Home | Return to Index

Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
August 17, 1943

Dear Aunty Clara,

Today I received four letters; three from you dated the 4th, 5th and 6th of August and one from Myrtle. In one of those letters you tell me how my letters all came bunched up and here yours did the very same thing.

I operated the movie machine this evening but I failed to write you a letter in the afternoon. I spent the hour between four and five plunking away at the piano. Larry told me that the back of the Army Song Book has a piano key board and I found out that he was right. Then with a little help here and there from people who know music I placed together enough knowledge so that when I sat down to the piano I could play the first few bars of "The Caissons Go Rolling Along". Who knows but that by the middle of next week I might be able to play the entire arrangement.

The movie was "Lucky Jordan" with Alan Ladd and Helen Walker. Lt. Yantis told us Alexis Smith played the feminine role and we thought he was wrong when we saw the list of characters but after seeing Helen Walker I would say she was Alexis Smith or her twin sister. We had boxing matches before the show but they did not last more than twenty minutes. As far as I know I did not do anything wrong in the showing of the movie this evening and was satisfied with my efforts.

We were given two more bottles of Coca Cola for free today and along with that drink I had Tootsie Rolls, Bitter-Sweets and Nestle's Sweet Chocolate. I think I ate more candy than food.

Yesterday morning Larry Isaacson was insistent that the moon was partially eclipsed and said that the previous night before going to bed there had been a full moon. I scoffed at his words because it did not look like an eclipse of the moon. I thought I had seen enough of them to be able to detect the earth's shadow as being distinct from a phase of the moon. However, my face was red when last night a full moon appeared in the sky thus proving that the morning had seen a lunar phenomenon.

The French books have not arrived yet and neither has the cablegram. That is a good one, first the post office hooks us for $1.75 and sends the watch slow mail instead of air mail and then the telegraph company hooks you for some dough and never does send the cable.

We have revamped our Personnel section by enlarging a cabinet for keeping our stock of paper forms to such an extent that it veritably has formed a wall through the length of the tent. It is quite an imposing cabinet of shelves.

My day was well occupied taking care of necessary items of business and the unnecessary ones. I had to enter several items in the Service Records, prepare several reports, type a few letters and still watch the pile of unfinished work rise at my side. I can see that tomorrow is going to be a busy day and the day after that too.

Our tent is now getting to look crowded since the other fellows decided that I wasn't the only one who could have a cabinet. They have brought in a large table to the center of the tent and Edie and Mersing have fixed themselves an open face box cabinet for each of their belongings. Incidentally, we still haven't any wood floor in our tent.

Last night just before going to bed I began reading a mystery story by Agatha Christie and for the first time in my life I took the short cut and read the last chapter immediately after reading the first one. It saved a lot of time and I still got all I wanted to know out of the story and that was --- who dunit?

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman