Financial situation prior to deployment
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310.9.1-6.2016 Transcription
26 Sept 44
Dearest,
Again — HAPPY ANNIVERSARY[1]— to ya!
I wish I had the money to call you
long distance & say it.
Financially speaking, I believe
I will come out just about even to
the cent by the time I leave this
country. I have $19 left as of the moment
& by the time I step on a boat I will
have paid my past mess bill, etc, etc.
The Etc. includes something that may
interest you — do ya know what
a striker is? — aside from the
John L. Lewis type there is a private
in the army who sweeps, etc &
he is called a striker. I guess the name
came from the fact that he S-T-R-I-K-ES
down your tent (“striking a tent” is the official
army’s way for terming taking own a tent).
However, strikers do far less than they
they use to I guess, & I frankly dont
see why I & every other officer pay
him $1.00 a week unless it is for
[2]
tradition’s sake — and — to
sorta “keep-up” c̅[2] Navy officers who
have [an][3] orderly who really waits on ‘em
hand & foot. Well, to go on c̅ the
money, I hand out $15.71 for the air
matress today. Boy was that a
scramble & the good Lord was c̅ me.
There are so few left in the country
& the order was shorted in number
when it finally did arrive. Majors
& stuff were in that Special Orders
Office brow beating matresses out
of the (somewhat) slack secretary
even though they had never gotten
themselves on the order list. Well,
after haunting that office for 3 days
I finally sneaked out in the middle
of a Gurand rifle class & hurried
down there to arrive when there were
about 15 left. Maybe the secretary
would have sold-me-down-the-
river had I not shown up c̅in
a couple of hours. I dunno! This is
even in view of being on the order list.
[3]
Then at the P.O.E. I will spend (I hope)
about $7.52 for combat boots as you
just cannot get ‘em any other place
in the U.S.. They are just [illegible deletion] like those
new Devens[4] ones you saw plus a
5 inch scuff-flap attachment that
holds your pants bottoms in & therby
eliminates leggings (:Alah be praised!).
Soooo, dear, I’m afraid I dont have
money for a phone call tonight on our
Anniversary or any other night.
Oh, yes, please try hard to
set up that little address book I
wrote you about AND AIR-SPECIAL IT.
Right now I have a bunch of APO[5]
cards to put names onto & I know
I would forget half of them if I
were to do it right now when
we are so busy.
The 116th itself is plenty busy
enough, & in addition to that I have
to still be negro-nurse-maid.
this AM it wasn’t so bad & I got
back here to my outfit at about 10:45AM
[4]
but that was because I emphasized
the importance of getting back for
Gurand rifle training — I could
have just hung around & they would
have kept things “piddeling” in
all morning [or all day][6] long.
Gosh! darn-it! I keep forgetting
about 2 or 3 things I mean to write
you — during the day I remember
them & then here at night I just
cannot think of them. One, for example,
is something Lt. Gillespie told me
about his ductus ↔ septum baby.
[oh, oh! — the reason I tried writing down the
above was to see if it would help me remember
& it did — so here is at least one forgotten
point][7]. viz. Lt. Gillespie has schooled
(“educated”) his wife to the idea that
her approach to their baby should
be free-easy-“normal”-nonapprehensious.[sic]
Not overly worrisome, etc. He says
it has worked just fine for the baby
AND ESPECIALLY THE MOTHER. Please,
dearest, you try [though I know its hard][8]
to be like Mrs. Gillespie or every hair
[5]
in your head will be white when
I next see you. P.S. I still love white hair &
maybe this Evacuation Hospital will give me some
that you wouldnt, you stingy-gut, BUT I’d hate
to see all white hair on you just due to Thumper[9].
For two solid days I have
been so busy & tied up that I just
cant get to the P.O. to mail that
Wis[consin] alumnus folder c̅ lots of little
things stuck inside of it. I just
don’t know how much the postage
will be. However, let me know,
when it finally arrives, if you were
as pleased about something in it
as I was when I saw it (“It” is
a sheet headed by viz. Lookie! Lookie! etc).
I’ll just keep you in suspenders!
Again — write me immediately
about your “deductions” in that
“conveying-letter” that marrys
Rusty Brackett to Dr. Charlie Secor.
Infact air-special your letter, as
time for me to spend p back straightening
out the explainations is limited.
[6]
Well, just 2 hours ago I
received my last issue-stuff (&
had also obtained the last important
personal purchase stuff) so I now
feel as of this momement [sic] pretty
relieved to not have all sorts of
things “hanging-fire.” 2
Oh! no! there is one exception
though it is not truly important.
it is stated that certain nights
in overseas life a guy is just too
damn dead tired to blow up his
air matress by mouth (about 10-15 minutes
of huffing & puffing). Few officers have been
blessed by being able to get ahold of
a basketball (or football, or similar)
air pump. You must know that they
are like dear — maybe even
used ‘em. they are in all lengths
around a foot long, but a happy
medium between “big type” or “little type”
would be A #1. However, if you can
lay your hands on any pump that
[7]
is all in a straight axis grab it.
It would probably be just your
luck to find one in an our-of-the-way
(militarily speaking) like Rochester
or Bismarck. Maybe Clarion Larson
could swipe the 2nd or 3rd pump
laying around the Bis[marck] High School
coach’s office, etc, etc.. Anyhoooo,
honest or dishonest, a pump for ones
air matress is a treasure!
It seems a shame to waste
the other side of this sheet of paper by
not telling you how I love you, &
how I miss you, & how I curse
the lack of opportunity to help you
& Thump, but you know it all s̅[10]
long words. Soooo —
Always-All-Ways-A.M.L.[11],
Dave
[1] In original, there is an arrow pointing from bracketed text to the date written above.
[2] Medical abbreviation meaning “with.”
[3] Bracketed text inserted into original with a caret.
[4] An Army fort in Massachusetts.
[5] Army Post Office.
[6] Bracketed text is part of original.
[7] Bracketed text is part of original.
[8] Bracketed text is part of original.
[9] Nickname for their infant son, Terry.
[10] Medical abbreviation meaning “without.”
[11] All my love.