Pouring It Out

Tues. 31 July ‘45

At Sea

 

Dear folks,

Just about time I wrote a line or two I guess. There isn’t much that one can write about. We stopped “somewhere” a few days ago and I mailed a couple letters which I had written. You won’t get them for awhile though as they hold them until quite awhile after we left. I don’t suppose it would get by if I named the spot so I’ll just skip it for now. It really seemed good to get off this boat for a little while. They really had a nice setup for us. They put on a couple very good shows for us with some really good music. There was free ice cream and plenty of everything we could want. It was like a little hunk of the U.S. stuck off there. Naturally we were restricted to a small area and didn’t see much of the people. The ones I saw all seemed to know English.

We picked up about 90 sacks of fresh mail on the dock which was good. I got your letter of July 7 and 2 from Gram postmarked the 4^th and 11^th of July. I also got a picture of Julius which he had taken down in Texas. It’s quite nice but I’m afraid the cardboard frame will take quite a beating before I’m through. I think I’ll put it into one of the leather folders I got back in Germany. You know eight months ago none of us ever thought we’d say we wished we were back in “good old” Germany but now we almost do.

I just realized it’s been about 2 weeks since I last wrote. It doesn’t seem possible but the time really flies. We’ve had a good trip so far for which all of us are thankful. The sea gets a little rough occasionally but our stomachs are used to it by now. The days go fast. We are up about 6:15, dress, and maybe shower before breakfast. I take 1 or 2 showers a day and still I’m dirty. I always did sweat a lot and I’m really pouring it out now. My shirt gets soaked in no time. By the time we eat breakfast it’s nearly 9:00. From 9:30 to 10:00 we get “oriented.” Then there’s an hour or so before dinner which goes in no time. The afternoon goes fast and after supper we have reports, etc. to take care of. I’m surprised that I am no more “tired” of the trip than I am. It’s a lot different from the last. I’ll be glad though when we get set up once more. I’m sort of anxious to see how well our section operates under its new organization. I think it ought to do pretty well myself. If we get what we hope for we’ll be all set. The war news is really encouraging now if it only holds.

Well there’s not much else to say for the situation right now so I’ll sign off and get ready for bed once more.

So long again,

Arlington