June 8, 1943. A letter home from Dad. He seems to have settled into life at Topeka Army Air Base, reporting “things are going along without any changes.”
He is looking forward to spending some time at home soon. He comments, “When I get home on a furlough next month I am sure the weather will agree with me. I will have my suntans on, the ones I had my picture taken in at Miami Beach. As for Theresa-Mare being afraid of me, well I’ll make friends with her as soon as I get home.”
There is little news to report from on the base. He writes, “Yesterday I had K.P. and it wasn’t bad. All I done was empty the food off the platters into the garbage can. I was a “G” man, and in no way connected with the FBI either.”
He comments on some of the news from home:
- He is glad to hear that Eddie “made out very well in his fishing trip” and he hope “he gets bigger ones the next time.”
- As far as Joe Miller who was recently drafted into the Navy, he “made out very well by landing at Sampson, N.Y.”
- And last but not least as far as the baby’s teeth coming in at the same time his mother is due for more teeth to be pulled, “Theresa-Marie is finally showing off…she is getting teeth while mama is getting rid of hers.”
He is looking forward to the Jeanette MacDonald concert which is coming up in two days. He also pauses to wax nostalgic for the days when he was home “In the cool breezy evenings at night here after a warm day, as I walk along the barracks streets under the moon and stars I can imagine how we used to sit on our doorstep with you and daddy on Saturday evenings. It’s a very pleasant thought.”
He also makes an attempt to allay the fears that the family back home has that Stanley will be sent overseas. “After Stanley’s training…he might be sent to an outfit like ours as there are a few fellows whom I met who had overseas shots and everything a long time ago, and they are still here.”
Issued about the same time as this letter, and included in the collection, is a memo dated June 5, 1943 to all personnel in the 21st Bomb Wing Headquarters regarding “Recreational Facilities Available in Topeka”. The one page memo details the various golf, tennis, swimming and bowling facilities in the town as well as the locations of certain social clubs. It is interesting that the local private country clubs made monthly memberships available to the servicemen serving in Topeka. A .pdf of the memo can be viewed here.
Also, included in one of Dad’s previous letters was a Sad Sack cartoon depicting the hapless GI on MP duty. I’ve attached it below for your enjoyment. Of course, you can go to a full size image by clicking on the cartoon below.
Sad Sack cartoon sent home with one of Dad’s letters.