December 1945

December

Dear Doc,

Hello, Lt. Rounds, or should I say Mr. Rounds?  Just a short note to let you know, Doc, I haven't forgotten you, such a thing is not possible.

These mad San Antonio shoppers are going to drive me crazy before the Christmas holiday.  I'll be so glad when Christmas comes and Jo and I can go home.  I wish today was January 16th.  Boy, what a glorious day that will be.

It has been very cold in San Antonio, but, of course, no snow.

Well, Tex, now that all the citizens of Stoneham have recovered from the shock of seeing your boots, you can settle down to a quiet life with one of your father's most admirable secretaries.  For you, Doc, that may be a very good thing.

Doc, there are so many things I want to tell you.  Please be patient, I'll write you a nice long letter soon.

Tell me, Lt. Rounds, where are all those Third Airforce men?

It's getting late - will write tomorrow - 

Good night, Doc - 

Anne - 

December 13, 1945

July 24, 1945

San Marcos

July 24, 1945

Dear Mother:

I got your letter of the 17th and you seemed a little unhappy about not receiving any mail.  I don't blame you a bit and I guess I need someone to get me on the ball.  I guess I write a lot more to Mary than anyone else right now.  Well I will try to think of more to go in my letters and get them off more often.

Here is a good idea of just what kind of a climate we have here.  It rained today and it got so muggy that when I was standing in a breeze the sweat on my arms and hands would not evaporate.  After dinner I went to sleep for a couple of minutes and woke up with little beads of sweat all over me.  I guess it is just as they say at home, it's not the heat but the humidity.  I have no idea what the humidity around here is but it sure must be terrible.

Well I may be lucky because I didn't get a leave.  Bill Samput got his leave fixed up and now he is shipping out to go to Roswell N.M. for B29 co-pilot.  It seems that it happened to all the fellows who got leaves.  So maybe not getting a leave was a good thing after all.

Bill Samput is on the orders to go to Roswell.  So after knowing him for a couple of months more than a year we are parting.  Well we have had a lot of fun together and I have met his folks.  They were swell and I enjoyed my stays with them.

Let me tell you what happened this weekend.  I met a cop up at Addie Mae's house a week ago and he is a flying enthusiast more or less.  He asked me if I wouldn't like to go flying with him Sunday and I was more than willing to accept.  So Sunday he called the hotel in Austin where I was staying and said he was ready to go.  He has a car so we went out to an airport where he has had some in striation.

Well this is a long story but I have a lot of time.  He had told me previously that he had flown a year with the C.A.P. so I assumed he had several hundred hours.  He also said that he had flown AT-6s which made him a hot rock.  I had to get checked out in this cab which took about 8 minutes on the ground and in the air and then off we went.  

Well we got out to the point of take-off and he asked me to take it off, so I did but I thought it was rather strange that he didn't want to fly.  I took off and asked him if he wanted it and he took over.  We went flying over the city and after a while he got tired and asked me if I wanted to fly.

Sure I wanted to fly so I moved from a position of resting with my elbows on my big knees to where I could put my hands on the throttle and stick I hit the throttle and the engine quit.  Well old Timmy almost hit the roof.  He turned around, shaking like a leaf and said in a very halting voice that I had better take it.  So I grabbed the throttle and away we went.

Well from the way he flew and by his reactions I should have known more about his flying but I being an innocent pilot still accepted his word of 1 year with the C.A.P. flying the border.  Taking things for granted in an airplane does not work.

We came in and I shot a landing and then I told him to take over and shoot one.  When we got around to the final approach into the field he turned around and told me to follow him through which was OK by me.  But when he started to level out 100' up instead of 10' I really started to sweat and when the ship stalled out about 25' up and the bottom felt like it fell out I was really sweating.  I gave it the power in a hurry and we hit and made 4 hard bounces which would make your teeth rattle.

We taxied up to the ramp and got out and then I found out that Timmy wasn't such a hot rock.  He had exactly 3:15 actual recorded stick time and the rest was what he could pick up while navigating on the border.  Well let me tell you that the next time I went up with him I didn't take too much for granted and I stayed glued to the controls.  I guess you can learn something every day, even on Sundays.

Next Sunday I am going to take Addie Mae and her roommate for a ride in a Stenson 105 if I can get checked out.  I think I can so it will be a lot of fun but also rather expensive.  It will cost $10 an hour so you can see where the money goes.  "Bus man's holidays" are rather expensive.

Stenson 105

Maybe I shouldn't tell you my trouble but this climate is kind of getting me down.  I am losing weight rather fast and I don't quite know when it will stop.  Also I feel just sluggish and uncomfortable.  I only feel good when I am cooled off while swimming and only then do I feel well enough to have any fun. I hope I can get used to this climate but it is really the worst I have ever been in.  It leaves you without enough energy to live, in fact I find that I drag my feet unless I think about it.  That is getting bad when you can't find strength to lift your feet.

You probably remember the Bulova watch you sent to me more than a year ago.  Well that darn thing is more trouble than it is worth.  I have spent more on repairs for it than anything I own.  It is just not a hardy enough watch for what I am doing.  I have another watch so don't be surprised if you find this watch in the mail.  I have just l most the stem and will have to replace it.  I have too much trouble to have it around.

Well I shall send these pictures of the Samputs and me.  They are not too hot but they are all right.  You can get an idea of what they look like.  They are typical Texans if there is any way of telling.

Well I hope I am forgiven for not writing because I think of writing much oftener than I do.  

With love

Austin

July 4, 1945

San Marcos

July June 4, 1945

Dear Mother:

All leaves have been canceled.  We got the good news yesterday and everyone is a little unhappy.  They are expecting some shipping orders for some of the boys and so no leaves are being given out and all those on leave are coming back.

Well I guess that kind of fixes up my little visit home.  I was kind of looking forward to it and had made some plans but everything is shot now.  I just wish this army would make up its mind and decide to do something.  If orders do come through I hope I am on them and that it is to B17s and not B29s.  Then I will be happy for not getting a leave.

Well the same old routine seems to go around here.  Up at 0800 class at 0900 until 1200 then from 1200 to 1600 and then swimming or what ever you want, the day is yours.  Yesterday we went swimming with my new swim fins.  You put the things on your feet and they cut down the motion of your feet but they give you twice the speed.  In fact your hands and arms get in the way until you get used to them.  You can swim under water a lot faster and some what farther without using your hands.  They are a lot of fun if you can forget you have spent $9.00 for them.  I believe I will use them long enough and have enough fun with them to make it worth while.

Well today is the 4th of July a holiday but here I am in class writing this letter.  Classes should have started 10 minutes ago.  (They are starting now)  Be back later.

We just went out to a class in Loran which is connected with Radar and very secret.  It was the most interesting class I have ever been to here at San Marcos.  They use Loran to shoot a line of position which will give you a radio fix anywhere in the world accurate to 1/2 mile or less.  It is accurate to 500' but because you fly down your line of position while making readings on the 2nd station you loose part of the accuracy you can get two simultaneous readings so the faster you can read the stations the better the fix.  It is really one of the most interesting things I have seen on this field.

San Marcos Field

I was a little surprised to hear that you were in the process of losing a daughter.  I had no idea that any like that was in the wind.  However I am happy to see her get away for awhile and glad to see she has the gumption to go ahead and do something on her own.  I think your younger daughter has more gumption than the other two.  I guess you will miss her and I don't blame you but I hope you can get along.  It is too bad Pop doesn't stay at home more and provide a little company.  I guess William and Esther will be around so you won't be all together without gab.

So Mary is going to go live with a houseful of women.  Boy!  Would I like to go see her.  That would turn out to be quite a date bureau, just the place for me.  I suppose the idea of the thing is kind of to keep in contact with your music and make money during the summer vacation.  It sure is a good way to keep up with your music and work at the same time.  Maybe Mary won't be able to make much money and stay at the house but what fun she can have being away from home.  She will enjoy it as much as I have I am sure.  Now if you can only get a couple more of the family interested enough to live away from home awhile you would be doing a good job.  Well two of your youngsters "have flown the coop". 

Well I am going to Austin tonight and have a date with the girl I met selling War Bonds.  Her name is Addie Mae Schwake, a Krout from way back.  She is a lot of fun but don't worry, it's not love, just fun.  Anyway it's a good way to spend the money I was going to use on airline fare.  Dancing and taxi fares and hamburgers don't cost much so don't worry about the money.

I have written enough.  I am sorry I got your hopes all up and maybe made plans but things stand as they are and who am I to change them.

With love 

Austin

June 14, 1945

San Marcos Field

June 14, 1945

Dear Mother:

I received your June 4th letter today.  2 days after the June 6th letter which gives the first letter about 8 days travel time.  It is rather hard to explain how such a thing happens but somewhere things get last.  It also seems rather funny to read some things that are explained in letters you received before.

I got my mail from the central mail room and read it in between classes.  Therefore I leave it all in the classroom.  I forget to bring it back to the barracks here so I can't answer many of the questions you ask.  However I will answer them as I think of them.

Today I am the fire guard in the barracks so I don't take PT this hour so this is a good time to write letters.  Each day one man has to stay in and watch things while everyone else is at P.T. I came up on the roster today.

The Samput's address in Dallas is:
Mrs. W. J. Samput Sr.
4420 Cole Ave.
Dallas Texas.

I am sure she would be glad to hear from you.  She could probably write you a long letter about our escapades up there.  Bill is engaged to a girl in California so is supposed to be behaving himself.  His mother doesn't know that we have dates when we go to Dallas.  Maybe you had better be very diplomatic with her.  Anyway she would be glad to hear glad to hear (my mind is wandering) from you.

Sometimes I wish I had some better transportation but with all the trouble you can have I am glad I can rely on my feet.  One of the fellows bought a 39 Chevrolet the other day and is having trouble already.  He stripped the gears last night and he figures it will cost $70 to get it fixed.  If some day I can find a good deal I might look into it but it will have to be good.  I might buy a motorcycle rather than a car.  But don't worry yet because I am just dreaming again I suppose.

I went to Austin again last night and met a fellow I knew from back in Advance.  He is stationed at a field in Austin and is flying C46's and C47's.  He is in the Troop Carrier command and makes most of his trips in the U.S. to the West or East Coast.  He says he doesn't like it but at least he is getting flying time which is more than we are.  He is the lucky one even though he doesn't think so.

Curtis C-46D Commando

Douglas C-47D Skytrain

This is really awful country to live in.  The bugs and all kinds of flying insects are just everywhere.  We have the biggest, most beautiful cockroaches you have ever seen.  We put down powder but they seem to just get fatter on it.  They don't have many mosquitoes but everything else.  Auto windshields just get plastered with bugs when you drive.  I guess they live well in the hot damp air.  At least we are not in a desert where nothing at all lives.

I have been having laundry troubles lately but I think I will have some clean clothes in a few days.  That is always the trouble when you move, you just have to live in dirty clothes while you wait for clean ones from the laundry.

If you can't read those last few letters it is because we have no writing facilities.

Well so long for a while.

With love
Austin

PS Is William actually getting interested in another girl???

June 11, 1945

San Marcos

June 11, 1945

Dear Mother:

I got your first letter addressed to San Marcos today.  It was the first piece of mail to this new address.

Yes I have received a lot of mail lately but mostly because they messed up my mail box.  They had been putting my mail in the wrong box or they had been reading off the wrong names and putting it in my box so that I wasn't getting the mail.  It finally got straightened out and then I had a whole raft of mail.

They are now trying to make navigators out of us.  We are going through the regular course down here.  We are going to get another pair of wings if we complete the course.  We are not going to get very much time in the AT-7 except in studying navigation.  There is nothing in AT-7 training that can be very beneficial except that I have never flown a twin engine ship.  It will be good experience for me but for a lot of others it means nothing.  Our training in Ardmore was considered completed when we left so this is not extended training or anything like that.  It is just a navigation course because they have nothing better for us to do.

They have a very large pool here of pilots and navigators.  Most all are combat crews such as I and they are here "spinning their wheels" waiting to be sent to B29s or B24s or anything which will eventually lead to overseas.  We are permanently stationed on this field  to take this course which may mean most anything.  Anyway this course is not appreciated so it is not doing much good.  We are just going over stuff we have had before and no one is very serious about it.  No one wants to be a navigator so do not try to do the work.  I just wish they would give me a flying job so I could work everyday and then I would be happy.  I have no desire to go to school anymore.

Bill Sampert and I went to Dallas Sat and got back this morning at 1200.  Of course we stayed with his folks and they were swell to me.  They try to stuff me and fill me up so much that I can hardly see.  We went swimming and Bill hit his lip on his knee and cut it open so much so that it took 3 stitches to put him together.  His poor mother broke down when she saw him and almost had a fit.  She is much too nervous and worries too much about her one and only.  I believe if he ever gets married and leaves home his mother will have an awful hard time.  When I compare mothers I am awful glad that you don't worry too much and are not so nervous.  At least I hope you don't get as upset as Mrs. S. got over such a trivial thing.

I suppose I could write a lot more but I want to write to Mary so you can read her letter too and get all the latest news.  I guess really I haven't a lot to say except that I could tell you about this field but even that hasn't much of interest.  It is just another training field but a little worse because it is in the training command.

Well I have a letter to C. Davies to get off so I will try to do that now if I can.  I have heard a couple of "POPs" on the radio lately and they are very good.

With love

Austin

March 29, 1945

Mar. 29, 1945

Dear Mother:

I suppose you have now been to N.Y. and back by now so have a lot on your mind.  I hope you had a pleasant trip and I am sure you have.  I wish I could have gone because I know I would have had a lot of fun.

You wrote about Mary having a tooth pulled and I felt rather sorry for her.  Well yesterday I had one yanked which was pulled purely on my own say so.  Since I am 21 they can't pull my teeth unless I give them the go ahead. I guess I am glad it is done but 24 hours ago I was wondering about the wisdom of my momentous decision.

The tooth was in bad shape and was giving me quite a lot of trouble.  It was quite painful at altitude and I had reason to believe that the filling was bad and not the tooth.  Usually they have a paste that is very irritating which causes pain at altitude, and some times it is just a pin point of air under the filling.  The "doc" made an X-ray and said that the tooth looked bad but not until I told him I had frequent tooth aches did he recommend that it be removed.  He didn't say it would have to be removed, and said that a non-flying member of the army could get along for some time in its condition.  However he said that flying aggravated the situation and that it would get worse until in a matter of months or a year it would have to go.  I don't know where I will be in a few mos or years so I told him to go ahead.

Well he got out the hammer and tongs and the big needle and put the whole right side of my face to sleep.  Of course when he went to work he didn't spare the horses and got it out but I almost went out too.  He said I was a good patient because I didn't scream and scare all of the others I guess.  It had the biggest roots on it I have ever seen and it must have left my head hollow.  When he got it out and looked down into the hole he said that it was abscessed and was a good thing to have gone.

At least I won't wake up nights and wish it were gone, it won't prevent me from getting sleep I should have.  It was a kind of bloody thing and I thought I never would stop bleeding but last night it had pretty nearly stopped.  I didn't sleep too well and I finally took two little pills this morning and got about 3 hours of sleep when no one was looking.  The weather socked in around here so I haven't missed anything.  I have no idea what they put in those little white pills but they almost put me to sleep on the spot.  I don't know what plans are being made for a replacement so I will have to go see the dentist pretty soon and see what's up.  I hope that now I have one gone my other teeth will get a little more space and maybe be easier to take care of.

Last night was the first night I ever dreamed of starving to death which goes to show you how hungry I was.  It seems that no matter what happens I am hungry.  I guess I could eat even if I were too sick to see the food.  Maybe I just inherited a few things form my pop.  Actually the food around here is none too good although we pay $1.50 for it.  It is not too well prepared but I guess plenty of it.  The meals are well balanced so you get your calories but sometimes they are unidentifiable.  They have pretty girls serving so maybe that is why I eat so much.  I don't think I have gained any weight and if not my clothes are just getting small however not much smaller.

My pilot bought a car yesterday and I financed him to the extent of $160, which may be a foolish thing.  However I expect him to be around for some time and he says I will be paid on Monday.  Payday comes up pretty soon so I shan't be short of money be a long shot.  At the rate I have been saving money in Lincoln and here I guess I could finance year at B.U. in a couple of months.  You can expect some money to come along very soon.  I don't know yet what I shall put it into but War Bonds and the bank seem to be two rather investments in these times.  Maybe you can find something better.  I think all this money is spoiling me for good because it will be hard working for a living.  (you will have to wait while I go eat).

If you waited while I ate you would have waited a long time.  I went to the show last night and to a show at the club.  I went to see "God is My Co-pilot" and I might say that it is a good show.  Of course they have too many technical errors in it for anyone in the Air Corp to swallow whole but as a picture it follows pretty closely to the book.  All of the shots taken in the air are taken over Arizona about 10 miles from Luke so all of the ground and mts. look very familiar.  In fact I could identify a lot of the places where I had looped and dived and rat-raced just like they did in the movies.  I have flown off the runways they pictured so the picture was not so exciting to me.  It is a picture you should see if you want to see the old AT-6 in action because that is all they use for Jap.  I enjoyed the picture and I guess you would too.

Clip from God is My Co-Pilot

I have got to go fly in 1/2 an hour.  We may not fly because the weather looks bad but we may get up. It makes little difference to me.

 I will have to close now and go mail this so until I have some more time

With  love

Austin

March 26, 1945

Mar. 26, 1945

Dear Mother:

I haven't written to you for quite some time it seems.  Maybe I am neglecting you.  If so I hope you don't mind too much this once.

We are definitely going into Summer uniform next month so send mine as soon as you can.  I will really need them next week.  I will be looking for them pretty soon too.  It is getting rather warm here with temperatures around 70 or 80 every day.  I guess they figure it is warm enough now.

I suppose by now the trees are beginning to bud and things look like spring again.  I guess everyone is glad to see it coming after all the snow you had.  I kind of wish I had seen some more of that snow. By the way I will send those negatives so you can see the pictures you took.

We had a little excitement up in the air today.  Usually after we have ground checked the ship for take off the crew chief gets out because he doesn't fly.  When getting out he always turns off the auxiliary power unit which we call at "putt putt" which is actually a small generator.  However the crew chief was not the regular man and when getting out left the generator on.  After take off the tail gunner started back to his position and accidentally stepped on the leads and shorted one of them out.  It made a lot of sparks and set the insulation on fire and burned a 1/2" hole in a rib.  The first I heard about it was that we had a fire in the waist.  I turn immediately back to the field and gone an emergency landing.

Inside of a B-17 with Lt. Bob Welty

Although I knew the fire was not out I had no idea whether the whole waist had burned or if someone had started a fire in his clothes, so it wasn't till after we were on the ground and parked did I get a chance to see what actually had been done.  We really didn't damage anything very much because a little tape fixed everything but what might have happened doesn't make me feel good.

The wires on the generator are usually covered with gas and oil because they don't take too much care how they fill the engine.  The mount is also pretty well soaked and made of wood.  With all that gas and oil and those red hot sparks made by the burning aluminum it is a wonder nothing caught.  The aluminum-magnesium skin really burns and is actually impossible to extinguish so we could have had a wonderful fire if we had given it a chance.  The crew was right on the ball and had it out before it really got started.  However the hazard is in every ship on the field.  Next time we will know better. Experience is a hard teacher but it sure leaves an impression for a long time.  I'll not forget my lesson for a while.

I wish you could go to N.Y. and just see what there is to see.  If nothing better just go for a ride on the buses and go to the end of the line and come back.  I had more fun doing that than doing most anything.  Sometimes it looks a little silly but who cares.  You will never see any of the people you meet on a bus again so who cares.  Then you can go and see Radio City and all.  I am sure if I went I could find loads to do and lots of places to go.  I think in most of the cities I have been in that if you go looking for something you can't exactly identify like just plain adventure or excitement that when you least expect it it pops up.  I have had a lot more fun walking around waiting for something to happen than seeing some of these famous places.

Too bad about the man power shortage.  I wish I could be home to putter around but if I were it would be the same story, man power shortage.  I wouldn't be able to sit down long and probably cutting bushes and grape vines would not look too good.

I only wish you would pull some stunt which would make the family wonder about you.  They expect to see you every night when they get home but if you didn't show up some night and left only an ambiguous message I am sure they would not take you so much for granted.  I guess such things are for young people only and after you get your responsibilities you have to stay around.

I just had a bright idea.  Why don't you go down and see my navigator's mother.  She lives down in Conrad and would probably like to see you.  It would be a chance to get away and someone to go see.  It's a chance to go somewhere and have an excuse.  If the idea sounds good I will get his address and he will write his mother.  At least you could write to her.  He says that his mother also sounds a little bored with the same old thing every day.

Well your bright idea boy must sign off and go to bed.  I really need the sleep because my head is beginning to ache.

With love

Austin XX

March 18, 1945

Sunday Mar 18

Dear Mother:

I wrote to Mary yesterday but the letter won't go out till this one does so you will get two letters today.  I sent Mary's to B.U. so if she is on the ball she will get hers at school today.  I thought that in that way I could write two letters and not crowd the Stoneham mail.

The Independent has been coming very regularly.  It comes on Wednesdays or Thursdays so I get the news while it is relatively new.  All mail takes about 3 days which is as good as it was in Lincoln and a lot better than when I was further West.

I have several things on my mind but I can't think of them all at once.  One thing is that it is getting warm here and summer uniforms will be in style again soon.  I would suggest that you get my clothes cleaned up and fit to send because I may want them soon.  It gets quite warm here during the day.  In fact it was 75 F. yesterday and made me think spring was here.  We will need the Summer clothes before I leave since we are scheduled to leave on May 16 which is considered the summer in uniform regulations.  If you could clean up everything now and send them I am sure I could find place for them.  If you do could you find some kind of a clothes bag to keep the blouse in to keep it away from all this coal smoke.

I hadn't realized that grandma was 89 years old.  Maybe you reminded me some time ago but it must have slipped by somehow.  I wish I had sent a card.  Maybe I shall write a letter instead.  I have some Chamber of Comm. literature I could put in which she might enjoy.  She is so interested in such things.

I sure would like to bring the crew to Boston some time.  However there is little hope for such a thing.  It might happen if we flew across instead of going on a boat.  If we flew we would go the Central route which has a refueling stop over at Nashua N.H. or some place like that.  Then it might be possible if we had bad weather to be grounded for a few days and then everyone could come down and see Boston.  If we go by boat we might leave by way of N.Y. although the last shipment from Lincoln went through Boston.  It would be a troop movement and no one could leave and there are few chances of having a layover because of weather.

Training goes on as usual except weather gives us a break every once in a while.  It seems that the weather in this part of the country has a bad tendency to be bad a lot of the time.  It doesn't rain all the time but the ceilings are too low to take off.  We have to have 1500' ceilings before we can leave the ground.  Often they reach 1000' but that still keeps us down.  When you get up rested and ready to fly it kind of makes you mad to sit around doing nothing.  It seems I always want to fly but the crew is content to see bad weather.  I don't blame them too much because they don't have much to do in the air.  I believe today we won't fly because it looks like rain so we will have to sit down on the line for 5 hours or more waiting for the weather to break or looking at G.I. movies I have seen a dozen times.

I really don't have many ideas for letters this morning.  Last night I could have written a book but today I am short of words.  I really don't have time to write either because it is time to eat and then go to the line.

Meals around here are not too hot.  They cost 50 cents apiece but are not too filling.  If I get fat or gain any weight at all it will be because we have access to other food at the officer's club and at a cafeteria.  I spend most of my money nowadays on cleaning and eating.

Next month I get $396 pay which is going to be quite a windfall.  I now have $144 check and another $140 in cash which makes me a rich man now.  You will probably get about $400 next month as I have nothing which I need to spend money on.  I already have too much of everything.  

Well I must close now because I am short of time, paper and words,

With love

Austin  .

March 11, 1945

Mar. 11, 1945

Dear A.P.

I guess I have kind of neglected my writing to you of late so here is one going your way.

Well here it is Sunday again and nothing special in the way of a schedule.  Most every Sunday so far has been a day of rest with no flying but next week we have a change.  Next Sunday we fly the second mission in the afternoon.  That means no rest on the one day a week you want to have off.  Well I am rather used to looking at a schedule rather than a calendar.

So far we have had no real hard work but rather a full schedule.  We usually get up at 0530 or 0630 in order to have breakfast and get to class on time.  Our first class is at 0700 and they continue till 1700. we then have the rest of the day to ourselves.  Sometimes it means getting to bed right away to meet a formation at 0230 the next day.  It makes you rather tired after the second day.

The other day we flew the second mission.  We got up at 0230 and went to briefing at 0330.  Our take off time was 0530 but we got off at 0600 instead.  Our mission was to have the navigator checked out on cross countries.  I had to file a flight plan for the route because we went along the airlines.  I had to call each station on the way.  The experience was brand new to me and along with my other duties made me very nervous.  We of course went to the line in the dark.  Nothing seemed to go right.  It was our first solo hop with the crew and they were very dependent upon me.  We had no flashlights due to my own negligence which made things all the worse.

The lights on the ramp shine in your eyes rather than on the ramp and made me almost night blind.  Then the lights in the navigators comp. shined up in the pilots compartment making it almost impossible to see the instruments.  Then we had a heavily loaded ship, not exactly overloaded but about 4000 # from the maximum.  I had never flown a ship like that.  Then I have an engineer who knows practically nothing about the ship so when the lights went out he didn't have any idea what was wrong.  I had to get the lights going myself.

Then they have good sized hills all around this field so that when the ship so heavily loaded didn't climb too well I was almost ready to give up.  I just held on and kept the power on until there was no danger.  For all I know we just made it over the hills but actually we probably went over them with plenty of space to spare.  We couldn't see the ground it was so dark and the light from the navigator's lamp made the instruments unintelligible.  Then we couldn't see any other ships in the air so I half expected to get run down any second.

Then I sighted what looked like a star because it was where stars should have been and found after looking at the instruments that we were in a steep bank.  It rather scared me especially when our airspeed was so slow and anything can happen in a heavy ship with the nose too high.  I finally got things righted and not until later did I realize what a strain it had been.

I never was so glad to see the sun come up as I was that day.  For that 2 hours before day break I had felt like I was running through a field full of ditches and gullies full of barbed wire fences in the middle of a moonless night with my arms full of high explosives. I felt like letting go of everything and letting the stuff explode.  Sun brought security again and a feeling of knowing what was going on.  I finally did let my pilot take over and went back to have some coffee.  I drank it black and shook so bad that it almost spilled.  Finally after 6 hours in the air I got back to the base and finally to the room where I was too tired to roll over.  I was almost shaking all over.  I guess I fell to sleep and slept 3 hours and woke up refreshed.  However the feeling of futility of that morning will last for a long time.

I really like my job and get the biggest kick in the world out of it but it gets so nerve wracking at times that I only wish I could be home in bed rather than making little moves and decisions which effect the lives of 9 others besides my own.  I am not afraid to make a wrong decision but I only hope I make them on the ground rather than in the air where it is so important.  Maybe I will be an old man when I get home at least I will have aged a little.  However I believe everyone will still recognized the kid in me.  I will know that I am ready to settle down for a while and live a peaceful life with no responsibilities for awhile.  I guess it will be rather hard.

I don't know if I should write this or not and get everyone's hopes high but if we finish flying ahead of schedule we get an eight day leave.  It will mean getting home again for a short time which will be a break.  However I am not planning on any such thin to happen so please don't you at home plan on it. It is just something to think about.  It sure would be swell.

I hope you are saving for that plane and not just thinking about it.  I am sure I will have enough money before this thing is over to have one so I think we had better have a plane fund like the camp fund for the future.  I have a government check for $144 here and a check for $350 coming next month so a lot is going home next month.  Someone besides me had better start saving.

What has happened to Bill?  He never writes though I hardly blame him but I would like to hear from him.

I guess I have written enough for 2 letters now.

With love

Austin

March 6, 1945

Mar. 6, 1945

Dear Mother:

I should have written again before this because we have been in the ground for the last few days because of bad weather.  As it is I just don't get around to it and this finishes everything.  Finally I get in the mood and I write several letters.

I got the big picture about 5 days ago and thought it was rather good but was a little disappointed.  However I suppose you can't expect the photographers to take a picture of something you can't take and put in front of them.  Anyway if I haven't mentioned it before I think they did a good job, in fact so good I shan't want it to be stuck up around my room here.

The snapshots from El Paso came in Sunday and I really got a kick out of them.  They all came out swell.  I was very surprised at all the snow you had.  I kind of wish I had a chance to shovel a little of it and I suppose you wish I had had a chance to shovel some of it too.  With your busy family I guess you had trouble getting rid of it.  It really did come down and pile up in the flat spots.  I wish I could have seen some of it but the pictures you took came out so well I almost feel that I was at home.  I will send the negatives so you can have some printed and see what you got.

Now I must explain what I am doing by not sending the same kind of paper.  You see I have a lot of this other stuff and must get rid of it some way.  It is about the same as the other and almost the same size so I hope it won't be too noticeable.

I went to church on the post this week for the first time in more than a year.  In fact I can't remember attending a post service since J.B. which was a long time ago, at least it's beginning to seem like a long time.  The service was nothing to talk about.  The chaplain was a bad wanderer or I was because I can't remember what he talked about.  He is really supposed to be very good because I have had to listen to several lectures on morals since I have been here and the last half of the time is devoted to a few statements by the chaplain.  He gave two very good talks and I was somewhat impressed but Sunday's sermon kind of put a pin in my little balloon.  Maybe he just had an off day.

I have been checked out now so I can take the ship and the crew up alone now.  They tell you that they are not checking up on you as a safe pilot but as one who knows what to do if the time comes.  I guess I know what to do all right but I am afraid the crew will feel a few hard landings before I get too good here.  Now I am supposed to start their training and see that they do what they are supposed to up in the air.  Ground school is all taken care of so air training is my speciality.

Sat. we went up on a camera mission.  We had a 3 ship formation each ship having gun cameras.  One of those new P63s made passes on the formation the object being to let the gunners track him with the gun cameras.  Most of the fellows did very well and got a lot of good pictures.  We are trying to get them enlarged so we can send home some good pictures of those 63s.  You know some of the pictures were actual close ups of the plane.  He came so close to the ball turret at times he said he could have spit on him.  It was a lot of fun watching all of it going on.  He would come in and make a pass on our nose and look like we would hit and at the last moment, it seemed to me he would pull away 50 or 60 ft. away.  I got some awful good looks at him if you consider 1/10 of a second a good look because he went under us that fast.

P-63 flight demonstration

I seem to be writing uphill today.  Maybe it means something but I guess it just is that I have my paper lopsided.  I will try harder.

The tail gunner's folks were in town this weekend and we all went in to dinner with them.  They are from El Paso and typical of the hospitable Texans.  They have a farm 1 1/4 miles square and just a little thing they say.  I don't know what they have on it except cotton and wheat but there must be something else.  Anyway they are really wonderful people.  They also have a beautiful 18 year old daughter!

I must go eat now so here's whats C.C.T.S stands for Combat Crew Training Station.  Now don't you know a lot.  Now see if anyone can guess what M.A.C. means.  We use it every day in flying.

With love
Austin


{Ed. note - Austin had special stationery printed with his name and the US Army Air Forces emblem on it, as seen at the top of this letter.  When he first got the stationery, he used it for each page of his letter.  Now he uses it for only the first page of the letter and plain paper for the rest of the pages.}

February 27, 1945

Feb. 27, 1945

Dear Mother:

We have had some bad weather of late so I have time to write again.  We had an ice and sleet storm last night that has rather disrupted our flying schedule.  We were scheduled today and as a consequence have had most of the day free.

I haven't done much writing but rather done some reading.  I read the book "Random Harvest" by James Hilton.  I never would have read it except that it was left here and I picked it up in a dull moment and liked it so much I had to finish it.  My writing has to suffer while I read.

Random Harvest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alMA9WVruZg

Maybe I wrote that we flew one day last week.  We spent 11 1/2 hours on the line and I was the tiredest I have ever been.  I only had had two donuts and a glass of milk for breakfast and no dinner to work on.  Seeing they are trying to check up airplane commanders out undid all of the work and 6 hours of flying was almost too much.  The last hour was the longest I have spent in a long time.

I have not yet been to town because there is not much of a town to go to.  It is about 14 miles from the base and rather small.  The base is not very much either.  They burn dirty coal here and things are pretty well spread out.  Things are not too comfortable but we expect to be on the line and in school a lot more than in the barracks.  They have one theater on the field for entertainment but not much more.  Anyway we are just getting used to the new post regulations which seem senseless and useless.  Well we will be settled down soon and life will take on a new color.

I feel very fortunate in getting the crew I did.  They all look like good boys.  My pilot is married and 25 (Mary must be very disappointed).  He is a very quiet sort of a fellow and a wonderful fellow.  He doesn't know anything about the B17 and I doubt if he can land it even on a bet but he seems ready to learn.  He is really a good man and a lot of fun.  He comes from upstate New York and speaks English.

My navigator is a rather good looking kid.  He is also quiet and a lot of fun.  He is about 20 and single and about my size or a little shorter.  He is a fun loving kid so I guess we will get along well together.  He comes from Conn. so we have 3 damn Yankees down here south of the Mason-Dixon so if we stick together we should get somewhere.

As yet I haven't seen my Bombardier because he is still on leave.  He should be back tomorrow and I will get an idea what kind of a knob twister I will have.

I don't know very much about my enlisted crew.  All I do know is that one just turned 19 yesterday, he is the tail gunner.  He is from El Paso Tex.  My ball turret gunner is a Okie and very small.  My radio man is pretty good.  He can take 20 words a minute and knows a lot about his radio.  My engineer is quite a boy.  He doesn't know much about the ship but he can read instruments and looks bright enough to catch on quick.  He is eager to learn and  will be a good man after he has had enough ground school.  I don't know anything about my Armorer.  He is a heavy set fellow and looks like he knows his job.  All in all they are a pretty good looking bunch.  I don't think I could have picked a better bunch.  I am so happy with the men I got.

We are scheduled to fly tomorrow and we may if the weather gets better.  I in a way hope we don't because they are throwing a party in the club tomorrow and I want to see a stage show they are having.  I want to fly because the sooner I get the first 3 rides over with the better I will like it.  We are to have an instrument check and a formation check before we can solo out.  We are suppose to have 20 hours of instruction which amounts to 2 more rides.  I am rather eager to get going.

I don't have too much to write except that I got the big picture and the little photos the other day.  My big picture came out pretty well.  I liked the little photos too.  Honey came out good too.  In fact I believe I kind of spoil the pictures.  What do think I should do with the big picture?  Well enough for now!

With love

Austin

February 22, 1945

Feb. 22, 1945

Dear Mother:

This letter will be very short and probably be the shortest yet.  We are down here in Ardmore Okla. at our final phase base.  I have a full crew which makes 9 men.  They no longer give the crews 2 waist gunners so we have only 9 men.  I have not seen the bombardier yet because he is on leave but I am very fortunate in having a crew such as I have.

Ardmore Army Air Field
Check out the link for stories from the field.

The enlisted men are all privates and corp. and my navigator is a Flt. Officer.  My co-pilot is a wonderful fellow but a little quiet.  He has only had 30 hours in 17s and a graduate of a twin engine school which helps a lot.  I feel very fortunate in getting the officers I have.  My bombardier has been through the school once so we have a good chance of flying overseas.

My enlisted men have had very little time in the ship, especially the engineer upon whom I was going to depend. He knows nothing about the 17 and the ground school and I will have to give him all the dope.  They are all pretty clean cut from most everywhere in the country.  This will have to end because they have put us on a tight schedule for the first 4 days and then on the next 9 so don't look too much for news. 

With love

Austin

February 13, 1945

Feb. 13, 1945

Dear Esther:

I guess I haven't written for some time so it's about time I got something off in your direction.  I got your nuts yesterday and was pleased as usual.  You seem to know what I like.  I only wish I could say the same.

We don't have very much to do all day but raise the dickens and amuse the Suleys.  We eat at a drug store and usually spend about 2 hours eating a sandwich and a bowl of soup.  We sit and sling a line at the girls and just have a good time. We kid them along and they kid us.  It's just one big session to see who can make the best wise crack before the others can open their mouths.  The girls are married I believe but their job must get monotonous. Anyway they just laugh now when Sam and I come in.  Mr. Suley says we are a couple of Tommy Manville's, a couple of playboys on a much smaller scale.  He says we have nothing to do but think up mischief and get into as much as possible.

Just to show you that all this playing is doing no good I can give you two examples.  I was pulling a sled a couple of weeks ago and sprained my ankle and had to hobble around for a couple of weeks.  Last Sunday I was riding a young lady's bike and twisted my knee and sprung it so that I again hobble around.  I guess it's no use, I must either go to work or quite fooling around before I really do some harm.

You know I have all kinds of trouble writing letters with the folks around.  Mr. Suley (dad) keeps telling stories about when he was a traveling man and he keeps us pretty well entertained.  He is really quite a character.  He took us to dinner with him yesterday at the Chamber of Commerce and then we took him to play pool.  We let the loser pay and he paid most of the time.  Then he started giving out the story that he had been picked up by the soldiers and they were taking his money.  If he hadn't said it with a smile I might have believed him.  

Maybe you like gum.  I saw this in the PX yesterday and thought maybe there was a shortage at home. I don't have much of a choice but you can have what is left.  I believe I shall make up a box for you poor civilians and send it along soon.  All I need is a few ideas and a box to put them in.

Well I must quit now and let Mr. Suley talk some more.

With love

Austin

February 13, 1945

Feb. 13, 1945

Dear Mother:

        It is time to write again but I have no idea what to write about.  What has really been bothering me is whether I thanked you for the birthday candy.  It got here on Feb 9th all right so it was a really 

Christmas  birthday present.  The candy is really good and as usual all of the people here liked it.

(what am I thinking about?)

Life is running along as usual with nothing new happening.  We didn't get to church last Sunday morning but had to report out to the base at 0800 for a oxygen mask refit and to have a microphone installed.  It turned out to be one of those long line affairs with nothing to do in between.  We all got pretty mad about the whole thing.

Mr. and Mrs. Suley got your letter the other day and showed it to me so be careful what you write from now on.  I have been wondering if you have sent that Sunday paper yet.  I hope you have or will soon because they are very interested in seeing one of the local scandal sheets.

Seeing you are going to give a story to the Independent you must know about all there is to know.  I am here in Lincoln to pick up a crew for further B17 base training.  The training is expected to take from 10-12 weeks after which we will return to Lincoln for overseas assignment.  You can give the paper a big story and sling the bull all you want.

I wish I could send a letter to all the people who sent me a card.  I have a big stack of cards and don't feel that I can answer all the little short notes on the back.  I will answer a few of them.  I got quite a kick out of the card William sent.  I showed it to Mr. Suley and he got quite a laugh out of it.  Maybe you didn't see it but it was really rather rare.  I don't know where he could have got it.

I am going to write Esther a letter right now and send it at the same time I send this.  However this one will go airmail and Esther's goes free.  You can see how much difference there is in the time for each.  Maybe you can let me know what the difference is.

I sent you some flowers today so please let me know what you get.  I hope it gets to you on time.

Well I don't know what I should write except that I wish my address would change again.  I am not getting tired of Lincoln but just getting tired of drawing $150 a month and not getting any flying.  I guess I kind of miss the "wild blue yonder" more than I think.  I think I will rent a plane just for a ride before long.

Well for nothing better to write I will write the finish to this little note.

With love

Austin

January 28, 1945

Jan 28, 1945

Dear Mother:

I guess the first thing you noticed is my new stationery.  We had it made up a couple of weeks ago and received it yesterday.  it is more along the line of what I have been wanting for quite a while.  It is not just what I want but it will do fine until then.

The other day you said that a box is on the way and I got it yesterday (Sat.) You said that the candy inside was not too good but I have heard comment quite to the contrary.  Really it was wonderful.  Of course it tasted great and it was not too soft.  I had an idea that it was going to be hard as a brick but actually it was just right.  Maybe you didn't get to sample it.  The Seeleys and Sam all thought it was wonderful.  Mr. Seeley was a candy salesman at one time.

Today we went to the First Plymouth Congregational Church here in town.  We asked the deacon's wife to come to church with us and she said that he guessed "Will" wouldn't mind too much.  However we had to promise to go to church with them next week.

This church is really a very elaborate structure.  They have bells all around the steeple which they play each Sunday morning.  The building was remodeled and added to recently and cost the church $120,000.  The interior is really beautiful have brown trimming and tinted pillars extending from a very high ceiling to the floor.

Even though the place was beautiful the minister is not too hot.  Of course he is a very talented man as he would have to be but the has a poor voice and poor delivery.  If it hadn't been for Sam I would have gone to sleep.  So you see the church does not make a man great, but rather a man can make a church famous.  You probably noticed that the minister has a radio audience.  He is a hard worker I am told because the church is only $40,000 in debt.

We had to go out to the Base this morning to see if we were alerted for shipping.  We also were supposed to get fitted for a new oxygen mask.  We were neither put on the alert or got the mask so it was a rather wasted 2 1/2 hours.  We did get back in time for church so we felt O.K.

Oh darn I forgot to mention the rest of the box.  The slippers fit just fine.  In fact I am wearing them right now.  They were just what I wanted.  I wanted the leather soles so I could do a little walking around in them.  They look good too so they really do the job.  I also got the socks.  I haven't looked them over yet to see how well you did the job but I hope I won't find a lot of lumps all over them where you sewed them up.  I really am in need of some heavy socks to go under my heavy shoes.
Is William still short of "butts"?

With love
Austin xxxx