March 2, 1945
Dear Mom:
Still doing okay but I could be much happier in another type of airplane. This one is a full time job in itself. You could study a year on this thing and still not know all about it. Honestly, I have never seen such a complex piece of machinery in one hunk in all my life. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know anything at all about it. Sure gives you a funny feeling to go out to the big thing and start it up and go storming down the runway and into the air. Just seems a miracle that it can fly, much less lift 10 men, 13 machine guns with full ammunition load, 6, 000 pounds of bombs, and tons of equipment such as automatic pilot, bomb packs and shackles and a million other things like a complete oxygen system, with regulators, gauges, tanks, tubes and piping. It’s amazing to say the least.
Sorta scares you to know you are going to be responsible for the lives of 10 men and $250,000 worth of airplane.
We got our
first rest period today; we did not have to fly on account of the rain here.
Sure feels good to get a rest after going regular since we got here. Guess I
can stand it for the time though. Don’t take me too seriously Mom, gripping is
half the fun of being in the army. Since that first fateful day in
I am sending $10 for the church, and $10 for you and Pap to do what you like with and the $2 bill is for Dub.
Take care of yourself-
Love always,