July 31 & August 3 & 4, 1943. A few notes home from Dad as he is preparing for his furlough, his first since being sent to Camp Upton in January. In his letter of the 31st he writes that he signed his furlough papers and will have his furlough from August 5th to the 17th, which provides for a week at home with five days of traveling time. To be sure he writes, “I am not sure as to the exact date but it will certainly be before Saturday that I will actually be home.”
There is a fair amount of small talk in the letter of the 31st, with comments on everything from the movie Coney Island with Betty Grable (“a fine display of beauty”), to a letter he received from his friend Stanley Miskiewicz (“I told [him] that he could look me up around the weekend of 7th Aug. if he were in Albany at that time), and a letter from Isabelle Pawluc from the choir (“It was a nice letter”). He aslo apologizes that he hasn’t “written …in so long”, even though is last letter was on the 28th, a scant three days ago. He also mentions that they “have a radio in the barracks and at the office and on Sundays when I hear church singing or operetta it makes me feel so much at home that I hate to think of the present reality.”
By the time August 3 rolls around he is even more ready for his furlough. He reports, “I am all set to be seeing you before the end of this week .Fri. early morning seems to be the best estimated time of arrival at home and I am looking forward to that pleasure. I’ll have to be back at camp by midnight of the 17th … so get your questions down on paper…”
Excerpt from Dad’ s letter of August 3, 1943 advising his family in Alabny to be ready with their questions for when he gets home on furlough.
He mentions that he saw the movie “What’s Buzzin Cousin” (“rather entertaining”), and that the news on the war is “neither forward or backward, but now the allies are on the move again in Sicily, this time to clean up the island entirely. I certainly hope that this war will come to a speedy conclusion.”
Poster art for the movie Whats Buzzin’ Cousin?
Based on another comment in his letter, it looks like the Army only goes so far when it comes to uniforms. The readers of this who are or have been in the military can probably relate to this: “When I get home I will have one pair of pants which I will have to make longer at the cuffs, and another pair which will have to be made shorter in all respects. However I got one pair that is perfect.”
The last note from Dad before he arrives home on furlough is a postcard which he writes from the train station in which he acknowledges “I’ll probably be home before you get this.”
Image from postcard sent from the train station as dad was waiting for his train home.
Dad’s note home from the train station. Note the RPO (Rail Post Office) designation on the postmark indicating that the card was postmarked on the train.