Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
16 November 1943
Dear Aunty Clara,
Tuesday
Well! And well again. All the mail didn't come into the Orderly Room because this evening I was pleasantly surprised by receiving another package and the Daily News of October 15th. The package was from none other than the Martin Millers and consisted of a large tin can filled with peanuts and pieces of fudge candy wrapped individually in waxed paper. The candy was fresh and good but the peanuts were stale.
Somebody in H&S Company built a double chinning bar in back of their tents but it looks as if Company A is making the most use of it. While Larry and I were on our way to the movie theater area after listening to the six o'clock news flashes we stopped there for a few minutes. I thought that I could just walk up to the thing and resume my old time form that I used to display on the playground trapeze. Aha, I'm getting old. I was as awkward as could be getting up on the bar and then when I suspended my self by my feet and hung down full length it was impossible for me to regain my former position. Some of the fellows are fairly good on the bars while others are worse than I am. The most I could chin myself was three times and I was stuck in the middle of the fourth one. The record for the evening was by a small sergeant who managed to chin himself twelve times. That gives me a good idea for exercise. I'd like to be able to chin myself effortlessly as some fellows can.
The picture was so-so this evening but nothing worth writing home about except that in the picture Knute Rockne's name is pronounced with the K and the N both being heard; whereas, heretofore, we only pronounced his name with the N. It was almost as if his name was spelled Canute and it embarrassed me to think that I had been correcting people on the very thing during the day.
O yes, Donald Crisp plays in the picture as the head of Notre Dame University and he is the spitting image of "Jim" Farley who used to work in the Personal Section. And Pat O'Brian in his make up looks just like this Sgt Demaine of C Company, the former 1st Sgt.
There were two bad spots in the films this evening. This Brown fellow gets rather excited and I tried my best to get him to clam down. Perhaps the best thing for him right now is just to run the thing off alone several nights without any of us around for him to lean on. I have found that unless you tell a man the reason for doing something, he is going to carry out the instructions too implicitly and not become capable of handling a unique situation. After we finish the show, we always turn on the flood lights so that the fellows can find their way out of the area. Then we turn on the Pepsi-Cola records for the short while during their evacuation. However, the film occasionally has a cast of characters at the end and the accompanying music which is in direct continuation with the picture. I have discovered that both Gordon and this fellow are too intent on getting the Pepsi-Cola record playing per the instructions of Lt. Yantis that they cut out this natural follow up. I corrected this fellow today by holding him up just when he had started to do that. It seems funny being a veteran projectionist and being able to detect all these slight errors and mistakes in the newer hands when three months ago I myself didn't know beans about the business.
In order to make up for the sleep I lost last night when I stayed up to all hours, I'm going to hit the hay early this evening (it's ten-thirty now) and hope I'll write answers to my other letters tomorrow night. Please realize Aunty Clara that the time it takes me to write these letters to you usually would not be enough to write a thank you note for letter to anyone else; so I'm not depriving them of letters just because I am writing this one. I usually like to have several free hours in which to write other letters.
So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman