Dear Folks:
This should be a long letter full of quite a bit of news for the past few days have been pretty memorable. A few days ago I received a letter from Jack Conklin and noticing his APO number found he was only a few miles from my station so I immediately tried to get hold of him. I was lucky enough to reach him on the phone and that night saw him for the first time in three years. And for the past three nights we have visited and rehashed all those never to be forgotten things that we did when we were young and foolish. It was as good as a week’s furlough. Jack looks pretty good and acts about the same as ever. He has traveled around quite a bit since he left the states and has a huge stack of pictures that he had to show me. He seems to have a nice job and one that is very interesting and not quite so GI as many of them. He was anxious to see me and neither of us could hardly realize that we were actually talking to each other. I couldn’t get a hold of Dick so that he could see Jack, but perhaps we can arrange that later. I haven’t seen Dick myself for over a week now and don’t expect to see him for a while. Yesterday afternoon (Sunday) got a pass, and just before I left got a letter from you and Dad and so had to tell Jack all the gossip in it. It was (a) good letter to get because there was quite a little in it about the Conklins. Well finally I had to say goodbye and probably our next visit will be many moons from now. You don’t know how good it was to see him and find someone that could talk to you about things in common. After he told me all his travels and we went through his pictures. We talked about the aftermath and what we expected to do. Jack does seem more serious about life and realizes his life was put to him on a gold platter. What did I think I was going to do? Well I said I was going to go home for a while then go overseas again and start myself something abroad. I wish I could realistically relate to you our conversation but I’m not good enough for that. You will have to imagine the rest. Now to get around to your letters and see what I can comment about. I’m so glad you liked what we sent and perhaps again soon I can send you some oddities. I wish I could have sat in with you on the Ouija Board session and added some firsthand comments. One of the big things Jack and I remarked about was the love life of the younger set at home – I mean all the marriages and babies. And now little Jimmie Colson (is) engaged. Jack couldn’t imagine Kate with a baby. And of course Krumenacher, Fry, Carroll, and some others all came into our frying pan of gossip. We feel that we are being left behind and that our future mates will be hard to find (ha). And talking about the late songs – it is the custom in our tent to schedule a bridge game during the ‘Hit Parade’ so we don’t miss any of them. No we don’t hear Tokyo Rose in the Islands, although those who have good radios can tune in Tokyo and hear them pretty good. I heard some about a battle in the South Pacific and compared it with our news broadcast and somebody is lying like hell, and I hope it was the Japs. I would like to meet R. Pitsch but it is increasingly difficult to get off and when I can get off a day I hardly like to spend ¾ of it looking for someone although perhaps I will happen to be out there someday and can locate him. All the busses and taxicabs are crowded to overflowing and the highways are an endless ribbon of traffic and a dogface doesn’t find it too easy to get around. And now around to Dad’s inimitable manuscript. Your business must be very good and I was certainly surprised to hear the amount of money that you grossed last year. It makes me feel very good. Why don’t you take a picture of the place with the new signs and send me one? By the way Jack and I took pictures and he will forward a set to you.
Bill Dick should be a good man to work for you. And with the landscaping and redecorating you are doing on the house, I can’t wait to see it and put out a tear or two just looking at home once again. I know it will be something to see. And I suppose that when the farm is fixed up that also will be quite a garden spot. I hope all your hopes about the war is true and I sometimes think that this thing may crack sooner than we anticipate, but on the other hand think it will take quite a while. I wish you and I could talk the whole thing over. The new furlough plan seems to (be) taking effect for the boys in the Aleutians and I’ll bet they are having a good time, but don’t get too optimistic about my chances for I can’t see anything in sight for some months to come. I had a very nice letter from Gram today and Dick and I both thought after we mailed the package that we didn’t send anything to Gram and Gramp and they probably felt a little put out but we will send them something and try to make up for it. I surely miss her and think she is very sweet to write when I know it must not be too easy for her. She is the most kindhearted and helping person, and I feel bad about not always treating her as I should have. Well, here’s another request. I want you to take some of my money and find me a good, waterproof, shockproof, and accurate wrist watch. One that I can wear anywhere and that can take a stiff beating. You will probably have to put out quite a little for one but I need one badly and I want one that I won’t have to worry about if I get it in water or in the mud or wherever else might happen. Well I think this is about enough and I have a lot to do so I’ll cut off about here. Seeing Jack and reminiscing brought both of (our) homes into clear focus, and we appreciate them much more than you think and know that never again will we hold some of the ideas we did when we were younger. Well, so long for now.
Love,
