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

Dear Aunty Clara,

Tuesday



The Christmas cards and the World Atlas came in today's mail. I started to write this letter about an hour ago but became interested in looking over the Atlas and haven't done anything since then. It is intriguing just to sit down and study a map both from the aspect of the war and from mere curiosity. I also looked over the Christmas cards and will have to waste no time in getting them mailed out. I'll start to work on them tonight but there is no guarantee that I'll be able to get them finished. That is a big job to select the card, sign it and then address the thing. Thanks a lot for sending both of those things. I was waiting for them to come for so long and I haven't been disappointed in them.

I did get a letter, too. It was from Eleanor Angsten and is a very interesting letter. Those girls think it unusual should I write them two V-mail sheets but they do not realize that they send me from four to five handwritten sheets, which is much more than my one sheet. Now I am in a spot. The back log of letters is up near the danger point, I owe several thank-you notes, I have to send out the Christmas cards and my work is pressing. At least for the next two or three days I should not be busy with the movie machine.

The picture was as old as the hills but, nevertheless, it was entertaining as it was another comedy. Ginger Rogers and Jimmy Stewart were the players. Because the picture was so old, it was all torn up and it took me all of an hour to run thru it and patch here and there throughout three reels. Fortunately, for me, when the show actually was run off, there was only one bad spot at which the film skipped and blurred up. Professional houses never have that trouble of skipping because the 35mm film has a double track for the sprocket holes and should they be ripped on one side, the machine will carry it thru with the other set.

The peanuts are just about gone as are the better candies from the Flavour Candy Company. That is the signal for the opening of the Mrs Snyder's candies. Perhaps tomorrow evening. I still have two boxes of vanilla wafers left but with all these Christmas packages I have no need to eat them for sustenance.

Eleanor's letter was delayed and on the front of the envelope was marked in a round stamp --- Army Post Office, 31 Oct, Directory Service Given, 1943, San Francisco, California. Then written in blue pencil was the words APO 502. It was then I noticed that she had written down the complete address with the exception of the APO number. On the reverse side of the envelope there was stamped in red ink, "This mail was delayed because the sender failed to write your APO number on it. Speed up delivery by requesting correspondents to use your APO No."

Campbell and Isaacson are both in the tent at the present time and it is under pressure that I am able to continue this letter. First they were fooling around I just couldn't write but now they are engaged in deep conversation and only drag me into it occasionally.

This is a funny one. Remember the old Company Clerk from D Company? His name was Griffin. Well, there was another Griffin in F Company and Campbell was there at the time they met. They were both corporals and both came from Massachusetts.

By the way, the Atlas is too big for either one of my field desks, or my little foot shelf so I don't know where I'm going to keep it. If I leave it out in the office, it won't be worth two cents within a couple of weeks with all the handling and marking it will get. On the other hand, I can't keep it in the tent because there just isn't any place for it. There is one solution as a temporary measure --- I can put it underneath the field desk, out of sight.

Wow, it is almost eleven o'clock and I haven't done a thing yet.

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman