Sgt Roman F. Klick 36620923
HS 1393 Engr APO 709
c/o PM SF Cal
23 August 1944
Dear Aunty Clara,
Wednesday
The time now is approximately eight-thirty in the evening and I have spent a rather uneventful evening of Charge of Quarters. About the most exciting (if you could call a mere passing happening that) event was when Gideon Conover Holmes the Third walked in for a few minutes chatter and ended up by staying for more than an hour. Personally, I was not in the mood for conversation and tried to stop all the attempts made at conversing with me thus far although I did have to make a few concessions and enter into a few discussions now and then. With all the ample time in the world to write letters to other people and probably do a little constructive studying on any of a number of things such as shorthand, French, Spanish, business correspondence or the like, I chose to read on in the Joseph Conrad novel, "Victory." It is not such an intensely interesting book that I can not drop it but it concerns a man who has lived most of his life in the Oriental South Pacific Islands and I just wanted to find out what Conrad gives as reasons for a man staying down in these out of the way spots. Without any attachments I can easily see how a man might be tempted to stay down here for the weather is not harsh, the life is lazy and time passes by almost imperceptibly - but those are my ways of looking at it and I just wanted to see if those are the reasons men do spend their lives in remote places such as these are. The Executive Officer, that's Captain Ladley, just handed me the key to his car and wanted me to be sure to take his car and the Major's car down to the Motor Pool this evening. The way I figure on doing it is to get two other fellows and driving three jeeps down to the Motor Park and then drive up in the one which is not being put to bed for the night. Another flash, the telephone rang the three rings which means "Personnel" and I immediately said to myself that that was Captain Hanton and that it meant work. Sure enough, it was he but all he wanted were several of the cards of the men in his company which was a short order job. Oops, there went the phone again and this time he wanted something else again. Let's hope he isn't in one of his moods for he has remarkable staying power and this can go on far into the night as I know only too well from past experience. However, I intend to clear out of the office either at nine o'clock on the head or after I park those jeeps if that job isn't accomplished before that time. Technically a CQ should remain here until eleven bells but also, on the technicality that the CQ roster erroneously has the quitting time as nine bells, we can justly quit right then and there. Remember the big hullabaloo which I was raising this afternoon about the OPVs not being out yet and me wanting to work on them? Well, I ended up by going to the post office for the mail instead of working in the office this PM so I might as well have saved the print it took to write about it. I would have lost, though, either way for Jack M. had to remain in the office and type up an OCS application for someone and that would have been my job had I remained and I wouldn't have gotten at my work anyhow. The bugs are flying around thicker than blood soup this evening (or should I say thicker than the raisins in blood soup) and they are getting into my hair. The result is that someone might think I have cooties the way I couple my natural habit of head scratching with pulling these bugs out - but then who ever heard of cooties that are large enough to grab with a couple of fingers. One bug is a new one to me and after he got tangled up in my hair, he fell on my fatigues from where I tried to pick him up without success at first. It was very surprising to notice that he gave off a very sickening sweet candy odor and Gid, Ebner and I all smelled him and even though it was a "nice" smell, we couldn't stand it because of its strength. Its little things like that which lend such luster and allure to the tropics. Over a period of time we are being made acquainted with such oddities as these fragrant bugs, colored birds, oversized beetles and moths, brilliant red flowers etcetera yet a travelogue gives them all in one pamphlet. So-long, /s/ Roman Roman