Easter Morning

Dear Folks,

This Sun. morning even though it is Easter doesn’t seem much different than any other Sun. morning. We got up at 6:00 A.M. cleaned our rooms and now waiting to go to church. We decided to go to the Baptist. Last Sun. we went to the Mormon it was really very interesting. They spent about 3/4 of the time singing and the rest of the time was spent by different people getting up and making little 3 min. speeches.

I received your Easter letter and dollar and believe me next weekend on our pass, when I spend it, I will think of you all. I wish I were there to help you fix the eggs this morning. ^[1]Fixing the eggs means cooking hard-boiled eggs, coloring the shells with pastel colors, and hiding them in the house or back yard for the children to find during the Easter egg hunt.This will be the first year I have missed not fixing any.

Last year when Steve and I went home I didn’t think I would be here a year later. Maybe next year I can hide some eggs for Snookie to find. ^[2]I don’t know who Snookie is.I remember how much I use to like to do that and I don’t think I will ever forget the time we found some in the dog box.

It sounds like you are really getting the apartment fixed up. How did the wall paper cleaning go?

I am glad you received the ration book and that you could get some benefit from it. I had forgot I had it till I was cleaning out my bill fold and found it.

Stan your talking about golf made me think of our games together. I guess you haven’t been able to play yet. I keep forgetting about the difference in climate. I wish you were here to run with me on some of these jobs. Yesterday afternoon we had to run 3 miles. I thought I never would make it.

(I will have to finish this after church.)

(1:00 P.M.)

Had a pretty good dinner and we were the only ones there so we had plenty to eat.

We finished our medical aid course this weekend and start Physics Mon. If it isn’t harder than the rest there won’t be much to it. The hardest part of any course so far is picking out the different parts of speech from a sentence. I guess I should have learned that part back in 7th grade.

I got a letter from Zoe ^[3]Zoe Foran, a friend from Greenville, who was attending the University of Illinois, majoring in Bacteriology (BS degree) More about Zoe later. the other day and she might come out here when school is over and before she goes to summer school. I personally doubt if she does but it is at least something to look forward to. I don’t think we will get any leaves at all until we complete all our training or else wash out along the line somewhere.

I wish they would hurry up and send us to pre-flight. I believe all of us will take pre-flight at Santa Anna from here. ^[4]Santa Ana Army Air Base was established in 1942 in Orange County, California for pre-flight training of pilots.

We have parade at 3:00 this afternoon and believe me it is plenty hot outside. I am going to take about 2 salt pills and sleep till then. I don’t know what we would do without the salt tablets. The first one I took made me sick at my stomach but they haven’t bothered me since then.

Hope you had a swell Easter.

Love, Tom

Mon. noon.

Dear Folks,

Have just returned from a not too good lunch. However, meat loaf has to be fixed just right to suit me and 837 Lakeside ^[1]837 Lakeside Place was his sister, Elaine’s address in Chicago was too far to travel for lunch today.

I didn’t get a chance to write you over the weekend. The time that I wasn’t sleeping I was studying for two exams which we had this morning. They weren’t very tough. Our squadron was the only one that didn’t have passes last weekend and so Sun. afternoon Sam and I were laying in here sleeping and Jack was reading when in walked two 2nd Lt.  Jack called attention but you know me when I am asleep. Anyway the Lt. started yelling ‘attention’ and finally Sam woke up and about broke his neck coming down off of the top bunk. While this was going on the Lt. was shaking me. Finally I woke up and by the time I knew what was happening on of them was giving Sam and Jack heck for having the room looking like a pig pen, so he said, he should see it sometimes.

Anyway he didn’t say anything to me, he probably figured I was so sleepy I wouldn’t know what he was talking about anyway. What a life –

I got a letter from Harold yesterday that I am sending you. I wrote him and if you get a chance you might. I put his address up at the top of the page.

I am also sending some pictures that is if they are ready this evening.

That artical on Beloit is just about like what we have but it appeared that they had more freedom. However, on of the boys/ dads who is a major in the air corps wrote in a letter that this is the toughest C.T.D.  ^[2]College Training Detachmentin the bunch but the best, so maybe we will get a break later on.

I have just found out that the pictures won’t be ready till tomorrow. I hope this letter isn’t to long in ‘reaching’ you but you said that it didn’t take long and I have been getting yours in about 3 days.

The 12-M must mean midnight. The mail goes out once daily.

Love, Tom.

Col. H.E. Schneider Med Corps
Station Hospital
Buckley Field, Colo
April 16, 1943

Dear Tommie,

I hardly can picture you being 6 ft tall and weighing 150 pounds – neither does it seem possible that you are as old as you are. You see I remember you only as when I last saw you. Got your address from your father and heard about you being in the Army from my sister Nell. I wonder if you would care to tell me about your present plans and generally about your present duties. You can be assured, that if allowed, I would like to be regarded by you as life long friend because your mother was the grandest person that ever lived as far as I am concerned. ^[3]Tom and Elaine’s mother, Oradelle Cartmell, died in 1934. We are all well and Mary and I often think of you, Elaine – your father and specifically Mrs. Oradelle Cartmell. Nancy is eleven years old and is having all the troubles of a 5th grader with long division and fractions.

Best regards

Harold

Thurs. morning

Dear Folks,

Just a short note but I found this book in my bill fold and I thought if they haven’t used them up already you might get a little benefit from it. ^[1]This was a partially used ration book. Elaine and Stanley must have used it because it wasn’t in the envelope with the letter when I looked at it.

I had some temp. yesterday morning and was confined to quarters and the doctor told me I better rest again today. I feel fine, however, I had better get to bed before the sarge walks in.

Love, Tom

When you are through with the book destroy it or throw it.

Tues. noon.

Dear Folks,

Your letter with the pictures arrived yesterday. I can tell even from the picture that Karen is getting much bigger. I don’t believe I had ever seen the bonnet that was wearing before.

I thought for certain that I had told you about receiving the picture frame. It came about a week ago. Karen’s pictures just fit in it but I can decide on the two best so I switch them once in a while.

I called home last weekend. I got to talk to Dad and Cleda, Dad was at the office and Cleda was at the house and I was in the C.Q.’s office. ^[1]Cleda was Tom’s stepmother, his father’s second wife. It was about 10 PM your time that I talked to them, I had put in the call about 7:00 so you can see how hard it is to get anybody long distance. I forget how many times I had tried to get them but there was always a 5 to 10 hr. delay.

(7:30 in the evening)

It is beginning to get hot here again and the calesthenics are really getting tough. One good thing though is that we have been issued our regular cadet gym equipment. It is really good stuff all elastic belts in the pants, sweat suits, good shoes and socks. A lot better than you get at any store. We go out at three in the afternoon. Do push ups and other drills for about 45 min. then we run around the track four times (1 mile) and then play football, volleyball, basketball or baseball for another 45 min. They have enough instructors to that one has his eye on you all the time to see to it that you don’t goldbrick.^[2]Goldbrick means being lazy and not doing what’s asked of you. Even with all of this in the hottest part of the day I have hit 160 and got a good tan.

At Fresno they gave us plenty of work outs but with the living conditions as they were it did you more harm than good.

I am suppose to go over to William’s Field to see about having some teeth pulled in a couple of days. I am afraid the other three wisdom are going to have to come out. I am dreading it because they will jerk all three at once and leave me in one heck of a shape.

This afternoon we got our last tetanus shot. It was the heaviest dose yet. It is not like the typhoid that leaves you feeling bad into next day but instead for about 30 min. afterwards it feels like someone had hit you on the arm with a sledge hammer. Fifteen minutes after getting these we went to calesthenics so we didn’t have much time to think about them and I know the gym instructors didn’t because we each had to do 10 chins as soon as we got there.

It seems that something is always happening. Sun. we had a personal inspection and they marched us out on the field and we had to stand at attention for about 30 min. while the officers went up and down the lines. I was the flight guide and the first to be inspected. The Lt. was about 6’5″ and he would start at the bottom and really look you over, I was lucky enough not to get gigged. After we had been standing there about 15 min. a fellow in the back line of the flight just in front passed out. I have never seen anything like it, he just fell straight backwards hit the ground and appeared to bounce. No one even looked at him till finally a sarge came and took him off the field.

New post regulations went into effect yesterday. I wish I could send them to you and let you read them but you have to get permission from the CO ^[3]Commanding Officerto do that Anyway from Sun. afternoon till Sat afternoon we are not allowed to speak to any civilians. We get passes starting a week from the weekend which lst from Sat. afternoon till Sun. afternoon.

I have some Eng. to do and as usual I am tired. I liked the cartoons you sent as well as did the rest of the fellows. I will try to send some pictures soon.

Love, Tom

I hope you can read this.

Dear Folks,

That bed looks awfully good so don’t expect me to last very long. In fact I have already decided to finish this letter tomorrow. The captain inspected today so thye kept us up pretty late last night to G.I.^[1]G.I. in this context means clean up the place. No matter how late you get to bed they still get us up at 5:15. Sam and I sleep in the room and the C.Q.(charge of quarters) has to wake us twice every morning. Sam is as hard to get up as I am and you know what that is.

The post received new orders starting Mon. we will not be allowed to talk to any civilian, buys, girls, man, women or children between 3:00 P.M. Sun. and 3:00 P.M. Sat. However, starting next weekend we get 20 hr. passes from Sat. afternoon till Sun. afternoon. We have to be back in time for parade. You get this if your grades are up and you don’t have more than 5 gigs.^[2]A “gig” is a demerit for poor performance or a rule infraction. My grades are O.K. but they can pile 5 gigs on you in 20 sec. if they feel like it. So far the school work has been easy. Even in Eng. which is the only one I don’t like I got a 99 the first test. It was very simple and if you had read the stuff you were O.K. so I didn’t feel very proud. Navigation is really practical and interesting but will probably get harder.

I received the cookies just the other day. They were a long time on the way and to keep them from spoiling we didn’t let them sit around very long. Besides that I needed the box to keep writing material in, so you can take my word for it that nothing was wasted.

I hope you can read this but Sam is typing right across the table and he doesn’t use the touch system. He claims it is the touch system but he might as well have a hammer in each hand. Goodnight will finish this in the morning. I threw Karen a goodnight kiss I hope she received it.

(8:00 A. M.)

We haven’t much to do this morning. Just finished cleaning our room and have a lecture pretty soon. I think we are suppose to go up town soon. They usually take us up by flights once or twice a week to get things that we need. Most of us have to get a can of shoe polish every week, you shine more shoes in a day here than I would in a year of civilian life. I just finished shinning three pr.

I don’t know if I told you or not be we are suppose to start flying in a week or so. I think it will amount to about 10 hrs. flying time. It will be in trainers with civilian instructors. I think that will make it a little more interesting.

(I am going to get some stationary)

They are getting things alot better organize now. We have a movie every Sun. night and some other forms of entertainment that the USO puts on in the evening. No one studies very much and we usually spend our study periods writing letters.

It has been alot cooler here the past few days but if you remember the time we were in Phoenix along time ago it wasn’t very cool so I am expecting anything.

There isn’t much more news and I expect that whistle any time so had better close. Thanks again for the cookies.

Love, Tom

Sat. night.

Dear Folks,

It seems like all I get is packages and mail from you folks. However, even with all these I am still looking forward to the cookies that you and Karen made. I also think that Sam and the other boys are keeping a pretty close tab on my mail. Sam lives in Chicago but goes with a nurse that just completed nurses’ training in St. Louis. He is 21 yrs. old.

Well Stan I guess by the time you get this letter  you will be relaxing after dinner with a good magazine. I hope you came out as well if not better than you had expected. ^[1]Stan, Tom’s brother-in-law, just had a hernia repair.

You can be thankful for one thing and that is that you don’t have to study in this kind of weather. The thermometer has been hitting a 100 degrees every afternoon. This afternoon we drilled from 1:00 to 2:30 and the water was running down my back in a stream. There has been so much complaining that we are finally going to start wear our sun tan’s (summer uniform) tomorrow. Believe me these wool pants and shirts are plenty warm.

This breathing situation is a little better but I can’t figure it out. This Ariz. weather is suppose to be a cure. Don’t send the atomizer because I might have some pretty heavy explaining to do.

My heel is O.K. and if it wasn’t for the breathing everything would be perfect. I will finish this in the morning, I want to take a shower and I haven’t much time.

(Sun. noon)

We had it pretty easy this morning. Didn’t have to get up till 6:00 and had the whole morning to our self. We cleaned the room, studied a little and went to church.

We have parade at 3:30 this afternoon, however, now that we are wearing sun tan’s it won’t be so bad. I still have a good deal of studying to do especially navigation. The prof in it has a way of not making himself understood and we haven’t got books yet so we learn everything from the notes.

It sounds as if Karen is really beginning to get around on her own pretty well.

I am satisfied now because there for a while I was afraid she never was going to use the play pen.

Must close and get busy. I am looking forward to the cookies.

Love, Tom

Tues. noon.

Dear Folks,

About all I ever get a chance to do is start a letter but they are easier to finish after starting them than it is to sit down and write the whole thing out in 10 minutes.

We are suppose to have three one hour study periods during the day but they are really about 15 min. in length. Bu the time we march back from the class it is usually 15 min. past the hour and then there have to be announcements made then by the time we fall out early the time in between isn’t much.

I wrote you a card last night thanking you for the candy and cookies but thanks again.

(Thurs. evening)

This typewritter belongs to my roommate Sam Ashcroft who is at math class now. He told me not to seal this letter till he gets back because he wants to add something. He was going to N.U. ^[1]Northwestern Universitytaking an education course. He and Steve have a lot in common. I guess I was pretty lucky in getting out of math class. It meets every night of the week where as navigation only meets on M.W. and F. nights. They say it was based on the tests we took at Fresno but I know was one fellow that had college math through calculas and still has to take this. They start right out with adding, we all get a big kick out of hearing these fellows do their math. Ex. of one problem: If an airplane weighs 2 ton empty and they load it with a half a ton of material. What does the plane weight? Difficult isn’t it?

That breathing bug has been bothering me for the last few days but seems to be getting better now. I certainly hope so anyway. Personally I think this is a heck of a climate to cure that. It is plenty dry and where it is dry it is dusty and you know what that means. However, it rained just a day before we got here and all the flowers came out and now the air is filled with pollen. Probably after everything gets good and dried out it will be O.K. at least we aren’t drilling as much here as we were in Fresno. Here we have an hour of drill at 7:00 then classes till noon and one at 1:00 in the afternoon. Then from 3 to 4:30 calesthenics. In my opinion it is a little easier than Fresno but one thing there isn’t any fooling around. When you do calesthenics, you do them and you don’t do any goldbricking on the job. We have a swell bunch of officers and non-coms but not enough of them. There is only three commissioned officers on the post. The worse part about this whole thing is that we don’t get to leave the post. Maybe in a couple of weeks we might get a few hours pass over the weekend but that will be a while yet. We are not allowed to talk to any of the girls going to school here but they haven’t been enforcing that rule very much. I don’t see how they could. The courses I am taking are Navigation, First Aid, English and Geography which isn’t very bad but we never get any time to study them. Most of the profs understand that but the old lady we have in English must think we have all the time in the world to write papers for her. Our first aid course is pretty complete. The zoology I had comes in mighty handy.

You remember the letter you sent me from home when you were there. Dad sent it to me today, it had been sent back there. It was very interesting even if it was a little late. This letter is turning out to be pretty awful. The typewritter is aboutt 6″ on each side and the ribbon is shot. It is one of the first portables put out. It looks like it.

I don’t know how the situation is at home now but from the sound of Dads letters they are both doing just about as they please. I imagine he is about ready for another trip to Chicago. ^[2]He’s referring to his father, Dr. Cartmell, and his second wife. Tom’s mother died in 1934, and his father remarried. This sentences suggests there was some issue or conflict, but I … Continue reading

How many teeth does Karen have now, one or two? The first thing you know she will be taking my place at the table. It seems like only yesterday that Stanley called me from the hospital. Time certainly passes fast.^[3]Stanley is Tom’s sister, Elaine’s, husband…or Tom’s brother-in-law.

It has been plenty hot here and I am getting a nice tan but as yet our gym uniforms haven’t arrived so I haven’t got the full benefit.

There really isn’t much more to tell you and it is 7:30 and time to start studying. Don’t forget to send me one of those pictures you spoke of. I had better leave some room for Sam. This letter is so sloppy I am ashamed to send it.

Hoping to see you in several months.

Use this address from now on. Those cartons you have been sending aren’t ver far wrong.

Love, Tom

This is just one of Tom’s buddies, appending a note of appreciation for the very fine cookies you sent which he so willingly shared with us. Just to have a bite of something homemade is a rare treat for an army man. Thanks again.

Sincerely,

Sam Ashcroft

Mon. night.

Dear folks,

Just to let you know I received all the packages from you today. All my roommates as well as I want to thank you a lot. The raisin cookies were a little broken up but there isn’t a crumb left so it didn’t matter much.

We started on our schedule today. I am one of the fellows that doesn’t have to take math. I get to start right into navigation. In a way it is a break. We have about 2 hrs. of study time and not much time to ourself. I will try to get a letter off to you soon but lights out in 10 min. I was glad to hear that Karen is now in possession of a tooth. Don’t forget to send a picture. Use this address that’s on the front from now on.

Love, Tom

Tues. morning

Dear Folks,

I guess you wonder just what has happened to me. Three days ago if any one would have told me I would be going to Arizona State College I would have said they were nuts. They told us Sat. morning that some of us would be leaving soon. At 6:00 that night we were on a pullman 45 mi. out of Fresno, 200 of us.

We got in Los Angeles Sun. morning and spent the day sight-seeing. Went back to the cars and pulled out of Los Angeles about 7:30 P.M. and arrived (time out for mess, just returned from breakfast, that is one thing around here when you are told to move you do, and fast.) in Tempe about 12:00 the next noon. In case you don’t know where Tempe is it is about 8 mi. east of Phoenix. None of us knew where we were or where we were going until we got here.

Now for a little about the place. I don’t know how much time I will have because I am going on sick call this morning to get a sore foot looked at. It is nothing much I think just from these high G.I. shoes have made my heel sore.

Believe me this place is so much different that Fresno it is like I would think it would be to go from hell into heaven. I mention one difference, in Fresno if we went on sick call we were told we would lose our passes, here if you don’t feel well and fail to go on sick call you are liable to get washed out. For breakfast this morning I’ve had my choice of grapefruit, tomato juice or bananas, cereal (choices), coffee, milk (both), buttered toast and jelly.

The best part of all we don’t have K.P. or wash any dishes. It is just like the navy had it working in Lunt.^[1]At Northwestern, during WWII, Lunt Hall, was taken over by the Navy and used as a dormitory to house Naval personnel being trained in radio and radar operation at the Technical Building on campus. We live in dorms and it is  just like living in a frat. The only diff. is that we have wash basins in every room. There are four fellow per room but we sleep in a dorm so we have enough room. Just about everyone that came from Fresno is going on sick call this morning. I think I am the only one without a cough. I can’t see yet what kept several from dying in Fresno.

I guess you can tell I am pretty well satisfied here and so is everyone else. It really seems funny not to hear anyone complaining. The discipline (sp) is very strict. (There goes sick call.) (to continue) in fact it is like I would think west point to be. We are all called Mr. and we have to salute all non coms and call them sir. Our studies are suppose to be tough but not too bad. We don’t start to classes till Mon. so I will know more about that then.

I will have to close now will let you know more latter.

Love, Tom

P.S. It is now aviation student instead of pvt.