Feb. 2, 1944
Dearest Mom and Dad:
Good
morning and is it a good morning there? Hope you are all well and I suppose Myrtle
is there with you both now. How I wish I were there. Not much has happened here
lately that I can tell about so this may be a short letter. Oh yes, I got paid
yesterday and I got 2660 francs, so you try and figure that out in dollars and
cents. I suppose when I get back home I will have to learn all over again how
to act and get use to everything there. Gosh, I am even getting to talk like an
Arab and I will soon look like one. Ha ha. Well I got
a hair cut yesterday so that helps a little. I am well and getting plenty to
eat and now we are getting fresh meat every day. This morning for breakfast we
had fried eggs and they were fresh too. Before we had scrambled eggs but they
are not the fresh eggs. They are powdered and don’t taste as good as the fresh
ones do.
Received
your letters all O.K and Mom I got yours of the 12 and liked it a lot. Dad I
got yours also. I was so glad to get them both. Well, Mom I would like to tell
you where I am but as you know it is impossible, but I am not at the same place
as I was on Christmas. We may be here at this camp a long time, but a person
can never tell. As the war progresses along in our favor, orders change
overnight and we may move any time. The news over the radio sounds pretty good.
Yes Mom I
know you had the flu and dear I hope you are all well now. It is too bad that
you had to have it when Myrtle was planning on coming to see you, but she will
come later. No, Mom you mustn’t think that way about it. She understands and
wouldn’t think you didn’t want her. She loves you as much as she does her own
dear Mother and she would never think like that. She always speaks so kindly of
you both and looks forward to the day when she can visit you both. Yes, it
would be nice if she could be there with you all the time, I know you would
like it better and wouldn’t be so lonesome, because I know you do get lonesome
there alone all day.
Sorry to
hear that the old man on the corner died, but he was so feeble anyhow when I
was home.
Gee, that
is swell my dear that you wrote and told honey bunch to come as soon as she
could. So she has a room of her own. I bet it is my room, but I am glad she can
have it as her room now. Gosh, Mom it makes me a little home sick now and how I
wish I could be there with you all. I can’t help but worry about all of you no
matter how hard I try not to.
Dad I got a cute picture out of the Coronet magazine I am enclosing for you. I thought you would like it. Sure glad you are working every day and like your job so well. Yesterday I had to work on the motor of the generator. It was hard to start in the morning and no wonder as when I took the head off it was full of carbon. It is a two cylinder engine and it runs nice. I keep it up good and change the oil every three days as we run it 15 hours a day. I am sort of a utility man around here as I do the electrical work for Tech. Supply and keep the generator going and see that we have plenty of gas on hand as we burn gasoline in all our stones, and the generator burns about a gallon an hour. I like the work as it keeps me busy. Each Wed. night we have movies, and they run the projector off my generator so I made a long extension for it and keep the generator turned up to the voltage needed. Well I think I will close for this time so good luck and God Bless you both and keep you well till I return.
Your Loving Son
Howard