February 21 & 23, 1943. Two Letters from Stanley to Dad. Things are pretty quiet for Stanley in Oxford, Mississippi. He has just received a letter from Dad which was sent from Illinois. He congratulates Dad on getting his PFC stripe and mentions that his last letter was sent to Miami Beach, but he is sure that it will be forwarded to him at his new station. He mentions to Dad that being at the Savanna Ordnance Depot he is about 250 miles from Truax Field (near Madison, Wisconsin) where their brother-in-law Billy Lubinski is stationed.
Stanley also tells Dad that they were out an a hike, but “Instead of hiking on the state road we made a hike through the woods in back of campus. It sure was rugged.” He says, “There was a gorge which was sort of wide. There was a shorter way of getting across so I started. I crossed the barbed wire and then there was a log laying across the ditch so I started across. My foot was slipping…I grabbed what was in back of me and it was a barbed wire. One of the prongs caught me and dug into my finger. You probably notice how I write funny. I got a small bandage on my finger. I think it will be OK in a day or so.”
Stanley tells Dad, “I do hope the both of us make out good and hit Staff Sergeant stripes or even better. At present Corporal Stripes bring us $66 a month while the PFC gets only $54 so try to get Corporal stripes.”
On the 23rd he reports, “Today is like a spring day outside. It’s just nice and warm and got just a little cool in the evening. It must be spring out here as we were ordered to hand in one blanket. Looks like everything points to spring. Lot of the small flowers are out and the trees are beginning to sprout. Even the grass is starting to grow.”
He mentions that he got a 100%-A on his Fifth General Exam and is also enclosing a few clippings for Dad that Anna sent him. He says, “I don’t have much to write today as I am getting sleepy. In about two weeks we will be getting out of this school.”
A clipping that Stanley passed along to Dad about the Carras brothers who lived on the same street as them in Albany. Four of the seven brothers in the family were in the service as of February 1943.
He closes, “God bless you and keep you safe and may you pass the school easily and get somewhere near home so we can both meet again soon.”