Sgt Roman F. Klick 36620923
HS 1393 Engr APO 709
c/o PM SF Cal
September 17th, 1944

Dear Aunty Clara,

Sunday



What a day! It has been terrific! Not that there were such extra sensational, wonderful things happening today, but rather that nothing happened to remind me that I was in the army. It was like just a pleasant interlude in life with a person doing as he pleased and having a swell time doing it.

To begin at the end, we just came back from seeing one swell picture - "Two Girls and a Sailor" with June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven, Van Johnson and a host of other stars including such personages as Schnozzle Durante, Xavier Cugat, Lena Horne, Virginia O'Brien, Harry James and even the Wilde sisters played in it. Perhaps you have heard about the picture for even out here it received an advance press notice for the last month or so in the magazines and newspapers we have been getting.

Virginia O'Brien was as dead pan as ever and sang the song "Take It Easy". Speaking of that gal, our letter concerning her has already produced results. If you recall, just a day or so ago, I wrote a letter with Andy and Norona signing their names along with mine to call ourselves "The Unholy Three" in which we requested the "Get out of bed and smile like everythinger" announcer to play Virginia O'Brien's song "Friendship", Spike Jones's "Holiday for Strings", and the Boston Port Band's "Rack up Another Beer Boys." This morning, Mathis says, the fellow who has charge of the program said he had a rather unusual letter addressed to the "Get out of bed and smile like everythinger" and that it was for Monday morning and he would play the request then. You see, we asked for Monday or Wednesday morning because those are the days this week which Andy is the bugler and he will be up to hear the program. Of course, we who aren't buglers are up every morning since we don't get every third day off.

But now to continue with the story of this glorious Sunday. It really got off to a bad start but somehow I didn't mind it. Someone had told me that we were going to have fresh eggs again for breakfast this morning and as much as I didn't want to do it, I got up from sleep to get those eggs only to be disappointed in having two flapjacks served to us instead. Well, I ate them alright (and surprisingly enough they were not bad) and then I immediately hightailed it back to the barracks and hit the hay again where I snored and snored and snored until shortly after eleven bells.

At that time, I aroused myself from my slumber once again and took off for the office to find out what kind of mail I had if any. Well, there was nothing to speak of since the mail situation was deplorable today - so they tell me - but I did receive one letter and it was from my Dad's Holy Name Society and they sent a prayer card or whatever you call those things and another one of those letters telling about the big turnout they had at Soldier's Field or how many prayers and rosaries were being said for "the boys." As usual, I hand all that stuff to Jack Molytoff who has more use for it than myself - not being irreligious or anything like that but being practical about it. Incidentally, on the envelope itself, which was addressed to the old Company A in the 353rd, I read a small pencil greeting which read "Hello - Roman F. R.A.G." For a minute I couldn't think of who it might be until I figured out that it was written over there in the 353rd and not here in the 1393rd. Then it dawned on me who was the assistant mail clerk for them - not other than my old bugler friend Ray A. Gradler. You certainly remember that boy who used to talk with me until the wee hours in the morning during those first few months at Camp White when he had just come from Fort Belvoir and hadn't known anyone in the outfit.

It was time to eat very soon but before I did go to chow, I wrote a letter to Blumenfeld. In fact I typed up two full pages on V-mail and sent them out. At least I have taken care of one correspondent for a while. The chow was super. We had that double layer cake with triple frosting in the top and middle. In addition to that we had ice cream and a dozen other things to eat - all good. Following the meal I took it easy for about an hour which has been my wont lately.

When I did get up and go down to the office and begin writing a letter to Harvey Beaumont, I was interrupted by Jack coming in and suddenly finding myself riding all over the back hill country of Guadalcanal when Captain Ladley asked Jack to drive him someplace. We saw something of what the real interior looks like and it was a lot of fun. Especially when you get up high some of the surrounding hill country and survey the ocean spreading out before you like a vast panorama.

When we returned to the office, Jack and I just talked about everything in general until it was time to eat our chow at five o'clock. It is very rare when Jack eats a supper meal in H&S company so it was almost like having him for a guest. There wasn't much to the meal outside some potato salad but the main treat was a full quarter of ice-cold watermelon and we really ate that up.

I drove Jack down to B Company then and finally returned to the office to wait around for show time. Andy and I went down there a bit early and sat reading a few magazines and eating candy. We also finished off the last of the little fudge - what am I saying - fruit cake which Mrs Boyer sent to me. I should have looked at the date of that thing to find out how long it took to arrive. The measurements of that box were a little larger than I mentioned yesterday. It is 4-3/4 inches long, 3-1/2 inches wide and a little more than an inch thick.

O yes, another thing which made the day interesting was the radio broadcasts. We heard Dinah Shore sing two numbers from that picture "Up In Arms" and a third broadcast of Dinah Shore and Danny Kaye singing the same one they sang in the picture. With a radio down in the barracks and one up here in the office, we find ourselves becoming more and more addicted to listening to certain programs throughout the evening and the day just like people back home who have their "musts" in the radio line. (One Man's Family just for an example).

Of course, I should feel greatly disappointed at not writing letters to the Michalaks, Mrs. Boyer, Mrs. Reed, Myrtle, Eleanor, Marion and who knows who, but, unfortunately, I am not at all perturbed and figure that what I haven't answered today I can answer some other day.

This week is going to be a busy one coming up for not only will I have to get on my letter writing, not only will I have a lot of work to do during the working hours, but I'm going to try to get busy on some sort of post-war improvement of my brains so that I'll be a value to Rathborne when I return. I believe I mentioned the fact that I would very much like to be drawing some $60 a week from them, at least, and I don't want to take all my life to get at that mark but within a year or two after the war. I've been wasting enough of my lifetime in the last two years and will do likewise during the coming two. After that, there will be no more time for loafing around if dreams are to materialize.

I have not opened up the second box of mallow delights as yet for fear that within a few hours after it is opened up, it will be gone - so why be in a hurry about it.

That song, "Fellow on a Furlough" seems to be getting up there in popularity. I like it and it would be great fun to be singing that walking down Cermak Road right now.

The hour was rather late last night when I got to bed but I was still awake when Frazin came in. All of a sudden his flashlight began moving about wildly and I heard his breathing rather hard. He had the scare of his life as a huge jungle insect about three or four inches long in body (about seven inches long for tail and feelers) touched him. He tried to kill it with a broom but in spite of waking up the entire barracks, it did not phase the bug and the boy was becoming desperate. He had to smash it with a magazine and literally crush it to death as it cracked and snapped when its body broke. Ugh, I want no parts of things like that. Small bugs, yes, I've gotten used to them, but these jungle monstrosities are another thing. When don't they stay where they belong.

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman