Thursday August 31, 1944
Hello Family,
I’ll try to get a little of this letter written now during my noon hour and maybe it’ll turn out to be a little more of a letter than the past one did. We got payed this noon but I’m afraid that I’m going to go back on my promise on sending some money home to help out on the watch deal. To explain why I’m going to tell you the plain facts on my financial situation. I had a little less than $15 left from last month’s pay and I got just over $21 this month. Although it seems like a lot of wishful thinking this soon but if I should get a chance to come home before we go over I want to be prepared for it. So I would like to keep $25 dollars in reserve just for this purpose and that doesn’t leave me much that I could send home. I hope you can see how I feel about it. I guess if there is any money to be needed for the watch deal I can ask Richard to help me out on it. I don’t like to have to do a thing like this but I’ll get paid again next month. If you couldn’t do any good on the watch deal in Anderson I hardly know what to tell you. I guess that Daddy’ll be going to Indianapolis in October and if you think there would be any chance down there I suppose I could stick it out till then. Maybe you could get rid of the watch somehow before-hand and then you would only have the problem of buying another one. Just use your head and don’t do anything very drastic. The one I have will do if that’s the best that can be done. It may be silly of me to want to do anything like this in the first place.
Thursday Evening
It’s 7:30 and I’m finally down to writing again. I ought to be able to get a little writing done easier than usual tonight because of the scarcity of distractions. Since this is payday night there is hardly anyone here in the barracks. A lot of these crazy guys will go broke for a whole month just so they can see how much money can be spent in one night. That’s one of the ill effects I’m afraid will come to the men who have participated in this war. And besides just causing them to lose all respect for the value of money, it’s going to make a lot of them pretty lazy. Take it from me, its very easy not to do one more than you have to.
Well, we didn’t have that problem that we were supposed to yesterday and last night. I don’t know why but for some reason it was canceled. It may come up yet but it’s going to have to hurry if it gets here this week. I just don’t know how we’ll be spending the rest of the week.
Yesterday and today I went down to communication school again! It was just the same old stuff we had before and it wasn’t worth the time as far as learning goes but maybe the review didn’t hurt me.
Unless things change (which they might do, of course) we’ll be going out on the range Sunday. I don’t suppose those of us who have been here for a while will have to fire. But a bunch of new men will have to. We got in another bunch of men yesterday so I suppose we’ll have to go out again in two or three weeks for them to fire.
I think I’ll close now and write to Uncle Floy’s before I turn in. Oh yes, I got your week-end letter yesterday. So long, good luck and god bless you all. Lot’s of love, Donald