Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
22 February 1944

Dear Aunty Clara,

Tuesday or Washington's Birthday in New Caledonia



I'm Charge of Quarters relief in Regimental Headquarters today between four o'clock and five o'clock and maybe longer if Beaumont doesn't show up on time. This big typewriter in their headquarters works much better than ours does so I thought I would give it a try and type a letter the wrong way for a change. Your letter of Feb 12 arrived today making me definitely glad that I am not in Chicago at the present time with the almost zero cold. Brrr! I shudder to even think about it. It is funny the way farmer's crops can dry up in the winter time just as well as in the summer. A person would just assume that it made no difference whether it snowed or not because the ground would be frozen anyway. I can't recall that old insurance man who died recently. But, while on the subject of other people, who in the world is Bill Schafer or whatever his name was that Mary says is in New Guinea. Do I know him or am I supposed to know him? Civilian watches are definitely off the Ordnance list for repairs so there is nothing else to do but send the thing home and wait until I'm lucky enough to win a raffle and buy one from the PX here in New Caledonia. When I'm going to send these items home is a mystery to even myself. Any day now is about as definite as I can be I guess.

The picture this evening is "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" and I might go to see it. Today was a so-so day down at work. I didn't get much of anything accomplished. There was just a little bit of work here and another little bit of work there. The one big job which I had to do bogged down about one-sixth the way thru it and will have to hold over until tomorrow for completion. I bought six Lucy Ellen candy bars not so much that I wanted them but just because I walked over to the PX and saw them on the counter. In addition to the Lucy Ellen I bought a can of pure orange juice which wasn't so very good. I also opened up the second box of mallow delights this morning in the midst of a hungry spell. To my surprise, they were getting a little dried out. They aren't dry yet but if I would have kept them another week, they would have been.

Poor Klaas Land. He was the fellow I used to play chess with on occasions. He went back to the States a while back on this over 38 business and like Ricardo he must get himself a job in a defense industry or else be called back into active service. Now he too was never naturalized and has not received any citizen papers to date and the job he wants to get in the steel mills of South Chicago requires citizenship of the employees. Before coming into the Army, Land had applied for citizenship and by now would have had the papers. Then he applied for citizenship thru the Army at Camp White and was scheduled for an interview to get his papers on the very day we left. Then we came here and he started trying to get his papers a third time. Once again he missed getting them by a short time. Today all the foreign born in our regiment went into Noumea for their papers and his was among them but he wasn't here any longer. That runs almost like a Mark Hellinger story of frustration.

We didn't have any ice cream from the other outfit today because Jack Molyneaux spilled them as he came back with enough for the office on a motorcycle. He had to turn a corner and found out he couldn't do it one-handy and had to let go of the ice cream.

Wally Moeller is trying to get into the Air Corps and may succeed in doing it. If he does go, either Kurtiss or Molyneaux will get his job as both of the fellows have taken shorthand and it almost a requirement for the position. If they don't want it, the job may be up for grabs with a sergeancy in it for the fellow who wants it. However, no-one is very keen on it because Personnel is considered a better bet even with a Corporal rating than Regimental Headquarters with the Sergeancy.

So-long,   /s/ Roman   Roman