March 2, 4 & 5 1943. Several letters from Dad to Home. In the first letter dated March 2, Dad acknowledges Anna’s five page letter of Feb. 25th. He says that yesterday they had off. He got together with his “Lithuanian friend” Joe Damusis and “saw ‘Old Man River’ known better as the Mississippi River. It’s right at our back door…on the far side of camp and it sure is a nice river. Up around this end of the river it reminds me of the river along the dirt road to Coveville where we all used to go fishing. I will try to find some hooks and line for hand fishing and try my luck.”
Post Card image of the Mississippi River from Palisades State Park in Savanna, Illinois just south of the base where Dad was stationed.
He also has a request for his sister. “I would like to have a picture of Theresa-Marie, the little ray (big ray) of sunshine. I am glad that papa likes his grand-daughter. I just hope you don’t move out with Theresa-Marie until we get home, and I know you won’t. She must look very nice in the carriage with her two hands above the seam of the blanket.”
As for the jeweler’s arrest on spying charges, “It looks like it is curtains for Williams and probably Joe Miller may be under suspicion of the F.B.I. Wouldn’t Miller be surprised to find out the F.B.I. knows about his draft-dodging and are waiting for developments?”
As far as sewing on his PFC stripe, which Anna encouraged him to do in her last letter, “In camp here it makes no difference whether you have stripes or not. If I were to come home I would sew all the stuff on.”
In his letter of the 4th he mentions that he saw “Keeper of the Flame” with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn and says, “it was a good picture”. Tonight he will stay in and study for a test. They already had two tests and he passed both of them. Earlier that day they had an essay test. “I wrote mine with a sense of humor…how fellows like Ordnance even though they couldn’t get into Radio, but just the same Ordnance was so very interesting and how smart we all had to be to get where we are now in school.” He notes that when he handed it in to the instructor, “I watched him read it and he couldn’t hide the grin.”
Poster Art for Keeper of the Flame starring Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn
Dad says, “We have 6 weeks left to this course and when I get the chance after completing this course I will apply for radio and perhaps be sent to that school. The Army has a funny way of doing things and that is unexplainable.”
He also promises to “write to [Billy] Lubinski when things slacken down a bit around here as I hate to waste time by doing nothing and this is the time I have to write people. I take extra time out to write home and Stanley for you are all worth it. I try to write every second day.” He continues, “You need not answer all of my letters…there are so many thing to do around here you don’t get time to worry about whether you get letters or not. Of course, it is a good treat to get a letter from home.”
Dad’s letter of the 5th is a short one accompanying some letters and other documents he is sending home. He is also enclosing a “matchbox…I picked up while in Chicago…that perhaps Eddie could use as a souvenir of Chicago. Eddie would say “Thank You” and I say “You’re welcome” so that settles that angle of it.” He is also enclosing a “Small sphere which I picked up around here while on our paper and cigarette expedition. We police the grounds and in your language that would be picking the junk off the ground and depositing it in the trash cans. I regard to the thing…it looks like an imitation unless Eddie knows something about such things. I myself don’t think it is worth much but I would like to be wrong.”
Signing off on the 4th Dad writes, “May God Bless you a thousand times.”