SAAAB
Santa
Ana Calif
Oct
22, 1943
Dear Mother,
Well I
suppose this letter is rather late but my time for the last few days has been
rather limited. We have completed the M
days and I have just one thing to say about them. I have made the grade.
Now that I
have passed the days of trial I can talk about them and not feel that I am speaking
too soon.
M-12 day
was the climax and it became at 4:00 when we got up and made our beds and set
the bunk house in order, made our beds and rearranged our foot lockers. At 5:00 we fell out for revielle and
roll call. We then got into our good
clothes and went to chow after which we came back and shined shoes and
brass. And they did really shine. You could actually see yourself in my GD
shoes and my brass was so clean it looked almost white. At 7:00 we fell out for a preparatory
inspection. At 8:00 we were inspected by
3 captains from the General Staff and they found things in such good order that
they gave us a superior rating. We then
got our “Cadet Issue” and that is really a laugh. Instead of the sharp outfits
that they used to pass out they give you 2 pair of under ware 5 pair of
stockings and some insignia. No more
Cadet Blouses, Cadet Caps or shirts or anything. We then had our cadet graduation exercise and
it was here that we found out if we got our first choice or anyone of the other
2 choices. I made the grade for my first
choice. Pilot. Was I glad when I saw
that written across the top of the folder with all my qualifications. In fact I was the happiest one there. The rest of the day was all ours and we had
started to draw the $75 per month.
Of course
some of the fellows washed out and I feel rather sorry for them but some of
them were expected to wash any way and no one expected them to come
through. About 15% of the fellows have
washed out or will soon because they are still unclassified. My room-mate Jack Pagen was illiminated because he was said to be not mentally stable and could not endure the period
of training that will soon follow.
Well now
that I am an A.C. you will have to change my address a little and replace the
A.S. with the A.C.
1 day later
I might
just as well start all over again. I have been trying to finish this letter so
many times it isn’t funny. I started
this letter yesterday at 11:30 and now it is 18:30 the next day. They are just making it uncomfortable for the
fellows keeping the schedule full so that they get little time for rest or
pleasure.
We are now
getting more classes each day and the classes are taught by 1st Lts
in long classrooms, so long in fact it is almost impossible to see the black
board when sitting in the back of the room.
These classrooms will seat approx. 300 students.
On class is
on the basic principles of the present war and a study of the causes in back of
the war. The class is a study into the
background of the countries that are the main participants, Japan, Germany,
Russia, G. Britain and ends with Post War Problems. You can see that as well as teaching us to
fight in the air they are teaching us a little about some of the problems in a
Post War world and giving us a little hint as to what to expect from our
“Reconstructed” world.
We have
another class on Stratosphere Flight and this proves to be the most interesting
I have ever had. This is a series of 6
lectures the last 4 of which are made in a decompression chamber and the class
is conducted in stimulated altitudes up to 38000’. You go up the 1st 18000’ with no
mask and at that height many queer things happen to the body. The rest of the way up is made with oxygen
and can be very uncomfortable if the conditions with in the person are not just
right. I am just waiting until we hit
that chamber.
I think
that I shall go to the movies now or soon after I have written one more
letter. This letter will be to Cousin
Emma Johnson in Hollywood. I got her
letter the other day and haven’t been able to write until now. I will do it right away because I feel that
seeing she is so close I will really be able to see her in about a month.
With Love
Austin
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