October 27, 1942
On maneuvers

Dear Mom,
I have several letters to write, but decided to put you at the head of the list. After all, you are my best girl, I know I can depend on you, and I’m not too sure about some of them.

Please excuse any fingerprints, misspelled words, etc., as I am eating an excellent flavored apple and hate to take my attention away from it.

I received your letter night before last, but was busy yesterday. We moved about 60 miles down the Texas side of the Saline river, then crossed over into LA again, getting in position for the problem that started last night.

So Jay is starting to pull his brother’s tricks and skip school eh? I don’t know but what you learn just as much or more by skipping once in a while. Of course the teachers don’t think so though.

It hasn’t been very wet down here lately, except the damp air. It rained a little a couple of nights ago for the first time in about a month. It turned cold afterward and was pretty chilly yesterday. It is about 2:30 now and I still have my field jacket on. Haven’t had it off since yesterday morning.

I’ll have to write to Mama Rose. I’ve intended to for quite a while, but just haven’t done it. Tell them I said hello.

I didn’t hear that ‘gag’ the same about the farm and VA and the invitation. I picked a soldier up the other day and we got to talking about LA. He said that if he “owned a half acre of Shell(?), he’d sell out here to go home”.

That ‘gag’ in my letter was a figment of my own imagination, but if you think it was funny you’d ought to hear some that one of our cooks named Norris from West Virginia tells, holy Macarell, but he can lie. They talk about Brit’s “tall stories”, but he could put “Bob” Burns in a backseat anytime. I don’t do bad myself when I get started, but I just shut up and listen when he gets wound up.

He told us all about one time when he worked in the minds where “the top was so low that when you crawled in, you had to pull your sandwiches in with a string. He has a slow drawl that you could listen to all day and he never bats an eyelash even on his biggest ones. He makes them up as he goes and can keep up indefinitely.

I’m sorry to hear that the baby isn’t doing well. Maybe it seems unnatural because the rest of the kids were a little above average and grew fast (quickly I mean: not stationary).

I didn’t see Jerry’s last letter to Wanda as he wrote it the weekend I was in camp for the examination, but I did see the first one. I laughed until tears streamed down my face (well, what I call my face, anyhow) and he says the second was even worse; he cried.

I haven’t seen Jerry for over a week. His face broke out into a rash, then turned raw. They called it impetigo and as they didn’t have the stuff to check and cure it here, they sent him back to the clearing company for treatment. Some of the fellow saw him and said they were having him soak his face Epsom salts all the while, except when he was eating, sleeping or up for air.

Well, I guess this will have to do for now.

Love to all,

Wayne

PS. I got this all sealed up when I happened to think of something important. We were all given a mimeograph sheet to send home, quite a while ago and I always forgot it and now when I think of it, I can’t find it. Maybe I’ve already sent it and don’t remember but I better make sure.

If anything ever happens that I’m needed at home get in touch with the local Red Cross at once giving my name, address, serial number, etc. Also, my commanding officers name, Captain Angelo A. Petraglia, M. A. C., at present. Also give reason.

They will investigate immediately, and if reason is sufficient, they will wire the Red Cross in the camp I’m in and they will see to it that I get an Emergency furlough and what money I’ll need for it. You’d be surprised how quickly they work and it is the only way of getting an emergency furlough. This will work in any camp or branch of the service I happen to get in.

It’s a good thing to know, even if it isn’t necessary.