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 4th 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 393rd. I don’t know which is worse. Freese is alerted the same as my outfit was when we first got into the 99th. Remember that week when we couldn’t go anyplace. They rotate so that some outfit is alerted all the time. The 99th 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
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