Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
3 December 1943
Dear Aunty Clara,
Friday
I received your Christmas card today and a letter from George Prokopec. Gee that Christmas card certainly has the verse to fit the occasion. It almost has our philosophy in it that we will try to have the best Christmas possible under the circumstances. And it is also nice not to receive a card with soldiers etcetera placed all over the thing. Your card must have come be airmail since the postmark says the PM on the 22nd. Probably the other people who sent their cards when the government told them to do so will have theirs go by boat because so many people would have put airmail stamps on the letters that they couldn't all possibly go that way.
George is in Salt Lake City, Utah, preparing to be assigned to a crew. That means he is out of the Air Transport Command and is now a bombardier once again with the possibility of sighting enemy targets in the near future.
The payroll isn't done or even started yet because of all the other incidentals which have come up. For the first part of the morning I was checking in the money that fellows had given me. After that came the daily reports and then a little extra work typing up some promotions in our company. That is a deal which should get absolute secrecy but when I came back to the Company at noon, everyone was buzzing the news about the new promotions. They usually have an inkling of things like that coming in advance of the actual orders but this noon the fellows were naming exactly who the men were and doing it right. I suppose it doesn't really matter whether it is common knowledge a day before the order or not. Probably some one outside the inner sanctums managed to see the list.
Nevertheless, I thought I would be able to start work on the payroll preparation after that but instead I was busy with allotments, changes in address and a few other items. It wasn't until after noon that I could work on it. However, I will not start the real payroll until after the new promotions are in so that I can get the men their increase in pay starting this month.
Did I tell you that Blumenfeld called up the office yesterday to thank me for forwarding him the letter of recommendation to OCS which Captain Hanton signed for him? He hung on to the phone for quite a while and it became rather embarrassing especially when you know that the number of lines are limited and you may be holding up some important call. It was a different story back in RH&R where there were about twenty phones in the office and more than half of them could have outside lines. In the first place there wasn't any war to win and now my taking time up on a phone might delay our getting home a day or so.
The Billy Goat which Company B has is now permitted to run about the Regimental Area all by itself. It came into the Personnel Section today and began eating some cards and then did its business right on the floor. We shooed him out and from now on he is an unwelcome guest.
We haven't received our ice cream yet although we have our order in and the money ready and waiting. We lacked 50¢ of five dollars at four o'clock this afternoon but after drumming up some customers we oversubscribed the quota and now are almost half way on to our third tin for some future date.
The Special Service Office received quite a few overseas editions of magazines today as well as a collection of books for the library we hope to have in the Big Tent after it is all built up again. Even the Modern Screen magazine, the Life and a few other popular ones come in an overseas edition besides the Pony Editions of Newsweek and Time.
Incidentally, I wrote Aunty Florence a hand written V-mail this morning. What I'm wondering is whether or not my pencil letters will be photographed or whether they will be sent as they are. And last night I finished the letter to the Millers. That makes only about four or five people left to whom I have to send thank you notes.
So-long, /s/ Roman Roman