I Am Not Paid To Think
Saturday 10 November 1945
Manila
Dear folks,
About 10:00 p.m. and we just got back from a movie. Miller and I came back over to the office to turn out a couple letters. We saw a pretty good picture tonight “Junior Miss.” I had seen the play in Cheltenham when we were in England last spring. The picture was even better and a little funnier I thought.
Not much that is new today. The mail came in a lot heavier and I got three letters from Gram, 2 postmarked Oct 29 and one on the 30th. It seems to come in in bunches and from what she wrote mine must be reaching you the same way. I guess there is nothing to be done about it though. We were fairly busy today and from the appearances of things perhaps we are about caught up for a few days once more before something else pops up for us to tangle with. I finished checking the payrolls and got out a half dozen or so reports. It seems that higher headquarters dreams up more reports and rosters for us to do every day. I can’t see any sense or use for most of them but I guess I am not paid to think. We had an inspection this morning I guess but I wasn’t around and haven’t heard anything of what happened. I made a little trip over to finance this morning. I get around quite a bit now on various reasons. Tonight Miller and I went into Manila with the Personnel Officer to pick up a new man transferred to our outfit. On the way back we stopped at that snack bar I was telling you about and got some more hamburgers. I am going to be a steady customer of that place whenever I get into town. So far I haven’t been in except on some sort of business or when I have just ridden along. Tomorrow some of us may get passes and go in to see what we can see of the place. I don’t suppose there will be much to see. Our prime mission is to find some good ice cream. I got a little the other day but the equivalent of an American ice cream cone cost us a peso (50 cents). I’d like the ice cream concession for out here. The town is pretty much messed up from the burning the Japs did on the way out and is so crowded with GI’s all the time that I expect once will be just about enough for me.
Tomorrow is an off day in so far as we know now so I expect to do a bit of late sleeping. It is automatic for me to wake up at 6:00 though lately. I sleep really sound all night but as soon as that time rolls around I’m wide awake. Nothing new on the “home” front. We have a campaign (all troops out here) underfoot as you can see by these envelopes. All letters leaving this theater will be stamped with something of this nature. [envelope has rubber stamp: Get Us Home/No Boat Votes] At least it will let a lot of people back there know we are still around and what they can expect once we get out of here. Supposedly shipping is getting better but who knows. 80 point men are still out here. They had 180 destroyers back to New York for Navy day. That sort of thing is just what we all needed I’m sure. I suppose it gets pretty tiresome for you to hear this same old thing from me all the time but naturally it is our chief thought most of the time. Supposedly 60 points is the discharge score now but none of the 60 pointers that we transferred to the 37th division have gone anyplace. We can’t get rid of any that are in our outfit now.
Well so much for the complaint department. Tomorrow is the old Armistice day but I guess it has lost most of its old meaning. It should be forgotten altogether in my opinion. Incidentally just which day was called VJ day back there, Sep 2 or 3? Yamashita surrendered up here on Sunday the 2nd but perhaps it wasn’t all official until the next day.
Well that is about all there is worth writing about for tonight so I shall close this and head towards the bed, So long again.
Arlington
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