October 22, 1942
On maneuvers (yet)

Hello Sis,
So, you just write to me to get rid of your paper, eh? I like that, I guess, not.

Your letter was here when I got in Tuesday evening. We went to Camp Livingston Sunday afternoon, went into Alexandria that night and saw a show. We didn’t have any passes and Alexandria is supposed to be off-limits, but we took a chance and got away with it.

We went over to the hospital about eight Monday morning for our x-rays, wasserman (I had to look it up, it’s a test for syphilis – Brian), urinalysis, and eye, ear, and throat exams. We had intended to go back that afternoon, but they told us that if we wait a day, we could get the reports and save a couple of days waiting for them in the mail, so we called the Captain and got permission to stay.

We thought we might as well celebrate while we had a chance so we went out to Schlitz’s canteen, a family beer joint and restaurant just outside camp. We were there from 10 AM till 7:30 PM (Dewey, Cpl. Tech, Seitz, Cpl Baker and I) and spent about $82. Charlie and I were still pretty sober, but the other two were feeling pretty good. At least we were quiet and knew what we were doing.

The next morning we went over to the hospital to see if the reports were ready. They said we could get them at noon, so we went back out to the Schlitz for a couple of hours, but didn’t do much drinking.

We got our reports at noon and all of us had passed. I guess I said on the card that Rumsey was going to, we all hope to stick together, if such a thing is possible.

I imagine it will take about a month for the transfers to go through, then we’ll all be “buck” Privates in one of the toughest outfits in the regular army. The pay is something around $100 a month and extra for jumping. You are required to make at least one jump a month.

We will have to take three months basic training, six weeks of it in physical training so it will be some different than what we’re doing now. Drapcho, driver of the ambulance I’m orderly on, and I had an emergency call today. Some fellows from the enemy side tried to pull a fast one and swim in the Saline river, from the Texas side to the LA side that we are on. They wore their clothing and steel helmets and carried their gas masks and rifles and tried to swim about 75 yards of a dangerous, 30 foot deep river and part of them didn’t make it.

Eight of them started and five got across by dropping their equipment in midstream; two of them were rescued after they went down and we spent about 2 1/2 hours looking for the other one, but the water was so muddy that we couldn’t see more than a couple feet and so deep that we couldn’t stay down long so we had to give up.

That makes 10 that have drowned so far, besides all that have been killed in accidents.

It is dark now and has been for the last half hour so if this writing is mixed up, you’ll know why. I can’t even see the sides of the paper.

I got a surprise the other day. I got a card from Jack McDonald. How he ever got my address and wrote, I don’t know.

I haven’t heard from any of my girlfriends for nearly 2 weeks. They have all deserted me, I guess. Oh well, maybe I’ll live through it, I never was one to try to figure women out and I’m not going to start now.

I probably won’t get a furlough until next spring, if I do then, as this transfer business is going to set me back.

Your brother,

Wayne

Rather and abrupt ending no? Don’t want to waste any paper so might as well scribble on it. I am no cheapskate.