September 19, 1942
Out in the wilderness

Dear Mom and All,

I got your card all right, yesterday. It takes a little longer to get mail now and it only comes in once a day instead of twice.

I’m sitting on a box and using my running board for a table, it works as well as anything we have out here.

Please excuse my writing as my wrist is rather lame. The ‘roads’ around here are terrible and I had to drive 125 miles yesterday and almost 100 today. The strain on my wrists’ is excessive.

I haven’t heard from Alice in almost 2 weeks, though I got a long letter from RR a few days ago. I wrote to the latter last night after I got in about 11 o’clock.

I had my hair all cut off about a week ago. Leland and I cut each others at first and now there are 18 baldy’s in the company. At first they left the stripe about one and a half inches wide in the center of mine, looked like an Indian, but I only left it that way for a day or so.

‘Gene Bostiche (Jay knows him) had his hair all cut off the top and left the back and sides. He is small and sharp featured and looked for the world like a little old Jew. He reminded me of Brody in Bloss.

Gosh, it is getting dark. I guess I’ll have to get my flashlight out.

Maneuvers start Monday, but they had to get us out in the woods three or four days early. Thought we wouldn’t have enough of it on maneuvers.

I left my big box packed and addressed in the supply room at camp and left instructions for it to be mailed if we went somewhere else without going back. It will be taken care of all right.

I hope you got the pen. I was going to insure it for $15 but they said it had to have 2 inches of padding and as I didn’t have time to re-wrap it I just mailed it with a little prayer. Don’t let Jay have it. He will probably want it, but it’s a little too good a pen to carry in high school. What I bought it for, I don’t know. Dad always said I was “pen and pencil happy”. He can have it if he wants it.

I reckon having so many of the kids walking so far, will be worse than all the old buses. Our kids are, plenty luck, all from your foresight six? years ago.

Well, I’ll close now as I can’t see what I’m writing anyhow.

Love to all,

Wayne

PS. I’ll write to Wanda when I can. When is she going to Mansfield and what is the address?