October 31, 1943

                                                                                   

Oct 31, 1943

Dear A.P.

            I was very glad to get your letter the other day and seeing yours was the last I thought that I would answer it.

            We are not doing very much important but are just biding our time until Pre-flight opens next week.  When we get there our program will really start.  Right now we are doing details one day and classes the next day.  The classes are not anything to talk about except the code class and that is just there to give us an idea of what is to come.  We are just learning numbers and no letters.  We go into a large room with tables covered with earphone and they are connected to an automatic sender.  They give a number ten times and then change for about 4 numbers and then run through the series 5 or 6 times and then give you the numbers in a mixed order.  Not much too it.

            I haven’t done much talking about the meals around here because I thought that may be they would get better as the time went by.  But that is not the case.  I am really loosing weight not fast but steadily.  You can’t get enough to eat under any circumstances.  Maybe all the food is going to the Army but very little is coming here.  It seems to me that there is some poor management somewhere.  For example.  Here we are in the heart of the orange growing country but our fruit consists of Oregon apples and S. American bannanas (not many) and other fruit that is grown outside the state.  To show how much some fellows want something to eat, several fellows have been washed out for trying to buy food from the mess sgt. and the sgt was caught later selling pies to certain people whom he knew well.  Well, I hope we will get fed better at pre-flight but that doesn’t seem likely because we drew M.M (KP to you) in a mess hall at pre-flight and didn’t get fed any more than usual.  Well food isn’t everything anyway.  California is a pretty good state.

Original WW II P38 Training Video

            You would think after awhile that we would be tired of looking at airplanes but on the contrary we look up as much as ever.  I have got so that I can tell a P38 and B12 by the sound of its motors.  We also can tell these Basic Trainers by the roar of the motor when the prop is in low pitch.  Otherwise it sounds just like any other plane.  Today we saw some of these new Navy “Corsairs” that are doing such a wonderful job in the South Pacific.  Those fellows just dive the plane straight down when they want to come down.  The P38 is the one that really whistles as it comes down and when it flies close to the ground over the barracks, the whistle is one way of identifying it from the others.

P38 "Whistling Death"

            Maybe I haven’t told you about the visual education we have had so far.  It seems that the army is try to train men by showing “stills” or motion pictures.  The reason seems to be that they can reach a lot more men with less wear and tear on the vital instructors.  Also they say that it is much easier to remember pictures from a screen rather than pictures set up in your mind that might be false.  Before we had the high altitude test they showed us some pictures of the effects it has on the individual.  They were very good.  Along the same line are books that are composed mainly of pictures with a little explanation of the picture.  It was from a book like this that we read during that hour at 30,000’.  It seems much easier to comprehend the story when you have pictures to along with it.

            Our Physical Training is much to talk about except we are getting in condition for Pre flight where we will really have to work again.  It would be tough hitting P.T. after doing nothing for over a month along that line.

            I am glad to hear that you got the potatoes in all right.  I wish I could have been home to help.  I also saw your add in the Paper so I guess you are trying to get them off your hands. Tell Mother not to send any.  There are too many hungry boys here for her to feed.  Well good luck with them.

With love

Austin