This Camp is Tops
8:07 p.m. Central War Time
Camp McCoy, Wisconsin
Dear Mother, Dad, Granny, and Babe,
Well I’m here deep in the heart of nowhere. I guess you’ll probably wonder what happened to that last letter. As I said I wrote it partly on the train and carried it in my pocket so long before I mailed it that it got pretty dirty. You should have gotten 3 letters before this one. Let me know when and if you got them. This Camp is tops. Everything is new. The barracks is warm and clean and the bathroom is ten times nicer than Custer. Over there you couldn’t see your face in the mirrors. Here they even have sockets to plug in radios. The camp itself is swell and so are our officers so far. They are strict but not tough. Everybody thinks this beats Custer all to pieces. Tonight after drill this morning and lectures this afternoon, I went over to the P.X. (post exchange) to see if I could get some stationery and things. I didn’t bother to go over to the one in Custer because I thought it was just a place to drink 3/2 beer. I was wrong. It’s a regular department store with drugs, notions, clothing, gifts, pen & pencils, magazines, candy and just about everything I would want or need. I bought this stationery there along with some other things. My expenses to date are:
Custer: Post cards which I sent home .50
1 show .15
Donation to collection for our
Quarantine corporal who was a swell guy .15
McCoy: stationery .21
3 candy bars .15
5 cards which I am sending .15
1 bottle of ink .10
1 beautiful pennant which
I probably will spoil by folding .15
Total $1.56
•1 beautiful pennant which I probably will spoil by folding
I decided that if I wanted anything I would get it. I didn’t see nearly enough of the country on the trip. Judging by this around here (see postcards) we must have passed through the prettiest part at night. This country is beautiful; snow, pine trees everywhere and big hills off away from camp on all sides. It gets awfully cold up here they say, as low as 20 below. You don’t feel it too much though because it is very dry and not damp like in Michigan. The sun even shines up here. I think this air is good for my sinus trouble. My head feels real clear. Everybody else almost has a cold. They coughed so much in lectures that the speaker had to stop once in a while yet he said there wasn’t as much coughing as usual. I’m trying my best to keep away from colds. I may have to cut this short because they turn out the lights in a ½ hour but I don’t have to be in bed till 11:00. We’re going to have some fun in the morning with our puttees or leggings. I sure want to hear from me [you]. You have my address so let it come. I haven’t written to anyone but you yet with the exception of a short note to Julius when I was in Custer. Now comes the S.O.S. I find that there are several things that I would like you to send me. I need 2 or 3 wash rags (don’t send my new ones if there are some that I’ve used), an older bath towel, 4 or 5 coat hangers, a bar or two of soap (Sweetheart is O.K.), a few of my older handkerchiefs, and some of that candy I left behind. Don’t send the pretty boxes it came in. Put it in something else. I don’t have a wash rag and only 1 real bath towel which was white. They gave us 4 handkerchiefs & the 2 which I took making 6 but 3 are dirty. I need the coat hangers otherwise I have to fold up my clothes and put them in my bag when I leave for drill. That gets them pretty wrinkled. As for the candy, I bought and ate 3 bars tonight but they’re so doggone small. Send anything else you want.
We don’t know exactly where we are but we’re near Tomah, Spartan and from 20 to 30 miles from La Crosse. If you have a map maybe you can locate it.
The folks ought to see me now!
There is no laundry service, which means I do my washing Sunday. If I thought I could get it back soon enough, I’d send it to you, but then that wouldn’t be nice. Well pretty near lights out so good night with love,
Arlington
Everybody write! How is everybody?
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