APR. 9. WE HAD A NEAR TRAGEDY TODAY. LT R.P. BRADFORD WAS MAKING A 4 – 65 ROUTINE HOP IN A “BLACK WIDOW” THIS AFTERNOON AND JUST AS HE WAS TAKING OFF, HAVING GAINED NEAR SUFFICIENT SPEED, HE PULLED HIS WHEELS UP. THE AIRCRAFT, NOT BEING CLEAR OF THE GROUND, NOR HAVING QUITE SUFFICIENT LIFT, DROPPED TO THE RUNWAY ON ITS BELLY AND SKIDDED MADLY ALONG THE RUNWAY CATCHING FIRE AS IT DID SO. LT BRADFORD IMMEDIATELY STARTED CLIMBING OUT AND JUST AS HE CLEARED THE AIRCRAFT, THE ALERT AMBULANCE CAME CLANGING UP AND IMMEDIATELY TOOK HIM TO THE HOSPITAL.
“France”
My Darling, –
As Andy and all the boys went to the show tonight things are unusually quiet, a good time to write you. Don’t get any false impressions of the show, it is still the same old tent with the same old gas cans for chairs. Writing to you strikes me as being a much more enjoyable way to spend the evening.
I didn’t get to answer your last two letters bvery well the other night and in last night’s letter I was hardly able to write let alone re-read your letters; not that they are hard to read but I probably wouldn’t have gotten much out of them. To continue – I am sure that Dad understood about your not wanting to go to Chicago till after ruth leaves. He probably sounded alittle disappointed, and there isn’t anything wrong with that because if it would have been me I know I would have been.
The satin comfort sounds fine for Bill and Anne. If they don’t like it keep it for me, after the sleeping bags anything that even sounds like quilt or blanket sounds OK to me. I haven’t been able to use your sheets as yet because it has been to cold and it is pretty hard to use them inside a sleeping bag. However, as soon as it gets warmer when I can sleep on top of the thing with sheets below and above, they will really feel good. There is only one way it could be any better – Oh! how I remember Fresno.
You wondered how Andy reacted to sea-sickness – I could make up a nice big story, but I won’t. He wasn’t even phased. After all that bumping around I gave him in the back end at Hammer he will probably never have to worry about sea-sickness or air-sickness.
About our card playing and the passive life I am going to lead after the war – just the thought of it makes me feel like it’s time to get this war over with immediately. Re-converting from an active to a passive life wouldn’t be any trouble at all for this returning veteran. When I call you from N.Y. or San Francisco that I am on my way that is the time for you to set up the card table.
Now comes the question as to what I would like in the boxes you are going to sent. Don’t say you didn’t say you were going to send any as I have the written evidence and I am saving it. First I’d like to have some fried chicken just out of the skillet, some fresh cream peas (steaming), some ice tea (please send the ice as I haven’t seen any over here), and some ice cream with mixed fruit on top. If it takes awhile to gather the above things just keep the warm things warm and the cold things cold and save them till I get back. In the meantime any kind of more easily packed things will do. Stay away from the rationed goods as we are probably getting what you folks aren’t.
The boys just came back from the show – they picked up a coffee pot somewhere and now Andy and Jack are out trying to dig up some coffee, cream and sugar. Nothing like starting from scratch – it is a good thing they didn’t run across an ice-cream freezer or we wold probably all be up the rest of the night trying to milk a cow and hunt up the other necessary material for ice-cream. Our tent seems to be the party time tent of the whole outfit and things are beginning to look like another party time night.
Give Jr. alittle of my love that I am sending to you and take good care of him (she) and most of all take good care of yourself. Darling I love you –
Forever,
Tom
