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

Little Yellow Boys

V-MAIL

Sunday 2 Sept. ‘45

V-J Day on Luzon

Dear folks,

Well according to all we’ve heard today is the big one – V-J Day. General Yamoshita came down out of the mountains about 10 miles from here and surrendered today. His men will be on their way out tomorrow probably. As in Germany I guess our only sight of the enemy will be as P.W.’s but that’s good enough for me. I didn’t realize these little yellow boys were so close. Last night I took in a movie “Weekend at the Waldorf” which was pretty good. It rained a bit but we’re used to it. This afternoon I and another fellow went on an exploration of the nearby country. It’s really rugged. We took along our rifles and a little ammo and did a bit of firing. It’s about the best way to clean out the bore. We ran onto a clear river and got off a bit of the dirt that’s been accumulating. News – points to be recounted as of today & 75 set as critical score. Men [over?] 35 to go home. So I’m still stuck with only 46 points. Oh well, so long

Arlington

The Japs Have Quit

V-MAIL

Tues. 14 Aug. ’45 8:30 p.m.

Dear folks,

Right now I feel the best I’ll probably feel until the day I see that “Golden Gate” again. About 5 minutes ago they announced to us that the Japs have quit. It seems almost hard to realize that there really is no more war but boy does it feel good. We happened to be in a pretty good place for it to end. I don’t imagine I’d better tell you where but I don’t think I’d care to stick around. It looks pretty rugged and not too long ago they were kicking Japs out of the jungles. It’s too hot and dense for my liking. What happens to us is the question we are waiting to see answered. It could be good but it can’t be too bad (we hope). Get my clothes out of the moth balls and stock up on food ‘cause one of these months I’ll be barging in and I’m going to be hungry for some of your food.

So long for now,

Arlington