Wed. night.

Dear Folks,

Just a short note to let you know I am thinking of you this Christmas and hoping that you enjoy a swell Christmas Day. Also, that you have a white Christmas because it never seems like that Day unless it does snow. The best it can do here is rain and it has been doing plenty of that lately.

I receive your letter of the 16th. To answer a few of your questions: Stan, you asked about how we were shipped from one base to another, it is by train and so far have always had sleepers. Two in the bottom and one in the top bunk. It really makes a pretty nice way to travel and better than most airlines can do. I want to thank you folks alot for letting me go in with you on the Christmas gifts. The selections sounded swell and I hope it didn’t cause you too much trouble. I am sending a money order in a few days when I am able to get to town also Elaine the rest of your Christmas is going to be alittle late.

I had heard that Jim Brewer got married at Santa Ana. I imagine it was in one of the chapels out there, however, it is alot of red tape and they frown on cadets getting married. When I saw him he didn’t mention a thing about it.

We had a class book at Thunderbird and I am going to send you one. We were given two one leather bound one and another paper one. They are  both the same so I’ll send it and you can get a pretty good idea of how things were there.

I got rid of the cold that I had but the way the weather is here it is hard to say how long I can stay clear of another.

I witnessed my first fatal airplane accident on the afternoon of my birthday. A boy that came with us from Thunderbird and sho lives in L.A., he stalled the plane at about 150′ in the air when he was taking off, and spun in. They don’t know what happened because they couldn’t find anything wrong with the plane, he probably pulled it off alittle to fast and when it stalled he didn’t get the stick forward. One thing about such things even . though they are awful tough on one person is that it makes about 200 safer pilots here at L.A.A.F. His picture is in the book I am sending you under squadron III photos, I have his name checked it is G.J. Heller. From what one of his buddies told me, he was to be married in L.A. Christmas Day and had a special leave for it. Enough about this. –

We will finish with instruments tomorrow and then get a few days of acrobatics, then go into night flying, formation flying and we will supposedly get to start flying the AT17s (look it up) in a couple of weeks. I don’t know how I’ll like the twin engined jobs.

Well I want to take a shower and get to bed. Give Karen and Stan big Christmas kiss for me. –

With love,

Tom