LEAVING HERE RICHMOND TO WILLIAMSBURG DOING FINE SO FAR LOVE BOB

Here we wait some more. Seems as though that is all I have been doing for two days now.

I just sent you a wire which I trust you will get before this note. We are in the station now - 26 of us waiting for the Richmond train. Borrowed the bag I am writing on from the fellow I met from Kinston last November. All in all this seems to be a pretty decent crowd. There are none of those young squirts in it. All seem fairly mature and settled. Met a Jaycee from Winston a few minutes ago. Thought my pin would do some good if I wore it. I don’t think you saw me but I saw you on the college steps* yesterday. I couldn’t get a seat on that side of the bus. We are supposed to get to Magruder tonight. If that train doesn’t hurry I don’t think we will make it.

March 24, 1943 Wednesday Afternoon

For some reason or another we aren’t walking somewhere to get something. Our train was late 3 hours arriving in Richmond. As a result we missed our connection and had to spend the night there. A day coach was dug up for us to sleep in so most of us went up town to a hotel. We arrived here at 9:30 this morning. The boys in our group are a nice crowd. We have a couple good ententainers. The camp "bus," a 10 wheel truck met us at Williamsburg and brought us in here. We were assigned a barrack. Then we went after our bedding. At 11:30 we headed for the mess hall. It takes 1/2 hour at a fairly good pace to get there.

Back from evening chow: This afternoon we got a few clothes. Two pairs of work shoes, two pairs of overalls and a duffle bag. Aside from that we have done nothing today. Tomorrow we move to our permanent(more or less) residence. There we shall have a theatre, ship store and mess hall. There are 30 boys in our platoon.

We will also get more clothes, a physical exam and a "haircut." The haircut is quite the thing among the recruits. In fact it is a must. Our hair will be clipt off to some point above the ears and a straight line all the way around. All day today we have been walking around to the tune of "You’ll be sorry" - (musical notation: doh, doh, LA, mi) - all meaning we would get a haircut.

Met Mr. Williams at chow tonight. He is that short sailor we saw on our way to the show a week ago last Sunday. He is an instructor on the rifle range here. All the old boys are mighty anxious to meet fellows from their homes. When we march by them they ask us where we are from. My clothes will leave here on Railway Express tomorrow. There are all ages in this crowd.

March 26, 1943 Friday Evening

The address on the envelope this time is legal. We moved from the detention area to "boot camp" today. It is about two miles from the detention area. This portion is extremely new. We are the first to move into the barracks. In fact we will probably get details tomorrow to work around here. When we arrived this afternoon we had to mop out the barracks and take out all the windows and wash them. The "ships store" opened up at 4:30 this afternoon for the first time. There were no "Confused Bastards" here till yesterday. Let me go back to where I ended the other day.

In our platoon I am number two man in the alphabet. So I caught the second shift of fire watch the first night. There are three shifts: 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 - 12:00 to 4:00 a.m. - 4:00 to 8:00. Lights went out at 10:00 p.m. and we had to get up at 5:00 a.m. so you can see what sleep I got my first night in camp.

Yesterday morning we waited to take our trip through the mill. We didn’t get our turn until after noon chow. That was really something. We went in one door and were interviewed for a few minutes by a psychologist. Then to another room where we stripped down to our shorts and packed all our civvies - they are on their way to you by Railway Express - check through all the pockets. Then we started through the mill. We skipped and we stooped and we ran and we walked. Every time we turned around there was a doctor or a corpsman looking at us or telling us what to do. Then we practically ran down through a warehouse lined with windows. We were given a bag and everytime we passed a window something flew into the bag. When we ended up we had two pairs of shoes, one pair of rubbers, towels, two pairs of blues, four pairs of whites, shorts - winter and summer plus jerseys for each, pea jackets, work pants and shirts, handkerchief, tooth brush and paste and a whole mess of other stuff. Then we had to have all of the stuff stenciled with our name. Then through the barber shop. You wouldn’t love your husband if you could see him now. He really looks like hell. Then we had to have our pictures taken for our identification. That line of stuff took all afternoon. We sure look like a bunch of convicts.

Last night we spent the whole evening rolling our clothes and packing them. Each individual item is rolled up and tied with two strings and stuck in the sea bag. This morning we took care of our wives. We straightened out our allotments and took care of our insurance. After we finished we had to get unstenciled gear stenciled and packed to leave that area. We left right after lunch and here we are. During "boot" we can have no food in the barracks. So I guess I can not have my fruit cake yet. We have had beautiful weather for getting broken into this place. Now there are only two platoons in each barrack instead of three (30 less men) so we have considerably more room.

3/29/43 Monday evening

Poor me. Haven’t received a single letter yet. But so far as that goes, mighty few of the fellows have received one yet. There have certainly been a bunch of them going out of here. We have a cardboard box nailed up on the wall for a mailbox. One man has been doing nothing but handle all the mail from our platoon. He is the only one who has permission to go into the Post Office. Each time I write you I forget what I told you the last time. I shall try to keep up as I have done so far and write you every other day - would like to write every day but we are kept terribly busy. To get everything done that is supposed to be done is about a 24 hour job. We got our first drill yesterday afternoon. Twice again today. We practiced the manual of arms this morning. Couldn’t do that this afternoon because we had a vaccination - tetanus and typhoid shots this morning just before chow.

Today is probably a typical day. up at 5 - exercise at 5:30 - chow at 6 - sweep and scrub the barrack and roll the bedding by 7:30 when we have muster and then go out and drill - 10:30 shots or a lecture - 11:45 mail - 12 chow- 1 more drill and lectures till 5:30 - 6 chow. In between when we have nothing to do, we have to clean our shirts, shoes, and a bunch of minor details. There are a lot of new names which we have to catch on to: chow - lunch, gear - clothes, bedding, etc., head - toilet, piece - rifle, and a bunch of other things. Time runs all through the day - 6 in the evening is 18:00.

Everyone seems to be going to bed early tonight. Drill and shots seem to have the boys down.

We found out today that we are supposed to get 48 hours’ leave after three weeks on the end of preliminary boot training. Then three weeks of advanced training and we get another 48 hours’ leave. Six weeks later we should be finished with all our training. Then we leave for our post of embarkation and get a nine-day leave. I don’t know if on any of these leaves I will be able to get to High Point. I hope, though, that you will be able to get somewhere in this vicinity. I will enclose a copy of the paper that is issued down here. I don’t know where it came from. Just found it here in the barrack. I better go out and take a shower. Wish the shave would do me more good than just help my appearance tomorrow. My hair is showing signs of growing.,

April 1, 1943 Thursday evening

So far I see nothing that will stop me from starting and finishing a letter to you tonight. The Seabees is not a cinch outfit. There should be about 25 more hours in a day. It is practically impossible to get done everything that is supposed to be done. I just managed to get a letter written to Mother last night. All three of your letters have arrived now. However, they did arrive in reverse order. The first one you wrote arrived today. I had expected to get another one today, but didn’t. I shall try to start writing you back the same day I receive your letter if that is possible. I thought that I would get started that way today.

I have never seen a crowd that could get to bed as easily at night as this gang can. When 9:30 comes, there is not a whisper. We did not drill quite as much today as we have done on previous days. The sun was just as hot as ever. My nose is really red and starting to peel. The dust is terrible. This place goes from one extreme to another. It is either muddy or dusty. We came in this afternoon and our beds were thick with dust. It just blows all over the place.

Today we have been practicing a few combat formations. We just wallowed around in the dirt. Also had a few lectures. One reason I couldn’t write you last night was because we were having a barrack inspection this morning and had to have everything shined up. They have movies and entertainment across the way plus a recreation center. No one has a chance to use any of them, though.

I don’t believe I have even told you what we are wearing. Our clothes for drill the next few days will be cute little white caps, our olive green coveralls (like mechanics wear) and our brown leggings. Our dress clothes are blue denim shirts and pants. On cold days we wear a black sweater under our shirts and coveralls. We also have a blue toboggan we wear plus our pea jackets. We also have the regular white and blue uniform plus the pancake hat with which I believe you are familiar which can not be worn until we have finished boot camp. The blue denims are worn to church. The coveralls are really very practical.

Saturday is our work day again. Every fourth day we go out on work detail. Day before yesterday we did landscaping. We took dirt where there was too much and put it where there was little. I wish I was doing that in my own little garden. I can very well imagine how things are coming up. I’m glad the asparagus has not been drowned out.

The way things are going I wouldn’t have time to read a newspaper. Just send me clippings of the things that you think I would be interested in. One of the boys is getting the Charlotte paper and I may get a chance to see it every now and then.

April 2, 1943 Postcard of N.C. Capitol at night

Sorry I can’t write you a letter tonight. Will try to get a real long one off tomorrow, Love, Bob

April 5, 1943 Monday evening

This is one of those days when you wonder how you will get through it. We drilled for about three hours this morning and then had our second in a series of typhoid shots After the shot we drilled some more. This afternoon we went out on a special work party. And we did work - - with those sore arms too. One boy was almost knocked out by the shots. They were giving shots to two people at a time. This one boy thought he was supposed to get two shots so he stopped in front of each man and ended up with one extra shot. He was really bad.

We had a wonderful dinner yesterday noon. I think the chickens they had were capons. A similar meal in Richmond would cost several dollars. Found out tonight that you will start getting your money sometime during the first five days of May. This evening would have been a swell time to have washed some clothes. No one has been in the washroom. Arms are too sore. I could not get mine bent far enough to clean my teeth. Didn’t know what I would do if I had to salute an officer.

The wind is really howling tonight. I think that I am making a lot of mistakes in spelling but I am so tired I can hardly control my pen. Everyone has gone to bed except the fire watch and me. My face is about to burn up from the wind today. This is the windiest and dustiest place I have ever seen. The dust is far worse than the soot at home.

I am not surprised that my clothes were so long reaching you. After all over a thousand boxes just like that one went out that day. Tues. morning: Just finished up my share of the deck swabbing. Everyone seems to feel considerably improved this morning after last night. Sleep has helped the arms. However they are still sore. Guess I had better shine my shoes for the second time this morning and get ready for inspection.

April 9, 1943 Friday night

We spent the morning crawling on the ground again. This time it was out in an open field instead of in the woods. The field was about as wide as Steele Street and we crossed it in about 35 minutes the first time. It should have taken us about an hour and a half. We had one casualty in our platoon. One of the boys tripped as he was throwing himself to the ground and hurt his wrist and one boy broke a leg the other day.

We had another warm day today. This afternoon as last Friday afternoon we had "Rope Yarn Sunday" or "Field Day" which meant the whole barrack was turned inside out and scrubbed. The wash room was full of busy launderers.

Kate Smith singing "You’d Be so Nice to Come Home To." Yes, we have a radio in the barrack. One of the boys had a small one sent him from home. That song seems to cast quite a lonesome spell over this crowd. -- me too --- One of the boys in the next bunk had a letter from a young niece of his the other

day. She started off "I hate to write letters but understand it is my patriotic duty to write men in the service."

The dogwood is just coming out up here now. Every fourth day we are a working detail. Part of the group goes on K.P., part on sentry duty, part on boiler watches, and those who are left push wheel barrows, shovels and do every other thing under the sun. We have built and laid boardwalks. Piled lumber. Dug ditches. Leveled high spots and filled low ones.

April 13, 1943 Tuesday evening

Looks as though we may have some rain - - - Before I got started on another sentence I had to go to the warehouse across the street to see about getting a pancake hat and a pair of shoes to fit me. I managed to get fairly straight on the hat but no shoes yet. The rain mentioned in the first sentence arrived and is blowing like the devil. These temporary barracks were not made for driving rains. Rain is coming in around all the windows and a few other places. One of the other places happens to be over my bunk. The bunk is out in the middle of the floor. Just before the rain came the wind was blowing and everything in the place now is gritty. Some of the boys have wet bunks.

Yesterday we got our last shots for a little while. The same boy that had to be carried to the sick bay a week ago today because of his shots had to be carried back yesterday about an hour after he got the shot. My shot this time has not been bad. Some of the boys have broken out with fever blisters on their lips.

We practiced throwing hand grenades today. We had cast iron dummies. The way we threw them we would get killed in no time. Everyone had fairly sore arms so we could not get much distance. We also crawled around on the ground for most of the morning. It is no wonder we can’t get rid of our colds. There are still plenty of them around including me. I also have a sore knee from hitting the deck too hard.

We had a little bull session with our instructor and ensign this afternoon. They say that they do not know when we will get our liberty as our schedules are being speeded up. That may mean that liberty will come sooner or not at all. So as I said the other day everything is very uncertain. They told us that if we wanted our wives to come to Richmond it would be best to wire or phone them as we would probably have very little notice. They will convey us to Williamsburg in trucks and there we will catch a special train into Richmond. At least that is what has been done in the past. We are supposed to go no more than 60 miles from the post. However there is nothing to keep us from going further and nothing would be done about it unless we got in some kind of trouble.

Lights went out while I was writing "trouble." It is now next day, Wednesday I think. We will never get rid of our colds. Had to go out crawling across the fields this morning again after all the rain last night. We had a couple lectures yesterday afternoon that were about the best we have had so far. One was on the selection of base locations and the other on incendiary bombs.

Everyone in the barrack is worried and on the lookout. One of the boys came out with the crabs. I sure hope they are under control. He went to the sick bay right away and was showered and given some ointment. He has to wash every stitch of clothing that he has. They have been disinfecting the heads for over a week now. Everyone would like to know how they got in here. I sure hope they stay where they are.

April 15, 1943 Thursday evening

If my writing is worse than usual, it is because I have gone to bed. If the letter trails off into nothingness, it is because I have gone to sleep. When I tell you what all has happened to me in the past few hours, you will not wonder. Since I got up yesterday morning I have had 1 1/2 hour’s sleep. After throwing hand grenades (fakes), practicing with machetes and crawling on the ground, plus 3 lectures in the afternoon. Then last night I went to bed at 9:30 as usual. At 11 I got up and went out on sentry duty at 11:45. At 4:15 I was relieved and got back to the barrack at 4:30. Couldn’t see much sense to going to bed for a half hour so washed clothes instead. At 5:30 I had to report to the O.D.’s office to go to early chow and then go out and relieve the sentry so he could get some breakfast. At 7:30 he got back and at 8 I went out on our regular fourth day work party. At 11:30 I had to be back at the O.D.’s to go to early noon chow. Then go on sentry duty from noon to 4. As soon as I was relieved at 4, I went back on the work party till 5:30. Now I am on my own. Between being sleepy and my cold and cough being a little worse I feel sort of lousy. Went down to the sick bay this morning - managed to squeeze that in somewhere. They gave me a pill and something that looked like cascara that I gargled and then swallowed. Also two capsules to take before going to bed tonight. I hope I feel better tomorrow.

It was cold last night. The mops that were used to swab the decks this morning had icicles on them inside a half hour after we finished with them. There were a number of snowflakes that fell this afternoon. They never reached the ground but could be seen very easily. I got mighty lonely during that watch last night. It was very clear and the sky and the moon were so pretty.

Next morning before noon chow: Did I sleep last night. Felt lousy when I woke up this morning. Head and nose were both full. I feel better now after a good tramp through the woods. We went out to practice in the woods and some how or other we ended up on a coon hunt. Had a very nice walk down through a pretty woods. The sun has come out very nice today but the eternal wind is blowing dust. You would really dislike this place for the wind alone. Our faces are burning most of the time.

No one can see me till I break boot. While we are in boot we are in solitary. After we break we can go anywhere on the post and have liberty nights about every 4 days. As soon as possible I will let you know how we can see each other. Everyone says "Don’t let your wife come to Williamsburg." The first chance we have will be that 48-hour leave as it stands now. I’ll let you know things as fast as I learn them.

April 18, 1943 Sunday

It seems like ages since I have had the opportunity to write you. I don’t know now if this will get finished today or a week from today. When boot is over I trust this will no longer be happening. I forget what day I wrote you last so I don’t know where to start. Guess I told you about my most recent experience with guard duty.

"Rope Yarn Sunday" was suddenly sprung on us as I finished up that paragraph. So since I started this letter I have assisted in scrubbing the barrack, cleaning the windows, policing the grounds, and washing all the dirty clothes I had on hand. There weren’t so many of them. Bunch of handkerchiefs, pair of shorts, jersey, pair of socks, pillow cover and mattress cover. Last night I washed my blue dungarees and shirt.

Friday was quite an exceptional day. We went out in the morning and drilled for about two hours. We were lousy. I guess we were still tired out from the day before and all our guard duty and such. After drilling we went into the woods to practice crawling on our bellies. Instead of doing that we found a good spot and sunned ourselves. We got to talking about coons and the first thing we knew one went through the trees. We spent some little time trying to figure out how we could catch him. When we mustered after noon chow we filled our pockets with crushed stone in the hopes that we would get back down in the woods. Now back from evening chow: We got back in the woods and threw and threw but could never hit the coon. He just sat up in a fork of the tree and never moved. Finally had to give up and go to some lectures.

Yesterday we went out on one of those "Wainright Parties" again. This time our Platoon went out on mosquito control. Went down in a swamp along side the York River and worked on drainage ditches for the whole day. It was really sticky down in that mud. I was down in a ditch with the tide about halfway out when it was time to go to noon chow. It took me just a little shy of 15 minutes to pull my feet out of the muck. We were wearing hip boots. We had to work like the dickens too. Would rather have been digging my own ditches and working in my own little swamp.

Everything is topsy-turvy around this place. I don’t know who makes the rules, but it seems every day one comes out countermanding the one the day before. They have told us that we could have only one pair of shoes under our bunks during the day. Today we were told that we have to have two pairs. They told us we could not have our peacoats out - had to keep them in our sea bags. Then we had to get them out but could not drive nails in the bulkhead to hang them so we hung them on the bunks. Now we have to drive the nails and hang our coats on them. It seems every day some such change takes place. The dust and the changes are really the only things that I have found that I dislike.

The box, or rather package, arrived yesterday. Haven’t cut the cake yet but have started on Uncle Ed’s donation. Passed it around once and everyone really enjoyed it. I picked the nut ones out before I passed the box. There is one boy in the other platoon who is from California so I invited him up for some. He was tickled to death to have something from his home state. He lives about 15 miles from Vaca Valley or wherever they make the candy. It is fairly quiet here right now. Most of the fellows are out playing softball. The two platoons are playing against each other.

If I had known this cough and cold would last this long, I would have asked you to send me some sulfa. I thought about doing it several days ago but did not know what effect it would have on me with all the shots and the way they work us. Tonight I have a little soreness on the right side of my nose. Might be I am getting trouble in my sinus.

The rumor that we would get our liberty around May 2nd still persists so we may end up getting it then. If you want me to, I can bring my coveralls and dungarees to Richmond and you can take my picture in them for the sake of posterity. We might as well work out our plans for that liberty if and when I get it. As soon as we get definite notice of it I will let you know (naturally). You proceed to Richmond and find a place for us to stay. I expect we would rather stay at a hotel, wouldn’t we? Hotel Rueger is O.K. or any one you would pick. Then you can meet me at the C.E.O. station. I believe it is the Main Street station, is it not? Seaboard comes in there too. It might be well for you to have enough money to finance the expedition for I don’t know for sure how our paydays will run. I think our next one will be on the 21st. If you want to take the pictures I mentioned above let me know so I can bring the necessary clothes. It would perhaps be best to buy the film you will need in High Point. Let me know any alterations you may want to make to the plans so that if it is necessary to wire you I will only have to wire the day and time I will arrive. If May 2nd will be a bad time for you I guess we will be unable to do anything about it.

I hate to think of you having to mess with all those clothes of mine. When you get to Richmond I can show you what I wear to keep me warm. As a rule our drill or work, which ever we are doing, does more toward keeping us warm than our clothes. Guess I will try to squeeze in a letter to someone else now. Have fire watch in the morning from 4-8.

April 20, 1943 Tuesday morning

Have a little spare time right this minute. Don’t know why. They will probably be around shortly with something to keep us busy. T’aint human for them to give us a chance to write a letter. Today is to be spent in getting our clothes straight. A lot of the boys are missing certain items. Most of us had no dress

jumper. This morning we went over to small stores and got all those things. This afternoon we will exchange those articles which do not fit us. I have a pair of shoes and my pancake hat.

Had a little more definite information last night on our liberty. We filled out sheets to be used in making out our passes. May 1st is the day we are supposed to go ashore. It starts on Saturday morning and we have to be back by Monday morning. Our ensign is going to try to get us permission to leave here about 5:30 Friday afternoon. I have given my address c/o USO, Richmond. By doing that, I can wait till I get to Richmond and tell the USO where I may be found whether it be a hotel in Richmond or New York. It would probably be well for you to get to Richmond as early as possible, perhaps by Friday morning, to get us a place to stay, for there will be a terrible crowd headed for that town.

We have not had pretty weather for the past few days. Poured down rain all day yesterday. Has been overcast so far today and there are still huge duck ponds all over the place. The mud is no better than the dust. Where we were this morning there was one patch bigger than the area where the vegetable patch is that was nothing but mud about two inches deep. It was about the consistency of a pudding just before it gets real thick. Tomorrow, dust will probably blow into our faces. We were supposed to have been on work details yesterday, but because of the rain only the K.P. and sentry details went out. The rest of us were secure in our barrack to brush up on some of the things we should know. So it looks very much as though we may have two fairly easy days in a row. They will probably make up for this softness tomorrow. One boy went over the hill the other day. Don’t know whether he has been caught as yet.

I have - I forget what I started to say there. It is now 9. We heard definitely tonight that we would get away from here about 5 pm on Friday, April 30 and would have to be back at 7 Monday morning. So do you want to arrive in Richmond on Friday morning, find us a room, maybe do a little shopping, and meet me at the CEO in Main Street Station some time after five? If I can give you a more definite time later on I will naturally do so.

Our clothes will soon be ship shape. I was fixed up on a hat and swapped my shoes this afternoon. Tomorrow our dress blouses will have the ratings put on the sleeves and the piping on the cuffs. We break boot the 24th. What we will do between the 24th and the 30th I don’t know. No one can see me in camp till we break boot. Then only when we have liberty. I understand we will get liberty every fourth night, and twelve hours every so often. All that is however still misty.

A new batch of recruits arrived, filled out a medical questionnaire, and were in line for a bit of personal questioning. The medic asked one fellow if he had wet the bed in the last month. The fellow said "No." The medic responded that he had noted such an event on his sheet; the rookie said there was no such question. "Here it is," said the medic. "‘Have you urinated in the bed in the last 30 days?’ You answered ‘Yes.’" "Hell," the fellow replied, "I thought that was ‘united.’"

April 22, 1943 Tuesday

Had another light morning. Went out in the woods to practice some more extended order. There were quite a number of platoons in the drill. What all went on and just what we were supposed to be doing, our platoon still doesn’t know. We did have a nice long walk down through the pretty pines and dogwood. This afternoon we went out for a while in the woods again. Our platoon played enemy. We took up places along a creek down in a hollow and let the other fellows hunt us down. I liked that for we had nothing to do but hide and stay hidden. We also had a lecture this afternoon on the rules of the government of the Navy. It was really dry. Most of the fellows went to sleep.

A good sound now is the train whistle when it is headed toward Richmond. It passes several hundred feet from here and has just been in operation for about a week and a half. It really does the business. I don’t know how many trips it makes a day but it really goes by often.

I think a hornet’s nest has been stirred up. It has been brewing for some time. Our M.A. or master-at-arms is one of the boys in the platoon who more or less has charge of it. The boy in our platoon has been doing a terrible job. How he got the job I don’t know. I think he was elected the first day we were in camp on his ability to talk about himself. There have been grumblings around for quite some time. This morning the boys got together and decided to try to do something about it. They got up a notice this noon suggesting that a change be made. It was merely something to provide backing for the spokesman. Tonight the subject came before the M.A. and he about blew up. When last seen he was tearing down the street to where the ensign for our group stays. What will come of the situation I do not know. The boys want me to take the job over. If it comes to that point I will take it only if all the boys promise to stand behind me. It is a job that if it is done right would take quite a bit of time. We shall see what becomes of the situation.

Last night was payday and I was in line for no money. I found out tonight that I was overpaid when I got the $25 last pay. Out of this month’s pay comes the first money that is sent to you plus 2 1/2 month’s insurance. Some time next month I will probably start knowing how much I should get each time. The fifth of the month pay always takes care of the entire allotment to you. So my share of it will be mighty skimpy. These Navy pays are hard to figure out.

On the sentry duty they started carrying rifles (dummy) with fixed bayonets on the next shift after the last one I was on. Up to that time, we had carried billy clubs. I see where I shall have a lot of explaining to do when we get together, on all these deep subjects. The cadets are lucky to have raincoats. Outside of the officers and instructors, the only other raincoats are issued out to the sentries when it rains.

The M.A. still has his job, everything was taken care of O.K. last night, I guess. In a half hour I go on messenger duty. I might spend four hours sitting down in the O.D.’s office or out tearing all over the place looking for someone. I shall stick the Reader’s Digest in my pocket anyway. Guess I had better run out to the head and see if any clothes have been left on the line. The lines have to be clear this morning from 8-12 and anything found out there gets tossed out.

May 4, 1943 Tuesday evening

Have been on K.P. today. It was not nearly as bad as the last time I was on the line serving coffee. I wish I had a nickel for every cup I drew. This evening I thought I would like to do something else so I started doing odd jobs. The mess hall M.A. thought that I was trying to get by without doing any work. So from that point on I did everything to make him think so. I had a lot of fun. Yesterday I was in a detail to clean out one of the drill halls. It was 100 feet wide and 600 feet long. Nine of us were assigned to it. We had a good chief in charge of us. That sounds as though it was a hard job but it was one of the easiest details that I have been on. The drill hall also incorporates a theatre at one end and a huge stage at the other.

Got a little more dope on what we are today. We are forming a replacement battalion for the 94th Battalion which is off somewhere. It will or rather is supposed to be some little time before we are ready. In the meantime special drafts on groups will be formed from our ranks.

Chief just came in to announce that we get a 37 1/2 hour leave starting tomorrow night. Half of each of our four barracks will go at a time. It has been quite nice today. Would have been very cool had the sun not been shining so hard. The boys who did not go out on details today had to go out and drill and did they march. From the way they talk they really caught the dickens.

Frank Raper just came in. He is all tuckered out. Been out on the drill field all day. We were discussing how to spend 37 1/2 hours. If we don’t go to Richmond we may go to Norfolk. I don’t like to have times off popped at me so quick. If I stay here I will have to go out the same as if I did not have liberty.

Oh me - I have about forgotten when I started this letter. Anyway this is Thursday morning and I am in Norfolk. I know one thing. The next time I get a liberty like this I won’t come to this town. I more than likely will gamble on trying to make High Point if it does not come on a weekend.

We drilled all day yesterday, did not even go back to the barrack at noon. Caught chow before leaving camp last night and four of us decided to come to this place. I guess we should have had better sense. We arrived here about 10. Three of the fellows wanted to get a bottle of beer so we chased down a place where they could get it. Then we set out to find a room. We still have not found one. We went up one street and down another trying all the hotels. Thought we might find one in Portsmouth but no luck there. We ended up at the YMCA sleeping on a string of chairs at 1. By that time even they felt good. When I woke up this morning only Frank and I were left. We are going out and look for some breakfast now. And then try to see what we can of this place.

May 8, 1943 Saturday morning

We arrived safely back in camp but what a trip. We had a good time even though we were plenty sleepy and tired when we got back in camp. After I finished writing you and Frank had finished writing his wife we went out on a shopping tour which ended up with my buying what I did for you. After dinner we decided to go to a show. Random Hearst was playing somewhere in town but we could not find the theatre so we went to see Lady of Burlesque. It was fairly good.

Our ferry left Norfolk at 7 and the train left Newport News at 8. Frank said something about going to Newport News by a different route which he claimed would take about 45 minutes. We did, but we ended up taking 4 hours and 20 minutes, thus missing our train by 2 hours and 20 minutes. The route we followed was to take the street car from downtown Norfolk to Ocean View where we transferred to the Willoughby Beach car. Then we caught the ferry to Old Point, walked to the main gate at Fortress Monroe, rode the bus to Phoebus, transferred to the trolley and went through Hampton to Newport News. The train we missed was, we were told in Norfolk, the last one that would get us to Williamsburg on time. That being the case, we stopped at the bus station in Newport News to find there was one leaving at 1:15. We decided to amble down to the C.E.O. station to see if there was a freight or something we could catch back sooner. Luckily there was a mail train loading up with a combination car on it. After checking with the conductor, he said he could carry us. We had no more than boarded when it pulled out. Camp buses run out of Williamsburg all night long - no charge - so we were in bed at 1 and did that feel good.

Yesterday morning we were confronted with Regimental Guard - a fine thing to have thrown at you after a liberty like ours. That meant we had to carry our own bedding to the Guard House and to do any sleeping that was done there. It was about a half mile from our barrack and the bedding is awkward to handle. The guard house was right next to a drill field and clouds of dust blow through the place. I was on the two 8-12 shifts which were not so bad. Slept for about three hours in the afternoon and was I mean when I got up. Found a letter from my wife and one from my mother when I did wake up though.

Moved back to our barrack this morning. We are supposed to be free till 1 now, but if we hang around the barrack we will probably be put to work. So we are all out in the woods writing, sleeping, and reading in a nice sunny spot near the river. As soon as 11 rolls around we can wash some clothes. I have a basketful soaking now, hidden under the barrack porch. Tonight we get a 12-hour liberty so I guess we will go in and give Williamsburg the once over. Monday I am scheduled to move to A-3 area which is in the advanced training section, so I may get my advanced training here at Camp Peary. On the other hand, we may just muster there and shove off for some place else.

What I said about liberties was that they could not be saved up. Two can not be run together. If two should come together you could take them but it would be an accident for that to happen. If they found out about it before you got out of camp they would change it. If you should get out of camp ok, nothing could be done about it.

May 16, 1943 Seabees Postcard

Northward bound. Filthy - All windows open - All quiet - traveling fast. Left 3 pm. Be in Washington shortly. Box lunch put on train in Richmond. Mighty rough track. Due in R.I. about 5 tomorrow morning.

May 17, 1943 Postcard

Arrived safely at 6:30 this morning. Camp seems to be very nice what little we have seen of it so far. Be sure to let me know how you want me to work the leaves such as my coming home or your coming to New York, Utica or what have you. We of course don’t know yet when or how they will be.

May 18, 1943 Tuesday evening

Our last few hours in Peary were terrible. On Saturday I caught K.P. That night I had to pack my sea bag. The next morning it was the duffel bag which had to be packed. We had to get up at five and have both the bags stacked out on the street to be picked up by the trucks. After chow we had a muster and then were confined to our barrack. From then on till two it was one muster after another. At 11 we had early chow and at two caught trucks to the station where a band was playing. We had all been assigned to certain coaches. There were 12 coaches and about 4 baggage cars on the train. We pulled out at 3. The first section had left at one. The coaches were filthy. You could hardly see out of the windows and it was very hot so all the windows were opened. We pulled out of the Richmond station around 5 after milk and box lunches had been put aboard. We ate those right away. The crowd was exceptionally orderly, perhaps because we were confined to the cars to which we had been assigned.

Everyone seemed happy about leaving Peary. In Washington we stopped and were permitted to go out on the station platform for about a half hour. From there on up we started to fall asleep. In New York everyone woke up and wanted something to eat. Dopes were selling for 15 cents. I didn’t get one. Our C.O. had four tanks of coffee and some paper cups put on the train. It set him back $28 but we passed the hat. It was very foggy when we arrived here at 6:30.

From the first that we heard we were coming up here, the Yankees started in telling the Rebels what a nice place it was. They really painted a pretty picture. I am now, of course, a Rebel so I was on the receiving end of all that. We shot it back at them from New York up, for the weather was very soupy and we passed through a number of swamps. The Rebel choir sang "Carry me back to olde Virginnie."

Here we have two-story company barracks so there are six platoons living under one roof rather than two. There are six barracks in a group with one longer "Head" in the center. There are amplifiers all over the place, barracks, mess halls, tops of buildings over which announcements and all bugle calls are sent. That thing is really loud the first thing in the morning. All in all it is much nicer here than at Peary. Food is better and more of it can be had so long as nothing is thrown away.

We spent most of yesterday looking for our bags and the remainder of the day stowing our gear away in lockers which we now have. Today we had a lecture in first aid, judo and jungle warfare. Also a demonstration on packing our field packs. The jungle warfare was by a fellow who was taking the place of the regular lecturer. All he told us was about the bugs he saw in Panama. Last night I went over to another area to look up the boys from our boot crowd who had left in the 74th. It was like old home week.

We get our first liberty on Saturday. It will be for 36 hours. Think I will go to Utica if we have a payday on the 20th like we are supposed to have. I will have to get special permission to go over twenty-five miles from the camp. We are scheduled to get 12 hours every fourth night and 36 every other weekend. I understand that we, like the other Battalions here, will get 9 days before going to the port of embarkation, so I have been wondering if you would want to meet me up here on my last 36 and then visit with some of your friends in this neck of the woods till I get my 9-day leave. Then we could try to make Utica together and maybe High Point too. I won’t be able to make High Point on a 36 and I would like to get there and would also like for you to get to Utica. This is just a suggestion to start our thoughts thinking.

No, we did not wear whites on the trip up here. Changed to our undress blues after we got on the train. Yes, we have to wear whites on K.P. even up here. They really get dirty. Raper is still back in replacement. That is, he was last Friday.

May 21, 1943 Friday noon

We have had nothing but chilly damp weather ever since we have been here. This morning has been about the coldest so far. We spent the entire morning practicing for a dress parade and about froze to death. We have a dress parade and an inspection tomorrow and receive our Battalion colors. I forget when it was I last wrote to you. I think it must have been Tuesday night. I caught the 12-4 fire watch that night and the next night too. I don’t know why I catch that shift so much. So you can see that this week I have had very little sleep.

Wednesday we went out and went around the commando course. It was not nearly as hard as I had expected it to be. There were piles of dirt to climb over, ledges to jump off, fences to climb over, mazes to run through, and swamps and suspension bridges to cross. It was a lot of fun. I didn’t make it over the 15-foot wall but tried hard. After that we had a lecture on hand grenades. In the afternoon we had some more lectures. Yesterday morning we went out with machetes and cut trails through a swamp. Those things really cut even though they were very dull. There is no telling what they would do if they were sharp. We cut everything from shrubs to trees four and five inches in diameter. Of course we had to whittle on the trees for a while before they fell. In the afternoon we had some judo practice. They give us plenty of exercise before we start practicing. We learned how to push eyes out and some of the more vital points of attack around the head and neck. It is really a dirty game.

This morning we did nothing but drilling for our dress parade tomorrow. This afternoon we had to get the barrack cleaned up, go to a lecture and movie on sex hygiene and then get ready for bag inspection. It is really miserable out now. And has been all day. I hope it is nice tomorrow for I hate to think of marching around in the rain tomorrow morning and then maybe going to Utica tomorrow night in wet or damp clothes. Probably won’t know whether I will get to Utica till I get ready to leave. I have had some clothes out on the line for three days and they are not dry yet. Brought them in the barrack tonight to see if that would do them any good. We had some pretty sunsets down at Peary, also some very pretty sunrises. But here we haven’t even seen the sun.

If you get up in this neck of the woods you can come in the camp between 5 and 9:30 in the evening. There are women all over the place at that time. We even have to put clothes on to run out to the head. A barrack is being made ready here for a crowd of WAVEs which are expected soon. I shall have to tell you that this place is also devoid of bathtubs. When we got around to taking our showers the day we arrived here the hot water was mighty scarce. Have had several good hot ones since that time, however.

Mighty good news just worked its way into camp about Yomamota being killed. I hope plenty more of those big shots get it in the neck.

We had payday tonight and I got a whole twenty dollars. It really arrived just in time. No one seems to be able to figure out these Navy pays. They are very variable. One time some of the fellows get a lot and the next time they get nothing. June 26 is on the schedule for the beginning of our nine days. They are posting the liberty notices at the first of each month so perhaps by the first of June we can start formulating plans. I was just checking and according to the present set up I will have three 36-hour liberties, one falling the weekend before we break up here.

May 25, 1943 USO Postcard

I could make no connection to Utica that would give me any time there at all so have called that trip off. Have been wondering if you would want to come up to this neck of the woods after the first of June. We could see each other quite often. When I couldn’t get out of camp, you could come in. It would cost money however and that is no doubt an item to think of. The USO has a list of places where you could room here in town. Also you may be able to get a place closer to camp which is about 18 miles from here. You would like it around here. It is typically New England. I’ll write more in a letter in a day or so.

May 28, 1943 Friday evening

I believe that this will be a good place tonight to write letters. Half of the fellows are on liberty and most of the remainder have gone to hear Kate Smith. She is making two broadcasts from here tonight. They are worrying us to death lately with a war bond drive. The main sales talk is that we shall soon be getting an extra 20% and should invest it in war bonds.

Went into East Greenwich last night on my 12-hour liberty. I came so close to talking to you on the phone that I could almost hear your voice. We dropped around to the USO for a while and ended up in a Bingo game. The prize was to be a phone call home for a service man - that was first prize. Second was to have your photograph made. All of this was decided on the final game when the whole card had to be filled. Three of us sailors went Bingo at the same time plus one civilian. That meant that the three of us were to cut cards to see who got the phone call. One of the boys dropped out because it would cost him only fifty cents to call and the other two of us were from considerably greater distances. The two of us cut. I got a five and the other boy got a six. I was really disappointed. I cut with the boy who got out for the photograph and am to have my picture made the next time I can get into town.

I checked on the rooming situation while I was there. The USO is sort of a clearing house for such and they have vacancies coming in every day. You could stay at the Colony house - a hotel for $2.50 a night until you could find a room that you would like. The rooms average about $8-10 a week and there are a number of places to eat there. As for your spare time there - it seems there is something going on at the USO most all of the time for Navy wives. They have bridge parties, movies - and you can roll bandages and still add to those three hours you have already. When the weather permits there is swimming at Goddard Park - the Bay. The USO is a very nice place. One of the nicest that I have seen by far. They have a game room in the auditorium which has a fine stage and is used for dances several times a week. They have a building all by themselves. The town is built on the side of a hill and is old and small. Has some very peculiar architecture. The people really treated us fine. That is the dope as best I can get it. If you think we could finance it I would be tickled to death. One change has been made since I wrote to you that you could come into the camp on the nights I could not get out. Some trouble came up somewhere - just what it was I do not know. Women are still permitted on the base on Saturday nights and Sunday nights. However on the other nights we could be together at a house at Gate Five. What there is there besides chairs I do not know but we could at least hold hands. I have seen women on the base on other nights since the new order went into effect and some of the fellows have managed to get extra liberties because of their wives.

As I have said before I am due a 36-hour liberty next weekend - a week from tomorrow and we could meet in New York and come on up here Sunday night. What do you think? We could at least make plans as to where to meet as we did in Richmond and carry them out whenever we could if something should come up to change then such as finances or changing of liberties. You know more about New York and places to meet than I do.

Tomorrow we move. All this week we have been practicing dry fire with our carbines. Yesterday we shot ten rounds on the twenty-two rifle range here. Tomorrow we move to Sun Valley about five miles from here where we will stay a week shooting our carbines on the range there. We took them all apart and cleaned them up today in preparation. On the 15-foot wall there is no assistance other than someone helping you and a rope that comes partway down the wall. In judo, hitting below the belt with the knee is a motion that goes with every other trick in the game automatically.

May 30, 1943 Sunday morning

We are really having the fun now. We all wish we could take the remainder of our training out here at Sun Valley. It is really nice - just like camping out. We are living in Quonset huts. They are those little round top, corrugated iron buildings. There are only twelve of us to each hut which is so much nicer than the mob affairs which we just left. The huts are built in the woods and are the only type building used. We really had a time last night at chow. There were so many lines to so many huts everyone was getting mixed up. Several fellows going in for chow got tangled up and got in the line going to wash trays. The huts are small so food is prepared in one, cooked and served in another, eaten in another, and trays washed in still another. It looked something like this last night.*

The air our here really smells good. Most of the fellows slept under two blankets last night. It was a bit cool under one. I thought we never would get to sleep last night. Several of the fellows went to the head when taps blew so we put rifles under their mattresses and fixed the cots up so they would fall down. The bugler went out on liberty sometime after taps last night so we were awakened this morning by someone opening the door and blowing a whistle. It really sounded funny to hear that whistle going up and down the street. We are having a movie after muster at 13:00. What the day holds for us after that I do not know.

We have now built a table to write on plus a bench. Found some good insulation which we have tacked on the bench to act as upholstery. So now I am outside under the trees writing. I can’t get over how nice it is out here. The fellows who are not building tables and benches are out taking sunbaths.

Have been doing quite a bit of reading the past few weeks. Put Pocket Books in my hip pocket and carry them every place I go and do my reading while standing in line.

June 8, 1943 Tuesday evening

I am so damn mad at this point that I don’t feel like writing but I have to so I can let you know what the score is. I should be writing you on a sheet of asbestos. I was 50 minutes late getting into camp yesterday morning. In New York I arrived at Grand Central an hour and a quarter before the train was scheduled to leave. They would not let us get on the first section of the train which arrived in Providence at five so we caught the second section which was scheduled to arrive at 5:35 and did get there a half hour later. There were about nine from our group on the train. We tried to get a cab to bring us out but were turned down so headed for the bus station where, according to the notice in our barrack, buses leave every 15 minutes. We waited till a quarter of seven before one showed up. There was a line about two blocks long at that time. I ended up getting through the gate at 7:20 and was put on report right away along with the other fellows for being late. All day yesterday and today we have been worrying ourselves sick. Tonight we are sick, two of us in particular - both expecting our wives on Friday. We had to go before our Battalion Commander at five this afternoon. I was the first one called out of the group and since all of us were there for the same reason I ended up being the spokesman for the group.

We ended up being given ten days’ restrictions which means we have no liberties for ten days and have to check in at the O.D.’s office four times a day. That means I can not get out on Friday nor next Thursday. I am going to try to see if I can’t do something about it through my company commander. You can still come in on Saturday and Sunday nights and we can see each other at the Gate on the other nights. If you want to hold off coming up here O.K. But I’ll be damn glad to see you if you do. I know I’m not going to do much sleeping tonight. Let me know when you will get here so I can meet you at the gate. Inquire at the USO how to get to Gate 5. There will probably be some other wives on the way out here. I’ll let you know if I can do any good. Taps will blow in five minutes. Feel as though it had already blown for me.

June 1943 Sunday afternoon

Dear Uncle Ed, For some reason or another we are getting this afternoon off. It is most unusual to get any time off at all around here. I am mad over having this time free and not being able to see Elizabeth. She has found a place to stay in a town about five or six miles from here. She comes here on the bus every night. On Saturday and Sunday nights we can bring our wives into the camp and take them to one of several theatres that we have here. We went to one last night and I guess we shall go to another one tonight.

Elizabeth is finding prices rather high around here. She was telling me last night that oranges were seventy-six cents a dozen. The cake arrived the other day and was very good. I enjoyed it very much and the fellows I shared it with enjoyed it too. Angel food travels through the mail very well. It doesn’t bang up as much as the other cakes do. I’m sitting on my bunk to write this and notice that as I get to the bottom of the sheet of paper and have no place to rest my hand, my writing gets worse than usual. It looks very much as though we shall have some rain before the day is over. It has grown cloudy and smells very damp.

We are still learning about how to fight. We spent all of last week over on the rifle range shooting our carbines. I did not do so bad for a person who has never done any shooting. Had to go up to the Armory right after dinner and clean my rifle so that it will be ready for packing in the next few days. The barrack is growing more quiet now as most of the fellows are going to a ball game down on our new ballfield.

Will write a few more letters and then take a bath and get ready to see Lib tonight. Thanks again for the food. It was swell of you to think of me like that.

July 6, 1943 USO Postcard, New York

I got over here to Grand Central by a different route from the ones we used earlier in the evening. I checked immediately to make sure your train reached Washington 1st in the hopes you would have a better chance to get a good seat out of Washington. Just been talking to one of our officers - we are to have a review in our whites Wed. morning. - 1st outgoing Btn. to have one. Glad I still have a clean pair in my bag.

July 6, 1943 Tuesday evening

The latest scuttlebutt is that we leave for Livermore, Cal. on Friday. Whether we will or not remains to be seen. I was very pleased with my getting into camp so soon this morning. We lost a little time on the way up but landed in Providence ten minutes early. Had a good air conditioned coach which you would have enjoyed particularly because no smoking was allowed. When I arrived at the bus station to buy my ticket the S.P.* was in raising hell because the bus had only 15 passengers on it and would not wait the few minutes it would have taken for the boys to reach it and fill it up. He had the number of the bus and wanted the name of the driver so that he could report him. It was one of the big buses and could have held about 30 or more fellows. Good R.I., will we ever forget it. Anyway I caught the first Navy bus out and was in camp by 6. Most of the fellows were in on time. A few have still failed to put in an appearance.

July 8, 1943 Thursday evening

Sounds like there will be a hot time in the old town tonight. I don’t know when I have heard so much noise. We had another bag inspection this afternoon and now have our bags packed as far as we can till we can put up our bedding in the morning. We spent about the whole day today doing nothing but getting our clothes rolled properly and laid out the way they are supposed to be. Also getting enough to last us five days or so of whatever we think we may need. There is a terrible row on now about whether the lights should be on or off. It is already ten o’clock and the lights have been doing nothing but flickering for the whole half hour.

We are leaving here in some style. The other battalions have gone out as you saw the 87th leave. We are going out in dress blues and with our own drum and bugle corp. Evidently getting Pullmans, for only 26 men are assigned to a car. There will be three train loads of us and as near as we can learn we will leave tomorrow night at 7-9-11. I know I will leave on the second train in the thirteenth car. We will probably not know the time till we muster to leave. Can’t write with all this noise. Will drop you cards.

July 10, 1943 Seabees Postcard

Left last night. Went to bed before hitting N.Y.C. and woke up in lower N.Y. State this morning. Should go through Binghamton around nine. Don’t know why we had to get up at 5 this morning. We sure can’t go anyplace. Are traveling in a Pullman that has seen better days but is still better than a day coach. We are well stocked with mystery stories.

July 11, 1943 Sunday morning

You may have taken a long time and round about ways of getting places on trips, but nothing would ever compare with this one. The enemy should certainly be confused. We left Rhode Island and headed toward New York City. Cut off before we got there and turned west toward Poughkeepsie on the Erie R.R. through Southern N.Y. State and Northern Pennsylvania. The train crew said we were obviously headed for Cleveland or possibly south through Akron. So what did we do but end up turning north toward Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Canada, across Canada to Port Huron, through Michigan to Chicago, and now we are about fifty miles outside Chicago on the Wabash R.R. headed toward St. Louis. We may veer off and head through Kansas City. Who knows.

The trip has been fairly enjoyable so far. Only 26 to a car which puts one man in an upper and one in a lower berth at night. At chow time they put diners on and have been serving pretty good food. Yesterday morning we woke up in rough country. This morning it is the opposite - quite flat. Have never heard of any of the places we are going through. We are the last car on the train so usually get to chow last. Yesterday we had lunch at 4 and supper at 6.

The soil looks very good for farming around here but is too flat for my soul. We stop several times a day for exercise. It feels good to get out and get stretched out. We don’t have to get out for air. All the windows are open anyway.

July 14, 1943 Wednesday morning

Went to sleep last night in the middle of nowhere in Utah and woke up in the same place in Nevada this morning. We haven’t seen a town since Salt Lake City. The only vegetation in sight is sagebrush. The most interesting thing I saw yesterday was at Soldier Summit in Utah where the railroad went back and forth down the mountain. We went about nine miles to get less than a mile. Arrived in Salt Lake City yesterday afternoon about five and left about an hour later. One of the train crew told us we were about ten hours late. After leaving the city, we rode along the lake for quite some time. The shore line has receded terribly. Then we struck out across the Salt Desert. You could actually taste salt in the air.

Just went through Battle Mountain and from a man along the way found we were 100 miles from Reno. Early yesterday a train man said we make San Francisco in about 24 hours from Salt Lake City. The way we are going, though, I think we could establish residence in Reno while passing through.

We had a rear flag man yesterday morning who had been with us through the night and had been hitting the bottle quite a bit. He was beginning to show signs of it an hour after we got up. We got him out on the rear platform pointing "mountain goats" out to us. Going into Salt Lake City we had quite a lecture tour from another brakeman who found that he and I had the same last name. He was pointing out all the points of interest along the way.

Just checked on our map and found we are right in the center of Nevada. I’m beginning to get hungry now. Hope that diner is operating full speed. So far the Canadians have served us the best meals, although we can’t complain about what we have been getting. We are the last car on the train so are the last ones to eat. We have probably had more to eat for they do not have to be afraid of running out of food and we can get about as much as we want.

A whole flock of geese just flew by. Really looked pretty. Don’t know what they are doing around here. Snow in the mountains to the south of us. Just passed a pond that was alive with wild ducks. Have crossed a ridge onto another plain that has a touch of civilization - four hay stacks. Had a lousy meal this morning. Just came back from it. We raised so much fuss I thought they would kick us out of the car.

July 15, 1943 Thursday morning

Here we are in warm, "sunny" California. I think the Chamber of Commerce overlooked this place. It is 9 and no sign of any sun. Warm? Of course, thanks to the steam heat. The fellows who met the train this morning wore peacoats and our dress blues felt fine. We are at Camp Parks, California which I understand is about 30 minutes from Frisco. I don’t think we are going to like this place either. It looks as though it will be very dusty. That is if we ever find it warm enough to open the windows.

Had quite a time with our meals on the train yesterday. I imagine the steward on the diner was glad to get rid of us because we raised such cain over the situation. Being the last car on the train we were always last to eat which made us very late for our meals. But yesterday we were exceptionally late. It was 9:30 last night before we were called for supper.

After we got off the wastelands yesterday and struck the Feather River in the Sierras we had beautiful scenery. Came down the side of a very steep gorge. The mountains had beautiful pines on them. While coming down the mountain we went through over thirty tunnels. Saw one place where a freight train had gone over the bank. One box car was still in the bottom.

To our trip across country and the train wreck: As always, the Army travels by day coach and the Navy by Pullman. When we boarded in Endicott, Danny,* an Oklahoma Indian, could not get his window shade up. These devices are operated by squeezing two gizmos at their bottom and coil springs take them up and hold them there. Danny solved the problem by doing the holding and squeezing from the upper position. He was sitting across the aisle from me and a few seats ahead. From Florida came a fellow afraid of heights and sitting a few seats behind me. We came to the gorge and everyone was looking out the windows on the other side of the car. It was beautiful and a tremendous drop down to the river. Gator* was on the other side looking at this huge stone wall a few feet away and being quite comfortable. We came to the wreck. Gator was enticed to move to the opposite side to see it. He moved into the seat with Danny. The wrecked cars were scattered, piled and a huge mess. They looked smaller by far than the HO gauge. Just as Gator got to the window and looked, for some reason the shade all by itself rolled up with a horrible slapping sound. Gator jumped over the back of the seat to his own where he stayed glued for hours. Could not even get him to the diner.

The first section which left Endicott an hour before we did arrived here 24 hours ahead of us and took a more northern route. The third section has not arrived. We got here this morning at 5.

This camp is advertised as being a rest camp. What the word "rest" will mean we shall no doubt soon find out. And what we need a rest from, we don’t know. We will probably be here long enough to give the fellows who have not had their leaves a chance to catch up with us - then we shall move somewhere else. In the meantime those of us who remain here will catch all kinds of work details and such including Shore Patrol in Frisco. Since this is a fairly new camp there will no doubt be plenty of work parties.

I presume that today will be given over to cleaning our clothes. Even though I do not have much to do, what I do have is plenty dirty. The barracks here have heads in them instead of going outside. Other than that they are just about the same as Endicott.

August 2, 1943 Monday afternoon

I am back in again after another "hard" day’s work. Took a turn over the commando course this morning and followed it up with several lectures. This afternoon we took a sun bath that was not what had been scheduled but we ended doing it anyway. We were supposed to have gone on a hike this afternoon but Company C was chosen to put on a demonstration of Seabees in training for an admiral, a general, a congressman. and several Life photographers who were to have arrived at 2 by blimp. The blimp came over the camp at 3:30 and at 3:45 we were dismissed and told that it had been called off for the time being. We were to have shown them how we go over the commando course and some of the judo. Then in several days we are to meet the regular Navy on the cliff for guerrilla war fare. Out of the outfits in camp, Company C was picked because the instructors in the various courses thought we had been the outstanding group. I sometimes wonder if it pays to be outstanding.

Had quite a time over the weekend. Went out with Bob Minor* - the fellow I went to Boston with. We landed in Frisco at seven and immediately set out to find a place to sleep. We had eaten in Oakland after bumming a ride that far with our battalion commander. After trying several hotels with no luck at all we headed to the USO to see if anything was available. They suggested our going down to the Harbor Club which we did, and found a place to sleep when the time to sleep should roll around. The building had - from its looks - been a warehouse. An organization of writers, actors and musicians had taken it over and really made a lovely place out of it. They had the second floor for sleeping and the third for recreation. The shriners had furnished the bunks which were quite comfortable.

We met two sailors who had a payday that morning. One was a friend of Bob’s who he had not seen in about 7 years. The four of us headed for California Avenue to take a ride on the cute little cable car. We had a riot on the thing. I guess people thought we were drunk but none of us had even had a dope. The motorman let us ring the bell for him as we climbed the hill. The cars will only seat about 25 people and at all times there are about forty on them. The ends are open and the middle closed. The fastest they can go is about twelve miles an hour.

The Mark Hopkins Hotel was at the top of the hill (Nob Hill) and from there you can get an excellent view of the city. There is a bar up there on the top floor of the hotel so we went up there and had a drink so we could see Frisco at night. After hobnobbing there with mink coats and generals and admirals and buck privates we went back down to the street. One of the soldiers wanted to ride in a cab so we boarded one with the idea of going to the Stage Door Canteen. But the one soldier who seemed to be sponsoring our evening decided we wanted to go to the "International Settlement." That is a block full of night clubs and honky tonks that, judging from the one we visited, is very badly overrated. In my opinion they were clip joints. We got out as fast as we could but had to eat something to do so. The floor show consisted of a short community sing plus a hobby horse race by three service men with a bottle of wine as a prize. It was getting close to midnight so we headed for a midnight show which was not so good. Arrived back at the Harbor Club around 2:30.

Sunday morning we were served waffles at the club and they were very good. A woman in her late fifties waited on us. We found out she was quite a pianist. She had studied in Paris and Moscow and played with several symphony orchestras. After a little persuasion we got her to a grand piano and she really put on a performance for us. She seemed very appreciative of her audience which about wore her out with requests.

After checking out from there we caught the cable car we had ridden the night before - just for the ride. This time we went clear to the end which was quite a ride. The conductor suggested transferring to a regular streetcar and going out to the beach when we asked him where we could go from there. One of the soldiers happened to think he had a date in Berkeley and left us. The three of us went on out to the beach which is on the ocean and saw the seals out on Seal Rocks. The wind out there was terrific. After walking down the beach and looking that section over the other soldier had to leave.

Bob and I decided to rent bicycles and go for a ride through Golden Gate Park. Spent about two hours on that tour. Visited the museum, Aquarium, and Japanese Tea Garden plus all the lakes en route. The park covers about 1050 acres and is said to be the largest man made park in the world. It used to be an area of nothing but shifting sand dunes. You would never believe it to see it. From there we caught a street car and rode back toward town before we transferred and caught another car out to the Presidia which is a small army base on the site of one of the Expositions that came off before my day. We walked through the base toward the Golden Gate to get a good view of it and the bridge.

Back toward town again where we got off the car at a point where we could walk through Chinatown. Then on to a restaurant. Ate at the same place I ate two liberties ago. Dropped in at the USO to clean up a bit and then struck out for the Stage Door Canteen. The Pacific Telephone Company provided the entertainment. Had a very good orchestra and stage show every 45 minutes all made up of their employees. They were very good. Headed back to camp at 10 where we arrived at 12:30 somewhat tired.

We have a 22-hour liberty coming up next week-end on which I want to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and visit Muir Woods - a stand of redwoods. Our commander told us on the way into Oakland Saturday night that we had been scheduled to leave for Endicott next Saturday and go to Sicily but that had been called off. I am going to send you a menu with a map-postcard of Frisco with my travels on it as soon as I can get it fixed up, plus a couple pictures* made in the "International Settlement." I think maybe your Mother would like one for the mantle. I did not spend the money for them. I am going to try to get a ticket to Doughgirls for next Sunday night. I have heard it is a very good musical.

I can put the (Blue) Devils on my helmet. You see everything on them around here. Yes, the San Juan Mission is one of the old ones. There is a whole chain of them a day’s fast journey apart through here along El Camino Real. Mission Dolores in Frisco is probably one of the best preserved. The boy who was 8 1/2 days late was finally given his sentence today - 20 days in the brig and a $30 fine.

August 10, 1943 Tuesday afternoon

Here we are at the famous place called Hueneme. Arrived this morning at 8 after an all night ride in some very antiquated coaches on the Southern Pacific. Although old, they had reclining seats and were fairly clean, but were dated by the gas lights. The lights were none too good. Barely lit the coach up so you could see your way through. We left Parks at 5:05 last night with our drum and bugle corps leading the way. Shortly after getting underway, we were issued a very nice little ditty bag by the Red Cross that was filled with a number of items. There was a book of the pocketbook variety - haven’t seen two alike as yet, razor blades, soap and soap box, tablet of writing paper, package of envelopes, pencil, cigarettes, chewing gum, sewing kit, and several other things. Later in the evening, bars of candy were passed out also from the Red Cross. So among other things we should have a fair amount of reading material for awhile.

We are back to living in Quonset huts again. This is quite a large base. All these huts make it look bigger than what it is, too. Have seen nothing but huts on the place so far. This seems to be the port of missing battalions. Scuttlebutt is prominent. All kinds of jokes about this battalion and part of that one having disappeared last night and the night before. I doubt if we will believe anything we hear from this point on. We hear the mail service is really terrible.

Wartime censorship often prevented servicemen from revealing their whereabouts in letters. So Bob and Lib had agreed on a Code. Bob would begin a letter "Dear Elizabeth" (which he never called her). Then he would start one sentence with a couple of letters scratched out. The first letters of the following words would spell out his location. Now he offers a second system which he will also use. Code references will be in bold underlined type. Ed.

August 23, 1943 Monday evening

How I wish we were going out tomorrow night* for a little celebration. Some of the fellows are celebrating a 5-month anniversary tonight - 5 months of this kind of life. I would a billion times rather celebrate tomorrow night.

August 29, 1943 Saturday night, USO stationery

I have never written you from here before - Hollywood. We left Camp - after I had worked in the office all morning - a little before 12, and had covered the 60 miles into Hollywood by 1:30. Am traveling with Siggy* again on this trip since we seem to have similar taste - namely wanting to see the sights rather than the taverns. By getting in fairly early, we found a room very easily just a few doors from Hollywood Boulevard and right in the heart of everything. After we had found the room, we set out to get tickets to some entertainment and then took a bus ride to Beverly Hills. It is very pretty there, mostly residential.

At 5:15 we picked up our tickets for the Lucky Strike Hit Parade. Frank Sinatra was the star at this end of the line. The whole program did not originate here. Part was from New York. Sinatra seems to have taken the women by storm out here. They about mob the poor fellow. From the broadcast we headed for something to eat. After getting filled we set out to use our passes for Orson Welles’ tent show.* A bus driver was headed that way and in 4 blocks stopped and picked up a busload of service men, keeping his hand over the cash box, and took us right to the show.

Welles has a regular big top and midway with sawdust and calliope. All service men are admitted free to the main tent where civilians pay from $1.65 to $5.50 for tickets. It was a swell show lasting 2 1/2 hours and features Orson Welles, Joe Cotton, and Marlene Deitrich. It was one of the best things of its kind I have ever seen. It was mostly magic & sleight of hand by Welles. I think he is one of the most versatile and energetic individuals I know of. Charlie Chaplin and a few other actors were in the audience and had quite a mob after them for autographs.

We managed to get to the Hollywood Canteen about 20 minutes before it closed. Kay Kaiser and his orchestra were there. He and Sal Kabbik really put on a good show too - what we saw of it. Now we are at the USO proving to our wives we don’t forget about them when we are on liberty. This is really a busy town. Haven’t seen so many cars and people in quite some time.

September 22, 1943 Wednesday evening, 93rd Stationery

Dear Uncle Ed - I am out on a 12-hour liberty tonight so am writing quite a few letters. The barracks we are in now are so crowded that we have no room for a writing table. Here at the USO, there are nice writing tables and I can get a lot done. I have used the USOs so much and found them so nice that I don’t regret any money I have donated to it before I came into the service. Whenever I have needed a place to sleep or any information, they have always very cheerfully helped me out.

I went to Hollywood and Los Angeles last week-end and had a very enjoyable time. Next Wednesday night I start a 4-day liberty and hope to go down to Mexico for part of the time.

Have received both of your letters and have appreciated very much your writing to me. Mail means a great deal to anyone who is in the service even though they sometimes have trouble finding time to answer the letters which they receive. The ham arrived the other day. It really looked good to see it. And tasted good too. There is still some left. If I can I am going to try to get into the galley tonight and fry some more when I get back to camp.

The way things look around the camp right now, I believe that I will soon be on the Pacific Ocean headed for the South Pacific. One battalion left yesterday and another is scheduled to leave before the week is over. Then it will be our turn. I don’t think we will be here for more than about two weeks now.

I think that everything will run all right around the house. I hope nothing happens that will make you want to go somewhere else for it would not seem like home to me to think of you being elsewhere. Thoughts of home are very outstanding in a person’s mind when they are so far from it. I am glad to know that the place will be waiting for me when this mess is all over.

October 2, 1943 Saturday evening, Yosemite Lodge Stationery

How you would have enjoyed the trip today. It was beautiful. We left at 8:15 this morning by bus to Happy Isles where we started our muleback journey. There were 5 of us leaving here for the trip, all men. One was a soldier and one a Javanese while the other was a civilian who had never married because he had never been able to find a woman who liked to hike. He has tramped all over California’s mountains plus some of Europe’s. Has been coming to Yosemite for the past 25 years. Included in our bus this morning was "Julie," an elderly woman from Vienna who sings constantly and likes to swim in the streams around here in her birthday suit. She was constantly saying something funny. Before we had even left the lodge, she touched Carl* and me on the shoulder to ask if we were Catholic priests. That started a near riot of laughter. She got the impression of that because we were wearing our sweaters over our shirts and they fit tight around the neck leaving none of the shirt exposed. For the rest of the day we were called "Father" and "padre."

At Happy Isles, our party was increased by 4 more plus the guide. It was a beautiful ride up the trail to Vernal and Nevada Falls. Every bend in the trail brought a new picture, and the higher we went, the farther we could see. Some places we could have jumped straight down a good many hundred feet. The trail up to Glacier Point was about 8 miles. We arrived at the top around 12:30 and were quite glad to dismount even though we had done that several times en route. The view we had from the top was gorgeous. Miles and miles of mountain peaks. In the distance we could see quite a bit of snow. We ate our lunch at Glacier Point and had till 2:15 to roam around and feast our eyes. We could pick out people in the valley but it was quite a job. They were just dots moving around.

The trail down was only 4 miles but quite steep. It was the return trip that really made the saddle felt. This trail is called the Four-Mile-Trail and comes down the side toward El Capitan. There were plenty of steep jump-offs en route that would have very definitely (been) fatal. We arrived at the bottom at 4:15. A bus met us there to bring us back to the Lodge. A most worthwhile trip. Earlier in the year would have found it prettier because of the falls which have little if any water falling now. Tonight at 9 is the Firefall. A huge fire is built up where we ate lunch at Glacier Point and after it is little more than glowing embers, it is pushed over the cliff.

October 10, 1943 Sunday morning

Dear Uncle Ed - I am very busily engaged in answering all my unanswered letters at this time. It will probably be a long time before anyone starts to get any more letters from me for we expect to leave very soon. Probably just a couple days. We will no doubt be gone before this even reaches you. I naturally hate to be leaving but still am glad for the sooner we leave the sooner we will be back and that is what I am looking forward to now - getting home.

Some of the fellows are having all their hair cut off while others are having it cut like Indians. Some of us are going to keep our hair as it is. We had a 4 day leave last week. Two of us went up to Yosemite National Park and really had a good time. It is a beautiful place up there. After the war is over I hope Lib and I can both make a trip to visit all the places I have been so far. I know she would really enjoy it.

Have just been to Church for our embarkation service. Just wish I knew where I was going to be a month from now. Guess I shall have to wait and see. Hope you are feeling good and all is going well with you.

No Date Western Union - from Oxnard

HOPE EVERYTHING IS GOING ALL RIGHT ON YOUR TWO JOBS. AM LEAVING TODAY. WILL TRY TO HAVE A GOOD TIME. BE THINKING ABOUT YOU. LOVE BOB

October 23, 1943 Saturday (Just crossed the Equator)

It is now 1:55 - have finished noon chow and am in the mood to do a little letter writing. Have had another one of our salt water showers and feel as though I had just finished another swim at Myrtle Beach. Would rather have taken the swim at the beach or, should I say, be in a position to have done so.

We are still chugging along on this pond and gazing at maps and wondering where we are. We are not such good navigators but still have a fair idea of what the score is.

Writing letters is really a problem since there is so little that we can say in them. Why we can’t mention a few of them I don’t know, because these letters will probably be reaching their destinations long after we have reached ours.

Have really been consuming the books on this trip. Really don’t know how many I have read.

Some of the fellows are beginning to get tired of the trip but I have really been enjoying it. Would like to have a good hot fresh water bath though.

Had quite a celebration aboard ship yesterday.* Went through quite a metamorphosis. Don’t believe I will be able to tell you about it till later either.

It makes me mad that now that I have a great deal of time in which I could write, I can say so little hence not much use to write.

Hope that your jobs are not keeping you too busy.

November 1, 1943 (Noumea, New Caledonia)

Dear Elizabeth -

Land almost within reach and that is all the good it is doing us. We put into a (censored) Pacific Port this morning but I understand we shall shove off for other points after a few days here. The place seems to be nothing but mountains and I doubt if we will get any closer to them than the front end of this ship. (2 1/2 lines censored)

It is 2:55 and if it were not for guard duty I know I would not be up this hour of morning. Saw a nice sandy beach this morning that reminded me of some of those we have visited in South Carolina. I am almost stuck for something to say - that is, something that I can say. I guess one of these days I will get used to censoring myself. We are expecting to get some mail tomorrow and am I looking forward to that. Guess that is all for now.

I had intended writing to Eddie* tonight, but after hearing that Duke-State score I do not know whether or not I should. I think I shall. We are again sailing the bounding main only it is not doing much bounding. Quite smooth but a very strong wind late in the day. Wrote you a good long letter yesterday but I doubt if it got off before we pulled out. We have a couple (censored) on board now with whom I have enjoyed talking. I doubt if they are connected with us. We are just taking them somewhere. There is a group of USO entertainers aboard now too. They put on a pretty good show for us tonight. We are all quite happy to be on the way again. It was getting rather monotonous in port. Another very pretty sunset tonight. Had another letter from you (censored). Will answer it after I read it a few more times.

I fear that I have slighted both you and Mother this week, but there has been little I could do about it. Celebrated Armistice Day by putting my feet on dry land again (censored) am. Yes, we have landed at last and are now in the process of unloading our ships. It will be, as it was for the Japs, only a temporary residence for us. I am on an unloading detail, working from 12-8 every night. All I can say for that is that it is fairly cool then. A pup tent in a coconut (censored) very little coolness for sleeping in the daytime. Slept for a while yesterday morning aboard the ship but only after (censored) without. Have spent most of today cleaning myself and my clothes with fresh water and is that a good feeling. Am really getting my fill of coconuts. It is quite pleasant here in spite of the heat. Have yet to see the time when a breeze was not stirring. Have a sun helmet now to help me with that nose of mine which I have been keeping covered with grease all these days. Will write more as soon as I can.

November 15, 1943 Monday (Banika)

Dear Elizabeth -

I have certainly been picking some ungodly hours to be writing you lately. Right now I have to do so when I get the opportunity. Unloading operations are rather slack tonight for some reason or another. So now at 1:53 am I sit myself down to scratch off a few lines in the spotlight of an idle crane. A whole flock of trucks will no doubt come up now. A very pretty moon tonight through the coconut palms. ‘T’would be much prettier though, through the pines at Myrtle Beach.

As I said the other day in my last letter we have struck ground at last. Have not had much of a chance to enjoy much of it as yet. It is very quiet and peaceful, and generally a breeze in spite of the heat. Have been living off of salt tablets and water. Working nights is beginning to make itself felt mainly because of a lack of sleep. It is too hot to sleep during the daytime, so I get what I can after evening chow. It was terrible last night working in a pouring down rain and real sticky mud.

We have moved from our pup tents and sleeping on the ground to large tents and sleeping on cots. It is much nicer of course and everyone seems to be making trips to the lumber pile and salvaging used packing crates to make floors, tables and various other things to make it as convenient as possible. We had thought at first that this would be just a stopover here before going elsewhere, but are beginning to think this is "Island X" after all. One would never realize that there is a war in progress.

Most everyone by now has cut the legs off a pair of pants to make shorts. Much more comfortable. Till the galley gets set up, we are eating canned rations which are getting a bit monotonous now but were quite a change from the food we had on the ship. We are wondering now how long it will be before our wool clothes begin to rot. It is a shame that we were not able to send them home before leaving. I think now I shall walk to our shower about a mile away and get purified. We shall probably soon have water here for such. After the salt water baths on the way over, a mile is nothing to walk for a fresh water bath.

Have been holding off writing in the hope that we would receive some mail. So far we still have not. We should have quite a bit when we do get it. Am still working nights and will be mighty happy when it is all over. It is quite surprising the number of changes that have taken place in our area in the week that we have been here. We now have about a (censored) a beer line tonight and the (censored) started serving meals last night. A lot of (censored) for the latter is yet to be (censored). I notice on the bulletin board that we can now tell you that the port where we spent five days was Noumea in New Caledonia. I have a few pictures of it that I will send you. Think I shall have to go out and do a little dickering with some of the natives before long and see what I can get from them. They make several things. There is only a group of men on this island. The women must be off on another one. Think I had better go to bed.

December 25, 1943 Saturday evening, "United Nations Victorious" stationery

Dear Mom ‘n Pop ‘n Sis Annie* - A new experience - Christmas under a coconut tree. They can give it back to the Japs. I’ll take a Carolina pine or a Yankee snow. I would really like to have been with you folks. Have imagined every minute of the day in High Point. Hope you enjoyed my wife as much as I would have. To top off the day I have been spending it in bed in the sick bay with what I learned tonight is a case of acute bronchitis. Have been here three days and am improving. In spite of the landscape and temperature there has been a good attempt to create a Christmas atmosphere. There were carols being sung last night but no eggnog. We had a wonderful meal this noon and have been given candy, chewing gum, and cigars, plus two bottles of beer this morning. We in the sick bay got eggnog this afternoon without the nog however. There are about 17 in this ward and it sounds like anything but a hospital.

Have an imposition on its way to you. My seabag full of all the clothes that I have no use for over here is on its way home. Have no idea as to when they will ever reach you or what condition they will be in. We have been fighting rats and mold in them over here. I would appreciate your having them laundered or cleaned as necessary. No need to have them pressed in either case as I doubt if any of the presses in High Point would know how to press them. The Navy is a little queer on the subject of where and which direction the crease goes in. Just throw the strings back in the bag and the clothes too. To help you find a place for the bag, may I suggest that it be used for an ottoman in the living room or a bolster on your new bedroom suite.

I appreciate your sending Uncle Ed’s cake to me. It was pretty much battered but that is not surprising when you once see how the mail is handled on one of the ships. Lib’s and Mother’s boxes came through in excellent shape. The other three to date have been in various stages of batteredness. Please give my belated Merry Christmas to those who you see around town. Hope I can say it myself next year.

So you spent Christmas in the hospital too. We are getting pretty good. Each has a tooth pulled on the same day and each goes to the hospital the same day. I hope that you did not have to stay in as long as I did which would mean, of course, that I hope you are back on your feet and feeling chipper. Received a Testament from the Church yesterday plus a box from Gladys, Nellie and Grace from the Warehouse. Today my first issue of Newsweek arrived. Came through in record time. It is the December 27 issue. I hope they all come through that fast. I am very glad to get it and I thank you very much. Can’t understand how it got here so fast on three cents. Time really seems to be going fast over here. Have heard a number of others say the same thing in the past few days. It can’t go too fast though. It seems ages since July 4th.

Bought Uncle Ed a cane yesterday from a native. It looks like ebony, but isn’t. It has mother of pearl inlaid around the top. I think it is a mohogany that they fix up some way or another and call iron wood. I made a little wooden box to send it in today. The snails are gradually decaying but, oh, what a smell. I suppose Hulda* would like to have the meat too, but unless she could tell me of some way of shipping them she will have to confine her studies to the shell itself. The ones that I have not been able to clean I have put in a tree in a can where I hope the ants will work on them. There is a very pestiferous bug around here tonight. Every night seems to bring all of the old ones back plus a new variety. We must be very quiet in here tonight or else our rats are getting braver. One just walked across the floor.

I don’t know which would be worse - standing on the bus to Durham or driving the Zepplin. I guess I shall now have two pairs of glasses. The pair you are having made up and a pair that is being made up at a near-by base. Just found out that it was possible a few days ago. Don’t know how long it will be before I get them or what they will be like.

Ï Ran upon some snails eating leaves. Or don’t they eat stuff like that? If they don’t they sure looked like they were. The ones that I have picked up so far are smelling worse every day. Have seen only two kinds of flowers over here and very few of them. So it may be true that plants miss the flower and fruit stage. Must get a letter off to Mother tonight.

February 16, 1944 Thursday evening

I wish that I could describe to you just the way we are living right now. Had I a movie or still camera you would be laughing at some of the scenes I could show you. Yesterday the second of the Christmas packages arrived. Linen handkerchiefs are very much out of place here but if you insist I shall use them. Think I shall save them for Sundays. Sometimes a Sunday gets by without my knowing it, but I shall try to make it every seventh day if I can get started right.

Our Christmas cards were cute, but my Christmas card was beautiful. I have almost memorized the verse. I was just showing it to some of the boys here in the tent and each one has copied it. Your airmail of February 5 arrived today, which is very good time in my estimation. Am glad that you did not have too much trouble with the identification of the leaf eating snails. Before the week is out I shall have another for you to identify.* It too is quite common. I know that it is not of the same family group but very close. I have a few more for Hulda too. Have not sent that box off as yet but will have to do so within a day or so. Will include a few trinkets that Carl (the boy I went to Yosemite with) and I collaborated on - also a grass skirt for Marion. Have had quite a bit of beautiful coral that I could have sent you but it loses its color so fast that I hardly thought it worth while.

Yes, all of your letters show up sooner or later. Haven’t missed one yet even though I sometimes think that I will. Almost thought twice that I was going to have to do work tonight but both times it has been canceled. Am pooped out enough from the running around I have to do in the daytime.

(Censored) uneventful trip and have found in a very short while that our new home makes our old home seem like a paradise. From what I have been able to learn from some of the fellows who came up ahead of us there are very few japs (I can’t make myself use a capital J) left on the place. We are living in one of Uncle Sam’s (censored) in the middle of a jungle. I guess that until we pay our street assessments we shall not have paved streets but will have to contend with ankle deep mud and haul our own water. Was very much surprised to find hot fresh water on the ship coming up. So proceeded to take the first hot water bath since the night before we left the States. It was really a pleasure. Less than an hour after I sent your box of shells off the other day I got a hold of one I wanted very much.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to get some mail. I really hope that it comes through. Just how soon it will be coming in here daily I do not know, but soon I hope. Have moved again, this time to a different part of our camp. Had to clear a hole big enough to put a tarp to live under. I doubt if it will leak - at least it won’t be any worse than the tent I was in. Every time I rolled over last night I found a new puddle in my bed. Tried to dry my blanket and mattress today but it was not clear enough to do much good. Caught a couple buckets of rain water so that I did not have to take a salt water bath in the harbor. Rain does have its good points. However if there was not so much of it there would not be so much mud and I would not need the water so much. Maybe rain does not have any good points after all. Am beginning to wonder if the clothes we wash will ever get dry.

Noticed some pictures in Life today of Jeeps and trucks mired in the mud in Italy. The captain gave the mud as an excuse for the slowness of the war over there. If they call it mud over there, I wonder what they would call this stuff we wallow around in here. It is fully 3 times as deep and the war seems to be coming along pretty good, too. Someone who was not supposed to be in the dump* just got stuck. When we asked them what they were doing out there, they answered, "fishing." We let them sit there in the jeep in the mud for about 15 minutes before we would call for someone to pull them out. I doubt if they will do any more fishing there. They would not get out of the jeep because the mud was about knee deep.

Ï Nearly identified some snails at noon. They were a few that I picked up the other evening. When the fellow looked at them they were not what he thought they were. As soon as I have a chance to do some boiling I will get them out of their shells. Will try to save the operculum this time. Some are quite small, though.

March 22, 1944 Wednesday evening

Woe is me - Conner’s Chronicle (published every other day - limited circulation) has been scooped by the Associated Press - United Press and all the other presses. In fact they have beaten ye editor - and publisher - by a little over a month. They told the world where the 93rd was hiding and what they were doing in just so many words. Clippings began rolling in here from the States telling more about us than we knew ourselves so now we can tell about ourselves ourselves.

Nissan Island of the Green Islands is now our temporary home. On my map - one of them, Nissan is the only one of the Green ones shown. I don’t know what happened to the others. Maybe they were sent back to Japan. And as usual we have built an airstrip which is in operation and was finished ahead of schedule. Have even heard a number of jokes about their landing ahead of schedule. Are we the only ones who are in a hurry to get home?

The funny part about being able to write about where we are is that we can not tell you where we were or what islands we passed between here and New Caledonia. Even our censors get disgusted some times.

You have been wondering what I am doing - the ban is up a bit on that too. As you know I am with the supply department and there is never a dull moment. Just before and after moving I have to receive and make up packing lists on all cargo and see that it gets loaded in priority order - that was particularly true on this last move. Then after we get where we are going I have to run all through the jungles and find our stuff and get it in its proper dump. That really is a job. In between moving seasons there is always something to straighten up and stuff to be issued. Sounds as though I do all that by myself, doesn’t it. I’m only part of the crew. Every now and then - not very often - we get called off on another job for a day or so.

Don’t let the Fighting Seabees movie get you too stirred up. Most reports have that it was definitely a B movie and played up the officers. None of us have seen it to pass judgment. Some of the shots were supposed to have been made at Hueneme. So far as fighting is concerned I have not seen a Jap yet alive or dead. Heard one of their planes one night down at the other island. We have an alert every now and then but to date I have managed to sleep through them all. I guess if we have any trouble the boys will wake me up. I don’t know where the woman fits into the picture. We have not seen any yet. The last we saw were sitting on a roof top waving to us when we pulled out of Hueneme. I’ll have to take that back - we saw a barge load of them at Noumea. Someone with binoculars guessed they were WACs.

One of the storekeepers* we work with is quite a horoscopologist or whatever you call them and reads palms too. He really believes in it and hits the truth quite often. I am happily married - extra healthy - recover from sickness better than average, found it tough going when I was 18-21 years old, have no desire to be famous or wealthy just a desire for a good living - see no point in doing anything unless there is a good reason for it (only a fragment of Page 6) - will live to be 80 or 90, and so on. According to his horoscope, we will be moving again between April 9-18 to a place where we will find a little social activity. All of which remains to be seen.

I shall have to think hard to fill up this sheet tonight. Uncle Sam seems to be letting me down the past few days. Very little mail has come in and none for me. The weather may be having something to do with it. I believe that there will have to be some changes made in texts on this part of the world with regard to the wet and dry seasons. I am about to decide the wet season ends one day and begins the next. At this point there is no need to wash clothes for the longer they hang out the wetter they get and the ones that are dry inside the tent are now quite damp. Have just finished the Nutmeg Tree, a very screwy book. I believe I will start a book of short stories next. We did not have too hot chow tonight so I just dove into one of my peanut butter jars. It would have been better with some bread or crackers but under the circumstances it tasted pretty good. Think I shall do a little cleaning up in my house now.

April 15, 1944 Saturday evening

Six months and one day ago we pulled out from Hueneme. What we would not give to be pulling in there now. Have had to do very little the past few days and have developed the feeling that it is the calm before the storm. I wish we could send packages out but a Fleet P.O. has not been set up here as yet. I have a bunch of shells to send off - enough I believe to keep Hulda busy for a while. Have about twenty different kinds with operculums and I don’t know how many different ones in the miscellaneous pile. The ants are still doing a little work on the ones I gathered last week. Doubt if I shall be able to do any more good here although there is a type I would like very much to get and have been hunting ever since we arrived here. Found out only last Tuesday where I could get them, but now do not expect to have any more opportunities to do any hunting.

I would not be surprised if some of my letters are a bit "confoosin’." I still have the habit of never reading one over when I finish for fear I will find so much wrong with it that it will never be mailed. At times when there is little to write about I keep pushing my mind to think of something else to write while I am still writing on something else. Have had a spell lately of getting letters in words mixed up. Why I don’t know unless I write too fast.

Atabrine is a synthetic. As I understand it, it is a neutralizer and not a cure or what have you. Malaria can still be in the system while atabrine is being taken and will show up when stopped. If it has fewer queer effects than quinine, I wonder what quinine would do. When we first started taking the atabrine we had headaches, didn’t feel like eating, and felt lousy in general. Some fellows won’t take it, but I would a lot rather have malaria crop out on me back in the States than way out here.

Yes, I wear a hat outdoors - if the sun is shining and I am going to be out in it for a long time. We were issued sun helmets shortly after landing at our last Island X. My nose has not peeled since we have been over here. This is not an atoll, just a queer shape. We have been told it was a former volcano crater which would not be hard to believe. The five-legged critter I described seems too limber to be a starfish and the legs too delicate. When it puts its body in a hole the legs hang out and flap around like seaweed.

Have you read in Time about the soldiers and the native women on Makin Island. It was really funny. An experience none of us have had yet. It was an issue toward the last of Feb.

May 4, 1944 Thursday evening

For a change we have had a rather pretty day today. I guess the only reason for it is because all of the waters in the heavens fell last night. Have spent most all of today out canvassing the island in the name of shoes. They are one of the biggest problems out here. Back in civilian life I had trouble getting shoes big enough and then came out here to find conditions in reverse. My size and up are quite plentiful. Somewhere, somehow the supply system has been messed up for the other day we received a case of navy blue, 100 % wool, elbow length gloves. I wish you had some of them. I think you would like them - that is, when the proper season rolled around.

May 6, 1944 Saturday evening

You have been wanting a picture of me. Now you can have one. So far this is the best I can do for you. If you cannot guess which is me, you might hold the picture real close to a light where the ink spot can be seen and see my guess. Not knowing too much about what we look like from the rear, two of us have picked out what we think to be each other. We are in a native cemetery at the base of a huge cliff. Some of the crosses marking graves can be picked out. The building just on the picture is a small native chapel. It is very plain and inside is a square room which is in reality a building by itself since it has its own four walls and roof which are not connected to the main building at all.

Tomorrow night the movie will be a moving picture of the 93rd and what it has done so far. That, I guess, will be the way we will celebrate our 1st birthday.

Am glad the box reached you ok. The general story on aluminum is that it came from a Jap Zero (plane) but it all comes from junked parts of our own planes. The bracelets were a rather feeble attempt to do something. The best way to shape them is a broom handle, being particularly careful when the wide part and the narrow part come together. I hope Hulda is not disappointed with the shells. There is really a mess of them in the box I am getting up now, with opercula. Have done a better job of segregating these. Have the different kinds in envelopes and cloth sacks which I made. Don’t worry about making a necklace. That has already been done and will be in the next, or present, box. I have been able to get a few more of the greens and yellows - about a 150 anyway. I have a few more cat eyes for you too - white, brown, and green brown. All sizes from (diagram: approx. 1 cm diameter to 1/8 cm). The three I sent I tried to match as close as possible and thought they would make a nice bracelet or something. They are the operculum and nothing has been done to them. I have been able to get hold of one shell from which they come. I got it about two hours after I sent that box off, so will include it in this next one. It is by far the prettiest of any shell I have found. A pretty green. The green cat eyes here have a touch of brown in them. Have found a number of them in the sand.

As yet I have not been able to get any of the shells, although I have seen some. They have almost identical markings of the green shell but the predominant color is brown. This species must grow beyond the coral reefs where I have not had nerve to go yet because of the pounding surf. The eyes I have found here I have dug out of the sand where I have been able to find bits of the broken brown shells. One of the boys makes beautiful rings mounting them. Unless you have sent the bottles I would not worry about them for the small shells as I can use match boxes which I have done with some from here. I have a few more pieces of coral for you. Find it on the beach. The branched pieces are from the ocean side. Flat pieces similar to that elongated pancake I sent you are in lagoons. The coral reefs I speak of are monolithic affairs.* No individual pieces. The white cat eyes with their shells live along the peak of the reef while the tiger eyes with their similar green yellow relation are in the nooks of the reef between the peak and the beach.

Uncle Ed will probably not smoke the pipe but I thought he would like it. I guess I told you the history of it. Did you see his cane while you were home for Easter? All the incisioning on the brass and aluminum was done by Carl - the boy I went to Yosemite with.

Scuttlebutt is really thick around here about the future travails of the 93rd. A half a dozen different stories come out every day. In fact I have made up one or two myself. Being in the supply dept. we are supposed to be a barometer of future activities which gives our scuttlebutt a little prestige.

May 10, 1944 Wednesday evening

I believe this will be a rather long letter tonight. I really hit the jackpot today. Received quite a lot of brand new mail including an air mail from you that was only seven days old. Also one from April 27, plus a package which contained Headhunters. From a hasty glance through it I believe it will be quite interesting.

I guess the first thing to write about tonight would be the results of a little foraging party which ended up by about eight men having such full bellies yesterday noon that they did not feel like going to work in the afternoon. Several fellows went out Monday afternoon and shot a number of doves. We cleaned them, cut them up, and put them in a refer* till yesterday noon when we boiled them for a while and then fried them. By doing a little begging in the morning we produced several loaves of bread, flour and salt, and two pounds of real, live creamery butter. We really had a feast. Tomato juice, dove fried in butter, buttered toast and pineapple for desert. I did not know anything could taste so good. The dove reminded me a great deal of guinea. I suppose next we will try to barbecue one of the pigs roaming around here.

This noon two of us made a little trip down to the beach as the tide was quite low and found a few new shells. Every time I think I have this box ready to send off I find something new to add. While at the beach I caught what must be some sort of a jellyfish which I have never seen before. I could watch him swim around the jar by the hour. He is quite transparent with a bluish cast and rather complicated in his structure. I wish I had something to put in the water so I could find out where what he eats - if anything goes. I will attempt a picture but am afraid of the results.*

That is really some beautiful sketching isn’t it. Glad I am not in one of your classes.

Our tent is really popular with the Island bat population tonight. On the presumption they are blind, ask Miss Jeffers if they use radar or something else to keep from bumping into everything. I know her main work was not on that end of them but maybe she knows about them anyway.

The pictures you sent of Guadalcanal I understand are quite typical. That place really is a notorious mine hole. We don’t have it quite that bad, but the two season idea - a wet one and a rainy one seems to be quite right for this country. Nemo* made a Mother’s Day card for your mother too. It will probably be a few days getting there. He makes very good water colors, at least I think so.

You have a very tired husband tonight. Fay* will no doubt have a hard time getting me out of the bed in the morning - perhaps I should say an exceptionally hard time. I have no idea how far I walked and waded but I certainly covered the territory. I went way out to one end of the island where I had heard there were a few shells which I do not have. Now I do. The rocks are pretty well turned over but I found some. I don’t know how many hundred pounds of rocks I turned but it was a pretty good workout. The walking portion of the trip was somewhat more than I had counted on because I missed the last ferry at one spot and then had to push through some jungle to a road where I had to walk several miles before catching a ride. The shells I found I believe will please you very much. Found a new color cat eye which I think very pretty. It is more of a purple than anything else I guess. I am still missing a few odds and e