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Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
October 7, 1943

Dear Aunty Clara,

Thursday

I received three letters in today's mail. Two were from you dated the 26th and 27th October while the third was from Aunt-Aunt.

Well, I guess I'll have to thank you and Aunty Florence for an advance Christmas present since you have already sent out the Atlas. Thanks a whole lot and I hope the thing gets here real fast so that we can follow the Allied advances up the Italian coasts and into Germany. Whew, with 50 Christmas cards I should have enough to send to every single person I know. I sure hope that they all get here in time for me to resend them out. They will have all of two months during October and November to reach me and I think they should be able to do that.

So I won't recognize you when I get home because you will be so thin, eh? That's about ten or fifteen more pounds than you weighed a year ago, isn't it? Maybe if you gain enough, we can make some money in a side show and charge one-tenth of a dollar to see Cicero's fattest lady. However, I think you will have a long way to go before you can even give Mildred Kotek the slightest competition.

Richard certainly picked a swell time to go calling on old friends. Or maybe at 1:30 A.M. his friends are first livening the party up. I've told you once before that Lt Carrozzo looks and acts like Richard. Well, yesterday he showed us a picture of himself as a civilian with his wife and, by golly, if he doesn't look like Richard.

The magnifying glass Aunt-Aunt gave you for Christmas must really be a giant if you can see the entire V-mail with it. Do you take off your glasses when you use the magnifier or do you have that in addition to the glasses? I'll bet when Uncle Jack finds out that you have that he will be using it too.

About that little looseleaf cover to keep the V-mails in. If you haven't been able to locate one by the time you receive this letter, please write and tell me and then you can give up the search. I will make one out of materials available to me. After I punch the holes in the V-mails, I will be able to use the one form and no other.

That is the second time you have eaten at Stoufells, isn't it? Of course, I remember the place because Randolph and Wabash is the station I had to use to go to the Chicago Public Library and I would watch the tearing down of the old building and the construction of the new one. That was a queer combination to build a two story restaurant surrounded by a gasoline station and parking space for automobiles. It's a high class place like DeMett's, isn't it? And that is the store you saw the infamous Jim, wasn't it?

I've spent most of the day doing odds and ends. Tomorrow I am almost sure to start the payroll. Tonight is another big Thursday with Company D putting on a big show. Then we will have the band and finally the moving picture "Bells of Capistrano". I hope this evening's letter will not inform you that parts of it were cancelled like last week's show.

There must be such a thing as getting too much sleep because last night I got to bed shortly after nine o'clock and by the wee hours of this morning was twisting and tossing around in a semi-conscious condition.

There has been a sudden influx of reading material and, believe you me, everyone is catching up for the weeks that didn't have any. Lifes, Posts, Colliers and Times are all glutting the shelves and tables along with countless of hometown newspapers. You really have to read them as they come in because in another week they will have disappeared someplace. I found out today that the score of the 1st Series game was 4 to 2 in favor of the Yanks but there were no details. I hope that Uncle Jack is going to send out those clippings.

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman