There is a second, empty, envelope with the same postmark date (also scanned) which is presumably the one he mentions with respect to the sergeant stripes. The uniform shirt he mentions is probably this one, so those would be the stripes on it.
Tuesday
Evening
8:30 PM.
Hello Folks,
Whether this letter gets finished tonight depends on how much I find to talk about as I proceed and how lazy I get. Things are running along as usual so there's no real news and therefore very little to chat about.
I've looked over your letter of last Friday and find out that you asked about what to do with the big check from the railroad. I suppose it amounts to all of about seventy cents. Cash it yourselves. If you haven't already spent that much on something for me, I'm sure you will. If nothing else, it'll help pay for fixing the glasses. I bought it for Richard to use but since he didn't, I guess that I'm seventy cents better off than I expected.
The results of the Frankton basketball game sounded good. How did big Jim do in that? I take it that he played some or he wouldn't have been sore over it.
Well I ran out sooner than I thought I would so I'll finish up sometime tomorrow.
Before I close though I do want to make just one comment on this pen. I actually didn't realize what a good pen I owned. When it had the other point, I always dreaded to try to use it. But now it sure works beautifully. Thinking of something to say is another matter, but the actual writing is almost fun. I know that in time the newness will wear off and maybe it'll be less of a plaything. But even then I'll be proud of it.
Dec 4,1945
6:30 PM
I see that I made one pretty bad mistake last night. I dated it Tuesday when it was actually Monday. I guess at the time I was actually thinking that it was Tuesday.
Anyway today is or was Tuesday and it has been my day off. I went to Trenton this afternoon mostly for the purpose of buying what I am enclosing two pair of in this envelope. That's the only pair of khaki stripes I got. I don't wear khaki shirts as outer garments now so I don't have to have stripes on the shirts I have here. But I did want them on the shirt that I am keeping just as a uniform. So sometime when you want to you can put them on the shirt that has the decorations on it instead of the others. Neither pair of stripes are trimmed very neatly but I'm sure you can fix that.
I also had an afternoon to spend with nothing in particular to do so while I was in town I saw a movie. That makes something to do but actually I very seldom see one that I think is really worth the time.
I expect that if I'd start another page I'd have a lot of space that I wouldn't know what to do with so -
So long,
Donald.
I see two pair of stripes will make this pretty heavy so I'll send one in another envelope. They should get there at the same time.