn out so that he’s luckier where he is than where he might be. I don’t know if I did him any good or not. His old outfit is in China with Gen’l Chenault’s air force. Ferd would be a staff sergeant or higher. Now he’s a buck private rifleman. I know how he feels and I’m sure thankful I got out of there. Oh this outfit will probably get some of it someday but by then I hope to be far enough up to keep out of it. I hope he gets a break. He sure deserves it if anyone does I think. Well that’s this weekend at 7:10. Now your back letters – Tues. May 2 –Boy you sure got enough head trouble out of that day’s work. I sure hope it didn’t hang on over to Fri. A week is too much to pay for one good day’s work. Why don’t you take it a little easy? Well, so Pop’s resigning as a steward. What brought that on? I wouldn’t want the job in the first place. I guess they usually find work for Julius to do if he’ll do it. It’s pretty hard never to make a mistake at typing but it can be done I guess. Ferd says he has typed as high as 70 wds. a minute. He’s an 055 – gn’l. clerk but it hasn’t helped. One of the fellows back in I Co. was transferred to M. Co. and made co. clerk. He has a Tec. 5 coming in a couple weeks. A Tec. 5 is a rating Technician 5^th grade. The pay is $66 same as Cpl. The stripes are [drawing]. I helped that guy once but I don’t think I will again. He has been put on a different job now. The job calls for a Tec. 5 rating & he expects to get it in a week or two. He probably will get it before too long but he’s really bucking. I haven’t bucked a bit. I don’t know how he felt when I got this P.F.C. (had you notice it yet) (I slipped and told you). I certainly had nothing to do with it. The C.O. got back from furlough Thurs. night. Fri. morning my personnel officer turned in a recommendation for me and Fri. afternoon I was a P.F.C. I was going to wait and see if you’d notice it in my return address. So on May 5 after 16 months and 7 days in the army I got my first stripe and $54 a month. It cost me 95 cents for two sets of stripes & one patch & having them sewed on. I’m not going to have any more sewed on than I have to but I guess it will probably take all 4 shirts here. I hope they’ll be coming off in about a month or two but that’s mostly wishful thinking. That one little stripe is pretty insignificant but it’s sort of nice. I’d have appreciated it a lot more about a year ago as then I’d have been getting ahead fast but then I made it in 2 months (out of ASTP) so that isn’t bad. I can go only one notch higher on this job but I’m perfectly satisfied. I hope I can handle the payroll O.K. now. There’ll be another one this week. We get paid Wed. Boy my money seems to go fast here. I still have no rifle. There are no slot machines on camp. I imagine there’s a law against it. I rather imagine I’ll be able to settle down and live at home. I don’t go places much more than I did then & now only because I have nothing else to do. I’d like to be around with Julius again. You’ll have to get some ice for the milk. I don’t have many people for really friends. I’ve been with Leonard & Ferd for a long time as time goes in the army. Now maybe they’ll wait and open the Ionia fair for me. Now Wed. May 3 —I only shower 2 or 3 times a week here now. Last summer I was sometimes doing it twice a day. I’d like to think Germany would be out by Oct. Then we’d still have a least a year. A good guess now is about 2 years more as much as I hate to say it. That was the blue wash cloth. The towel came back perfectly O.K. but no wash cloth. I got a pink one in place of it yesterday. I fixed up my laundry to send tomorrow – socks, underwear, hankies & suntans. I kept out the towels & wash cloths and my t-shirts to send home maybe this week. I’m glad Julius came over. He likes you a lot. He’s about as good as they come. I think he’s probably smart to join the navy if he can get into radio school. The army is no place to come into now. About all they need are replacements & infantry. His chances are a lot better in the navy now I believe. I wouldn’t care to be coming into the army now altho it almost amounts to that here. I hope he gets what he wants. He’s too good a man & brain to get shot up in the infantry or someplace. That’s two letters. I’m signing off for a while to go get some ice cream. Back now at 8:30. My watch quit once today for some reason but I coaxed it to run again. Now your nice big Thurs. letter. May 4 — I was surprised to find Julius’ letter. I thought it was from Pop til I unfolded it. I’m glad your head was beginning to feel some better by Thurs. They charge enough for cleaning there too. I haven’t seen any berets yet but if I do I’ll see about it. What’s your size, 22? I thought hash was out for the duration. Maybe it was old stock. One of the fellows in Ferd’s company sent home some “C” rations so his folks could see what it was like. I ought to get that box of laundry and food tomorrow. I’ll salvage those socks and stuff if I can. I’ve been wearing my own dk. socks here as I don’t walk much and they are covered by my leggings. I’ll get my stock of wool & tan ones built back up in case I may need them. I’ll keep my own stuff here a while at least. I got the fatigues & a wash cloth. The fatigues I got are newer than mine but I’m afraid they are a bit small. Julius acts pretty much at home around you folks. I’m glad he does. If he can get radio school he better take it. It’s better than anything the army can offer. I often eat ice cream while walking. They soak us plenty for everything. If I get stripes on everything it will take my pay raise for the first month. A lot of people are making a good living off us. Freeze is in a gun section now. The fellows who went to other outfits in the Div. are mostly out so far as ratings go. I hope to dodge most of the basic training. I almost wish I had stayed another week & got it finished & on my record but I’m better off I believe. I didn’t mean Sam was sick. I was just kidding because he usually gets a book or paper and is stuck to his bunk reading. Occasionally he takes in a movie or walks around camp a bit. He’s pretty quiet. Last night was the first time he’s been into town. He says his temp. has been up to 99 at certain times during the day all his life. It’s evidently normal for him. He’s not sick in any way. If it were TB they’d have caught it at the Recept. Center with X-Ray and meningitis would have put him out long ago. I roomed with him 2 months at school. I don’t see him much now though & will less from now on if you say so. So you think I don’t remember you as younger woman. Just because I don’t say a lot doesn’t mean I don’t see. I remember you at about 29 and I’ve seen pictures younger yet. I always thought to myself that Dad did a doggone good job. I think your hair was very pretty particularly. You don’t look so bad now when you fix up a little. I’m capable of appreciating beauty (what little there is) altho I don’t say much. Sam got the ice cream and we ate it in the ticket line. Some day they are going to tie up traffic & everything around a barn fire and a good one is going to cut loose on the other side of town. Say, let’s not be too pessimistic. To look backward makes one sick and to look forward makes you afraid. I haven’t heard from Bart since my last letter. They may have moved. Whichever is worst right now I’m glad to be out of the Inf. We have a certain number of airborne Inf. Div. that take care of all that. Shakespeare never appealed much to me. I doubt if you’d care for it either. No C.O. for me this week. I’ll probably get it weekend after next. What’s Helen going to do in Virg.? Well that gets your letters. Its 9:30 & I better quit before I get more than will go thru Free. 5 pages have gone before so I guess its O.K. So for anther weekend –

Love to you all

Sonny

Happy Birthday Dad

April 28, 1944

Hi Dad,

Well I sure would like to be back there with you on May 1 but I can’t seem to break my contract so I won’t be able to make it. I couldn’t see much around here that would be a sensible useful gift so here I am doing the same old thing. I never think that money is a good gift but I want you to spend this fast on something you really need or want. Don’t argue but use it. I don’t know what you need but buy yourself something. Maybe next year I can hand it to you. Anyway I hope you’ll have the best day possible. I know things aren’t much to make a person really enjoy himself but I guess we’re all in the same boat so just forget everything for 24 hrs.

Happy birthday,

Be seein’you

Love

Son

[enclosed in a birthday card]

I’ll Let Them Worry About the Wool Socks

Wed. April 26, 1944

7:10 p.m.

Dear folks,

Well the mail came through today. I got your Sat. Sun. letter & one from last Thurs. that I didn’t even know was coming. I guess they’ve just been lying someplace. One was dated the 22^nd and the other the 24^th. Anyway I finally got them and I’m all caught up to last Fri. with you now. From now on it ought to come through in sequence. I also got a card and letter from Aunt Lillis. That letter I wrote last night wasn’t much. I figured on writing more because I had supposed I would have to be up all night. When I found out we could sleep I ended it pretty abruptly but I guess it told the story of yesterday. The Lt. who was on with me was quite a boy. We got along O.K. I’ll probably draw C.Q. again about next Mon. and then the week after on Sat. & Sun. It comes around every 5 or 6 days but I believe it’s a little better than guard duty. I got to bed at about 12:15. I called the operator and told her to call me at 5:45. I was up when the phone rang, put on my shoes and came over to wake up the 1^st Sgts., but they were already up. Then I went back and took down my cot, swept out a little and waited around until breakfast. I had pancakes, syrup, corn flakes, milk and grapefruit. As soon as I ate I went back and stayed until 7:30. Then I went to work. I made up my morning report, did a little with my records, typed on a letter and did very little else this morning. At 11:30 we quit for dinner. I had potatoes, cabbage, salad, bread, butter, and cookies. At 12:30 we went back. I had my work temporarily under control so I spent most of the time studying payrolls in the manual. It was a long afternoon. Time goes fast when I’m busy. Probably there were things I should have been doing that I didn’t know about. I think my ass’t. is bucking for a better job. Maybe he’ll get it. I’m doing the best I know how on a job I knew practically nothing about at first. If they find someone else they’d rather have I guess it’s up to them. At 4:30 we quit. I came back here & shined up my shoes and dressed for retreat. The Lt. wasn’t too happy because I didn’t have a rifle. I’ve kept away from it as long as possible. They’ve been cleaning them out of the packing grease afternoons but I’ve been over at Hqs. so naturally I haven’t cleaned myself one. I suppose I’ll have to get one as they are going to have rifle inspections at retreat 4 times a week and I don’t know how I can skip retreat. Mine ought not to get dirty if I don’t use it much. After retreat we ate – potatoes, peas & carrots, salad, bread, butter and fruit salad. After supper I went over to the P.X. and got a haircut. Then I got my dry cleaning, some shoe polish, ice cream and came back. They have a standard foot locker arrangement so I had to fix the stuff up in it. Now here I am. Tomorrow we may have an inspection so I’ll wear my pressed O.D.’s and clean leggings & I now have a haircut. I hadn’t had one for about a month. I had a sort of punk feeling head this afternoon but it’s sort of disappeared since I got away from the office. I guess I’m sort of unconsciously tense when I’m over there. You remember how I’d type a page & get to the bottom and then make a mistake. Well I’m trying not to do that. It means more here as I’m sometimes working with 3 or 4 carbons. Probably I don’t deserve the job as I’m not that much of a clerk but I’ve got it yet. I noticed today that one elbow is gone through on my O.D. shirt. After 16 months it’s finally gone out. Well I guess that covers today so I’ll finally get at these letters starting with Sat.-Sun. April 15 & 16. – I was reading today that the army has no facilities for handling special delivery so you may as well not spend extra money on it. I have my transcript yet. I’ll file it in my 201 file when we get some folders to use. That’s where it belongs. I’ve seen a lot of transcripts in my company but none come even close. My score on that original ASTP exam was 166. The highest I’ve seen on any of these records is about 120. So that puts me up there pretty well. Send back those white shorts if they are patched. If you replace any of them send either white ones or these khaki ones that look G.I. I was really getting things dirty in the infantry and it will be the same or worse if I get out on line duty with this outfit. It’s pretty clean where I am right now. The wind often blows plenty here without any clouds – just air currents. Getting up at 5:00 was a lot different in the north woods. I wanted to do it then. Nobody could hit you in the pits no matter how screwy they got. The only possibility might be a ricochet (that’s spelled wrong I know but you know what I mean) bouncing in but none did that day. You see we are under the fire [drawing of firing range] and pulled the targets up and down between shots. They fire continuously all day. As soon as one group quits another goes up. The ice cream is pretty good. Some of it is Swift’s -15 cents a pt. This watch is doing O.K. now. It quit once but started again. I don’t suppose I would pass now but – so what -. Butter cut 4 pts. next Sun. That sounds good. L.S. means nothing. It’s crossed off all our records. I like that song they sing about “once long ago.” It’s good you 2 had a Sun. when you felt a little more up to par for a change. I don’t imagine I’ll get a furlough for maybe 5 or 6 months. One clerk left tonight but he’s just a rookie of 6 months & has never had one. I’ll let them worry about the wool socks. If I turn them in then it’s up to them. Those transcripts were supposed to be kept on file instead of given to us. That was all. Sauerkraut is always warmed. I like it cold like we used to have it. I hope to tell you these Texans have a drawl but I don’t believe it’s much more marked than the Arkansans. I’m a little too old to get much practical use from a bike once I got home. It’s just a means of conveyance here. Someday when things get straightened around I’d like to have a car of my own. Traffic here isn’t awfully heavy and we stay off the beaten highways most of the time. I have read some in your pathfinder. Slaughter is getting pretty old. Eva hasn’t mentioned Charles. Last I knew he was still in the Medics at Temple, Tex. If he still would like to get into a combat outfit I’d sure like to trade places or would I. It depends on what the future holds. Julius may stay in school. I sure hope he can for his sake. Now your Mon.-Thurs. April 17-20 – That grease probably comes from wiping off my rifle in a hurry with a hankie. I’m glad you went out to the store again. You buy things that Pop wouldn’t notice. So even if the bill is higher you get more different things that will go farther. I wonder if I’ll ever go back to the old job. I was never talkative enough. I haven’t a line to dish out & make them feel good like Thelma used to do. It was simple to take those pictures. I’d take a picture in the normal way. Then I’d put my finger over it and click it. That kept the film from being exposed so I could then take the pictures all on the same click, either up or down. See. I guess Julius’ deferment covers the next term. He won’t graduate for a year of so though. I’d like to be on one of those whistling trains for good. That Stratton came around fast but I guess I’ve been away quite a while when I look back. “Have I Been Away Too Long?” Yes, indeed! They noticed my troubles with the rifle but nobody could do anything about it. That physical fitness stuff tears me down more than it builds me up. We 5 have been together quite a while but we’re getting farther apart. Ferd’s in L Co. 393^rd, Leonard in I Co. 393^rd, Sam & Rudy A Co. 1267 & I’m in C Co. 1268. Freese & Ferd will be leaving first probably so they’ll have to write to me. If I knew it was 3 more years I don’t know just what I would do. Those pictures were pretty good. Freeze is pretty fat looking now. I had a bike but I guess we ran out of film. Say, find out if my license has to be renewed. In some states they are good for the duration plus 6. You can ask when you go up for yours. You know I wondered why that letter ended so abruptly on Thurs. afternoon. I just got the rest of it today. 16 cents a can is way too much for any soup. Thurs. April 20 –Tom’s in the army isn’t he? Jerry is probably at Crowder, Leonard Wood or Jefferson’s Bks. Now really. I think people run this place down a little too much. It’s true, it’s not too good a location. When it’s raining its muddy & when it’s not it’s a dust bowl but it certainly isn’t a shack camp. Except for one corner of camp, the barracks and buildings are all swell. They are as good as any I’ve seen and I rank it with Camp McCoy. You can get some idea of our buildings from that folder I sent in with my laundry. I’d rather be here that lots of places I can think of. I’ve been here 7 weeks now. I have plenty more to go. Probably 20 weeks after we start which may be a month or so yet. Pop sure goes to a lot of Union meetings. Happy birthday to Schicklegruber. You help every year. So Babe still chases cats. How’s her legs? I sort of gathered she was more chipper since she trots up and down stairs by herself now. Hey, that’s not fair to charge Pop to hear these letters. They aren’t worth it but if you can get away with it I guess its O.K. The old V-8 is getting pretty old. Ten years is a long time on a car. It’s had to be a good car to last that long. I got rid of that old shirt you didn’t like. I have 4 sets of suntans but I’m only charged with 3 so I guess I’ll send a set home. Ah here comes our emissary with ice cream. I ought to gain some wt. if I keep this up. I’m up around 160 most of the time now. Here it is 9:00 and I’m not through yet. Boy I’d stay clear of any wire if I thought there was an enemy around. They usually have noise makers hooked up to catch you going through. Ft. Sam Houston is at San Antonio and is supposed to be a pretty nice place. Texas is by far the largest state. Calif. is probably 2^nd or 3^rd. Actually most of Calif. is desert or mountains. Most of the people live along the coast and in the areas around Frisco & L.A. I don’t spend much in the penny arcade. You know me. I play pretty lousy ping pong now. I’m not nearly so good as I was at school but I still win quite a bit somehow. The bananas seem to be plenty ripe enough. It cost 20 cents to get my blouse fixed. I’m keeping my stuff until they tell me to get rid of it. I’ll see if I can get a bluebonnet the next time I’m in town. I haven’t seen any near here inside camp. It’s the Texas state flower like the apple blossom is for Mich. No I’m not in a replacement training center. I’m in a regular outfit and always have been luckily. You see I’m assigned and theoretically will stay with this Bn. [?] Fellows at R.T.C.’s get basic and then go wherever replacements are needed. You saw where George went. The 45^th is an old Texas & Oklahoma Nat. Guard outfit. It was one of the first outfits into Sicily. His boy is probably in the armored force driving a ½ ton track. Now Fri. April 21 – I’m glad you got the pillow cover & liked it. I’d as soon that U.S. Army weren’t on there. I have my eye on another one you may get someday. Don’t tell me Mrs. Elliott works at Sam’s? Oh no. A lot of overalls are going to the army. A nice new pair of fatigues will rip out on an assault course barbed wire as good as a worn pair & plenty are ripped. It’s Bn. in my address for Battalion. Rudy & Sam live just across the back yard sort of, but eventually we’ll be farther apart. I’m a terrible shot but I’m getting more confidence in myself. I think I could fire pretty well with the 22 now. 66% is qualifying. I fired about 75%. Well that covers your letters pretty well. Its 9:25 and lights go out pretty quick so I’m going to sign off & clean up & hit the bed. So for tonight so long & love.

Son

Just By Accident

Thurs. April 20, 1944

5:25 p.m.

Dear folks,

Another day’s work done. Oh how good it is. I wonder how long it can last. Last night after I finished writing to you I decided to go to the show instead of writing letters so I took off. After standing in line ½ hour or so I got in. The picture was “Follow the Boys.” It had a lot of stars & bands to make it worth seeing but the story itself was sort of lousey. It was an attempt to play up the part of the movie & radio stars in entertaining service men. I got back at nearly 11:00, shaved and got to bed. We were up at 6:00 again this morning. It seems so good to sleep a little later than 5:15. Back at 8:45. We dressed and fell out for reveille. Then we made our beds and swept and mopped. For breakfast I had eggs, bread, jam, bran flakes & milk. After breakfast we had to lay out our G.I. equipment to have it checked against our records. At about 8:00 I reported at Br. Hdqs. for work. I was supposed to be on K.P. today but the personnel sgt. at hdqs. fixed it up for me. So far as I know I’ll get out of K.P. and guard. That’s worth it if for nothing else. First I made out our morning report. We had quite a time with it but finally we got it done. I have to fall back on the others as much as possible because I don’t know much about it. We studied all this stuff a little back at school but I guess I didn’t learn much. After I got that all set I worked on service records until I finished them. I’ve got all the dope on myself. In order to get a good conduct ribbon a person must have a rating of excellent in character and in efficiency as a soldier. At Custer & at McCoy they put unknown on my record. Then while I was in Calif. in the AA I got Excellent for character but only “satisfactory” for efficiency. But since May 21 I had had excellent in the A.S.T.P. and over here in the 393^rd. They recommended me for a ribbon when I left school. I Co. didn’t but if I can keep a rating of excellent here I’ll be eligible for one in another month. I’d like to get one just on general principles. People wonder why you don’t have one. They don’t realize how easily some officer can write “satisfactory” on your record & spoil it. At 12 we quit for dinner – potatoes, salad, bread, butter, jam, and pumpkin pie. At 1 I went back to work. The other clerks went someplace else but I am not up on it enough yet so I stayed and typed up pay books all afternoon. I have to keep everything in order for my Co. There are only 21 now but there will be about 170 later. My typing is coming back fast I find. At 4:30 we quit. I brought some stuff back and stayed in the orderly room until after retreat. Then I ate – potatoes, peas, bread, butter, jam, pickles, cocoa, & peaches. After eating I took off. Helle was moving so I went over to the P.X. & got some Engr. braid put on my hat. Then I came back & helped him & we went over to the 393^rd to see Ferd & the boys. Ferd made expert with the rifle. Incidentally I’m an expert with the bayonet according to my records. We were over there awhile & then came back & here I am. Crisman has disappeared. None of the boys know where he is. So that’s today. No mail yet from you. Tomorrow morning I have to take a 10 mile hike with the rest. This morning they ran the obstacle course but I missed all of that. I really have a good setup but I don’t think it will last long. Two things can interfere. One is they have been getting men from other outfits in and I’m afraid they’ll stumble on to an old company clerk who knows the work and is already a Cpl. Of course that may not happen. But once the company is filled I’ll probably have to take basic training with the rest so I may lose out that way. You see it was just by accident that I was lucky enough to get this. In the cadre of non coms sent here, each company had a clerk who was a corporal. But the one in this company was made Br. Mail Clerk so an opening was made. So I have a job that should be held by one of the cadre. I don’t know if I can hold it or not. I’m trying to catch on as fast as I can & everybody is pretty decent. If I can make it stick it will be a good deal. It means two stripes as soon as any ratings are handed out. Right now I’m the only pvt. over there. The other clerks are corporals who came in with the cadre. I’ve got about 10 months service on most of the cpls. & sgts. in the cadre but it doesn’t mean too much. I’ve got my fingers crossed and I’m going to do my best. The Engineers is plenty rough & if I can soften it boy I’m going to do it. Next Tues. I’m Charge of Quarters at Br. Hdqs. We get no guard or K.P. but we pull C.Q. about every 6 days. That’s not too bad though. Maybe I’ll get my mail caught up for a change. So that’s all there is to tell for today. I ought to get your San.-Sun. letter tomorrow as you probably mailed it before you knew I was moving a little. So for tonight I’ll sign off.

Be seein’ you,

Love

Son

Personally I’ll Take Ping Pong

Thurs. April 13, 1944

9:15 p.m.

Dear folks,

Well I’m off again. So far I don’t know when, where or what for but I’m leaving before very long. The first Sgt. called about 15 of us in tonight and told us we are leaving. He said he didn’t know where we are going, when, if we are going to all go to the same place or anything. All he had was a list of our names and instructions to ask us if we preferred gov’t or private transportation. Sam & I are the only 2 Arkansas men in our company who are leaving. Most fellows asked for gov’t transportation. He & I took a chance & took private. I did it in hopes of a delay in route. Sometimes fellows get a delay of 7 or 8 days en-route. That’s all we can find out so far. He told us our clearance papers were coming through tonight so we may not be here long. You better hold up the mail until I’m arrived. Last night I shaved and got to bed as soon as I finished writing. We had the same old lineup this morning – up at 5:30, dressed, made bed & cleaned the barracks. Then reveille and breakfast – French toast, syrup, butter, bran flakes, milk & an orange. After breakfast we policed up and then fell out. After our morning parade we spent the whole morning on rifle firing positions, trigger squeeze, rifle calisthenics and assuming positions. My muscles are pretty well stretched by now. We came in at 11:30 for dinner. I had Swiss steak, potatoes, gravy, string beans, salad, bread, butter, and fruit salad. I got your Mon. letter this noon. At 12:30 we fell out again. Our 1^st hour was on sight setting. Then we had an hour of unarmed combat on how to tie up a person. Then an hour of grenade throwing and an hour of physical hardening (they call it). At 4:30 we came in and changed to O.D.’s for retreat. After retreat we got the word from the Sgt. about our departure. For supper I had stew, salad, lima beans, butter, crackers & cake. After eating I cleaned my bayonet. Then I went over to L. Co. to see what they knew. A large number of men is leaving this Regt. Helle is going but Ferd & Freese aren’t. Nobody knows what it’s all about but a lot of guesses & rumors are afloat. At first I was happy to get out of this outfit but the more I think about it the more I’m wondering. I’ll know before long if it’s better or worse. I hope it’s better but with a large group like this going, it would appear to be just getting rid of the over strength in this division. My guess is we’ll go to some other division but I hope I’m wrong. We’ll probably know more before long. In case you don’t get any letters for a few days after this one don’t get excited. I might not be able to write for a while. I hope we are going north but I imagine we’ll stay in beautiful (?) Texas. I wish I could give you something definite because I know you’ll feel sort of uncertain but it’s all I know myself now. I hope we leave before we fire next Mon. I’d like to miss it if I could. When I got back from L. Comp. I cleaned my rifle. Then Sam & I walked down to the 395^th to see some fellows we knew & see what they knew about things. They didn’t know about it so maybe it’s just from the 393^rd. We talked awhile & then ate some ice cream & came back. That’s today. We’ve tried to add up 2 & 2 and see if we could figure out something but haven’t gotten far. We represent just about every branch, all kinds of training and all terms A.S.T.P. so there’s nothing to go by. My guess is we’re over strength here and are being sent to fill up some other division. Well that’s that so I’ll get to your letters –

Sat. –Sun. – April 8-9 – There are lots like Joe Lewis in this army. Send me the pictures from that roll when you get them. I’ve forgotten what some of them were. I’ve got some that Freese took Sunday if I’m here long enough to get them. Brown is crazy to enlist now. He might as well wait. There are no good deals left anymore. All they need are replacements so it’s just too bad for the guy coming in now. We are practically in the same position. Julius was deferred until Aug. 15. Property is high now but it will drop after the war. I’ve enough for a substantial down payment if you ever want it. You know where it is. Free time has about disappeared. I wish they’d send me someplace, put me on a job with something to do & none of this training & leave me there for the duration. I guess that’s too much to expect. We had had it pretty easy here for the infantry. It may get rougher at the next place. I’m prepared to meet most any situation from now on. Maybe Pop is letting the teeth get the better of him. He’s sort of a baby about stuff like that. You practically had to force him to wear glasses too. I haven’t waded any streams yet. Freese & I work on each other on this throwing stuff so we take it pretty easy on each other. The old men went some to weapons companies & hdqs. and about 2000 went to a P.O.E. when we came so I heard. I’m not very practical sometimes when I should be. They had Easter services here. Would you rather I’d go once in awhile. I don’t imagine it would hurt me any. I’m just a bit lazy. You 2 sure spend some rough Sundays. It never got to rain here Easter but it looked like it quite a lot during the day. Mon. – April 10 – There’ll be quite a space where that tree used to be. I’m way behind with my letters but I may as well wait now until I get a new address. I hope it’s minus an APO. It would be nice if you could find a good buy in a place but I imagine it’s pretty hard now. You two looked pretty perky while I was home & I felt pretty good too as you know. Still a person doesn’t feel secure or whatever the word is I’m trying to use when home on furlough. You sort of keep yourself from falling back into the good old groove because you know it will be so much harder to leave. Oh yes we have some great games if you like them. Personally I’ll take ping pong to bayonet or grenade. Believe it or not, a person is better off  in a heavy woods during lightning than outside. Never go to a lone tree but a heavy woods forms a grounded roof & acts the same as lightning rods. That’s a fact although many people don’t believe it. There were plenty of blisters. Some of the air corps feet can’t take it very well. I’m keeping the cocoa. It may come in pretty handy. Mrs. C. doesn’t write so I don’t either. Well that’s your letters and all the new I know. Its 10:15 and I want to shower yet so I’ll sign off. I hope we get some sort of a break out of this. So long for tonight.

Love,

Your wandering wondering

Son

You May Not Like Broccoli

Wed. Mar. 29, 1944

7:40 p.m.

Dear folks,

Another day finished. This one was a little better than yesterday. I shaved last night and then got to bed. I was up as usual this morning. After reveille I made up my bed. For breakfast I had eggs, bread, butter, Wheatena (I believe), milk, and an orange. After breakfast we cleaned up everything and policed up the state. I was in a goldbricking mood this morning so I decided to go on sick call and see what they had to say about my wrist. We fell out at 7:30 and went down to the dispensary. It froze ice here last night, and the wind just about blew thru us this morning. We were down there until 9:30 or so. The Capt. or Dr. said the same thing just about that the old boy said in Ark. He felt it all over and said nothing is wrong except I have strained the ligaments and he called it a chronic strain. Sounds good. He had a fellow bind it up tight as a sort of brace and he gave me some liniment so that’s that. I guess I just have a weak wrist. We got back and put on our equipment – light packs and gas masks and hunted up our group. We took our time and finally found them at the Recreation Hall. I managed to miss an hour of drill and a health lecture. We had more health stuff from 10 to 11 and then an hour on the 45 cal. pistol before we came in for dinner. I had corned beef, potatoes, kidney beans, salad, bread, butter, and fruit salad. At mail call I got your Sat. –Sun. letter & read it before we loaded up and fell out again at 12:50. We had one more hour on the pistol. Then we had 2 hours on Chemical Warfare. We had just a general lecture & practiced gas mask drill. Then they exploded chloropicrin, phosgene, lewisite, and nustard so we could learn the odors. Wow. Some of that stuff is really potent. I didn’t get anymore of any of it that I had to but I knew it was there. It makes my eyes water. The mustard almost smells good, the chloropicrin is sickening and the phosgene is sort of choking. We will go through the gas chamber pretty soon. They use chlorine in it. I don’t mind it much. I’m used to breathing it in Chem. lab. It is supposed to help a cold if you have one. It gives the feeling of a chest cold itself. At 4 we had an hour of so-called physical hardening instead of bayonet drill. I like it better but at the end of an hour I’m rather tired. We did all kinds of exercises and then ran about ¼ mile through the woods. At 5 we came in for the day. I got right on the ball & cleaned off my equipment. For supper I had potatoes, peas, salad, bread, butter, and cake. After supper I shined my shoes, cleaned out my rifle, wrote a message (our assignment for tonight) and then changed clothes. At 6:50 they let a group of us go to the P.X. so I finally mailed my laundry out. I got my dry cleaning and some cookies and ice cream. I came back and ate and here I am. A group can go to the last show at 8:40. Its 8 now so maybe I’ll go. I don’t know how it will be tomorrow night. We have night problems Thurs. & Fri. nights. We eat supper out tomorrow night and dinner & supper Fri. so we hear. So I may not be able to write much if any. We’ll see.

Now to your letter – I don’t expect to vote. I never have so I don’t see any sense in fooling with it now. Since I haven’t voted it requires more red tape than I want to bother with. I have all of your letters up to date again now. I guess spring hit a detour. It is warmer tonight again but this Texas weather is unreliable. When the sun shines the wind blows, when it doesn’t shine well you know what happens. It seems rivers of water fall in no time. There are ditches all over and in 5 minutes they can be filled up like creeks. Snow in March isn’t too unusual for Michigan though. Babe has a good dog’s life. Such a life as I’m living I wouldn’t [be] letting mine dog be living. Yah! This is no life. At least it doesn’t fill any definition of true life as I see it. It’s merely an existence. Oh we are having it good now. They tell us every time we turn around how rough they’ve had it on maneuvers and stuff. Sometimes I wonder & I do a powerful lot of thinking about things. All I can do is let things take their course. So far I’ve been taken care of pretty well. Oh I’ve had little tastes of the not so easy, but not too much. I don’t know. Maybe if I did I’d wish I didn’t. It’s probably good we can’t see the future. You may not like broccoli. I eat it as something to eat. It’s a lot better than turnip greens or raw endive salad. They used to serve endive cut up like lettuce as a salad at school. Was it bitter! I haven’t been told for rust but I’m afraid there’s some in the barrel. I used bore cleaner tonight but it still didn’t all come out. I’m afraid there won’t be any time for me to relax & enjoy spring fever. My head isn’t shaved. I have a short cut but it still looks human I believe. I imagine Marie does a lot of worrying. He really got a pretty rough deal all right. She hadn’t heard from him for 4 weeks. There won’t be any labor draft until after Nov. I wonder how many fellows actually are fighting for freedom. Most of them are merely fighting the enemy with the same spirit they put into football or everything they do so they can go home. That’s what everyone is thinking – “Let’s get it over so we can go home & stay.” Maybe that is freedom after all. Nobody will ransack any homes yet. I wish I could slip in from a show some night and stay. It all is so “I don’t know what” when one stops to think. It sort of knocks the bottom out of your stomach and everything else at times. You’ve done a good job of keeping your best foot forward. Just keep it up for me. See! Julius is a lot like you in a lot of ways. He’s sincere all right. He’s too set in his way to agree with anybody just to get along or sound agreeable. Well that’s today & your letter. It’s about 8:30 so I think I’ll go to the last show. So for tonight,

Love,

Arlington A.A.

Resting on the Oars

Mon. Feb. 28, 1944

4:45 p.m.

Dear folks,

I just finished reading your Fri. letter and I’m just a little mad. I know one Negro who has something waiting for him and I think he’ll get it some day. Couldn’t Pop take a poke at him for gosh sakes? Who was he anyway? Doesn’t he know him? The best thing to use on them is your foot. There’s one place you can get them or anybody so they don’t come back for awhile. At least hit ‘em in the guts, never on the head or you’ll break your hand. Well I guess I can’t do much about it so I’ll get back to my usual lineup. I did my Calculus last night after I finished writing. Then at 8 we went to study. I put one hour on one Physics problem. The second hour I spent on my theme for English. At 10 we came back & I got to bed. It started to rain last night & has been doing it off and on ever since. There was no reveille today so I slept on through breakfast until 7:15. Then I got up, dressed, made my bed and at 8 we went to Calculus. We finally got our tests back. The grades were poor – only 5 were above 70 & average was about 48. I pulled a 98 which made me feel pretty good. I lost 2 points for leaving out a minus sign. At 9 we had Physics. He gave us some problems about which I knew practically nothing. I’m a little lost in that stuff. We don’t get the test until Sat. You know all these tests this week really don’t mean an awful lot. Unless I really did awfully poor I couldn’t change my grades & whether or not we go on is all up to Dallas.

Back at 10:00. We had study at 10 this morning. I worked on Phys. just in case we might have a lab test. At 11 we had military and more stuff on map reading. At 12 we came back for dinner. I had steak, potatoes, cabbage, salad, bread, butter, milk and cake. At 1 we had Physics Lab. We didn’t have a test but did an experiment on Impedances in alternating currents. At 3 we had study & I tried to shape up that theme some more. At 4 we had P.T. & played volleyball. At 5 we had our monthly physical which means we get paid in a couple days. I got your Thurs. & Fri. letters today. I also got the letter back that I wrote to Hugh about a month ago. It had been sent from Camp Tyson to Fort Bragg & there it was stamped unknown and sent back. Evidently the mail clerk in Tyson made a mistake in sending it to Bragg. He probably shipped out to a different place. I started writing on this & wrote until 5:20. Then Sammy & I played ping pong until supper. I had corn, salad, bread, butter, milk, and fruit salad. Then we came back & played some more. I beat him 12-5 and broke even 2-2 with another fellow. At 8 we went to study. I did my Calculus and read 2 chap. of Drawing for a test we may have tomorrow. I had thought of really pouring it on & going to late study but they knocked all the ambition out of me. I’m back in the dayroom now. Here’s the setup as it stands now. They still don’t know if we stay next term or not. According to one of the officers they are trying to keep us 14 but don’t know if they’ll be able to or not. The big thing is this. There will be no furloughs. That came out today and applies to the whole A.S.T.P. all over the country. So that’s that I guess. God knows when I’ll get home now. Even if I can stay I doubt if it will be over 3 months & once I get back in troops chances for furloughs are darn slim. I know this sounds pretty morbid but its about the way things are. I want to stay but I’m beginning to think that will go too. To be honest with you I don’t expect to be here after the middle of next week. I’ll say what I feel then if things do turn out better, well we can feel happy about it. 14 months & I’ve had 11 days at home! What a life. Well that’s all there is. I know you’ve sort of expect me to get home & so have I but it’s out now.

Now your letters. They’ve knocked the wind out of my sails & I haven’t much ambition to study. I think I’ll do enough to get through & rest on the oars. Thurs. Feb. 24 – Don’t get excited over no mail for a day or two. You may hit gaps now & then when I won’t be able to write. I know you’ve been cleaning house sort of looking forward to something, but this is the army, they tell me. Boy they are taking everybody for the army now. They say they need us because quotas are low. The snow will probably be gone by the time I get there all right. Fri. Feb. 25 – Say, who was this guy that hit dad & how did it happen & where? He must have knocked him down, otherwise how could he get away. That guy must pack a wallop if he only hit him once. I’m mad about this. Let’s have the details. Don’t worry about me. Take care of him. Nobody can do anything about my situation. What people think about breaking up this program means nothing to the War Dept. I really don’t think Aunt Marie meant that that way. At least I’d like to think she didn’t. I know what I hope for too but I’m prepared for practically anything. There’s not much I could do to help Pop on that except add some moral support. You know what I’d like to do but I’m not a fighter. I have learned a few tricks since I’ve been in the army. A good swift kick in the abdominal regions would be just what he needs. Well that’s your letters. This probably sounds pretty low but forget it. I sort of kind of wanted that furlough and I don’t like the idea of people pushing Dad around. Well I guess I better quit,

So long for tonight

Love

Son

Confidentially He Smells

Sat. Feb. 19, 1944

11:00 p.m.

Dear folks,

Back again. I mailed the other letter this morning but it may lie in the box until Mon. After what I’ve said about shipping and stuff I hope you won’t pay too much attention if it’s a little late. When I quit writing I worked on Calculus until 12. Then we came back here. I shined my shoes before dinner. I had potatoes, peas & carrots, salad, bread, butter, milk & cake. After dinner we cleaned the latrine for inspection. We didn’t do a very thorough job but it was good enough to get by O.K. We got to study at about 1:30. I took my razor & shaving crème along and shaved downstairs in the engineering building. I needed one and hadn’t had time to do it. At 2 we had the second movie in this series on “Why We Fight.” I’ve seen the first 3 for 3 times but I’ve never yet seen the last 4. We’ll just about get to number 3 here and then they’ll quit. At 3 we had another hour of study which I put on Calc. At 4 we came back and changed for inspection. I got your Wed. and Thurs. letters & one from Elmo in my mail. The inspection was pretty fast. As soon as it was over we fell out & heard announcements & then were through at about 4:45. I got 4 more shoulder patches issued. Then Helle & Ferd and I went to the P. Office. I didn’t have anything to mail but Ferd sent his laundry & Helle sent three boxes of tricks & stuff home. Then we went up to the bakery & got some stuff to eat in hungry moments. After that we started back. On the way I got myself a bottle of olives. We brought the food back and then went to supper at about 5:45. I had potatoes, spinach, salad, bread, butter, milk, and jello. After supper we came back and Ferd, I & my roommate played ping pong until nearly 7:30. I beat Ferd but lost 2 out of 3 to my roommate. His name is Sam Crisman from Holdrege, Nebr. He’s in for term 4 also. At about 8 Ferd & I decided to walk downtown. The show down here was no good so we went to the one downtown but it wasn’t too good either. It was “Rookies in Burma.” It was supposed to be funny but it was too silly to be really funny. The show was out at about 10 and we walked back. It was beginning to rain when we got in so maybe there’ll be no reveille. We ate some of the stuff we had and here I am.

I imagine you’ve seen the big headlines on the A.S.T.P. The paper here says the advanced program will not be affected so maybe I can get in under the wire. It’s going to be close and we won’t be able to count on much from now on. The whole program may be wiped out anytime they feel like it. It means about 350 men will get the ax here. Probably no basic terms will be started. Maybe definite plans will be held out long enough so these kids can get their furloughs. I hope so. The main thing is for me to get mine. Well I’ll sign off now until tomorrow.

Back Sunday Feb. 20 at 8:45 a.m. I was up at about 7:30. It was raining but it’s pretty sloppy and foggy outside. After reveille at 7:45 I hurried over to breakfast. I had toast, butter, French toast, syrup, corn flakes, milk & a banana. After breakfast I came back and here I am. Now I better answer your letters. Wed. Feb. 16 – Seems as if the catalog we saw here has more nice stuff in it again. I believe it’s easier to get a lot of things now than it was for awhile. Babe really gets a mouthful when she grabs some of my socks. One pair of G.I. shoes does a good job on straining the water as you can see by the black soles on some of my socks. I’ve been wearing those shoes now since I came in. As soon as next term starts I’ll try to salvage some stuff. That one suntan shirt is in bad shape. I ripped the sleeve taking off a patch and the hole in the back is bigger too. I drew 4 more patches yesterday. I never sewed the first 3 on because I didn’t know how long I’d stay but I have 6 now so I’ll sew them on or have you do it for me. You don’t have to rewind that ribbon, mom. Just push that little rod on the side of the typewriter & it will reverse itself. It may be needing a new ribbon pretty soon. I better apply for my license if I get home. You can apply anytime within 6 months from the expiration can’t you? I might wait until June but it’s too much of a gamble. I never use a license but I sort of want to keep one in force all the time. I wonder if I could get by the thing with but two mistakes. Pop keeps his average. It’s been just as big a help to me to have you do my wash. I don’t mind a low C so long as it’s a C. He’s gotten me on 3 plates for arrowheads. I have one more to do. If I can make these look good I’ll be O.K. maybe. I still say those spaces in between letters were because you didn’t get your fingers away from the bar & keys fast enough. I did it at first too. That pink wash cloth is the one that was in the stuff from Sunfield for Xmas. We haven’t heard from Bill Johnson yet. If I write to all the guys I’ve known around here I’ll really have some mail but I don’t imagine many will write. I told Ferdie & Rudy that they’d have to write first because they know my address & I don’t know theirs. Of all those letters I wrote about 3 weeks ago I have gotten 4 answers – Lillis, Marie, Sunfield, & Dick H. and also the one from Elmo which he’s owed a long time. If you want you can get an appointment with Wetzel. Make it for Monday morning so I can get it over with. I don’t think they need it but maybe we better get it over with. Go ahead if you want to. Now Thurs. Feb. 17 – I got it on Sat. instead of Mon. You must have gotten the same snow we had. One of the fellows took a lot of pictures of the place around here & I’m having him get me a set. One shows the drill field the day we moved & you can see the paths where we walked across the snow. Am I still a curiosity to you? I never realized how fast time goes until the last year. Another year and I’ll begin to be getting old. Shucks in only 9 years I’ll be past 30. It sort of scares you when you think about it, doesn’t it or should I say didn’t it? I’ll try to send stuff next weekend. Just hold the laundry until I get there. I have plenty of clothes now. I have a lot more stuff to move than when I came – more underwear, socks & clothes of all kinds. I believe that when I’m sure of leaving here I’ll ship my locker home. It’s a good thing to have but if I should happen to get someplace where I’d have to carry my baggage I’d be a bit loaded down. I wish I could get rid of some of this G.I. equipment I have to drag around. Another thing, if we leave here we would be liable to move maybe 2 or 3 times in a few weeks. On the strength of being here until June I’ll hold my tennis racket for a while longer. I wouldn’t want to be in the M.P.’s. Selfridge Field isn’t far away from Lansing. I’d say the best deal would probably be Ft. Sheridan near Chicago. I could get home in 5 hours. Gee Pop must be quite a typist by now if he uses it for his blanks and stuff. I’m in bad shape ain’t I? That covers your letters & I guess I’ve exhausted all my ideas & everything I had to say so I’ll sign off for awhile. See you later.

Back at nearly 7:00 p.m. I spent most of the forenoon just fumbling around with my stuff. I guess I have it sorted down to a minimum now. You’ll have a fairly large laundry next week & if I get home I’ll bring what accumulates after I send. My foot locker is a little more orderly and empty I believe now. When I pull out of here sometime, then you will really get a lot of plunder. After I got everything the way I wanted it I showered and dressed for dinner. I ate at about 12:30 – potatoes, asparagus, salad, biscuits, butter, milk, and ice cream. After dinner I sat around a bit & then Ferd, Helle, & I took off. Ferd & I took some pictures of the campus from a 3^rd floor window. We deduced that there is something wrong with my camera when it’s clicked either up or down. I figured it out to be on the up click so I took most of my pictures on the down click. We took some pictures of the fellows we knew. We started out and walked downtown. Ferd left a reel to be developed but we couldn’t get any film. Then we started walking. The sun had come out and it was beautiful day. We spent about 2 hours I guess and walked practically all over the parts of town we hadn’t seen. The fellows have one more weekend in Fayetteville. I’m going to miss them too. I know them the best of anyone I’ve met in the army. We got back down here by the theater in time to go to the 4 o’clock show. We saw “Higher & Higher” with the great Sinatra. Confidentially he smells, but the picture itself wasn’t bad. We got out at about 6:05 and went over to the Union for cheese sandwiches and a milk shake. Then we walked down to the store and got some cheese crackers and came back. I changed clothes & here I am. That’s the story for today. I have a Physics test tomorrow so I’ll have to quit and get at it. So long for tonight,

Love,

Son

What Happened to the Idea of Conscripting Cars?

Wed. Jan. 26, 1944

5:30 p.m.

Dear folks,

Here I am again. I’ll write on this until we go eat. After I wrote to you last night I did my English & worked on Physics. At 10 I went to the Physics drill class to see if I could learn anymore. I didn’t learn much. I got back to the dorm at about 11. Then I worked on Physics out in the hall until 11:30. I thought I knew it pretty well. I was up at 6:15 this morning but not very much awake. After reveille at 6:40 we went to breakfast. I had toast, butter, oatmeal, milk & an apple. Then I slept until about 7:40 when I got up and made my bed. At 8 we had Calc. At 9 we had Physics & the test. It was a dilly. The problems were pretty catchy and it was a long test. I don’t know how well I did. I managed to finish but I made some foolish mistakes. I found most of them I hope but I guess I misplaced a decimal point in one of them because no one agrees with me. There were 104 possible points. I hope I go 75 or better but it’s hard to tell. One question was worth 20 pts. These physics tests are always rugged. They throw enough work for 3 or 4 problems in each one. We probably won’t know what we got until a week or two from now. He never gets papers back in less than a week. At 10 we had study and I worked Calculus. I haven’t been putting much time on Calculus with other tests on the fire but I’ll have to get at it for Fri. test. At 11 we had Military. We got those tests back we wrote about a month ago. I missed only 1 question for 98 out of 100 which was pretty good for me on a Military quiz. We get one on rifle marksmanship tomorrow. I don’t know much about it and there’s nothing to study. We have practiced doing things instead of listening & taking notes. Maybe that grade will counterbalance whatever I get tomorrow. At 12 we ate. I had potatoes, beets, carrots, chili, salad, bread, butter, milk, and rice pudding. At 1 we had English. We heard talks & he didn’t give an assignment for Fri. which is good. At 2 we had Geog. Test Fri. over a bale of notes & 4 chap. in the book which he never assigned before.

Back at 6:15. At 3 we had study and I started reviewing History. We haven’t covered much since the last test so it could be pretty easy & then again he could make it hard by going into detail. At 4 we had P.T. We did calisthenics and then played volleyball as usual. After P.T. I showered and read my mail – your Sat.-Sun. letter. I shaved this noon. At 5:15 we had our monthly physical which means we get paid pretty soon. I have 3 checks left yet but I guess I’ll have to cash one pretty soon. After that I wrote on this until we went to supper. I had potatoes, peas, salad, bread, butter, cookies and milk. Now I just got back from eating. That’s today. No new rumors around today. According to where they are in the alphabet, I imagine I’ll pull C.Q. or O.G. either Fri. or Sat. night. I was figuring on sleeping this weekend so it won’t make much difference. I’d rather have it on a night off because I know there are no classes the next day. I’ve been so sleepy today that I’ve had a little trouble staying awake. The boys around here are working fast. A lot are putting in air cadet applications. Today an announcement was on the board saying men who can qualify for Coast Guard Academy will be discharged from the army to go. Some are going to try it. So far as I’m concerned it’s the A.S.T.P. and nothing else. If they kick it out I’ll probably be able to grapple on to a fair job someplace else.

Now to your letter – I bought a card to send Gramp but there won’t be any buck in it. The work is plenty hard all right. Oh actually each course itself is fairly easy but added together it’s too much. It’s boiled down to studying for tests and that’s about all. I don’t think there are any shows or gals interfering with my work. I’m sure I don’t know it if they are. And my work isn’t anything to complain about yet. I’m doing the best I can under the conditions. I’ll admit I haven’t put time in on weekends but I’ve kept my grades without doing it and its doggone little time that I have off. When you look at it we don’t have much incentive. Everything points out. About the only ones who are really working now, are we with the good grades. You can address me as Pvt. probably for the duration +. You know you and I have been throwing some pretty dirty digs at each other, at least you must be taking what I have written that way. When I say I don’t want you to worry about this or that I mean it seriously. I’m not wanting to be a good shot with my left eye. If I get out of here I’m very likely to goldbrick & try to get a C.D.D. I’m fed up to the ears with the army & everything about it. 1 yr. and 24 days is just 1 yr. too much. If you could see yourself as others do & know how they feel, you’d find you are pretty much wrong. People like you if you’d give them a chance. I think I know you probably better than your mother or even Pop but then maybe I’m wrong. Anyway I hate to see you worry so over things that are far-fetched. Remember what happened to the idea of conscripting cars? I don’t say things to criticize you. You know that. If I don’t agree with you I say so. We both have a right to our opinions but I’m not trying to make any smart cracks. You ought to try firing the old rifle sometime. I imagine its fun if a person could be by himself but there are always too many people in everything in the army. Some of those movies haven’t been too good. I guess I go just to get away from stuff & things. That’s the Ruth Barnard who was in my class. I’ll keep my racket at least until I get something to wrap it in. It will go in the bottom of my foot locker anyway. Today is the hottest I’ve ever seen it in Jan. I think you would be very foolish to try to put $75 into bonds extra. Well that’s your letter & the bottom of the page I’ll sign off and get to work. Don’t pay too much attention to things I might say. See.

Love,

Arlington

We Can’t Sing as a Group

Thurs. Jan. 6, 1944

6:05 p.m.

Dear folks,

Well a year ago today I went on my first train ride out of Michigan and ended up in cold old Wisconsin. I’m beginning to wonder how long it will be before I’ll be moving again. If I can better myself I want to get out of here and most any school north of here ought to be better. We have another big deal on the fire now. I presume it’s the Major’s idea. First – the companies are being reformed. Instead of 4 there will be just 2, A and B. Unfortunately we will be in B. Co. and we have to move over to Razorback Hall probably Saturday. That is semi-official. Second – a new Sat. schedule – Study from 1 to 3, orientation to tell us why we are here 2 to 3 and inspection at 4. That gives us 5 study hours on Sat. when we don’t really need it. I don’t know when they expect us to prepare for inspection. The only good thing is it appears we get all of Friday evening off but we won’t get loose Sat. until nearly 5:00. Everybody was happy but I guess some people always want to impress people by changing things and showing their power. Razorback isn’t bad but it means losing our small rooms & soft easy to make beds. They have 5 men to a room over there. That makes a crowd too. The officers in B Company aren’t so good either. The more I see of this place since the honorable major got here the less I like it. In a couple weeks we’ll be full time soldiers along with the double time students we already are. I don’t want to sound discouraging, but I think the A.S.T.P. is about on the rocks. The fellows that are left now are practically all serious about & trying hard but nobody is a superman. Well, I’ve rambled long enough and haven’t said anything but I still think, I hope either me or the Major goes to a different school in March. Time off for supper –

Back at 7:00. Now to my regular lineup of stuff and things. I studied history until 8:00. Then we went over to the field house. We heard a couple long winded announcements and then saw a training film on military instruction. It lasted until 9:45 so you see what happened to our study time. I came back here and went to work on History and crammed until about 11:35 I guess. Then I studied Military until 12 and went to bed. I was up at 6:15. After reveille we swept out and I slept until we fell out for breakfast. I had oatmeal, toast, butter, milk and a banana. From there we went to Calculus. We get a test in that on Mon. and it will cover quite a bit of ground. At 9 we had drawing. I finished my plate on time by 11:00. It didn’t look too bad except it was pretty soiled in spots. Then we had to study some stuff and we have outside work to do for Tues. At 12 we came back here and I studied Military until we went to dinner. I had chili, corn, beets, salad, bread, butter, milk, and cake. At 1 we had study and I put it on Military. At 2 we had Physics lecture. We get a big test in that next Thurs. At 3 we had our History test. It was a pretty good test. It took me the whole hour to do it but unless he’s a pretty tough grader I think I did pretty well. I felt as if I knew what I was talking about on it all. At 4 we had P.T. We played volleyball awhile and then had to run the 100 yds. piggy-back. I carried Ferd in 23 sec. He made it with me in 26. I don’t know if I’m too big for him or not. I’m quite a bit taller but I’m actually lighter. After that I got our mail and passed it out. I got your Mon. letter. At 5 we had Military. The test was the easiest I’ve had so far here in Military and I think I got above 90 but then I may be wrong. I felt pretty sure of most of the answers though. Then I came back and wrote until supper. I had potatoes, carrots, salad, bread, butter, milk, and raisin pie. And here I am. I have a Geography test to study for tonight and a 300 word essay to write. Oh what a life but I shouldn’t complain. These poor civilian students are carrying a whole 18 hours of classes and here I only have 24.

Now to your Mon. letter I got today. I don’t get much help. If I get stuck about all we can do is pool our brain power on the problem. I’m getting by in drawing O.K. and I guess that’s what counts. I’m far from the worst that’s a cinch. If I can get to a school up near there I hope they do ship us out of here. Otherwise no. I want to end 1944 and all the rest in the US.A. if I can. Of course I have no control over it but you know how I feel anyway. This setup is one man’s idea but he’s the commandant so what he says goes. We have to get haircuts on our free time nights before 8 o’clock. We can’t sing as a group. I am never out that late on Sat. night unless I go to the 11:00 show. Then I’m back by 1:00. I can’t see how I could go to bed at 12 & 1 and get up at 10:15 when I was in school & still feel alive. I guess I relaxed more there between times though.  I’m not pitying the married men. I didn’t report the glasses. It might cause more than its worth. Look Mom, I can see you sort of resent Betty’s writing to me & I know why but so far as I’m concerned you have nothing to worry about & I think you know it. To my knowledge she has never mentioned her sister. I imagine Aunt Marie will worry but you are right. What can she do? I had the cakes on New Years all right and just about everything is gone. Well that finishes your letter & today so I’ll sign off at 7:45.

Love,

Arlington