Camp White, Oregon
31 January 1943
Dear Aunty Clara:
Well, here I am writing this letter under entirely different circumstances than I wrote yesterday's letter. This is Sunday but thus far I have had no chance to write because I have been hardly able to open my eyes to see with. Remember that time I had a fever in college and went back to school too soon? And then I got that puffed up eye? Well the identical thing happened again. I had a fever but this time I knew better than to go to bed and really get sick. It seems that if you let those things know they have you they come in for a knockout blow. Well, after ignoring the fever, this eye started troubling me and believe it or not, Sgt Nyalka made me go to the dispensary about 10:00 yesterday morning to have it looked after and then about 10:30 I was handed a note from Lt. Warner. He sent me back to the barracks and ordered my student clerk sent up to take over the remainder of the day because I was not fit to carry out my work.
Since then I have spent the majority part of my time in bed trying to rest the eye and myself. But after twenty-four hours of inactivity that mind begins to play funny tricks and I think I would go batty if I had to lay quiet anymore and think the things I have been thinking. If you recall, I had at one time stated that it was the Army' ability to keep your mind occupied with something which made it easy to adapt oneself to it without noticing it. Therefore, that break does not do much good.
I won't type a long letter because I would not want to be missed over at the barracks should they happen to inquire as to my whereabouts. I should really have remained in bed. The eye is much better than it was last night and in the first half of today. I hope that the rest I manage to get this evening and tonight will allow me to continue my work in the morning. Boy, the work in Company A's field desk is so piled up that I don't know whether I can possibly get it finished.
In a way this let down is for the good because my boy Harvey is having to get on the beam and consequently will be a much better worker after it is all over with. He will now realize the job which a company clerk is confronted with.
I received a letter from Uncle Jack yesterday afternoon and he too has been sick with shooting pains down his arm and waist for the past two weeks and has been unable to write.
Last night I knew I would be in no condition to write the twenty odd letters I now owe so I penned 9 short cards to such people as Mrs. Boyer, Dolores, Uncle Jack, Infiestas, Marie, Jerome, Ulysses, Ray and Dotty, and Richard Lopez. I told them how busy I was and had been and that temporarily I was incapable of writing.
I guess that's all for now but this is just to let you know that I am still alive. I don't like these breaks in my letter writing because when I do get the time to write the letters I would like to I am going to forget a lot of things which happened and I wanted to tell you about.
So long,
/s/ Roman
Roman