November 29, 1944. Dad writes a letter home from Topeka Army Air Field. He acknowledges receiving his sister’s letter of November 26. He is typing the letter in the office and notes that “The moon…is very bright and there are white billowy clouds in the sky. The ground is frozen and it looks like we might have snow by morning.”
He is enclosing a copy of The Gremlin, the base newspaper, and comments on an article about a show that he saw on base that features Kay Kyser and his wife Georgia Carroll. “At first I didn’t care much for seeing him as I never thought much of him, but I decided to go up to the hangar …where he was giving a show… To my surprise, Kay put on a very good show and it wasn’t a publicity stunt because it wasn’t broadcast anywhere. He didn’t even have his own band…but he did have the base band out here. Georgia Carroll sang several songs and we had a good evening’s entertainment.”
A clipping from The Gremlin, the base newspaper, about an appearance by Kay Kyser.
Dad writes that he is still attending the machine shop classes on base, which keeps him busy for 2 to 2 1/2 hours every Tuesday and Thursday. He is also nearing the end of the Physics course that he is taking on a correspondence basis. He plans to take the geometry and trigonometry courses after that.
He continues to look towards his post-war future. “I’ve secured a catalog from RPI and Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio regarding their course. I know I’m looking too far ahead but if I know their requirements, I believe I can take up certain courses to meet their standards of admission. So far…I plan on Elec. Eng. course at RPI. …Mechanical Eng. looks pretty good to me too…” In a nod to the GI Bill (which he discussed in his previous letter) he notes, “You can tell ma and daddy that they haven’t worry about the financial situation as that will be my worry and I don’t think there is much to worry about.”
Dad also addresses Anna’s attempts at matchmaking, ignoring the comments about the young girl who is boarding upstairs and commenting further, “I guess I really didn’t mean it when I said I would bring my fiancée to ma for one year. Shucks that would give ma a fine opportunity to warn the girl of what danger was about to befall her in marrying one of us. …It would be better for us to hide her. I hope mama doesn’t take me seriously.”
He closes, “Well, I believe I must close now and until we hear from each other again, God bless you all!”