Dear Folks,

Received your letter tonight and it was really good to hear from you. There isn’t much news from here other than the same old grind. The mornings have really been awful. The fog is so thick till about 10:00 A.M. that it is just like a light rain. Everyone is getting colds because we are still wearing our sun tans and believe me from 5:00 A.M. till noon we really freeze. However, the afternoons are nice and warm and after having calisthenics and running a couple of miles it gets hot. It is really surprising to find yourself running a couple of miles and not getting very tired when you think back to 8 or 9 mos. ago once around the block and you would be puffing like a steam engine. I think just about all of us are use to the physical conditioning but I don’t think we will ever get use to the mental training. I guess that is more important than anything though. The pressure only lets up for about 7 hrs. Out of everyday and that is between 10:00 P.M. and 5:00 A.M. However, this won’t last much longer and from all reports this is the most strenuous of the training.

We will probably get off about 5:00 this Sat. So I will get to Aunt Mollie’s before it gets very late.

We had a physics exam today which was pretty simple. Tomorrow we have an exam in Naval Identification and then Sat. One in Maps and Charts over the aerial photo section. Mon. We get our final in Aircraft Identification, we now know all army, navy and British planes and can identify them at 1/10 of a sec. At primary we get the Ger. and Jap ones and have to work them all up so that we can recognize them at 1/25. Our first test was at 1/5 and after you pass that speed 1/100 seems as fast as 1/10. The way things are happening it looks like we will get out of here soon then expected.

I don’t see why Mr. Wafer is sore about Oli not making it. There are several thousand at Scott Field who as far as normal standards go are in perfect physical condition but there isn’t a thing they can do about it. I feel sorry for Bill B. Because he has really got a problem on his hands going back like that. I doubt very much if it is of his own choosing that he is home because those med. D’s don’t come very easy. One of the boys here in the squadron wrecked his feet and is going home for good in a few days and he would rather go through with us on crutches than leave now. It looks like Warren^[1]Likely Warren I. Cartmell, Tom’s cousin, a son of Doctor Cartmell’s brother is really in on things and it looks like our fighting is just beginning to get under way. I got a letter from Steve and he is in Florida practicing invasion tactics. Well just about bed time so will close.

Goodnight –

With love, Tom