Sunday,

July 9, 1944

My dearest Marguerite,

I guess by this time you are [thoroughly] disgusted with me for not writing more than I did. You’ll have to forgive me honey. I never had such a busy week in all my life in the Army, there was so much that had to be done around here. I still have plenty to do, and our training program starts tomorrow and I have a class on care of clothing and equipment. I have two hours this week and one hour next week, that isn’t too bad. I don’t know if I told you we have about 130 men in the company now. We are going to have about a four or five basic refresher course, and one of the weeks will be out on the range. The way they talk they don’t expect us to stay around the states long. We have all old men, some that have been in Panama for two years. I’ll probably be way down on the list now on furlough with these new men, but I’ll get one some time.

It is another Sunday without you near me. I do miss you and that kid very much. I miss playing with the kid. Gee I wish I could see him now. Next Sunday he will be six months old already. Do you think he misses me?

I am on C.Q. today for a change, very quiet around here. The Army hour just went off the air. It’s awfully hot down here today and it looks like we may have rain soon.

Among my other troubles I haven’t been feeling so good for the last couple of days. I have pains around my stomach. Its either from changing messes so often or because you aren’t with me anymore. We opened our own mess on Wednesday, before we were eating with other companies.

There is an awful lot of civilians working on this post. They have nice looking barracks for female and other for male. They also have these Government houses which I inquired about, but they are only for civilians, and they also have something like a trailer court for soldier wives but they have to work on the post. It would be nice to live on the most, more things to do then at Atterbury, and there are wives of soldiers everywhere you look. They also have nice beer gardens outside the P.A. Lt. Enochs came back from school last night, and he was at the beer garden with me all evening until it closed at 10 P.M.

I am so disgusted with the Army again, if this thing was only over. I want to go home so badly, you’ll never know how much.

This camp is half in Kentucky and half in Tennessee. The Post office being in Kentucky. I haven’t been off the post yet, and don’t think I ever will, at least for a while yet anyway.

Tell little Butch I was asking about him, and give him a big kiss for me.

I’ll try to do better this week. I just got the box on Friday, only 52 cents, everything was smashed and the bottom must have opened by the looks of it. The fudge was good and the cheese, that’s the best part anyway.

Please write often honey, and tell me all about Butch.

All my love,

Preston