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Those New Sirens

Posted by on November 16, 2014

June 29, 1943. Anne writes a letter to her brothers.  Mama has had three more teeth pulled, all from the upper left side of her mouth. Anna goes into great detail for three paragraphs (almost half the letter) about the trip to the dentist. The gist of it is that even though she has had numerous extractions before, mama is still nervous going to the dentist. Fortunately this time “the tooth pulling business didn’t make mama as sick as she was the last time”. According to Anna, mama only has one more trip to the dentist for the last of the extractions.

Anna goes on to ask Stanley what kind of sergeant he is “Staff, Technical or what” as apparently he did not specify in his last letter. Anna also tells Dad that she will “start offering up a special little prayer for your intention so you will be more than just a PFC.”  

Weather in Albany is “so hot that it is almost unbearable”. Anna writes that they have been taking baths at night to help cool them down, but it only offers temporary relief as they heat up once they are in bed for a while.

The previous night it was so hot that she could not sleep comfortably. When she finally did get to sleep she was woken up by an air raid drill at 2:30 in the morning. Anna writes, “I was sleeping so good when boom they shot off that crazy couple of bombs and those new sirens that they got. These were supposed to be heard all over the city. They wanted to see how the new sirens and new signals would go together. …the terrific noise woke me up.” Anna writes that mama and the baby slept through the drill, but it woke her father and husband up.

Apparently, Anna must have read the letter that Stanley wrote to Dad where he described the female dancer that entertained at a meeting on the base (either that or Stanley wrote home directly to Anna about it). She obviously did not approve and held a low opinion of the entertainer as she writes, “I read that description of that entertainer at your camp who danced half naked. The way they put it they are supposed to help keep up the morale of the boys in the service but the way I think they only disturb it. I wonder if that dame had any business after the show. Ahem, ahem!!”

She wraps up the letter with another mention of the weather. “Tonight it is cool and a cool breeze is blowing. It will be a nice night to sleep and maybe I can get some rest.” Of course, no letter from home is complete without news about the baby. Anna mentions that other than some “prickly heat pimples” the heat has not bothered the baby much. They baby is drinking about a quart of water a day and sweats “like two horses but she didn’t cry or fret or whimper like some babies.”

She closes acknowledging that she has “covered all the news” and wishes “good luck and God bless you.”

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