Donald’s letter promised to his Father’s students
Ft. Jackson, S.C.
April 2, 1944
Dear Sixth and Seventh Graders,
See if you can remember what you were thinking about at eighteen-thirty army time (or 6:30PM) on Sunday evening. Especially if you were studying Monday’s arithmetic or spelling, I’ll bet your thoughts were very similar to those that are running through my head right now. You were thinking that your weekend was almost over, and a new week would soon be starting.
Here is how my week will start. The lights will go on at 6:00 o’clock in the morning and we’ll have 15 minutes to get dressed for reville. Then we’ll eat breakfast, make our beds, clean up the barracks and be ready to fall out for work by 7:20.
For the first half hour we have physical training in which we do all kinds of exercises to build up the strength of our bodies. Then for the rest of the day we get training in the arts of soldiering. Of course, there is time off at noon for chow. The word chow stands for any meal served in an army mess hall.
At 5 o’clock P.M. we come in from the field, put on our dress uniforms and clean our rifles. Twenty minutes later we fall out for retreat and rifle inspection. You can be sure that there must be some hurrying done to get off the dirt that has accumulated on our rifles from carrying them all day so we will pass inspection. A rifle inspection is to a soldier what a spelling test is to you.
Perhaps you would be interested in hearing a little about the South. I am only familiar with Georgia and South Carolina and I find them almost identical. They have very sandy soil, are very hilly and have lots of pine trees.
There is one thing for which Georgia is noted that is very strange until you get used to it. Its soil is of a very red color. When I first heard of Georgia’s red clay, I didn’t think that such a thing could be true but you can take it from me that it is not just a tall tale.
Since I have been here only during the winter, I haven’t seen much of the crops except that I did get here in time to see the cotton being picked last fall. I saw it being picked by negros just as you have so often seen in pictures.
Two weeks ago the farmers were ready to start planting their crops. This means that down here the growing season starts almost two months earlier than it does at home.
All in all if you were just traveling through this part of the country it would be very beautiful scenery but personally I like Indiana a lot better.
Your truly,
Donald Tappan