Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
11 November 1943
Dear Aunty Clara,
Thursday Armistice Day
And we celebrated Armistice Day too by having a Retreat Parade this morning and hearing a short speech by Lt Colonel Stelzenmuller. However, the speech didn't go over so hot because the sound system was a bit shot in the first place and in the second place, a plane was circling around overhead and right during the speech it zoomed down close above us drowning out every word.
I'm typing this letter on my own typewriter which has just come back from the typewriter repair shop within the last half hour. They did an excellent job on it. Not only did they fix the broken coil which operated the carriage but they also fixed up the old trouble of a broken spring in the carriage return lever. In addition to that they cleaned and oiled it inside and out so it looks like a new machine. That is one thing about these Army portable typewriters and that is that they are sturdy machines and have all the gadgets and conveniences of a standard model. They are not like the portables in civilian life that just have the bare essentials for typing and nothing else. I wouldn't mind being able to buy one of these machines after leaving the Army upon discharge.
Larry and I finally opened up the box of Mrs Snyder's candies today and are eating it very conservatively as we want to make it last. The candy is a fresh as the day it was purchased. This box did not have the outer wrapping of cellophane but was just sealed by adhesive tape around the edges.
There was no mail today. No papers, no letters and no packages. It seems that our entire tent felt the sudden mail drought of the day because no one received anything. This makes the second day in November that I have gone without mail --- terrible isn't it? I'll bet there are some boys up at the fighting fronts who are continually on the move, day after day, who haven't had mail for weeks. When you think of that, you begin to suspect that being able to receive mail on nine out of the first eleven days of this month makes a person just about as rich as he can be --- and happy too.
Because of the day being the 25th anniversary of the close of the last war, there is going to be a big celebration in town tonight with all the bigwigs of the Island and other military authorities and, as a result, we are not going to have our usual Thursday night band concert. Remember how I used to say back in Oregon that our band must be pretty good? Well, from the way they are booked in advance on this Island, they must easily be the Number One Spotlight Band.
The payroll is not done but I did make a sincere effort to work on it. The beginning was good and I was down to the last name on the second page when I made my first error. The only trouble was that it was not an ordinary error. As a general rule (with apologies to Mr Perrara) an error can be detected through the fingers immediately after being made. My error came as a surprise to me as I struck what seemingly was the right key and another letter was printed on the page. Very rarely will you find typists running into that type of difficulty but you do have a few such spells. It is then advisable not to type any too much for that day and I didn't. It would only have meant smudgy mistakes and a lot of wasted paper. After I write tonight's letter to you, I am going to give the payroll another try and see if I can't go to bed this evening with the thought that at least I am well on with it.
The final resting place of the Atlas is in an upright position between my field desk and field box. It is available to the personnel of Personnel, but with the admonition that it is not to be defaced by day by day insertions of gains made on the war fronts.
The show for this evening is "Wild Captive Woman " and Jack thinks a girl from his home town, Norristown, Pa., who he went to school with, plays in the picture. We shall see.
So-long, /s/ Roman Roman
Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
11 November 1943
Dear Aunty Clara,
Thursday
The entire picture and three shorts lasted a bare two hours and was contained in two reels. In fact it must have been much less than two hours, about an hour and a half. But it is a good thing that the picture itself was short for it was one continuous build up of the emotions which was sustained from the very beginning to the end.
The "Captive Wild Woman" was a weird picture concerning a mad doctor who could change animals into human beings by adding certain glands, their secretions and a human brain. These changes of a human form into an animal form and vice versus always is dramatic and horrible. Just as the changing of Lon Chaney Jr from a human being into the wolf man was eerie; so too was the transition from a beautiful girl into a ferocious ape. That is the second picture in a month which had to do with women changing into animals. The last one was with Simon Simone changing into a big cat.
I'm pretty sure that the captive wild woman was the girl which Jack said went to high school with him. She didn't say two words thru the whole picture and just looked mysterious. Brrrr! A picture like that is enough to have a person peering into dark corners and having nightmares at night.
Along with the short main feature there were three short films. The one was a comic screen song with crazy animated cats acting out a little skit to go along with the song which was "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now". The comment after the show was, "I Wonder How They Got the Idea That Would Be a Good Song to Send to Soldiers Overseas".
The other short was about defective eyesight in a comic style while the third one gave one song each by four American bands including Skinney Ennis and Freddy Martin. The H&S Actors Guild failed to put on their performance for the second consecutive week in a row. A company sure can get a black name in a hurry after it stands up the regiment like that two weeks in a row. Company B, C and D are the only ones who put on their shows as scheduled and, incidentally, they all gave good performances.
After chow this evening Larry and I delved into the box of Mrs Snyder's Candy along with the willing assistance of one Solomon Gordon. All but three pieces from the top layer have been disposed of. It is remarkable how fresh that candy can keep. By the way, speaking of Gordon, reminds me that I'm picking up a few Jewish nicknames from Larry who says Solomon is really Shlayme in Jewish. Now that quite a few fellows know that, Gordon is just as likely to be called Shlayme as Solomon
Butterball brought down the last remaining puppy of the four they had had in Company F. His name is Porky and he is both small and fat. His color combination is black and white. Where ever the dog goes, people put in a bid for him but according to Campbell, if they do decide to get rid of him, I will have A1A priority since one of the puppies was originally slated for me. I didn't eat my meat at supper this evening and two dogs (real nice black ones) were waiting outside for scraps. I gave each one of them a piece and they took it from my hand. Wouldn't that be a laugh to hear of Roman the great dog lover?
It is only nine o'clock right n now and I would still like to get out thank you notes to Dolores, Anita and the Reeds. Those are my musts on the letter writing agenda. This evening I will also have to get my laundry together for tomorrow will be the first day to send all of our clothing to the GI laundry. That will be a relief to have it all done again at one time and done well.
The scenes in this evening's picture which had to do with a lion and tiger cage act were played by Clyde Beatty doubling for the real actor. Reminded me of the World's Fair days.
So-long, /s/ Roman Roman