Nov 10,1944
Hello,
Well I feel pretty happy tonight about the mail situation. In two days I have received two letters. Yesterday I got your letter of Oct 20th and today the 23rd. I also heard today something about a shipment of our mail being sent somewhere else and should be coming in about Sunday. So if you sent any letters between the 17th and 20th they should come then. It might explain part of the week and a half I was without mail.
I was especially happy to get that letter today because it contained the first news I have had about yourselves in the last couple weeks. The one before that being more in mid week letter. I hope to hear the results of Uncle Floy’s accident in one of the delayed letter or letters.
You just about guessed it when you said that I was somewhere traveling while you were writing the letter. I can just about imagine how Richard felt about the football game with Wabash. I hope that the Ben Davis game came out better.
If I had known that things were going to turn out like they did, I expect I would have done as Richard did and got a Senior ring. I thought that it would be only a very short time till I could be getting something else and a High School ring wouldn’t mean anything to me. But I feel that no longer than I have been in the service now, I would have gotten its value from it. There are so very few things that you can keep to remind you just a little of the outside that what you do have are worth a lot. My pen is about the only thing I can think of that I still have that I brought with me. I sure would hate to lose it. I guess that’s the reason why I hated to lose my little pearl handled knife so badly. By the way the knife Uncle Floy gave me last Christmas is just about shot and I wonder how the knife situation looks back there. It’s a wonder I haven’t lost this one and I suppose I would if I had one that was worth anything. I’m not even in need but that’s just something you can remember when you want to tickle me.
When I got the letter today I was afraid you had spent an extra air mail stamp just to send me a stick or two of gum. Please don’t ever do that. I was glad that it turned out to be clippings instead of gum. But even that isn’t necessary. I would be just as happy to receive clippings by regular mail. Of course unless it’s something that just can’t keep. I was glad to get the poem by Mr. Robinson. The poem was pretty good but I felt that just hearing from him meant as much to me as the poem. I was just a little surprised though that something written by him should be printed in the Observer.
I believe that this is just about all I intended to say to you so unless more comes to my mind I’ll sign off. I have to think all day so that I’ll have something to write and then naturally I forgot about half of it. I’m doing OK and hope you are the same. Take care of yourselves.
Love,
Donald
Sidenote: I’ll bet Grandpa Carver got a great kick out of that pronunciation joke in the Observer if he read it.
10 PM
I was out a while ago washing some clothes and taking a shower and thought of something else I want to tell you. I know I have intended to tell you this several times so if I’ve said it before, please excuse me.
If you read anything about the post-war benefits to the service men you know doubt know that we are supposed to get some help getting an education. But there is supposed to be proof of our education being interrupted.
I believe that my scholarship from Purdue would be a valuable aid in this so I would like to be sure that it is preserved. If you don’t mind I’d like for it to be put in the safe deposit box at Alex.
When I was home on furlough I tried to get things like this straightened up. I am pretty sure it is in a frame with my National Honor Card, Magna Cum Laude award, etc. But that’s as near as I can tell you where it is because things are bound to be moved in six months. Thanks a lot.
Donald
Month: November 1944
Nov 8,1944
England
Hello Family,
I sure hope that no news is good news. Pretty soon it's going to be to the places where most any news is good news. I still am trying to blame our lack of mail on the fact that things aren’t set up completely as yet. At least I hope that’s the reason.
I’ll have a little change of work tomorrow even if it isn’t for the best. I’ve got KP so you can about guess how anxiously I am awaiting morning. I’ve not had it for a long while so I guess there’s no need to feel hard about it. It’s not supposed to be as hard here anyway.
As yet since we’ve been here, I’ve not worked even hard enough to even earn my pay. Maybe doing a day’s work will help my conscience a little. I’ve had more time to read the last few weeks than I did the whole year previously. I’ve already gone through two books and am well into the third. Now I’m making up for a little reading I should have done somewhere back in school by reading “Mutiny on the Bounty”. Let’s keep trusting that all things will work out for the best.
Love,
Donald
Nov. 7,1944
7 PM
Hello Folks,
It may not be very good to start a letter in such a manner but this is uppermost in my mind. My problem concerns the mail situation. It has been a week now since I have received any mail at all and I am getting more anxious every day. It looks to me very much like there must be a bottle neck somewhere between here and home. Likely I’ll get several letters at once one of these days and it may even be tomorrow but you can see how I feel till then. I sure hope the mail going in the other direction is not meeting up with a similar fate
Just to be truthful about the matter it is just a little hard for me to get started writing tonight. I guess the main reason is that as yet I haven’t thought of much to tell you. There’s not much more I know to talk about concerning things around here.
The work we have been doing lately is more of a manual nature than military training and it is very easy work at that. Things have been in a pretty bad mess and we spend a lot of time just straightening up, repairing, etc. It almost seems like we’ve been on a vacation for about a week now.
I don’t know why but thoughts of home have been running through my mind a good bit for the last couple of days. I wish that I was up to date enough on the news to know what to ask about. It’s sort of hard to write letters getting ideas for a whole week from just one letter.
Just guessing, I suppose that the weather must be looking like Fall is really here back in Indiana. If you had heavy frosts three weeks ago likely things are pretty brown by now.
Football is over and I suspect that basketball is either started or very close to starting. I wonder how the prospects look for that this year. If Eulen stuck to his job, I guess he is senior manager this year. I wanted all last year to see a basketball game and of course I want to no less now but I doubt if it’ll be possible this time.
I’ve been intending for a good while now to ask what Richard is intending to do the last part of this school term. I have wished often enough that I had got a little college work that I wonder how he feels about it now. I wonder how much time he could get in before he would be drafted. I still am anxious to go back to school and if I had got started in college I expect that I would have been just that much more eager.
I also wonder what consideration Richard has given the different services. No bigger kick than I have got out of the army, I just wonder if he has thought of the navy. If he didn’t like it I’d hate to think I’d influenced his decision but I believe it’s worth thinking over. Don’t think I’m trying to rub it in or anything else. I just want to let you know how I feel about the matter.
Likely I won’t think of anything else and I’ve got just enough paper to quit on. I’m getting along OK. God take care of you.
Love,
Donald
Nov 3,1944
Hello Family,
We finally have been able to get some air mail stamps so I’ll try to get a fairly decent letter written. I don’t know if we’ll get mail tonight but of course I hope so. Before I forget it I’ll tell you what I did tonight and then it will be off my chest. I told you that I was going to increase my war bond allotment but I decided to do it just a little differently. I made an allotment of twenty dollars to be sent home in cash every month. It’ll save me the costs of trading it for British money and sending it home and will be just a little more flexible than bonds. Most of the time I’ll want it put immediately into a bond and the extra dollar and a quarter can sort of be held as a reserve for incidentals. The bonds will also be as an addition to the school sales or any other drives in the community. Or if for some reason you don’t want to buy them in Orestes you can always get them in Alexandria. I had my allotment made out in Mother’s name because some of my other things, insurance, etc. are made out like this and I figured that this will be a more permanent address than if I made it out to Richard. Any bonds can be made out just like my others with Richard’s name on them.
This way if at any time I either need money or something bought it can be used for this. Then if I am ever stationed in the U.S. again I won’t have to change any of my allotments but can just cancel this one altogether. All in all I hope and believe that this will work out OK.
For the first two times it comes home, without any back talk I want it to go for the payment of my watch. With this, what I sent the other time, and what is left after a bond is bought a third month, I should be just about square. Now I want it this way and don’t try to argue me out of it. Let me know when it starts arriving. Well so much for that.
They have finally got an exchange system set up here but it is sure operated differently than I ever thought of. There is a regular rationing system to it. We each have a ration card and can only buy a certain ration of anything each week or periodic weeks. For instance: one bar of soap a week, a box of razor blades every two weeks, tooth powder once a month, 3 or 4 bars of candy a week. etc. I guess that makes it fair so that everyone will get his share but there may be times when I want you to send me things to sort of supplement this. I expect, to start with, that any time you want to drop a stick of gum in a letter, it’ll be appreciated.
We’ve not been able to get Vmail yet but I’m definitely getting to the place where I don’t care much for it anyway. I have a harder time writing one of these than I do writing a big letter. I guess I worry too much about getting in the important points that I forget everything I was going to say.
The last few days we’ve been sure lazying around. I just wonder how long this easy life will last. I’m still feeling well and doing OK.
Oh yes. Your last letter mentioned about the number of letters you had sent up till that time and I think I’ve received them all. I would be very glad to get the Sunday School papers if they allow you to send them. If newspapers can be sent overseas it’s worth a chance to try this. They might be a long time getting here but they’ll be good when they do arrive.
I’m sure anxious to hear about Uncle Floy’s accident. I just hope I get a letter tonight or tomorrow morning.
I’m about run down and if I hear from you before morning I’ll have room to let you know about it. If not - Good night and God bless you.
Donald
If you think I’m cutting myself short of money, I’m getting about as much as ever. I’m not paying for laundry now, am getting 20% extra for overseas and four dollars for Pfc. Just figure it up for yourself and see.
Nov 1,1944
Hello Family,
Well another day, another dollar. I sure wish I could have a whole string of days as easy as this one. I suppose we did about an hour’s work apiece all day today. There’s some mail on the way tonight but as yet it hasn’t arrived so I don’t know whether I got any or not. I’ll leave enough space at the bottom to let you know. It may reach you before this does but I started my extra money home today. Rather than carry it around in British money I just traded it for a money order. By the time the costs are taken out there ought to be about $25 of it. I want it to go to whoever footed the bill on my watch. Don’t let me ever see any part of it again.
If and when I get a chance I think I’ll increase my war bond allotment. It’ll save me money to do this rather than always having to send it home. That’ll also be less to trade into English money and that costs about four percent so it’ll be an extra saving.
9:30 I’m happy to say I received your letter of the 17th. Am anxious to hear more about Uncle Floy’s accident. God bless you all.
Love, Donald