Thurs. afternoon.

Dear Folks, (This includes everyone, Dad, Cleda, Elaine, Stan + Karen)

Talk about having it easy, I can’t complain. Here I am writing one letter that includes everyone from my Dad right on through to my niece. This is also about the first chance I have had to do any writing. I had my 3rd wisdom tooth pulled this morning and was taken off flying status for this afternoon, however, will be able to fly tomorrow morning. I think this one hurt the least of any of them in fact not even any bad after effects.

Dad I received the blouse and cap today and are they ever nice. I don’t think I have seen a blouse that would compare with it. It is just the thing and everything is regulation. I wish I could show you what a perfect fit it is. It is over at the tailor shop getting an air corps and cadet patch sewed on now. Thanks alot for everything Dad.^[1]The DeMoulin Brothers factory in Greenville produced uniforms for the Army during WWII. It would have been relatively easy for Tom’s Uncle Leslie Demoulin (who ran the company at this time) to … Continue reading

Cleda, I want to thank you for the cake, you hadn’t forgotten how I liked chocolate. It was in perfect shapes in fact the icing wasn’t even cracked. I am real glad I got to talk to you Christmas morning and hope I didn’t sound too sleepy.

It seems like this is really a letter of thanks, and I want to thank Elaine, Stan + Karen for your gifts also. I am wearing a pair of the shorts and socks already and most of the candy is gone. Your choice of books was swell. I am reading the “Invisible Man” now, and have read several of the other stories in the pocket companion. ^[2]I believe this is a reference to H. G. Wells’ novel, “The Invisible Man”, published in 1897. Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” was not published until 1952. It is really a good book and certainly has a wide variety. Did you happen to read the poem about the Mississippi River? As much as I have needed a clothes brush you would have thought I would have gotten one by now, but it is a good thing I waited. Thanks for the whole works.

The flying is coming along pretty well but I have been sitting down so much my rear end is getting sore. Yesterday I was flying for 4 hrs. and 15 min. without even unfastening the safety belt. This was the most I have ever done at any one stretch before. They gave us all a plane and at 7:30 AM. I picked up my instructor here at Lemoore Field and got in an hour dual and then landed over at West Field (an aux. of Lemoore) and let him out, got in an hour of air work, then shot 10 landings, then went back up and flew till 11:45. Not bad for one morning. While we were shooting our landings one fellow landing right in a water puddle and nosed over and bent his prop and ground about 6″ off of each end. When anything like that happens we all catch hell, I guess to make sure that no one else does the same. I also got to watch a beautiful crash landing yesterday, two cadets were up in a AT17, as pilot + copilot, when they couldn’t get one wheel up and the other wouldn’t go down. They cleared the field at noon and when they came in everyone was there watching. They made a landing that an expert would have been proud of, all they did was damage one wing. The fellows were in the upper class. We will be the upper class in a few days, the time certainly moves fast. We will start night flying in about a week.

Enough for now, I want to get in alittle “sack time” this afternoon. (Sleep to you folks)

With love,

Tom

P.S. Zoe gave me a frat ring. Sterling with black onyxc and EN^[3]Sigma Nu crest.