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

Dear Aunty Clara,

Friday



It seems these night letters are really becoming just that --- night letters. It is now eleven o'clock.

From 9:30 to 10:30 we had a regular little party here in the Personnel Section. Campbell, Larry and I split between us (1) a can of tuna fish contributed by Campbell (2) a box of vanilla wafers and (3) a can of orange juice contributed by Larry and myself. Then we chewed the fat until now. Boy but these snacks should come around more often.

Quarter to six rolled around this evening and I took out a weapon's carrier from the Motor Pool and drove it up on the hill to get the movie projector. The film had not yet arrived so I and my passenger for the evening (a fellow from the company) waited in the car in front of regimental headquarters until the films arrived.

The stuff was not rewound but I decided to do it on the machine and finished just in time to start the show at 7:00 sharp. Somehow or other I could not take much interest in the picture for the third time and wished that I had taken along a good book to read. On the whole it went off rather well except for the one break which occurred just before the end of the second reel.

There were no packages at all in this evening's mail. I feel that Saturday will be my lucky day and that the package with the Christmas cards and the Atlas will arrive at that time.

Lt. Carrozza saw me while we were waiting outside regimental and said that the date had been set for when we can get our ice cream. It will be on the 18th of November. By that time we will have our coke bar all set up and can enjoy ice cold drinks along with the ice cream. Mike is thinking of cutting a little trap door in the floor of the Personnel Tent and digging a hole down in the ground where we can keep our carbonated water and our coke syrup.

It is surprising how much reading a fellow can get by snatching up an article here and there at odd moments. The magazines which seemed so scarce about a month ago are now coming in day after day and with a little spot checking and reading of the most interesting articles one can say he has read anything worthwhile in any and all of the magazines.

The French vocabulary is now only one hundred words behind and a full 449 are on the books. Even if I'll never be able to converse in the language, I at least hope that it will be easy for me to read it.

Gee but I'm tired after a week of going to bed late. It is all I can do to keep my eyes open and sometimes I'm not doing it. By staying awake more hours, I'm just making the war last that much longer, relatively speaking. If I had slept away those hours the war would have been in existence in my conscious mind for a lesser period.

Captain Terpening, the commanding officer of Company B, has tried to get a date with a nurse by sending her a regular military requisition letter asking for one blonde nurse for the Officers Dance. He then has the 1st endorsement of the letter for her to sign as approved or disapproved. That news is slated for an appearance in the next week's issue of the Bulldozer. A group of nurses passed us on the road this morning and waved like a bunch of school girls. You will find that to be the case out here that a least from a distance the women war workers seem to be a jolly and sociable type.

By the way, I'm going to have to send another follow up financial letter in a few days to put the finishing touches to the allotment changes. I'll try to do that tomorrow.

If any of the last half page seems to be mixed up or doesn't make sense you can blame it on my sleepiness. I just now woke up from a short 15 or 30 second nap which I fell into unawares.

So-long,   /s/ Roman   Roman