Sunday morning
8/29/43
Dear Folks,
I’ve just come back from breakfast and am waiting to go to Mass at 10 o’clock. It is about 9 now so I’ll probably finish this in time for church. Today is a day off and all we have to do is sit around and kill time.
I tried to call up on Thursday night but couldn’t make a connection. I put the call in at 7:15 and the operator called back after two hours to tell me the charges wouldn’t be accepted. This surprised me of course until I checked and found out that she had the number wrong and had contacted to 3-386. I don’t know how she ever made a mistake like that but it meant that the call couldn‘t go through that night. Today right after lunch I am going to try again and will try and get you once more. So if I am lucky you will be able to have a little chat with me. The phone business is very poor and every call takes at least two hours or more. I have a hunch though that I will be able to get through the afternoon and have a little talk. Hope you will all be home if I do ring the bell.
There is a
tentative list of furloughs on the first sergeants desk and I am slated for one
beginning on the 16th for 15 days. There might be some changes made
before that time but that is how the list reads now. We would leave here at
mid-night on the 16th and pull out of
Dad asked me if it would be possible for Ma and him to come out and pay me a visit. It is possible because I have seen many people in the service club visiting soldiers. In view of the fact that I will be home soon however there really is no need to come out. I’ll come your way and see you. Incidentally the army arranged for our ticket and reservations home. The day before we leave all of us are taken down to the train ticket office and buy our tickets. We get tickets all the way home direct from the fort to the nearest station. It is a good system because we are assured of a ride on a certain train and won’t be left behind at the station. The fare to Paterson (Newark Station) is $30.10 which is pretty inexpensive. Furloughs from the desert would have cost about $80.00 and would have required 5 or six days travel time. This way we spend about 2½ days traveling which is a good deal better. Well, its almost time for church so I’ll close this now. I won’t seal it up until after I have tried to phone you. The radio is still on its way and should be here tomorrow as Dad said.
___
Well its about 4:30 now and I just came back from talking with you at the service club. It was swell to hear your voices again- all of you sounded just the way I had remembered. The sound this end was excellent and I heard every word you said- Did my end come in as well? How long did we talk anyhow?
I had heard nothing about Tom playing on the all-star team. Tom asked me in a letter if I had received a clipping about an all-star game and I didn’t know what he meant. Evidently a letter was delayed on route to me or else became lost. If I get it however I’ll send it home just as Tom asked me to do.
Say, when I
am really on my way home I’ll send a wire and tell you my schedule. Most likely
it will be the 9:10 out of
Take it easy, Joe