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Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
August 23, 1943

Dear Aunty Clara,

I have quite a lot of news to tell you both good and otherwise. The otherwise can wait until the end of this letter or will be in a letter all by itself.

There was a terrific show given in the big tent this evening lasting more than two hours. It was just about the best show we have had yet. As usual the cast was entirely male but they excelled in those famous female impersonations of the South Pacific theater groups. The odd part about the entire show was that there was no master of ceremonies. They just came out and did their sets including encores with no running patter by an announcer. The outfit has their own portable stage which they joined onto the back end of our big tent making it look like big time stuff. The entertainment consisted of chorus singing, solo singing, a magician, short skits, musical number both solo and group and these female impressionists. These were the things which caused a riot because everyone knew that these girls were men yet they were unbelievably good.

That in brief was our evening's entertainment. I will spare you the details of each act. If, however, I was a humorous essayist, I might attempt to convey some of the humor which pervaded the show.

There was very little mail received today yet I was one of the fortunate few to get letters. I received your letter of August 13 in which you tell me that Jimmy Kotek is going to get hitched. He told me that there was a possibility that he might become crazy enough to get married but I never thought he would. When you said a childhood boyfriend of mine, you really hit it on the head. I must have been just three years old when I first met Jimmy and have always been on intimate terms with him even after high school days and later years tended to keep us out of the same circles. If this marriage business keeps up, there will not be any bachelor friends to go around with in a few years.

Speaking of friends, reminds me of the conversation which Robbin and I had yesterday before the show. We discussed the value of friends and how to keep them etc. We believe that I would have the propensity during the post war years to let time glide by and forget all the friends I have made in the Army and as an opportunist, would make new ones among whatever group I would then be associating with. Perhaps he is right for there is witness to that in the case of George and Tommy and then how I almost lost Ray and how Bob Westerman and Harold Kibby slipped out after the original point of association no longer existed. Although every time you lose a friend you lose part of your own life which can not be replaced.

Another thing which Robbin, Larry and I discussed was the great laughter of war. There is some sort of intangible laughter behind all this present day fighting which, although there is difficult to put a finger on. Letting yourself travel ahead in time to some future generation you can picture yourself reviewing the various phases of this war and seeing how futile, how childish, how vain, wasteful and mocking it all was. That is something like what I mean when I refer to this great laughter but does not come near to really defining it.

I forgot to mention in one of yesterdays letters or rather letter that I had addressed all the remaining V-mail in my possession and that will save me a great deal of time when I am rushed. You see, I hand write the return address and the word "Free" on the outside of the V-mail form as it is prescribed in the regulations.

Another little thing I first learned about yesterday although I had had the opportunity to do so at a time long since past. That medal which my Dad carried around as a watch fob was his Victory Medal from the World War I. I hadn't realized that until I saw in when glancing the Army Regulations.

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman