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