Medical Archives - Page 3 of 5

5 October 1944

Dear Folks:

I haven’t written to you for six days now because in that time I have had the dengue fever and it does a pretty effective job of making you feel miserable and putting you out. My fever was up pretty good for the first few days and now it has gone although I still feel hot and have a red doppler rash. The fever hits your muscles and every joint aches, especially the small of your back. Was around today but felt too weak to do much. I think I weigh about one twenty-eight so I’m underweight a little. The menu consists largely of dehydrated foods and that scourge of the army ‘Spam’ and as I don’t eat them, don’t get fat. We have not had an ice cold drink or dessert in four months. Oh! but I do have beside me again tonight a bottler of Pabst beer and that will soothe my ruffled feelings. It is about as warm as a leftover dinner but I’m getting used to that.

Last night I received the letter about the proposed move to Bridgeport. I thought about going back home too but I hope Dad takes the job. I think it’s a darn good break and I’m sure Bridgeport will be a fine place to live. But as you said don’t move into a house that isn’t nicer than the one we have now. Dick and I will probably be here quite a while yet and you will have plenty of time to fix the place up, but it would be disheartening to not come back to the anything but the best. Minatare may fold up someday and the idea of living in Bridgeport sounds good to me. So I say go ahead and although we may not like it now we’ll like it more in the future. What will you do with the house and the store?

Had a letter from Dick last night. Good to hear from him. Well I’m plenty tired and feel weak so I’m going to stop for tonight.

Lots of love,

12 September 1944

Dear Folks:

The mail boat came through today and I rated five – not a bad take. Mom’s two letters were full of quite a bit of interesting stuff and I thought they deserved an early answer so here I go. Also got the pictures of Stevie – boy he looks like a real jewel and you don’t know how much I would like to see him. I had wished that Katie would have been in one of them but maybe I can get one of her later. It’s no wonder you are so proud of Stevie and I’ll (bet) he’s created the biggest stir in the household since our last baby – I mean yours. Well guess I’ll take out your letters and use them to get some ideas. First I’ll write about Dick. I first heard he had been injured when a fellow from our outfit came from Saipan and said he saw Dick there. I didn’t know how bad he was hurt so immediately made arrangements to get over (there). When I saw him he looked good and was having life easy on a cot with sheets – white ones too. He told me what had happened and made me promise I would write nothing about it to you. He was afraid you would become unduly worried and no matter how much we would try to say it was only light injury, you would still be very upset. So I said okeh although I thought we should tell you. He was hurt while rounding up groups of snipers still holding out in the limestone caves on the northern end of the island. His group suffered heavily and he was lucky to get out. He was caught and forced to hug the ground for two hours while they got him out. Of course there’s a lot more to it, but someday he’ll be able to tell you – if he will. You wondered where he got hit. He had pieces in his feet, his legs and two in his back, and also well er—he got a piece that missed his private parts by a fraction of an inch. He laughed about that, and joked about what might have happened. You can imagine. And oh yes, they have American nurses – quite a few of them. The day I visited Dick it was rainy and muddy and they were running around in slacks and GI shoes, more like doughboys than women. They were the first white women I’d seen since leaving Oahu. Also at the hospital they have Chamorro girls working. They are very shy and modest, but soon pick up some common GI slang.

I sent the souvenirs home about the 6^th or 7^th of August but I think I told you about that. I insured them, so if the box don’t break up you’ll probably get them alright.

I don’t hardly know what to say about the Christmas deal, but you know since I’ve been here what I’ve missed quite a bit is fruit juices. So put in a couple cans of tomato juice, some orange juice, and something like that. Also any other canned treats that you think I might like – maybe chicken, olives. Right now I’d give a fortune for some of that stuff. And I would like to have you buy Dick a watch like mine with my compliments – I’m afraid his would break up with what he has to do, and one like I have would be just the thing. I would also like to have a birthstone ring, and a couple of watch straps – they go fast in this damp climate. And rather oddly maybe some pictures of home from the outside and some inside ones too if you can get them. I always wonder how the different rooms must look now. A cigarette lighter that will work in the wind with some flints would be a good thing. I know they are hard to get but perhaps you might run across one. A couple of good card decks. And here’s one—some licorice. This must sound like the flimsical whims that come over pregnant women but I would be glad to get any one of them. And also stick in a law book. Gram got my last one from a publishing company in Minnesota – I wish I could give you the exact name but I can’t think of it. I want one on Torts. You know I sure miss the books I left behind but they would be badly beat up if I had brought them along. I get so impatient for the war to get over so that I can get in a position where I can study it for good. I’m going to get Dick by the ears and if nothing unforeseen comes along we’re both going back to the University and take advantage of the tuition and expenses deal. The two of us would be eligible for $118 a month and we could get along famously on that. That would be considerably better than my first year I spent there although it was a year I wouldn’t have missed. I think Dick would be glad to do it.

I wished you and Dad would have stayed in Denver and had a good time and I’ll bet the telegram changed your plans. When I get back we’ll go away for about a month into the mountains and be the damndest laziest people you ever saw. It’s always been one of my wants to take you two someplace where there wouldn’t be anyone to bother you.

Well Mom I think I’ve answered all the questions I can. You know I guess I’m a screwball but I miss my fiddle and when I hear some good music on the radio wish I could pick it up and piddle around with it. But I can never listen to any good classical music because everyone else wants swing. The office has been humming despite our field conditions, and it would certainly be a relief to be able to get away for a while.

One thing I did overlook. Word flashed around partially rumor and partially fact that the army was developing a point system whereby the ones with the most points would be released first – after the defeat of Germany. It works on the plan of service, overseas service, dependents, and medals with so many points for each. Lately it has become as socially important to know how many points you have as it is to wear shoes. It is the high ranking subject around here, as it must be in all outfits but I can’t see myself being released until it is over.

I started to finish once and maybe I will this time. Jack showed me a clipping of the letters in the Free Press and I didn’t think they were so long. Jack sent you some pictures of us that are pretty good and I’m fortunate to be near him.

I guess this is the final act but I won’t say goodnight or goodbye this time, just lots of love and a toast to a quick end of this mess.

Love,

7 September 1944

Dear Folks:

Now if I had a cigar I would be enjoying a truly pleasant summer evening. Beside me I have two cans of Regal Pale Beer, and their presence probably makes this the biggest day since D-Day. It was our first issue and consisted of three cans to last four days. It was the first I have seen or smelled in four and a half months. After each few lines I smack my lips like a well fed dog and sit back in great satisfaction. But this wasn’t all that made today memorable. Most of this business affords little cause for celebration but occasionally something comes along to make things seem brighter and build you up for a while longer. For the past three weeks our mail had, for some reason, been held up and we had nary a single communiqué from the home front, and yesterday it came rushing in. My own take was twelve although my stable mate who is married with a child rated forty-six of them. Among them was a letter from Mrs. Dick, one from Mark Gardner (whom I went to school with in Lincoln), Glen, Bill, Gram, and Kate along with three from you two. The one from Mrs. Dick was especially well written and her last paragraph was a treasure. I wish I could quote it to you. She wanted me to tell you that I had received it, so whenever you get down that way, give her the word. (At this point I open my second can of beer).

Yesterday I finally got around to packing the souvenirs and getting them sent. First each item had to be stamped by the Joint Intelligence then the box had to be passed by the local censor. You will probably wonder what is coming off when you get it. It’s a big box and is pretty heavy. In it is a Jap sword which is a highly prized souvenir and commands quite a price. Other items are a belt on which the sword is worn, a Jap battle flag, and a bayonet with scabbard and belt. I was with Dick when he found the sword and the other items he got himself. I sent it yesterday the 6^th of August (I think he meant September) and insured it for $150. Dick was especially anxious that I got them sent okeh.

I felt quite honored at the compliments about my descriptive letter about Saipan. The fellows in the office told me about the same thing that you wrote and when I was writing it wondered what in the heck I was putting in it and what was there to write about. I let Dick read part of it and he said ‘Gee whiz you writin’ all that?’ and then he shook his head quite characteristically.

The paper enclosed is a mainland issue of the Dispatch as you can see – I thought you might be interested. A few points that aren’t often written about that the folks back home wonder about. Yesterday I was quite domestic – ran off a batch of laundry and ruined the King’s English saying this was a woman’s job. Hung it up to dry later and then it rained and soaked them good. I should of got married when I was at home. I read the little article about the veterans plan at the University and want to take advantage of it if I’m not ‘retained’ too long. But then I have a lot of ideas as to what I’m going to do when this is over, among others – getting married, seeing some more of the world, a job, and the highest priority right now, getting back to school. I’d work like a son-of-a-gun at it if I could get back. No more fooling around. Well it’s getting late sunset (the prettiest I’ve seen) and the electricity ain’t so I’ve got to put the cover on this thing and take a bath. I had intended to write more tonight but it’s just getting too dark to see so here’s adios for this time.

Love,

Attached with the Letter: An article from the Saipan Post Dispatch, August 10, 1944

THE SAIPAN POST DISPATCHA Newspaper for Enlisted Men

Published by Army Garrison Force

Vol. I No. 41 (Mainland Issue) Saipan, M.I. Thursday, August 10,1944

EDITOR: This issue of the Saipan Post Dispatch has been prepared for the folks at home. Today’s issue contains in capsule from an historical resume of the Marianas. Certain portions of the masthead have been deleted to meet censorship requirements; subsequently daily issues of this paper are not to be mailed until further notice.

SAIPAN: The Marianas, of which Saipan was the capital, form a chain of 14 islands and one group of three small islands. All are of volcanic origin. They constitute together with the Marshall, Caroline and Gilbert Islands, the insular area of the Pacific known as Micronesia. The four principal islands of the Marianas are Saipan, Guam, Tinian and Rota. It is believed that the Marianas were originally people by the migration wave from Indonesia which settled in the rest of Micronesia, namely the Caroline, Marshall and Gilbert Islands. There are many resemblances between the Micronesians and the Polynesians. The latter settled in the remoter parts of the Pacific and differ in language and culture. In the Marianas, the Chamorros, of all the various Micronesian peoples, strongly resemble in physique, culture and language, the inhabitants of the Philippines and the Dutch West Indies.

In December 1520, Magellan with three ships sailed into the Pacific, and on March 6, 1521 discovered the islands of Guam, Rota, Saipan and Tinian. Eltano, Magellan’s subaltern, revisited Rota in 1524. The Spanish explorer, Leaisa, reached Guam in 1526. Admiral Logaspi landed on Saipan in 1564 and proclaimed sovereignty over the Marianas. Quiros, another Spanish explorer, reached Saipan in 1596. In 1668, Spain dispatched soldiers and missionaries to bring the Marianas under Spanish Control. The islands were then named the Marianas in honor of Queen Maria Ana, widow of Philip IV of Spain, by the Jesuit missionary, Diego Luis de Sanvitores, who arrived in Guam from the Philippines. The Spaniards ruled until 1898 when the American cruise ship Charleston, commanded by Captain Henry Glass, steamed into the harbor at Guam and opened fire upon Fort Santa Cruz. Through its capture, Guam was separated from the rest of the Marianas. In 1899, the Germans purchased the Marianas from the Spanish for $4,500,000 and ruled them, Guam accepted, until 1914. In October 1914, a Japanese naval squadron took possession of the German Marianas Islands. The principal objective of the Spanish administration was religious proselytism; the Germans wanted commercial expansion; the primary ends of Japanese policy were political and military. Great Britain by secret agreement in March 1917, recognized the claims of Japan to all former German possessions in the Pacific north of the equator. The approval of Franco and Russia was obtained by Japan. At Versailles, American pressure was appeased by the origin of the Class C Mandate which differed from outright annexation only by imposing on the mandatory power a number of obligations. The Marianas attracted little attention until 1932 when rumors gained currency that Japan was fortifying Truk and several other islands. Japan denied this and when she withdrew from the League of Nations in March 1935, most American jurists opined that she should forfeit her mandate and the islands revert to the League. Japan, however, kept the mandated territory, defining it as “an integral part of the Japanese empire.” After 1938, when Japan discontinued the submission of an annual report to the League, all pretense of international supervision vanished, and the islands were increasingly treated as a closed military area.

The native Chamorros at one time were skilled navigators and canoe builders; when into-island commerce was suppressed by the Spaniards, the Chamorros lost their skill and never regained it. The Carolinians were expert navigators and when they were allowed to settle on Saipan during the nineteenth century, the Spanish government, which had practically no means of transportation at its disposal, stipulated that the Carolinian settlers should make an annual voyage to Guam via Tinian carrying the produce of the region.

Saipan was colonized by Captain Brown, an American, between 1810 and 1815. Brown brought along several Americans and a few families of Hawaiians intending to set up a colony to trade with the whalers. Spaniards snuffed out this enterprise in 1815. Whalers visited the Marianas from 1825 until 1850, but their appearance had little effect upon the economy of the Marianas. In 1869, an Irishman named Johnson leased Tinian and did a prolific business in cattle and pigs until 1875.

The native Chamorros who numbered between 70,000 and 100,000 in the 1650 period have decreased through war, famine and disease to a little over 5,000 in the entire Marianas today. An infusion of Filipino and Spanish blood helped to save the Chamorros from extermination. Even the mixed group, which is now dominant, when added to the full-blooded Chamorro population does not exceed the 5,000 total. The trend created by the Spanish conquest virtually depopulated the natives of the Marianas. Severe epidemics of smallpox, measles, whooping cough, and scarlet fever, introduced mainly by visiting whalers, ran rampant through the Marianas and served to offset the natural population increase.

SAIPAN SHORTS:

….Tinian has been conquered. The expected banzai never developed.

.…The first motion picture show for American Troops on Tinian was held July 31^st. Several thousand yards forward death stalked friend and foe.

.…The superman halo attached to the hips in the early days has disappeared. The burial of over 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Saipan brought home to Tokyo factual evidence of American power in the Pacific. The fanatic fight of the Japs to sudden death makes the war in the Pacific one of the bloodiest in the annals of American history. On Saipan, American casualties were over 15,000.

….Over 50 movie spots are operated on Saipan; some daily, others periodically. The Garrison Theater has a potential capacity of 7,500 two-high sandbag seats facing a raised screen in front of which is a regulation boxing area. This arena when completed will feature boxing bouts between Army, Navy and Marine pugilists. It will also be used by chaplains for religious services. Temporary staging will be added when “live” shows arrive on Saipan. The island will be dotted with theaters constructed similarly.

….The 100-minute rainfall last night failed to dislodge 5,500 Garrisoin Theater patrons. It seems that nothing short of an earthquake will discourage the crowds that attend the outdoor movies every night.

…..Chamorron, Korean and Japanese youths between the ages of 8 and 15 are given calisthenics daily.

..…A Jesuit missionary and 6 nuns escaped to the civilian camp a few days before Saipan’s fall.

….The Chamorro baseball team at the civilian camp has already trimmed an Army and Navy team. Baseball scouts should include this spot in their ivory hunting itinerary.

…..One word every Chamorro boy and girl knows is “okay” and they use it habitually.

…..The communication miracle wired throughout the entire island is colossal enough to secure a bow from AT&T.

…..The Engineers have received many commendations, including one from the Navy.

….The Signal Corps Repair Shop has done an outstanding job in the maintenance of motion picture equipment. They have gone out of their way on innumerable occasions to render technical advice and labor in order that “the show might go on”.

….The record of medical units on Saipan stands out in bold relief. During the changeover from foxhole operations to permanent hospital facilities, with American nurses, they have written a new epoch in medical history. The dispatch with which these units handled casualties in the bloodiest battle in the annals of American warfare reflects the extraordinary ability and skill of these responsible for its organization and operation.

….Congratulations to Connie Mack on his 50^th anniversary in baseball.

….The Saipan Post Dispatch dedicates this issue to the St. Louis Post Dispatch as full payment for usurping part of their famous name and incorporating it into the masthead of the First American daily on Saipan, which as been published since July 1 (1944?). If we can approach in excellence the distant shadows cast from Pulitzer’s bulwark of news reporting, then Ralph Coghlan, Fitzpatrick, etc., can rest assured that the traditions of their perennial sheet will not be ravaged by a mimeographed upstart on bloody Saipan. We salute the St. Louis Muny Opera, Jack Shumacker’s famous turtle soup, Phil Hitchcock, Larry Goodwin’s St. Charles St. Lounge, Luke Sewell’s Browns, Cardinals, Ruggori’ Steak House where the late O. O. McIntyre dined, Parkview Hotel, Coronado, Anheuser-Busch, Griesedieck, Hyde Park, Alpen Brau, Falstaff, the Star-Times and Globe Democrat.

….The next issue will be dedicated to New York City

12 August 1944

Dear Folks:

If this was a Saturday night at home I certainly wouldn’t be having any time to write. A Saturday night over here is pretty monotonous and letter writing is the chief way to kill some time. We have a small generator in the battery and a few tents have electric lights. So that’s why I can write at night. The ‘Hippodrome’ closes every week at this time, and when the show is going there isn’t much to do. I walked over to the Jeep and listened to some news and music for a while but that grew tiresome so this is where I ended up.

The day before yesterday I flew to Saipan in a Liaison plane to see Dick. You know I am now on Tinian and I believe I told you all about that if it wasn’t censored. It is only a ten-minute ride but it was a nice one. We landed on Aslitho airfield and then I went right to see Dick. He’s very well and looking fine. I think he’s even getting heavier if my eyes don’t deceive me. The mud is about ankle deep all over the island and the hitchhiking was bad. I hadn’t seen him since about the last of July, so I thought I better get over while I had the chance. Of course I took all the letters that I had received from you so he could read them. After I left Dick, stopped in at Jack’s outfit and spent a few minutes with him. I didn’t have much time but thought I better stop. I don’t think I’ll be seeing him for a long time to come. He was running around in shorts helping put up a building. He gave me the picture I’m enclosing. It was taken on Oahu just before I left. He took several others but this one is the only one he had time to develop. He said he would forward the rest as soon as they are done. I guess we both look kind of ‘goony’ in it but otherwise it’s pretty good.

The war news sounds increasingly good each week. We hear most of the world news and from both sides. According to our version we are going great guns in Europe and I guess the Pacific is rolling too. Tokyo radio the other day announced that all Jap civilians would be armed to defend the country – if that is the case it will be a bloody slaughter. But that isn’t so much different than here. Most of the civilians go with the soldiers and take part in the ‘banzi’ zero hour attacks. I hope you read in the July 24^th issue of Time about the last attack of the Japs north of Garapan on Saipan. That is the place I visited and that I told you about in one of my previous letters. The more you see of them the more you become convinced they are mad, unreasoning 20^th century cannibals.

I suppose by now that you have heard of the Army’s new rotation plan. The time is now three years overseas, after which you become eligible for return and reassignment on the mainland. Well that’s another year to wait before there is even any hopes of getting back, and even then much is still probable. There is a furlough plan in effect but the quotas are so small I think it must be more of a morale builder than anything else.

Well there isn’t much else I can think of to write, although it isn’t very late. I’m still getting along very well and feeling good. In this weather skin diseases and ailments seem to be common and coral cuts take a long time to heal. It seems like all little scratches and cuts don’t heal up like they used to at home.

Guess I better peel off, and go to bed and for the Nth time think of you without being able to say goodnight to you.

Love,

10 March 1944

Dear Folks:

This is Saturday night, inspections are over, everything cleaned up and now we are spending a quiet evening. A few minutes ago finished a hotly contested bridge game but our side finally came out 30 better and fifty cents richer. Saturday nights usually mean a bridge game while the Hit Parade is going on. We hold the sessions in my room in the back of the billet and just made for such things. News is again slipping off to the leaner side at least as to what I feel I could write about. The office seems to keep up a pretty fast pace. Last week we undertook to do a GI remodeling job and now it looks pretty professional. Keeping account of the records of so many dogfaces runs into quite a lengthy job.

Dick called up last night and we had a drawn out conversation. We made arrangements to spend a weekend together and you can never tell when this may be the last one for along time so better take advantage of it. He seems always in good spirits and looks fine. But regardless of what he thought before, he misses home just as much as I do.

The mosquitoes are about as bad here as they are in Minatare. The billets are screened and we use nets at night but quite a few still bite while sitting around. You know that the day mosquito caused an epidemic of dengue fever for a while and parts of Honolulu were quarantined, and it may break out again if some precautions aren’t used. They say infected mosquitoes probably camp up on airplanes from the South Pacific and brought it here.

Received two pairs of GI glasses so have three now and fitted to the latest eye vision. These GI’s don’t look too good but they are certainly durable and can take a beating. I think my vision has gotten a little worse since I’ve been in but only a very little.

Had a letter from B. Emick a few days ago. I think he’s in another romantic tangle with that WREN in London. Wherever he goes I guess he always makes out with the womenfolk. Competition is terrific over here and I never get close enough to smell the powder on one. Well this isn’t what you could call a good letter but at least it will keep you informed and (a) little less anxious and I guess that’s a big part of it so goodnight for a little while.

Love,

26 December 1943

Dear Folks:

Regardless of what I have to do I’m going to get a letter off to you today. I think this is the third one I’ve started. And I have quite a bit to write about this time, at least it’s pretty good. In the first place, another Christmas and another birthday have come and gone. The night before Christmas we played bridge, had some cheer, and listened to Roosevelt’s speech. But the real surprise and a most welcome present came at reveille when the commanding officer announced that I was promoted to technical sergeant. It was entirely unlooked for and made my whole Christmas day very happy. At noontime the commanding officer had the first three graders in his quarters for a round of drinks and some toasts to the new year. The drink whetted my appetite and of course later we had the customary meal for the GI epicureans. In the evening I went to a dance in town and there finished off a swell day. Also had a turkey dinner in a hotel. As long as I couldn’t be home, the day couldn’t have been a better one for me. But Christmas eve and the next day I think everyone was doing a lot of thinking about how nice it would be to get home for a while and wonder what the folks were doing and how they were spending their holiday. I hope that next year will bring the war a lot closer to the finish but I’m still pretty pessimistic about an early end. But let’s hope Dad’s predictions come true. And also I wondered how Dick was enjoying his day. I imagine he also had a good time.

When I returned from my pass I had a batch of letters to read and answer and some papers to read. I’m still trying to catch up. I didn’t send many (Christmas) cards this year. Received several from the Lewellen’s, Mrs. Conklin, Sandison’s and some others.

I hope my picture will reach you before long. I couldn’t find a suitable frame for it but hope that you will put one around it. I think it’s a pretty decent one. I will send on to Gram and one to Kate too.

Had my eyes rechecked recently and will soon get two new pairs (of glasses).

Well I hope you and the family had a merry Christmas and had all you could eat. Christmas is a pretty sentimental time when you are so far away from home and I was no different. But I always hope and know that when we all are together again, we will appreciate Christmas more than ever

Love,

6 December 1943

Dear Folks:

I want to see ‘Yank at Eton’ at the show but first better answer yours and Nancy’s letters. I know from the tone of your letter that you are becoming very concerned, especially about Dick but I believe that if you could see him now as I have, you would feel that he would take good care of himself. I can understand your references to Dick’s pictures. They do work hard and undergo strenuous training but it’s all for their own good. I know that the Army is broadening him and making him aware of things he didn’t realize before. Next Sunday I hope to fly over and spend five days with him. This time we will get the pictures you wanted last time. Guess, I didn’t mention Thanksgiving in my letters. We had everything and plenty to eat. After dinner most of us took it pretty easy and don’t think I didn’t spend minutes thinking about home. I don’t think I thanked you enough for the box you sent. The chain was the perfect thing—as a matter of fact I had lost my GI one a few days before so yours came at the right time. When the rush is over I will send you some things. Tomorrow my pictures will be done and will send them right away. I think they are pretty good too. The pictures of Dan and Carol are extremely good and I couldn’t help but think how fast and how much they have grown. Yesterday, Sunday, spent a full day and saw a good show. Went to the local football game that compares to the game on Thanksgiving at home. Before the regular game, was a duel between two barefooted teams, and then a kicking exhibition barefooted. They can kick a ball sixty to seventy-five yards. Dan should see them. Then a small airplane landed on the football field and presented the captains of the teams with the ball for the game. Anyway, I had a good time and lots of fun looking at the people and watching the cheering sections. Haven’t written to B. Emick yet but guess I ought to. Well, believe this is about enough for this time. Had my eyes examined today for a new pair of glasses—reading so much evenings puts a strain on them but they are not bad at all. Plan to have a bridge put in for the tooth I lost and the dentist, a civilian, says it will be about $30.00 so might have to ask for some more money. Well let’s make this goodnight and don’t you worry.

Love,

29 October 1943

Dearest Folks:

This isn’t the best time to write a letter during the noon hour, but after reading the letter that I just got from you the urge possessed me so here goes. A good letter by the way, and a good (one) to use in answering. If you hadn’t reminded me probably I might have forgotten that you are having Indian summer – been a long time since I’ve been in a climate where the seasons change very much – at least it seems like a long time. And then regarding the item about hunting, pheasants are plentiful here too, but I haven’t seen anyone shooting them. It would be pretty dangerous I guess and maybe someone might think there was something the matter. But oddly it seems to me there aren’t many birds. Rat control is a considerable problem on the islands and perhaps they keep the bird population down.

And about the glasses – yes I still wear them most of the time. You know I busted my civilian pair on the boat coming over and of course all I have now is the GI’s that are a good pair and plenty serviceable. Reading quite a bit puts a strain on them sometimes and about a week ago a cyst started in the right eye but it healed off itself. I hope to have my eyes re-examined soon but the GI red tape always has to be cut first.

So Dick wrote about a Chinese girl too? There are white girls on the island but they are pretty scarce most of them having been evacuated after the blitz. A white girl at a dance is practically mobbed. And speaking about the blitz, it’s interesting to talk to some of the people especially the white ones, about the first days after the Japs hit Pearl Harbor. Suspicion and fears were everywhere and they had the life scared out of them. I wonder how all the Japs here would have reacted if Japan had taken over?

And next to the commando course. You should have seen me yesterday if you can’t imagine me as one. Yesterday we went through an Infiltration Course that involves crawling, and I really mean crawling, a hundred yards under machine gun fire and through holes with a little dynamite in them, besides crawling under barbed wire. The idea of bullets overhead didn’t worry me so much as the physical exertion to crawling. That doesn’t seem very far but oh boy it sure runs into work. A guy looks about like a rattlesnake worming along and we were so dirty when we finished it was hard to tell who was who. I felt a little funny once or twice when I saw a tracer bullet streak over but otherwise it was okeh. After this experience we went to the beach and bounced around the waves so that was some compensation for the dirt.

Well Mom and Dad since I’ve started this, evening has rolled around and now I’m about to take off for the show so better wind this up. The pictures enclosed are ones that I have taken over the past two months and maybe they will be interesting.

Love,

19 October 1943

Dear Dad:

I’ll aim this letter at you this time having received a good full page one today. And what a day this one was. I feel like a kid after a day at the carnival. This morning I went over a Ranger Course that took all my strength to finish. I was never so (tired) since the days (when) we used to climb in the mountains. To describe it most effectively I guess it’s about like some of the training pictures you so often see in newsreels. After I finished I swore I was going to hug my bunk for the rest of the day, but a swimming party was arranged and the first thing I knew I went along. The waves at the beach were big and powerful. Its good fun to get in front of one and let it bowl you in to shore and that was okeh till I came down on my shoulder into a rock. The rock took a couple of big hunks of skin off and bruised my arm a little but it feels fine now. I wish you could have been with me today and seen the beautiful ocean and the beach. Although to most of the guys the ‘Paradise of the Pacific’ has become a prison rock to them. It hasn’t for me. The more I see of this place the more I feel I want to see more of the world. As a matter of fact I guess I daydream of many things after the war, maybe pipe dreams and impossibilities but nevertheless I think of them a lot and hope a few of them come into reality after the end. I never become disgusted at Army routines or other things that are different to civilian life, but I do get impatient over the fact that so much of my time is being wasted when probably at no other time should it be so productive. I guess that shouldn’t be a complaint – so many others are faced with the same thing. Knowing that this is the case I am trying to do the next best thing and even the small advantages compensate for some of the loss.

Reading in your letter about K Lackey I can’t but help to remark. I can’t figure that guy out, especially sitting himself in a liquor store and probably thinking up more things than ever to elucidate on. I guess it takes all kinds.

Well Dad this is a good night to pull down the book and study till bedtime. By this time I have read the two volumes you sent and of course I intend to (read) over them again. Those books have become more less inanimate objects and more like friends every day, and the object of my complaint is that I can’t study them all the time. So I guess this is all for this time. Thanks for the long letter today.

Love,

26 January 1943

Dear Folks:

It took a lot of nerve for me to sit down and write you a letter after not writing to you in more than a week, and I know you must feel pretty anxious, and I haven’t any real excuse, I just didn’t do it. And I should have been especially prompt with letters this week. Katie and Tom sent me a whopping big box of cigarettes and a wedding picture, then there was the tobacco and pouch and pipe from you and the stationery, all this in addition to the mail. This is the first and last time such a delay will happen. I received your two page V-letter today. In your letter I recall something about some table napkins and a cover. I had been planning to get a set for you and I will do it next payday. I have seen plenty of nice ones and although some of them are pretty expensive, I’m sure I can get what I want pretty reasonably. I hope my taste don’t fail me. And I will write the letter to Mrs. Peters. I had intended to and I will and soon too. Bringing up rationing, perhaps I should send dad a couple of pounds of coffee. As far as I know, excepting gasoline, there is no food rationing although a supply might not always be available. I guess I did look pretty thin in the pictures and I have lost a little weight since I came home, but I still top a hundred forty. I have a few more pictures and I will send them in a separate letter. I have been getting the Presses and the Digest—it came yesterday. The V-mail supply was very welcome. Its use is advocated and encouraged but it isn’t easy to get very many sheets. Many of the guys don’t like it, but I do. I sent you a few things about three weeks ago and I believe I insured them. There was an India made tray and a necklace, if I remember correctly. I guess I’m getting near the end of the sheet so I better taper off. I’m really sorry for not writing sooner and I know and consider your feelings. It won’t happen again. Thanks isn’t near enough for what you just sent me but I’ll say it anyway.

Love,