Category: Fort Jackson SC

                                                 Thursday Evening
Hello Folks,
   I had hoped to have plenty of time to write tonight but as usual by the time I got everything done time slipped away.
   I got a package rounded up to send to you this evening. It is mostly stuff that I had been intending to send for a long time. Just like you find it when it comes to moving, anything that I can’t use or don’t need I might as well get rid of it. I’ll try to explain some of the stuff. 
   The pants are “X” pants that I got when I was working in the supply room. They are getting so strict on extra stuff that I’d better send them home than have them taken away from me. If Richard can wear them go ahead if not I’ll be able to use them sometime.  The towels were all right till I got face towels but since I don’t even use the face towels except for inspections you might as well be using them. The handkerchief is one that’s not GI that I got back from the laundry - hope someone can use it.
   I have a G.I. razor & shaving brush and so might as well use them. For sentimental reasons maybe you could keep my razor and brush for me. 
   The books & glasses don’t need any explanation. If someone can use those frames, go right ahead. I kept the pictures I want to keep & you can keep the rest better than I can.
   I thought you might be interested in my birthday cards. Dispose of everything in that bunch except Margaret’s announcements.
   You can do whatever you wish with the toilet article apron. The apron served fine but the case I had when on furlough serves so much better and so much easier to take care of. The biggest trouble with the apron was that I was always losing things from it.
   Today at radio school we learned about panel work. This is signaling to airplanes by stretching cloth panels on the ground.
   I thought of something I’d like you to send me. That is 2 or 3 pr of light wool sox. We have to wear them now that our feet sweat in the hot weather. The g.i. ones are like cotton ones only they are just a little heavier. They can be either (preferred) od1Probably "olive duck", white or gray. If you can’t find anything like this some of those cotton sox (in these colors) like we used to get for work. I believe they were called Rockford Sox and had red heels. I think these would pass for gi if they were the right color. The advantage of having them look like issue sox is that I can salvage them if they do. Don’t forget the cigar box.
   I was on KP till about 10:30 last night so I’m really tired now. It’s time for lights out anyway so good nite.
          Love
           Donald

I’m sorry this had to be such a poor excuse for a letter. My ear has been behaving so nicely that I’m about out of the mood for fooling with the clinic anymore. I’ll try to do better about a letter on Sunday.

                                                   Tuesday Evening.
Hello Folks,
  Don’t get excited about the air mail stamp because I just feel like getting a letter to you in a hurry tonight. For no special reason either that I can think of.
   I do have just a little news about my ear though. I kept my appointment  yesterday and went over to the clinic. But I waited all afternoon and they didn’t get around to me. All they did was give me another appointment for the 14th. Well this just disgusted me to the very end. You don’t need to think I’m trying to keep anything from you but fully truth - it hasn’t been hurting me. I just didn’t want to go for another whole week without being looked at so I went on sick call this morning. Since the clinic wasn't doing anything they at least looked at it, gave me some different drops for it and said to come back Saturday. The doctor said it was a whole lot better than it was last week but he still wanted me to go to the clinic next week. Even though he didn’t do much he at least took enough interest to make me feel a whole lot better. So much for that.
   I have begun to get back into the radio work again. Only now, instead of just working on radio we are learning about the other types of communication. We started learning about telephone yesterday. We learned to use tree pole climbers and a little bit about splicing wire. Like everything else I’ll just have to wait and see how deep we get into this.
   We saw an air demonstration this afternoon (the entire post went to see it). I guess the purpose of it was so that we would realize the necessity of learning to protect ourselves from the attack. The thing that impressed me most was the power of the bombs. They were dropped on a hill 3 or 4 miles from us and you could just feel the ground shake that far away.
   Well K.P. has finally caught up with me. I must hit the hay so I’ll be ready for it tomorrow.
             Love
              Donald
Good to get a letter from you this evening.

Letter to sister Mary

                                                    Sun June 4 Eve
.
Hello Mary,
   And of course all the rest. I believe you said that I had never addressed a letter to you so you may consider this one yours. I was very glad to get two letters from home yesterday - one postmarked the 31st and the other on the 1st.
   I have just been back here a week this evening. That time doesn’t seem so long but it seems like a long time since I was home. And speaking of things seeming like a long time ago it sure seems like a long time since a year ago last Friday (June 2). I can sure remember what I was doing a year ago now1He also reminisces about June 2, 1943 in his letter of June 2, 1945. That would have been 6 days after his high school graduation, so probably some sort of celebratory trip?.
   It had rained a little last Sunday evening when I got in and it rained a nice little shower while we were eating supper tonight. At least I suppose it will make it more pleasant sleeping tonight. It has been so hot lately that the sweat just pours off you whether you are even moving around or not. It was hot when I left here for home but it sure did get a whole lot hotter during those two weeks.
   Boy a little wind sure can play havoc down here. On Friday evening a wind came up that would hardly have thought about at home but it sure caused a sand storm here. The sand filled the air till you  could see only about as far as you could in the hardest snow storm I can remember. That may give you some idea of how the sand blew for 15 or 20 minutes.
   I went to chapel this morning and of course wished I could have been home for more than one Sunday but am thankful for the one I was there. I wonder if you had a preacher for this Sunday.
   This afternoon I went to a movie and then came back and laid down. You can guess just about what happened. I went almost immediately to sleep. The next thing I knew they were calling us for supper.
   My ear hasn’t hurt very much this week but it is still running. My appointment at the ear clinic comes up tomorrow so if nothing comes up to prevent it I hope to have something done about it by this time tomorrow.
   While I was straightening up on Friday evening I found two or three pieces of Mother’s divinity that I had stuck away when I got back. It is impossible to express how good that tasted to me. I guess I just had too many good things to really appreciate any of them thoroughly enough when I was home.
   I hope everything is ok with you people. I wonder if Jim has found his old settin’ hen yet. How’s the bee house coming?
          Your brother,
           Donald

I wonder if any of you can figure out where the letter that  contained my dog tag was postmarked from.

                                                    Friday Morning
Hello People,
   It may seem funny to be getting a letter from me written this morning but I had a night hike last night and have this morning off. I have about spent the entire morning getting ready for tomorrow’s inspection so it hasn’t exactly been a free morning. 
   I have hardly had a free evening this week. Tuesday they were changing us around in the barracks and I was moved from downstairs to upstairs. All my clothes and equipment had to be moved so that just about took that evening. Wednesday evening was taken by working up in the kitchen as table waiter. By the time I got back and got cleaned up the lights were already out. 
   Then yesterday we had the hike and it was about midnight when I got off. Of course, tonight is Friday night and we’ll be busy as bees scrubbing the barracks and getting everything ready for inspection.
   I haven’t had K.P. yet this week so likely I’ll get it either tomorrow or Sunday. If you don’t get a letter from me that I would have written Sunday you can just about guess what happened.
   Yesterday and the day before those of us that were on furlough went to mine school. It was just about what I expected it to be. We studied booby traps, anti-tank mines and anti-personnel mines - both ours and the enemies.
   My ear is still running a little but doesn’t hurt me hardly any now. June 5 is only a few days away now and if nothing turns up I’ll get along all right till then.
   They haven’t done much about the radio work yet so I don’t know much about it but I think I’ll be able to get back into it.
   Of course, I can’t help from thinking about my furlough and things and people back at home. It all seems like a pleasant dream to me now that was too good to be true. I must say that I enjoyed myself. 
   Now that school is out I suppose you are getting a lot of work accomplished. I hope that Richard is getting along OK with his work and that everything else is coming along as usual.
            Lots of love
             Donald
Hang on to my drivers license which I am enclosing.

Letter mixed with others in envelope

From 346th Infantry:
Testing for the Expert Infantryman’s Badge was held on the 30th of May 1944. 182 Officers and Enlisted Men of the Regiment qualified and were awarded the badges.

                                                          Wed
Dear Folks,
  Well we fired our rifles for record today and I qualified as a marksman and would have been a sharpshooter with 2 more points. Several of the fellows made sharpshooter and expert but also several did worse than I did. Considering my experience with guns and my eyesight I am going to be satisfied.
   I am sending some money for you to keep or spend for me. If Richard needs any money use it that way. Otherwise spend it on bonds or a watch.
   My rifle is to clean so Goodnight
          Love,
           Donald
See how quick an airmail letter gets there

                                                 Tuesday Evening
Dear Folks, 
   Well I’ve got a little news to tell you about my ear. It wasn’t bothering me any worse than it had but I felt something should be done so I went on sick call today. They didn’t do a thing to it so I sure am glad that it isn’t too bad. They did give me some drops for it and sent me to the ear, nose and throat clinic. They were so busy over there that they could only give me an appointment for June 5.
   I suppose my ear will be well by then and they won’t do anything about my throat but at least it will put it in their records so that it will impress it on their minds if any more trouble comes up. I have made up my mind though that if either ear or throat gives any trouble before the 5th I’m going to just drop everything else and go on a sick call.
   I drilled with the company Monday and like everyone else felt the effects of furlough. I went to sick call this AM and the clinic this PM so today wasn’t very hard. Tomorrow promises to be a full day. I have table waiter and also we go to mine school where we study booby traps, mines and such explosives. It’s just a period of training which each company must go through. I don’t know about the radio but I think I’ll get back to it.
   Pardon this scribbly little letter but I want to go to bed as soon as possible.
           Love
            Donald
Hope to hear from you tomorrow. I got my dogtags Mon. noon - No one even knew I didn’t have them.

Just returning from furlough. Mentions traveling by train

                                                     Sunday 8:00pm
Hi,
   I’ve got more to do than I dare think about but I must take time to write. Maybe some of the work will just have to go and be done some other time. Everything has to be hunted up from all over the place and then be straightened up and cleaned up.
   We got here at almost on time this eve (5:15PM) so that worry is over. My ear just ran and ran and I all but ran out of cotton wadding. I bought some more as soon as I got here.
   My ear doesn’t and hasn’t felt too bad so I may wait till things get running normal again before I see about it. Of course if it gives much trouble tonight I’ll get to attention. So don’t worry.
   I slept an awfully lot on the train so I have been tireder than I am now. But I want to get around and get to bed pretty soon.
           Love
            Donald

                                                  Thursday afternoon
Dear Folks,
   While I am off duty a little while this afternoon I’ll get my letter written so I can hit the hay early this evening. The reason I am off is that I have a nasty detail coming up tomorrow. Twelve of us from this company are on a prisoner guarding detail. Since some of the prisoners are held for pretty serious crimes this is a very responsible job and there is some larger danger connected with it. It is a very serious offense to let a prisoner escape. The last bunch from our company that were on this detail were on it for two or three days so I don’t know just when I’ll get off. We report at the guard house at 0610 in the morning so that will mean getting up pretty early.
   I went to the radio school this morning and it seems that this will be over before much longer. They are going to start giving us tests Monday and so we’ll come back to drilling with the company about the middle of the week. I don’t know what we’ll do except just go ahead training with the company as we did before. There is no need for radio communication in the type work the company is doing now. If they don’t forget they’ve got radio men I suppose that we’ll go back to that whenever maneuvering time comes.
   I wonder what kind of weather it is up there now. It’s pretty hot down here and I can just about guess what it’ll be like when summer comes. I wonder if you could get me a pair of sun glasses that fit over regular glasses. All I have been able to get is a pair of regular sun glasses. Since the glasses I am wearing now fit pretty close to the face and the sun glasses are sort of loose I can get by but it isn’t  too satisfactory. I didn’t notice it so much at home but down here the sun shining on the sand almost blinds you to be out in it.
   I am getting along as well as usual and hope you are doing the same. Don’t know any more news about when I’ll get to be home. Regiment has announced though that when furloughs start we’ll be allowed 8 days at home. That doesn’t include traveling time.
   I’ve made up my mind to send my watch home so you’ll be getting that one of these days. I’m afraid that by the way things are looking, if it takes 5 or 6 weeks to fix it we might be moved out of here for maneuvers when it is ready. Of course, all of this is supposition but I’ve a hunch and a lot can happen in that many weeks. I’ve two or three things I’ll put in this letter that you can put away for me and they’ll stand less chance of getting lost if I hold onto them any longer. Thanks.
             Your son & brother
               Donald
Hope I get a letter from you tonight.

                                                       Tuesday Eve
Hello Folks,
   As usual I haven’t much news but if you feel any ways near the same as I do you will be glad to just get a letter. I got your Sunday letter this evening.
   I hope Richard is able to get on at Remy’s for the summer and that he likes the work better than that of his fuzz factory (this makes me think of Linda’s fozzy blankets- ha ha)
   It looks like the inspector is really going into the bees right this summer. At least feeding his bees and buying more colonies makes it look suspiciously in that direction. I don’t see any reason why there shouldn’t be a good market for honey this year so I wish the bee business all the luck in the world. I know another thing too - that gardening at home will be a whole lot more pleasant than it has in the past.
   Sunday will be Mother’s Day and I certainly would like to be home for it. But since I can't, I certainly want to wish my Mother a very happy Mother’s Day. Even though I don’t express it I  certainly am thankful for all that mother has done and still is doing for me. Thanks a whole lot.
   Richard wanted to know a little about the walkie-talkie business and by this time I may have explained  what he wanted to know. At least I have talked about the broadcasting so now I’ll tell you the purpose of ever having these dinky little radios.
   A radio and its operator are assigned to each platoon and we are taken right with it to its offensive or defensive area. Then since the company commander also has a radio, he and the platoon leaders can keep in touch with each other. Orders may be sent out, information of the enemy may be sent back or any other important communication may be made. When necessary a radio may be sent out with any smaller unit on patrol, outpost or any other duty.
   I hope everything is still OK with you. Thanks a lot of times for the stamps.
                  Donald