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Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
HS 1393 Engr APO 709
c/o PM San Francisco, California
21May44

Dear Aunty Clara,

Sunday

It is quarter after six and I meant to write a long long while ago but never got around to it. For one thing, I made a sad mistake this morning in thinking that because it was a Sunday morning, I could sleep until noon. That was not so for Cooley came storming thru the tents and woke everyone sleeping in them up and put them to work on tearing down all the pyramidal tents remaining up in the company area. The colonel had ordered that they should all be removed by Monday morning. Therefore, I was stuck until noon on that job although it didn't amount to much more than keeping me away from writing my letters.

Then when I wanted to type letters up in the office during the afternoon I ran into complications once again. All the typewriters were occupied and since mine is still on the fritz, I just had to sit around chewing the fat and not answer any letters. Then I walked over to the canteen for a while where we had some malted milk and where Mike Nyalka, Walter Parsons and Thomas Campbell stopped in for a half an hour chat.

Right now Lt Suiter is trying to dope out something for the Thursday night show on the stage for it is the 1393rd's turn to put on the stage show along with the Band. This Marmorstein the Special Services assistant had asked Jack and I if we knew of any fellows who could put on a good number and we jokingly turned in our buddies' names like Mersing, Vickers, Yzzi, Edie and Burkard. Now Lt Suiter asked me just what kind of "Sitting Bull" act Burkard puts on and I had to tell him that he wasn't available for any part like that.

Well, this letter has received one nice interruption. It is now just about time for Taps and I am first returning to it. This is what happened. Two fellows from my company wanted to get over to the H&S Motor Pool which is a good ways from the area and must be reached by motor transportation because the walk would take quite some time. They wanted me to get one of the fellows in the Motor Pool on the phone and have him come out here to pick them up. However, Captain Ladley let us have his jeep and I drove them over to the Motor Pool and then drove myself back again. By that time, Lewis and Sackett were standing at the door of the headquarters office awaiting my return with their chairs underneath their arms ready to go to the show, so all I could do was put away my letters and get moving with them.

It was a swell show. "His Sister's Butler" or rather "His Butler's Sister" with Pat OBrien, Franchot Tone and Deanna Durbin. Have you seen that picture? Is it a late one? Boy o boy, that Deanna Durbin sure has gone in for the torrid love pictures now that she is playing a grown up role. First it was that love and kisses affair with Joe Cotton and now this one with Franchot Tone. This one was not one of those Penelope pictures as was the last one.

Anyway, we came back from that show and went right into the Canteen for a cup of malted milk. Then we heard that the program "Suspense" was one the air and we went to listen to that. It was pretty good this evening. After that, I went back to the Canteen where I began reading a Life magazine with all its description about the Russian-German war. Not long after that, George Myers walked in and began telling me his troubles. No kidding, he is almost sorry now that he has traded his old job of Company Supply Sergeant for the job of Bn Supply Sgt. They keep him on the go night and day. Like tonight they had a meeting of all the Supply Sergeants and Supply Officers over there in Group Headquarters and that killed his entire evening. He came back rather tired and worn out and sick of the whole business so he offered us a beer as he sat down there and began to talk of old times to try and forget the army. (Here is one of the instances which I mentioned on a previous occasion which require the drinking of beer for sociable reasons such as keeping him company and accepting his offer. In this case, I could accept his offer and drink that cup like a trooper.)

But all this fol-de-rol in not telling you about the letters in my mail box today. There were three of them. Two of them were V-mails of yours dated both the 10th of May and one V-mail from Myrtle. Well, getting mail dated the 10th isn't so bad. That is the old eleven day deliver and then, of course there is that day difference between our time and your time so that it really only took ten days to arrive.

Gee, I'm glad that you think my answers to Pat were alright. It is like an election night with me every time I write to her, I'm so anxious to know how the campaign turned out and what the returns will be. That copy of the song I sent to her was not the one that is autographed by Col Trower, Lt Stilwell and CWO Perkins but another copy I picked up from Lewis who had a whole lot of extra ones and gave them to me. Didn't you get the one I sent to you yet, or am I just dreaming that I sent one to you. I sent one on the spur of the moment last night to the Klicks because I haven't written them in several weeks and thought that maybe Rose might have a good time playing that song on the piano and possibly even play it at one of her meetings. Is there anyone else who might like a souvenir copy of that Marching Song? I still have several left and I won't throw them away.

That censorship you speak of in my letter to Pat is rather funny and in line with what I have told you about the officers who have just come overseas being rather over scrupulous about the information in the letters. Lt London had announced to us in the Cocoanut Grove and I had read in the censorship regulations of APO 709 that atabrine could be mentioned as you already know from my first letters written when we arrived, but evidently the new officers think that it falls under the classification of military information.

Did you really mean O.D clothing or was that just a slip of the pencil? I gave away all my extra khakis to Kurtiss in New Caledonia, not ODs. In fact the week after we landed on New Caledonia last year, we had to turn in all our OD uniforms, overcoats, pants, shirts and hat.

That was also true about the fellow finding 187 dollars in American money in an old foxhole. And that isn't the half of it. The other night when the bulldozers were working on a place, McGaugh, Emery and a few other fellows found hundreds and hundreds of dollars in bills that had been buried there. Probably one of the first Finance Offices on the island while the Japs were still here, had to evacuate in a hurry and left some of the dough. They are all allowed to keep any money they find. One fellow found $500 dollars himself.

I haven't seen Madame Curie yet but think I will enjoy it just as much as you did especially after having read Eve Curies book upon which the plot is based.

So-long,   /s/ Roman   Roman