Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
August 1, 1943

Dear Aunty Clara,

Now for the answers to your letters. After a two day lull in your letters, I was tickled pink to receive them again. The only trouble is that once again a bunch have come in which only means more letterless days in the future.

So Aunt-Aunt is going vacationing in grand style this year. No more of that little cottage near some lake business. I imagine that perhaps either Bella suggested it and Aunt-Aunt thought that she owed it to her to go with her this year or maybe Aunt-Aunt suggested it in the first place to sort of get Bella's mind off of things. A change of atmosphere and environment usually help in changing your slant on life after it tends to go off the morbid end.

I know just what kind of job it is cleaning out those china closets for I remember the times when you would be washing and washing those dishes and things and they would be stacked over the dining room and kitchen tables for hours. We sure have accumulated quite a bit of knick-knacks and articles that today are filled with memories of yesterday. I never will forget that Ralston "All Gone" dish that I used to eat cereal out of. And that World's Fair cup will always be a prized treasure in that china closet. Did you run across the sugar dish of my mother's set which has the cracked lid? And did you find all those odds and ends in is such as pennies, nickels, pins, buttons and stamps?

John Edie still has a few cablegrams due him for his birthday which came on the 17th of July. We have noticed that on those cablegrams that did come thru to other people and the one which John received they had crossed the ocean fast enough but had been held up quite some while on this end of the line. When I finally do receive it, I will tell you about it and just what the wording was.

You mentioned that the carpet in my room had to be rolled up and put away. Which carpet did you mean? There is the short one in front of the bed and there is the long one which runs alongside the bed. We can always get a little rug to replace the one taken away but that long one was just about perfect for that spot, wasn't it? That room was just about ideal with a double bed to twist and turn on, a rocking chair, a bookcase, a desk, a bureau, and a typewriter stand.

Say, I received another letter from Bob Hesser. This is getting terrible. That is the third letter he has sent me so far and which I have not answered. You will recall that I had a rough draft of a letter all ready for him but upon rereading it I thought better of sending it and the result was that I never did get one mailed to him. He is still addressing the mail to Camp White and it is being forwarded to our APO address. The funny part about it is that the government has a stamp made up with our old APO on it and not the new one.

This is what Bob has to say: "June 28, 1943 Chicago, Ill. Dear Roman: I have written twice before and have not received an answer. I've been wondering if you have changed your address and my letters did not catch up with you or if you've been too busy to answer them. I hope you will receive this one and let me hear from you. I have not heard anything from old gang at Rathborne so I don't have much to tell you at this time. Please let me know your new address if you have moved so that you will receive my letters without delay. Hoping to hear from you soon. Bob Hesser. (In case you have lost my address): 4128 School Street."

I'm getting in a picklement with my letter writing again and if I don't snap out of it soon, the backlog is going to be terrific. I'll not make anymore promises about writing but I do hope that in my next letter to you, I can say that I have written a number of other letters.

So-long,

Roman