Moss Letters

WWII Letters

21 April 1942

Dear Folks:

Well this will be my last letter from Escondido.  Tomorrow morning we are pulling out for—I believe—Fort Lewis, Washington.  The officers intimated it would be a long trip so I believe that is the place.  It is around 1,500 miles and we make about 200 (miles) a day so it will be quite a ride.  Of course I hate to leave the folks in San Diego behind—I will really miss them.  We have been sleeping in pup tents the last two nites so of course it would have to rain continually and on top of that my tent leaked—adding to my consternation.

There seems to be a lot to write about but somehow I can’t think of it.  There will be about 700 men in our convoy of seventy or eighty vehicles and they are plenty loaded down.

Gramma sent me a beautiful English made scard today—feels so good.

Hope you have recovered from the phone call—guess it leaves on a little shaken by the miracle of it.  Wish I could call you every week.

My new address is:

Pvt. HG Moss
Btry C, 222nd FA Bn
APO 40, Los Angeles, California

You can send the box now—if you send it when you get this, it should hit me about right.

I’ll write you often to let you know everything.

I believe after we get there we may be given furloughs—let’s hope.

This is a pretty gential letter but I’ll have a lot of time to write on the way so you’ll be hearing from me again soon.

Lots of love,

Harold Moss Signature

20 October 1941

Dear Folks:

I’m pretty anxious to get this letter written for several reasons.  In the first place I’m now in an organization that is probably the last place I expected to be as a drafter but one that I am delighted about.  I mentioned, I believe, in one of my letters that I took a radio aptitude test.  Well twelve in our battery of two  hundred sixty-two passed the test.  Yep, I was one so now I’m in a specialist battery that supplies technicians for the regular field artillery batteries.  As a radio  man I now get special privileges such as only forty five minutes drill a day and class B passes that are good for any nite of the week.  The rest of the time I will go to school where there are long rows of receiving sets.  On the enclosed pamphlet I have encircled the battery that applies to  me.  Ratings for radio men are many after our basic training period.  So much for that.

Nothing special has happened since my last letters.  Sunday we all marched to church singing “Onward Christian Soldiers”.  Life photographers were taking pictures of us.  Sunday nite went to the service club to hear a variety program all soldier talent.  It’s a swanky place but all free.  Shows here are 14 cents and the very latest too.  I’m going tonight.

I’m sending a card advising you of my new address.  This is permanent so perhaps we can get started again.  Send the Free Presses.  This is my address again, just in case:  Battery D, 55th FA Bn, Camp Roberts, California.

I’ll write again soon as I hear from you.

Lots of love,

Harold Moss Signature