Saturday evening,

December 18, 1943

Dear Folks:

I wrote you a letter last night but it got lost and I don’t know what happened to it. I put it beside my bed when I went to sleep and that was the last I saw of it. Some body may have mailed it for me but I doubt it.

There wasn’t much news in the letter anyhow so you won’t miss much. Things are pretty much the same around here although I have been out in the field almost every day. You see the S-2 section has charge of the survey work and the boss and I were out doing a little of it this week. I take out a jeep and we both go laughing along over the desert. There are no woods were we work so we just head across country and go bumping along. The firing brothers are going to shoot in the area you see and we have to survey their positions for them. It is interesting work and I don’t mind going out at all. I have a pair of field glasses and feel like a general standing on a hill and looking over the terrain. You know you always see these pictures of the generals looking over the battle field with their glasses. I was getting a little tired of just hanging around so the field work is okay with me.

By the way you asked me if I had received the letter flashlight. I thought I had told you that I had in a previous letter, but I guess I didn’t. The light is swell and throws a nice long beam. That is the kind of a light you need out there.

You really shouldn’t have bought, me the belt as we are not allowed to have any equipment that isn’t issued to us. However I’ll hold the belt and hide it in barracks bag. The only thing is that when we have inspection I may have to send it home. I manage to hide the other stuff I have such as the scarf etc. and they haven’t ordered that home yet, I really meant to though when I told you I have everything necessary.

Maybe you think you have to send me something for the Christmas holiday but I wish you wouldn’t think so. I got all the Christmas presents I wanted when Helen bought me the swell watch and you got the magazine subscription for me.

I hope Tom gets home on the 23^rd and is able to spend the holiday at home. It will be there first one for Dennis and if I were in Tom’s place I’d surely want to be there.

By the way I am writing this in our new recreation room. We have two tents put up together, with a floor, two lanterns, stove, magazines and lots of writing tables. Now I have a place to go at night and read or write just as I please.

It is raining quite heavy out here now and the rain drops are hitting the tent roof pretty hard. I hope the tent doesn’t start to leak. I’ll say so long for a while and get this on the way.

Joe

P.S. I barely qualified with carbine so you can see I am still a beginner at shooting the guns. Roche is quite an effort.