Friday March 12, 1943. Stanley writes a quick note to Dad to let him know where he ended up. “Well here I am at an Army Air Base here at Salt Lake City. This is only a reception center. We may stay here from 2 to 10 days before we are shipped out of here. From here we will be assigned to fields all over the western states from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. We are in the Second Air Force. It looks like I won’t get near home anymore.”
He says it is warm in Salt Lake City and the base is near the Rockies. For the first night they will be in old barracks. Stanley says, “I hope I get out of here fast.”
He goes on to chronicle his trip from Oxford, Mississippi. They left Oxford “on March 9th at about 12:30 or so”, catching a bus to Batesville where they picked up the train riding in a Pullman car the entire way. “Wednesday we were at St. Louis and also Kansas City and ate there. We had some time off in each place.” He writes that the trip was “interesting although tiring.” By Thursday night they were in Denver “just 9 miles from Ft. Logan”. They arrived in Salt Lake City on Friday morning at about 10:15 AM. It was only two months before that he was shipped from Ft. Logan to Oxford, MS
He says that his address in Salt Lake City will change few times until he ships out. He tells Dad not to write until he lets him know what address to use. He says, “My barracks bags did not come today. About 16 bags did not come by express. We expect them to come tomorrow.”
He closes, “So long for a while. God bless you brother and keep you safe and I hope you and I have a chance to see each other.”