Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
August 18, 1943

Dear Aunty Clara,

Once again I took charge of the movie machine (this evening it was up at the other outfit) yet I did not write a letter to you before suppertime. During that four o'clock to five o'clock period I was at my new found hobby of thumping away at the piano. My repertoire is growing steadily and I now can do quite a few numbers. Mind you, none of them are complete but still they are the beginnings of several songs. For instance in "For Me and My Gal" I can play this much --- "The bells are ringing, for me and my gal. The birds are singing, for me and my gal. Everybody's been knowing, to a wedding their going." That much I can do good enough so it sounds like what it is supposed to represent. Further than that you must begin to stretch the imagination to note the similarity if any. Of the song, "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", I can play this much --- "You'd be so nice to come home to. You'd be so nice by the fire." Then there is the Artillery song entitled, "The Caissons Go Rolling Along" of which I can do quite a bit --- "Over hill, over dale we will hit the dusty trail, as the caissons go rolling along. O it's hi, hi, hee, in the Field Artillery call off your numbers loud and strong." A new addition to the songs is Berlin's "Pretty Girl Song" of which I can play --- "A pretty girl is like a melody, that drifts through." And then there is a popular tune known as "Elmer's Tune" and I can get as far as this, --- "Why are the stars always blinking and winking above." So you see, Aunty Clara, I am getting in a crack at all the tunes and mastering none.

So much for the music appreciation. I spent my money on Nestle's candy bars and orange juice drinks today. I had meant to get a haircut but I never did find the time to do so. I really will get one tomorrow.

The payrolls finally went into Finance today and I feel satisfied that it is alright. I had made one typographical error in the entire book. On that same page a fellow signed his name on the wrong line and then when I checked the figures etcetera I discovered that on the very same page once again, I had charged the fellow 10¢ too little for his insurance. That made a total of three corrections in the entire payroll and by some twist they had all happened on the very same page.

Every so often we go through our roster and look for the names of such fellows who have become eligible for the Good Conduct Medal. Larry's name was one of those which I submitted for Lt Hanton's O.K. today. The requirements are that a fellow have served for at least a year and have been a good soldier. It dawned on us fillers to the regiment that it will not be long before we begin submitting our own names. It is now more than nine months since I was inducted and with time flying by so swiftly, it will not take long for those additional three months to go by and complete the first full year in the Army. In a way I like to see the time pile up like that because this war can't last forever and we are all that much nearer to coming home again.

The other work we did today was the kind that is so indefinite that it is harder to get finished than a lot of work which you know exactly what to do and how to do it.

There must be something to what they say about the South Sea Island moon because I really think that the moon is the most beautiful part of the scenery of this place.

Rizzo and two other fellows are in the big tent right now playing away at various instruments, including the piano, so it seems as if I will not get any more lessons in this evening. Several fellows have brought their piano accordions and guitars with them but how they managed to keep them in one piece is beyond me.

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman