September 22 and 27, 1945. Stanley writes two letters to Dad from Abilene where he is “feeling the best he can in the heat, deep in the heart of Texas.” It seems that he is spending his time either working in the orderly room where most of the time “it is kind of quiet” or taking in movies at the base theater while he is “sweating it out” waiting to accumulate enough points for discharge which he expects will occur in “another two or three weeks.”
He mentions seeing Isle of the Dead which starred Boris Karloff and he described as “one of those mystery pictures.” He writes that during the movie, “one blonde, an Officer’s wife, in the theater…when it came to one of those scary parts…yelled and just about scared everybody… She just about stole the show. The fellows called her the sound effects woman as she yelled in just the right time.” He also mentions seeing an Abbot and Costello movie (which “was pretty good and we had a hearty laugh”) as well as State Fair.
Poster art for the 1945 film Isle of the Dead
He tells of a few other things that are happening on base. One event was “somewhat of a get together in the Day Room. …the women in town were…treating us. They all made and baked pies of all different kinds and…brought them here on the field. …All the pies were homemade and they sure tasted good. I give credit to the women for doing all that for us figuring on the fat and sugar rationing. I had two pieces of pie myself… The women also did some repair work for the fellows such as sewing buttons and stripes and patches.”
Stanley relays a story about “a funny thing” that happened in the mess hall. “There was a brown cat with white spots sitting on the floor right along side of me, I gave him a piece of pancake and he ate it… After that he stretched himself on the floor and layed there. A big dog came around and I dropped a small piece of toast on the floor by the cat. The cat smelled it and did not eat it. So I called the dog over and showed him the piece of toast. …he cautiously came close enough to smell the toast when the cat sprung up on his feet and whacked the dog across his puss with his paw. The dog got scared and ran away. It seems as if the cats have the upper hand around here… The cats walk wherever they please without worrying about the dogs bothering them.”
As Stanley begins to wrap up his letter, he returns to his thoughts at the beginning of the letter, not only is he looking forward to his own discharge, but he writes about Dad’s situation. “I don’t think it will be long before you will be on your way back to the states. Then we shall have a big celebration.” He advises Dad to “Have a good time while you can and take life easy under the circumstances which surround you.” He closes, “Here’s hoping we may see each other soon. God bless you again.”