Home | Return to Index

Sgt Roman F. Klick 36620923
HS 1393 Engr APO 75
c/p SF Cal
7 June 1945

Dear Aunty Clara,

Thursday

We just now returned from seeing the VE Day film which we should have seen much earlier had it not been for our moving around so much. It was beautifully photographed. Most of it was animated diagrams with arrows that moved to different parts of the world showing how we beat Germany and now have to beat Japan. Then the arrows and blocks and figures and cards and action shots of the war plus talks by the top ranks of the different services all went on to show how the United States is going to need everything of military necessity to fight the last partner of the axis on to the finish. And me with my measly 54 points have resigned myself to staying into this army until the bitter end. Unless I get home by being no use to the government (and that way no one cares to come home because you aren't much use to yourself) demobilization looks hopeless. If only they would have kept up the furlough plan but I guess that can not very well be if they have to have the shipping space to return the thousands of troops they announced over the radio the other night. Charley Matcha was lucky at that rate for having got home just before the European War was over. Now I'm hoping and wishing some miracle occurs by which this war could possibly end at least by March of 1947

Well, it was out of the Monastery for us today. H&S Company is going to be right outside the front entrance of the church in which the headquarters has the offices and where we were quartering for the last week. Therefore, they chose to erect three tents just outside the church at the bottom of the steps and that is where we moved to. Pretty snazzy right now being able to take about twenty or thirty steps from your home to your work, eh? Being actually in the office the way we were wasn't like a home at all but more like lodgings.

Lewis, Norona, Sackett, Grauel and I are in the first tent together and it is a pretty good set up. Naturally, as it always used to happen whenever we moved from tent to tent in New Caledonia or from barracks to barracks in Guadalcanal, it rained. I was the only fellow that bothered digging a ditch about my part of the tent and it actually works and drains the water off into one of the main ditches. We also got busy and split up several bamboo poles and made ourselves some excellent mosquito bar holders.

Of course, knowing H&S Company and the times we used to have moving around even as far back as A Company I know it will not be very long before we will be hauled out of our living quarters and installed in new ones. In New Caledonia, our bunch of boys were pretty lucky and only moved tents five times, and in the Canal we were even luckier having myself only moved into two tents and two barracks. During one of the tent moves all I had to do was change position in the tent and during two barracks moves I again merely moved positions instead of buildings. Counting our pup tents when we first landed, this makes the fourth home so far, that is on this island.

But all this talk about tents and living quarters can not be particularly interesting in view of the fact that it is mainly a rehash of what has gone on before.

As you no doubt know by now, I wrote Uncle Jack a letter last night. This is getting pretty good, being able to dash off a letter on the spur of the moment like that. Something on the order of the good old days of last year and prior to that when I could sit down and knock off ten letters in an evening. Tonight I can not think of anyone to write except the Daily News with a change of address. O yes, I forgot all about the Readers Digest, I'll have to send them a change of address too.

Concerning censorship regulations. It is permitted to send home one coin and one paper note of every denomination up to and including the ten peso note. That is quite liberal. Also, Lt Suiter has found out that certain units located in Manila have been able to reveal the exact location of their building and he is going to go down to the Base Censor during the next few days to inquire whether we may or may not name this monastery of ours. If we can do so, I will copy down the memorial plaque which is placed just outside on the wall of the monastery telling its history, dedication and giving all dates famous to its history.

The mail situation looks as it may be alleviated shortly for a few more bundles of mail came in this morning. Sooner or later we ought to be getting some letters with our first APO. I'll bet we get some of those before we get all the mail that was written to Guadalcanal.

And maybe we are going to get into Manila in the daytime after all for Captain Cook is working on some sort of schedule with Lewis whereby we will be able to take a day off of work in rotation just as a person takes Charge of Quarters every so often by a roster. That is the day I am waiting for, when I can explore the city. It isn't very large compared to Chicago and I believe I could actually get to know the whole of it in no time.

Say, I take it back about there being no newspaper for the army out here. They have one and are rather meager with the distribution of it. It is called the Far Eastern Express and is an Army Daily. I also saw those latest baseball scores which I asked Uncle Jack about it and the poor Cubs are down there in the second division. Too bad. I'll lose two bucks on them if they don't hurry up and get into the top three positions by the end of the season.

The PX may be opening up soon also since Captain Cook, while in the city, inquired at the main PX about procedure and all that. However, if they open up before we get paid it won't be much use anyway because no one will have enough dough left to buy anything.

Nothing very important happened at work today. Just put in the eight hours and let it go at that. I still have loads of work to do and time is actually becoming short in which to do it in. I would have worked on it this evening a bit but someone is always taking my desk at night and there is no place to work. I'm typing this with the typewriter on a box and me leaning up against the side of a desk.

Shortly we intend to have our nightly bit of tea. If we could only get hold of a loaf of bread I could bring out the can of blueberry jam I still have saved from the 10 in 1 rations.

So-long,   /s/ Roman   Roman