October 24, 1943
Sunday Afternoon
Dear Folks,
It may not interest you but I have just finished a nap. So far today, besides eating today, I have gone to church, caught up on my reading and at 3:00 am ready to start writing.
I suppose you have read of soldiers digging fox holes. Well that is exactly what we did yesterday afternoon. These holes are about 2 ft wide by 31/2 ft long by 6’ deep. Doing things like this is what makes me want to take Sunday afternoon easy. Besides this I don’t know of anything out of the ordinary that we have been doing. I might say (Richard will like to know it) that we have started taking an hour of calisthenics almost every day.
Once at the end of the every week we have a battalion parade. There are 4 companies of about 200 each in the battalion. We put on our dress uniforms and perform for the colonel. Last week we did it on Saturday afternoon and this time we had it on Friday evening.
I got your package yesterday evening and was it welcome! It was in good shape except for the cake being mashed a little.But that didn’t hurt the taste in the least. Between me and the rest of the fellows it is gone now except for a little which I hid away.
I don’t believe I have ever told you about how we keep our clothes clean. Well up until the last 2 weeks we had to use a scrub brush on them. But now we have a system that by paying $1.30 a month we can send a certain number of articles (6 sox, 2 towels, etc.) each week to a laundry here on the post. Of course such things as leggings and fatigue uniforms that have one pair of and can’t do without for a week we still have to do ourselves.
In that picture of the nurses that you sent me, I only recognize one nurse. She is the one in the lower right hand corner. She waited on me a good bit and I suppose you remember seeing her.
I have been watching the dates on your letters. I get them usually 2 days after they leave Alex. They are usually postmarked in the morning so I get them 3 days after you sent them out.
I wonder how Jimmie liked to work at Brunson’s. How many quarters did Richard play altogether in football. I wonder what will be going on back home during the 3 day vacation this week.
That cake was the first real cake I have had since I have been in the army. G.I. cake is more like corn bread made with flour instead of corn meal. I might explain that gi. Is the army name for everything that the army issues (gi shoes, go underwear, etc). The initials themselves stand for “government issue.”
It is pretty certain now that we will move during next weekend. We are now on the “Main Post” area and we moving about 8 miles to the “Harmony Church” area. I hope we have better post exchange accommodations there than we do here. We aren’t exactly on the main post so a truck comes here each evening and serves as our px. In a real px. The prices are very reasonable (lower than in civilian life), but on this truck the prices are high.
Well I hope everything is OK back there.
Love,
Donald