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

Dear Aunty Clara,

Wednesday



Thirteen bags of mail came into the regiment today but yours truly ran true to form by not even getting a smell of a letter. And, as usual, there is still that vain hope that this evening's mail will be a little better. Jack Molyneaux is cursing up and down today for the same reason. He has a little bit more to yell about because his wife writes three or so airmail letters a week and even when there aren't any V-mails as today he has a right to expect one of the other ones.

Just before writing this letter I knocked off a short note to Myrtle Reed. It is just a lot of idle chatter mostly answering her own letter but at least it will knock one letter from the unanswered pile. After writing the evening letter last night and those extras, I was in the mood to dash off letters to the whole slew of people that I owe them to but I thought more wisely of it since it was nearing eleven o'clock.

Even though I try to get into bed by eleven o'clock each day and sometimes succeed in doing so, I still feel tired the following day.

In reading over John Edie's Chicago Times I found a list of the 850 words which comprise this new idea called Basic English. Does the reasoning sound logical that if those 850 words are the minimum essentials for English it should apply in a similar way to any language even French? I'll look up the French words for those 850 and memorize them and so have a basic French vocabulary or something approaching it.

Twice now while scanning over his Times, I have found faces that were familiar among the Chicagoans at War. Both times the fellow happened to be an old grammar school classmate from Wilson school. The first time it was John Chmelir whose dad used to own a butcher shop on 22nd Street and in the last paper it was Johnny Kolacia who started off in Miss Gertz's 1st grade class with me.

Perhaps you have wondered why the sudden end of talking about the ice cream project. It seems that we haven't been able to obtain either the five gallon tin to keep the ice cream in or the wooden box of desired size to keep it in.

And Campbell did not bring down the puppies today and hasn't even mentioned anything about them all day.

The news items for the home town papers which I told you about yesterday has become irksome today. Sol Gordon decided to send them into the Special Service office in town thru our Regimental Message center. Johnson in turn showed them to Lt Maack, the Adjutant, who in turn showed them to Stelzenmuller, the Lt Colonel. about 20 word length censored area instead of one original, to have them go thru all channels before leaving the regiment and that it be compulsory to file a news item for all men who receive promotions or earn Good Conduct Medals. Jack says that they just wouldn't believe him back home if he tried to tell them about 7-9 word length area censored.

The old feeling from the cramp is still in the leg although it is in lesser degree than it was yesterday.

I picked up a 30 cent Trans-Atlantic Air-mail stamp today to rest alongside the 50 cent Trans-Pacific stamps you had put on the wrist watch package. Although I know very well that I'll never again go into the hobby there is still something about a stamp which interests me and makes me want to study it over and look at it. But when you go into it so that it becomes a racket, you are defeating the purpose of it as a hobby.

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman