Category Archives: Foster

Sometimes it is a little hard to think of things to write

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Letter transcription:

Wed.

Dear Mother,

Just got home-read your short Sun letter. Sometimes it is a little hard to think of things to write about and some days one hardly feels like writing because of the scarcity of news. Just reminds me of what it might be like to be in jail only I guess we have a little more liberty.

We have another air raid warning tomorrow nite. So that means another night at the base. That’s a ‘lovely” duty. Just go there and sit and listen to the whistles blow. I’d like to know what they sound like down here once.

There is a fellow here now in the room Dorothy stayed in. The Dr. that was going to take it you remember was transferred and she hasn’t rented it until yesterday. Had plenty of chances but you know here-only the best.

I’m going after leave again tomorrow and this time I’m going to get it–maybe-at least I’m going to put up some pretty good arguments. That is If if I don’t get orders before that.

Got paid today-still had about $20⁰⁰ left

(page 2) from time before. Just about enough for the ticket home, but I haven’t gotten my laundry yet. This makes 16 days and believe me I’m getting down very low. I’ll almost have to get it before I can come home.

Got a letter from Clay City today. Things seem to be going as usual there.

Well, I’ll either write or be pretty definitely on the way home tomorrow eve. That is I’ll know pretty definitely that I’ll have a leave by then-

Love Daddy

____________________

Well, it would appear that my grandfather did get the leave he desired. This is the last letter I have from him until July 30th, just over two weeks later than today’s letter. His trip home didn’t turn out quite the way he expected though. Stay tuned for some interesting twists and surprises!

Wednesday’s Child – Carrie E. Steuernagel (1887-1889)

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Steuernagel, Carrie - gravestone

Photograph of gravestone by Tonya & Keith Tetidrick from Find A Grave

Carrie E. Steuernagel was the youngest child of Charles A. Steuernagel and his first wife, Henrietta Paulina Yegerlehner. If you recall from last week’s Wednesday’s child, Henrietta was my grandfather’s aunt. Carrie died one month and nineteen days after her mother died, and just one month shy of her own second birthday. I do not know the cause of her death. I also find it hard to fathom the amount of grief that Charles experienced in his life. He had a rough time when it came to family. He lost his first wife and two of their three children within four years. When he married his wife’s younger sister Matilda, their marriage did not fare much better. Matilda and Charles were married seven years before she died a month after giving birth to her last child. They had five children together; two of which died as infants. Charles married a third time and lost this wife after only five years of marriage. Dorothy died within days of giving birth to her third child.  I think Charles gave up trying to find a wife afterwards.

Carrie is buried at the St. Peter’s Church Cemetery at Hickory Corner, Owen County, Indiana (FindAGrave).

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Letter transcription:

Mon. P.M.

Dear Mother,

It seems as if I’m getting the run around. Now the Captain has put me off until Friday. He may know of some orders coming in etc. or something else anyway today he told me to come back Fri. Fri I’m going to tell him I have some definite plans made for Sun and Mon and must get off at that time. Of course he may have other definite plans also. It might be as you said some time off between duties.

I wrote Mrs. Ahern so probably won’t be bothered by that anymore.

I’m just as much put out and feel as badly as you do about the summer but I can’t figure any solution because if there is no place to live I don’t know what can be done. These houses in Oakdale are OK but they don’t have gas or electricity so that is definitely out. A Lt. and his wife and 7 children are living in one and cooking in the fireplace but I don’t want that. They have been there 3 wks. Yesterday. Sounds

(page 2) like Wittenberg, but they can’t get the stuff to finish the lines.

Maybe we can talk those things over when I get home. I’ve been more dissatisfied here in the last 2 wks than before because its just like you said, the whole summer is almost gone, but I can’t see what can be done about it.

Got a letter from Uncles Wess today¹. They are in Mich., spending the summer. He still writes about the Spanish + American War². Guess it was as big to him as this one is now.

I washed out a suit of underware today. Mine are all in the wash. One bunch has been there since June 30, Maybe they will be out by Fri. Hope so or I’ll have to come home dirty.

Well, as I said last week. I’ll keep on writing each day because Fri. he may put me off again.

Love Daddy

Notes:

  1. Uncle Wess was Silvester Schiele, Roscoe’s mother’s brother. Silvester’s wife Jesse was from Michigan so it seems logical that they went there to vacation in the summers. Search the archives or tags to find more posts regarding Silvester.
  2. Silvester served in Company I, 1st Illinois Infantry in the Spanish American War in 1898. He was a musician. I recently found him in the U.S., Spanish American War volunteers, 1898 database on Ancestry. I knew he had served in the war but not that he was a musician! This letter provides the “smoking gun” evidence to corroborate the oral history that has been passed down.

Amanuensis Monday – July 12, 1942

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There is definitely a routine to my grandfather’s letters at this point. Many of his letters open with how many letters received and which ones. This is a fairly typical interchange between my grandparents: I received this one, etc but nothing from such and such a date or I haven’t received anything for so many days. As the war progress, this will become the opening routine of most of their letters. Work for my grandfather seemed quite monotonous. More sailors arrived every day for the doctors to examine and inoculate. More jg’s were also expected. After a break of about 11 days, another doctor finally received orders to be transferred to another post. My grandfather also seemed very anxious to get a leave home. He did not exactly say why specifically but I’m sure we can all sympathize with his desire to go home, at least for a little while. At this point, he received some resistance from his commanding officer and the leave was not granted. Roscoe sent in his application for Flight school. He informed Gladys of his decision but waited for her response. I’m not sure that he liked what she wrote back. He began to second guess his decision to apply. By July 11th, he had not heard anything about the application and did not know if it was accepted.

I learned a few things this week that I hadn’t known before. My grandfather liked to read detective stories. He was taking a correspondence course and another weekly class on Navy regulations. He didn’t know if his sons knew about their mother being pregnant yet. I don’t know what the custom was in those days for telling the family about a new arrival. These days, families seem to wait until the first trimester has passed before passing along the good news. In July 1942, my grandmother was certainly past the 3 month mark in her pregnancy. I know my grandmother was a trim woman and as the pictures from June attest, she certainly was not showing her pregnancy (at least to the uninformed eye). I can tell somewhat because she looks a little rounder in the face compared to other pictures I have of her (before & after 1942).

This next week will certainly bring some changes and break the monotony.

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Letter translation:

Dear Mother,

I’m writing this at the base as you will note from the stationary. There really isn’t much to write about but there is just a little lull right now so. Sun Duty is a thing that everyone doesn’t like because it makes 7 days in the week instead of six and it gets pretty monotonous sitting here with not much to do, only accident and the minor run sicknesses.

We had special order (?) passed around that th to be on the alert for saboteurs and the like but so far there has been nothing unusual happened.

Had a good dinner – Ham, cabbage, mashed pot[atoes]

(page 2) Ice tea, Ice cream + coke. With soup to start things off with.

I’m going in the first thing in the A.M. to see about the leave- Maybe I can get it for sometime during the week. I hope.

Well, will write more later

Love Daddy

Sunday’s Obituary – Clara Etta (Steiner) Yegerlehner (1901-1966)

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Last week I posted the obituary of my grandfather’s brother Clarence. I am still waiting to receive an obituary I ordered from the Vigo County Library before New Year’s. I had been hoping to post the obituary for my grandfather’s last brother today. So change of plans….this week I will write about Clarence’s first wife, Clara.

Terre Haute Tribune; Monday, January 24, 1966, p. 2

Terre Haute Tribune; Monday, January 24, 1966, p. 2

Clara Etta Steiner was the daughter of George and Rosina (Willen) Steiner. Clara was the fourth of five children. After her mother died, George remarried. His second wife Grace had four children. George and Grace’s youngest son, Earl, was good friends with my grandfather’s youngest brother Floyd. George Steiner and his family lived in Owen County, Indiana. The Steiners were another family of immigrants from Berne, Switzerland. They, too, followed the same immigration trail through Holmes County, Ohio and thence to Owen County, Indiana. The Steiners were members of St. Peter’s Church as well as the Yegerlehners.  The church is located on the Owen and Clay county line. In fact, I believe the church is technically in Clay County while the graveyard is in Owen County. The Steiners and the Yegerlehners were two families that knew each other well and have trees that have intertwined over the years.

Clara and Clarence had certainly known each other since they were very small children. They were married May 22, 1920 in Coal City, Indiana, by the Rev. William Krieble, Clarence’s great uncle. If you would like to read more about Clarence and Clara, see the images posted with Clarence’s obituary.

The Yegerlehner Women - c1930s

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Letter translation:

Sat. Eve

Dear Mother,

Again Sat. and no delivery and no letter. Got a card from Boone. I’ve had the P.M. off and just now feel like the cat that licked the cream because I’ve spent the whole afternoon reading a ten cent detective story. I picked it up this AM and started it and there was nothing doing this PM. So we go off and I brought it home to finish all one story about 250 long.

Lentz went out to play golf and I’m waiting to get a message for him if it comes. He may take another week end off if he gets the right message. I think his girl friend is in Wilmington Delaware. That’s just a surmise and since I’ve been reading detective stories I try to figure those things out.

I go on duty tomorrow at 9:00 AM and get off at 4:30 Mon PM quite some stretch, but I guess I can stand it. Maybe I can find some time to write during the day.

Jim called me the other night he had come in to legde lodge but I was working on my correspondence course so I didn’t go downtown. He told me he was thinking of taking some sort

(page 2) of school work himself.

I’m running very low on clothes again. Haven’t gotten any laundry back since June 30 and socks are getting to be a problem again. And also underware. I’ve got some but not enough to last for one month. Its been 10 days since I took the laundry in and it took several days to get that much dirty clothes so that takes the most of the months supply.

Very very warm here today, only a faint sprinkle of rain last night again. It did help things to cool off however

Well, I’ll write again tomorrow

Love Daddy

Family treasures

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Normally, since today is Saturday, I would have written about another of my paternal family surnames. That had originally been my plan but on Thursday night I began searching through my boxes of family documents for my grandfather’s naval documents. I knew I had them. I had previously seen them, but I had forgotten where I stashed them. I finally found them again along with another family treasure, the bible belonging to my great Uncle Jim Foster.

My grandfather’s naval packet is about 2 inches thick. It contains pretty much every order he received including his initial enlistment papers. How I wish I knew where they were at Thanksgiving when I started my blog! I really could have started the story from the beginning, even before the letters started.  It looks like I have another organizing project because of course none of the papers are in order! I’ve already started pulling the documents that apply to July and August 1942.

First part of Uncle Jim's diary

First part of Uncle Jim’s diary

The other treasure is the bible. It was presented to Jim by his wife Thelma in 1931 when he became a Freemason. Over the years I have accumulated several bibles. I have one belonging to Christian Yegerlehner which is in German. I have my great grandmother Emma Foster’s as well. Neither one of them has any great genealogical information stashed away inside. They are more sentimental keepsakes. Uncle Jim’s bible on the other hand is a genealogical treasure trove. He apparently took it with him when he enlisted in 1942. The front pages are a combination autograph and address book in addition to being a diary of Jim’s years in the Navy.  The first page of the diary begins, “This page for my naval history second enlistment, enlisted 5 March 1942 in Indianapolis, Ind. As SK2C, called to active duty 5 May 1942, reported to Naval recruiting station in Indianapolis and from there to Great Lakes Naval Training Station, North Chicago, Ill. Served from 5 to 25 May in “boot” camp. Got one 24 hour leave on Friday 22. Went Home. Drove Back the next day with Thelma and George Garrigus. Left Great Lakes on 25 May for Norfolk, VA. Arrived in Camp Allen 26 May, remained there for four days and was transferred to Ship’s Company at Camp Bradford, reported at Bradford to Lt. Paul M. Ander, 30 May”. Since Uncle Jim wrote his second enlistment, I wonder when his first enlistment was.

In addition to these wonderful gems of family research, I also realized that I have at least a hundred letters that my grandmother wrote my dad from 1960 through the 1980s. My grandmother was a stenographer by training and usually handled most of the family’s correspondence including business correspondence related to my grandfather’s medical practice.   At least I know that when I eventually finish with the World War II letters, I’ll still have a lot to share about the family!

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Letter transcription:

Fri Eve

Dear Mother,

First-Send the $1,000 back back and write them to discontinue that phase of the thing. We don’t want to be mailing those things back every year.

Got two letters today and by the way when you address the letter put the (jg) right after the Lt. looks like you forgot something.

Had a pretty hard morning this morning but 5 of us had to examine 10 men this P.M. The rest of the time we sat. We have a lecture course at the base which meets twice each week. It’s all about navy rules + regulations. I know what that court-martial means now, will explain that when I come home. D

Still haven’t heard anything from my application and don’t suppose I will for some time yet. It just makes a fellow between the devil and the deep blue sea but I can’t see that I’m any better or worse off than others who didn’t apply.

This might be the last letter you’ll get before I get home but I’ll keep writing because

(page 2) I might not get off next week. I’m going to try about Tue, Wed. or Thur. Pay day is Wed and that might have something to do with it, because funds are a little short for fare etc. I’d have enough for here but to get a round trip would cramp me somewhat.

Its been sprinkling here a little but still no rain. It get cool here each night but hot as the dickens in day time.

Well, Hope to see you next week if this gets there before I do-

Love Daddy

Sam Snead

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Sam Snead playing at the PGA championship in 1942 at Seaview, New Jersey

Sam Snead playing at the PGA championship in 1942 at Seaview, New Jersey

I never quite know where my grandfather’s letters will take me. Today, I’m learning a bit about Sam “Slammin’ Sammy” Snead, the professional golfer. I am rather of my grandfather’s opinion on the whole subject. I don’t really like sports and I don’t spend my time following them.  I love his attitude towards golf. I’m sure we have all had the stereotypical picture in our mind of our doctor, playing golf on his day off. I guess my grandfather broke the mold on that one. My only exception for watching sports is during the Olympics. I will watch sports for 2 weeks every two years and then I’m done. This case is no different.  I’m sure if I knew who Sam Snead was and if I was an avid sports fan, watching him play would be quite the treat. Dr. Lentz was most likely of that opinion. But how cool is it that my grandfather got to watch this golf legend play (even though he didn’t appreciate it).

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Letter transcription:

Thur Eve

Dear Mother,

Didn’t get a letter today- I suppose it got mixed up in the mail at least I hope there is nothing wrong that you couldn’t write.

We are having some pretty hot weather down here at present. So far it has been very cool at nights but the days are really hot + sticky.

We went out and watched Sammy Snead¹, a professional golfer play a little this Eve. He was giving lessons. He is now in the navy and of course must give the lessons free. Somehow I don’t care anything for golf anymore-seems to me that it’s a waste of time and energy. Just as well walk and give up the hitting of the ball ever so often. Dr. Lentz seems to get a big kick out of it, was talking about buying a new set of clubs for $30², but then he doesn’t have any dependants to speak of etc.

Mrs. E. finally told me last night that she found the boxᶟ you left. She almost threw it away thinking it was an empty box. She got a letter from Dorothy. She said

(page 2) she was going to answer both your letters before long.

Today is the first day in eleven days that anyone got orders. He had been here about the same length of time that I have been. He was sent to the Panama Canal Zone.

Well, it’s time to go eat.

Love Daddy

Notes:

  1. Samuel Jackson Snead was a professional golfer who served in the Navy from 1942-1945. He was known as “Slammin’ Sammy” for his perfect swing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Snead
  2. $30 for a set of clubs! Amazing, but my grandfather was correct, Dr. Lentz didn’t have any children so he probably had a little more disposable income.
  3. When my grandmother and Dorothy Krull left Norfolk, they left a present for Mrs. Evans. At this point, it has been over two weeks since they left. I wonder what was in the box?

I forgot to say anything about the leg cramps

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Today’s letter reminded me of when I was pregnant with my children. Hearing bits about my grandmother’s pregnancy experiences is rather fascinating. It was certainly something that we never talked about when she was alive. My grandmother did meet my future husband about six months before we were married but talk of babies was still in the very distant future. She eventually died a few years later before I had my firstborn.  In the last years of her life, she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease or some other form of dementia. I don’t think she was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s but it was certainly suspected.  I doubt she even knew who I was the last time we met.

When she was pregnant with my father, Gladys was 36, going on 37. My father was born about 6 weeks before the 37th birthday. I was a couple years older than that when I gave birth to my youngest.  Thirty six was fairly old in those days for having children, but not unheard of, especially with women who had larger families. My father-in-law who is slightly younger than my father was born when his mother was 42.  I did not enjoy being pregnant, either time, but I think the second time was harder due in part to my age. Both my children were very active in vitro which made me very uncomfortable most of the time. My youngest also liked to sit on a nerve that affected my left leg. I also remember waking up in the night with leg cramps. Boy, I don’t miss those.

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Letter transcription:

Wed.

Dear Mother,

Just read your two letters and also Ed’s. His was rather it interesting but not much about himself except that about the Yoll stove. I don’t know what happened to him at Chicago. I wanted him to go to the Arnett Crocket Clinic in the first place.

Yes it may or may not have been wrong to sign up for that flight school but there was a fellow transferred from here the other day who had been here about 10-11 months + too Dr. Rude the one that was coming here-was married and had a child 5 yrs. old and he was sent to sea. So there you are. You can’t figure anything out in the navy. In the first place why was I sent down here-

If I were you-instead of taking too much laxative I’d use small enema at least for the time being. I forgot to say anything about the leg cramps. That will happen in spite of everything, but you should take some vitamins. Say one unicap each day. Of course Dr. C[ole] may prescribe something different but you can’t beat those and they don’t have any taste to upset you.

No one has gotten any orders now

(page 2) for ten days. So maybe I did make a mistake by trying to get out of here.

I told Mr. Ferneau about the letter Dorothy sent. He just laughed, guess I told you that before but its so long before the letters get back that I forget what I have and have not written.

Seems as if that was all the new-all we did today was examine + shoot. Had 2084 men to shoot today. So the day wasn’t wasted I guess

Love Daddy

Wednesday’s Child – Harvey E. Steuernagel (1884-1885)

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Photograph of gravestone by Tonya & Keith Tetidrick from Find A Grave

Photograph of gravestone by Tonya & Keith Tetidrick from Find A Grave

This is my fourth Wednesday’s Child blog. Wednesday’s Child is a genealogy writing prompt in which the gravestones of children are highlighted. So far I have written about the gravestones of my uncle and two of my grandparents’ nephews. Fortunately, there are no other graves of young children in this generation. I have to go back another generation to continue this prompt. Over the next few weeks I will be highlighting the graves of my grandparents’ cousins.

The first such grave is that of my grandfather’s cousin Harvey. Harvey was the son of Charles and Henrietta Paulina (Yegerlehner) Steuernagel. Henrietta was my grandfather Roscoe’s aunt. She died long before my grandfather was born in 1904. Henrietta was only 23 when she died in 1889. Henrietta died the mother of three children, none of which survived long enough to have children of their own. After Henrietta’s death, Charles married Henrietta’s younger sister Matilda Savilla Yegerlehner.

Harvey E. Steuernagel is buried at St. Peters Cemetery at Hickory Corner, Owen county, Indiana. (FindAGrave)

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Letter transcription:

Tue Eve

Dear Mother,

Do you remember the agreement that you typed and I signed to take a correspondence course in naval regulations etc? Well I got the course and that is what I’ve been doing this P.M. We always get an afternoon off and since I had the duty Sat and couldn’t take it Sun. I’m taking it today because the fellow who had it Sun. took Mon. That sentence sounds like Boly S. but its OK. There are 14 lessons in the course and one must get one in each month. If I can keep awake I don’t think it will take that long. The first lesson has 77 questions.

I went to the Captain today about the leave and he told me to come back next Mon. That will be the 13th so if I don’t get orders before then I’ll probably get to leave here around the 14th or 15th at least that is what he thought today. Sometimes it takes 3-4 days to get the papers made out so can’t be sure just what day it will be. By then I may hear from the other. And one fellow I know of got some little vacation between the time he left here and the time he had to report in Fla. That would help a lot we’ll just have to wait + see.

We had a pretty good shower yesterday Eve and last night but not enough to soak up this dry ground around here

(page 2) There was one new (Jg) came in today and there are others due Captain Mills told me today between now and the 12th so that is why he is holding me until then.

Mrs. E had her cleaning done today and was taking a bath. Told me if any of the boys came home to keep them out of the bathroom. Just as if they would break the door down. And just as if I’d fight them off.

Lentz went to bed last night at about 7:00 PM. He had been up most of Sat. + Sun.  Couldn’t hardly get him up this AM at 7:30.

I rather enjoy the course. Think it will give me something to do during the Eve. The questions are given and the answers have to be copied of out of a book. Not hard but tedious.

Don’t know where I’ll eat yet this Eve. Have to wait to see where Lentz goes.

This room is still vacant. Wish you were here so we could live there, if I had know[n] that that Dr. was going to be transferred. We could have sent Dorothy home and you could still stay, but those things we don’t know.

Well Solong

Love Daddy

Happy New Year!

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As I sit at my computer transcribing today’s letter, I am also thinking of the New Year and how life is constantly cycling around and around. The changing of the years is one such cycle. For me, the New Year is the beginning and the end of another year of my marriage. My husband and I were married on New Year’s Eve. We always start the New Year with the beginning of another year of our marriage. It also makes it really easy for my husband to remember our anniversary.

I have never been one for making New Years’ resolutions.  Why bother with resolving to do something that only lasts a few weeks and is quickly forgotten? And then later, when it is remembered it becomes something to regret. I don’t like regrets. I don’t like to dwell on them either. That’s too much energy wasted. I like to make decisions and move on from there. This year however, I really want to set a goal for myself. I’ve had my grandparents’ letters sitting in a box for over 10 years. I want to share them and really truly read them all. So I’m setting myself a goal, to transcribe and publish one letter per day through the entire year of 2013.

I have a lot of things to look forward to this year. Some of them are predictable, as in, they happen every year; for example, the annual ritual of selling Girl Scout cookies. I know I get frustrated with the bureaucracy of the whole process and it pretty much does fill up the months of January through March. But I do ultimately like doing it. This year, my family has a couple of landmarks to experience. My oldest will be leaving elementary school and moving on to the big bad middle school later this year. Much like the shock of achieving 18 years of marriage yesterday, I wonder:  where did the time go?  My baby girl is now a pre-teen, staring down at the hormonal cliff of puberty. I’m also planning a trip back east to visit family and friends, many of whom I have not seen since high school. Definitely an event to look forward to!

My grandparents’ letters remind me that even though my grandfather was away from home, life still went on. Bills had to be paid. The rain still fell (or in my grandfather’s case it didn’t). There were things that they were looking forward too, like the birth of their youngest child and a time when my grandfather could be home for good. So I hope you stay with me as I share the next 365 days (and more) of their lives, 70 years ago.

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Letter transcription:

Mon.

Dear Mother,

Just read your July 2nd +3rd letters. Didn’t get any mail Sat. The mail comes here in the P.M. and since there are no deliveries in the P.M. I don’t get the letter until Mon.

I can’t figure what the Insurance to the P. reality Co. is for. That seems too much unless they are figuring the car but that isn’t due until Aug. So don’t pay it until then Aug 11 to be specific. The house Ins. Surely isn’t that high unless its the 3 yr. coverage you talked about.

We had a very busy P.M. must have had close to 400 and only three of us. Hope some of those new (Jgs) get here before long. Maybe I shouldn’t have applied for the Flight business. That would htup stop any transfer to peru (penn?) etc-Maybe we can get a transfer there after the course is finished.

Do the boys know or do they just suspect your condition etc? You spoke of them being so considerate.

We haven’t had any rain here since the night you left. Just a few little spurts you can imagine how dry it is.

(page 2)I didn’t say anything to the folks about the Flight school. Because I don’t know if it will go thru etc.

I thanked Boonie for the candy, wrote Ruth + the folks yesterday.

That bank account sounded pretty good hope we can continue it there for a while. When + if I get the uniform money I think we should apply it on the note to D. Ream + stop that interest. Maybe if I get a leave we can attend to those things.

Well, I write more next time,

Love Daddy