Sgt Roman F. Klick 36620923
HS 1393 Engr APO 709
c/o PM SF Cal
11 July 1944
My Dear Corn-fed Mrs Boyer,
Tuesday
I hate to tell you this but your jokes --- oi, oi, they smell. With that imposing introduction, I will now try to win back your friendship in the following pages of typographical errors and mis-spelled words. I know perfectly well that it is spelled friend, I'm not ignorant --- I always follow E --- A B C D E F G H I. G?
I suppose you guessed by my reference to your jokes that I received your four-page V-mail letter. They all came at the same time as you hoped they would and I was very glad to receive them. Also, the very same day, in the afternoon, I received your "candy-letter" for which I also wish to thank you although I want to know "whereinell" was the letter. I believe I tore that box apart looking for the "personal message" which was supposed to be in the inside? ---- Well, how am I doing? --- Winning your friendship or alienating you permanently? At that fine art of "losing friends and alienating people', Clarence and I were past masters for we never could get over laughing satanically after reading its fine insulting passages.
Incidentally, for your benefit, Grandma, I'm typing this letter once again in Capti ** there goes that typewriter again ** capital letters and double spaces and also so that I might be able to match your four pages which literl (dorre - oops, - correction: literally) overwhelmed me. So help me, this typewriter is making the errors. If you believe that you're mighty gullible.
Now seriously, I can and never will be able to match your corn, so from now on it will be a straight letter. Fortunately, nothing has as yet caught up with me (knock, knock). I have not had any of the terrible tropical diseases and I hope to goodness that I never do. Yet it wasn't four days ago that I almost thought I was coming down with Kid Malaria for in the first stage of my present cold, I suffered from alternating chills and fevers and was just about ready to throw in the towel following a fitfull night of cold and sweat, but I didn't die and am here today telling you all about it. Heat rash is a normal ailment but I wouldn't say it is tropical for anyone, who gets a rash in the summer time at home, is almost bound to break out in an eternally warm climate. Speaking of this warm climate, reminds me that we fellows all hope that when and if we return home once again, it will be summer in Chicago for the years of warmth will have thinned all the blood in our veins to the point where it would take a considerable adjustment to get used to the quick change to cold weather once again. A person doesn't notice this change in the blood until something happens like the other week when I had to have a tooth pulled and the dentist had me hold a pack in the emptiness for a half hour since the blood takes much longer to coagulate. You didn't know that, now did you?
As for being tanned, I imagine that I'm as dark or darker now than I have ever been as far as the arms and face are concerned although the swimming has terminated and I've never had an over all tan since coming overseas. Then too, my hours exposed to sunlight are strictly limited as I'm a great indoor man myself.
My sister-in-law Roberta Boya has not yet written to me from Washington, D.C. which surprises me a great deal as the letters have been coming in quite steadily (in a crazy sort of way) from that way. So if anything new has happened please let me know about it for I won't know otherwise. Just in case, Bob doesn't write before I receive your next letter, it might be a good idea to send me his new address so that I can rush a note off to him. Just one week, to the day, before receiving your letters, we saw that feature "Salute to the Marines" with Wally Berry in which he is "praying agin" Fay Bainter. And I join you in praying agin Bob with his crazy notions. I suppose he wants to be a thirty year man too?
The news from Cicero hasn't been anything out of the usual for sometime now with the exception that both my Aunty Clara and I think I'm pretty lucky to be in the Pacific instead of the continent of Asia in India like Jr Barta for she was talking to Mrs Barta and the mail takes a minimum of two weeks to reach him and several packages which she sent out two months before hadn't reached him yet. There seems to be a brighter side to even such a thing as overseas.
And now for the last page which shall be entitled, appropriately,
"Revelations"
Question: "Do you still write to your little Lana Turner?"
Answer: Definitely yes! And she sent me a much better picture than the other one which I had.
End of Revelations
The current pictures now showing in our Engineer Bowl are such films as "The Adventures of Mark Twain", "Standing Room Only", "A Guy Named Joe", "The Lodger" and "The Imposter".
Our personal comforts and conveniences have been enhanced by my Aunty Clara's two most recent packages containing (1) an egg-beater! and (2) a bowl! It makes for faster preparation and more efficient mixing of our powdered milk drinks flavored with chocolate malt or just plain old malt.
The best entertainment we've had on a day off so far was this last Sunday when we toured the island seeing what we could see, which wasn't very much, with the exception of some really beautiful scenes of tropical beaches just as seen on the covers of travel catalogues.
Plans for the future consist of slaving(?) the week out until next Sunday when we hope to go swimming once again in a swell beach we discovered away up the other side of the island. Meanwhile, the best of luck and health to both you and Muriel
So-long,
Ro