September 20, 1944

Luke Field

Sept. 20, 1944

Dear Mother:

Luke field is again my stomping grounds and I might say I am none too pleased.  I might just as well be a poor civilian as to be what I am now.  We are again back on the 9 and 2 schedule which completely ruins the day if you have other formations to meet.  Each meeting they give out details and I got one today for next Sat.  I and 6 others will make an inventory of the PX Saturday night and Sunday morning. 

Now of all the times for an inventory they picked the best.  In the past they have been on Wednesdays and during the day but now they want us to do it on the one night a week we have free and the only morning we have to sleep.  It was a job formally done by the civilians but is now done by 2nd Lts's for whom because of an oversight by higher ups, they have no flying jobs.  2nd Lts are now taking over jobs formerly done by W.A.C pvts and feather merchants.  Boy if that isn't a case what is?

I'm not the only one dissatisfied with the way things go because there are 60 of us doing jobs done before by W.A.C.'s and non-commissioned ground personnel.  It sure makes you feel swell to know that you are ready to do something worth while in the war effort by be sidetracked into a grounded job even while they are screaming for replacements in the theater of operations.  It sure makes you feel good to see brand new P51's, P47's and P38's leans on this field ferried by WASPS while qualified Army pilots fight to get a mere 4 hours a month just so they can collect their flying pay and each one would give his leg to just have a chance to fly a P51.  Somewhere someone fumbled the ball and we at the bottom are the ones on the short end.  But I am resigned to my fate and will hold out to the end.

I forgot all about Mrs. Week's dollar.  You can send it along right away if you wish.  Please have her put her name on it so I won't send it in an odd moment.  Please don't encourage too many people to send money as I will have no place for it.

Well if that box is ready you may as well send it.  I guess I am here for a few more weeks and even if not I guess it will catch up with me.  Maybe if you send it they will decide to send me somewhere else.  It will be time to wear winter clothes in Arizona in 2 mos but next month they put them on in Calif so I guess the sooner I have them the better it will be.  I hope the shirts fit all right.  I don't think I have changed much since I left.

I have sent Mary a birthday gift and it should arrive long before this letter but if it has not please write me.  It was sent Air Mail form the store.  You know I had no idea what she could want.  She seems so self sufficient that I imagined she had most all she wanted.  Anyway I kind of thought that what I sent would go good with her nightlife at school.  Now please don't have to write and say it's not there because what I have just written may create a wrong impression.

I will have to close and go to supper.  Erma Blaisdell is a lot better and expected to have none of the ill effects of her malady.

With love

Austin

August 31, 1944

Aug 31, 1944

Dear Mother:

I just haven't thought to write lately and I don't know how long it has been since the last letter.  Anyway there has not been a lot to report on latest developments.

The biggest news yet; the news that has prompted me to write this letter, is that we go to Gila Bend tomorrow instead of the 10th as was expected.  We go on D.S.* so my address will not be changed.  We are going to get 10-14 days of gunnery so I will be getting some flying again.  We had a special meeting today and we were told that we had 1 hour to get a parachute and that we had only this evening to get ready.  I have a B-4 bag so I can pack all my chino's in the bag and leave my good uniforms here and not get them wrinkled.

*D.S. means Detached Service.

I went to see the Blaisdells Sunday (yesterday) and had a swell time riding all over the country South of Phoenix.  We went looking for a large irrigation dam and a swell lake to swim in.  We found the dam and went swimming in a very swift river.  After swimming for a while we went to look for the lake and mud to my astonishment we found a lake out here as pretty as most any back in the East.  Of course there were no trees around it except desert almost to the edge but it was nice and sandy and very shallow for almost a 1/4 of a mile out.  It was in a kind of canyon and we had come in over the dry riverbed that feeds it.  The water was clean and blue.  I guess if you decide to come out you had better see one of these lakes.

The lake was in what I would call a reservation and we came in on an old dirt road about 15 miles long.  All along the road flocks of quail flew up. There were herons and some other long legged birds around in the river along with some very large ducks.  We also saw some Jack Rabbits and (wolves). It really was a swell day and everything went fine until one of Irma Blaisdell's friends decided to sit on my lap and uncreased my pants so I have had to send them to the cleaners.  But it was well worth while.  The B's are so swell to me I can't really thank them enough for what they do.

I went to a dance Saturday and met another girl.  I danced until 12 PM with her and then went to a dance called the Swing Shift Dance from 1:30 till 5:00 AM.  We got so tired of dancing we went out to a riding school to go riding in the moonlight.  The place is supposed to be open all night but the man in charge must have been in a sleep because we got him out of the wrong side of his bunk.  He wanted to know what people do all night long so that they could get out there and wake him up at 4:00 o'clock.  We went for an hour ride which is the most unromantic thing you can possibly do.  We had asked for tame horses but we didn't want to have to hold a carrot in front of them so they would go.  All they seemed to live for was to get to the end of the trail so they could run home, but not run fast, just fast enough to shake everything loose and warm the seat of your pants.  If I should go again I will ask for a decent horse.

We go to Phoenix at 6:30 just in time for a big fire and I finally got to bed at 8:00 and got up at 9:30 to clean up and meet the Blaisdells.  I guess I have a new record on sleep for one night.

I haven't got much else to say except that I am looking forward to getting to Gila Bend.  When I begin to get some more work I will be satisfied.  I will also get my flying pay.

With love

Austin

August 28, 1944

Aug. 28, 1944

Dear Mother:

I don't have a lot to write but found these two pictures while I was rummaging around in my spare pockets and thought here was an excuse to write a lot and say nothing.

When I first went to Blaisdell's I met the fellow that is going to marry Betty.  He is a pretty good looking fellow and has a swell personality.  He is a P.F.C. teaching Link to the cadets at Williams Field.  He really is a swell fellow.

From the picture you don't get a very good picture of the state.  There is more trees and grass shown than there is on many sq miles of the state.  However the pictures were good and you may get an idea of what I look like in my cadet days.  You may notice something on my right hand pocket which is not a pen clip but a ribbon fastened with a pin.  I got it at a Sadie Hawkins Dance.  I had a lot of fun at that dance which is one thing they have a lot of around here.  I don't know what I could tell you more about the picture except that they were taken in the driveway towards the field and taken with a 620 camera.

Now I want you to be sure to give Fred one of the pictures of me which you have at home because I am about to send him one of these.  Don't forget please because I promised him and my word will be mud if you don't.

Very little has happened lately.  We have formations at 9AM and 3PM and that is all.  All the rest of the day we do as we please.  I am getting lots of extra sleep and sunshine by the swimming pool.  Life is pretty easy.

Can you send me Ralph's address.  I would like to write to him if it can be arranged.  Please get it and send it in the next letter.

When you get that box together you can send it.  I have 2 more pair of shorts but send along at least 3 more because mine are going to pieces fast.  If you want those woolen socks to mend I will send them along.  You can buy some of that powder off Mr. Weeks and send that too.

There is nothing new about our assignment except that it is still very indefinite and that someday I may have to fold myself up into the smallest plane in the A.C., the P39.  I am looking forward to it.  It will be the training all of us have been waiting for.

With love

Austin

August 23, 1944

Aug 23, 1944

Dear Mother:

As you notice this one is in pencil rather than ink because I have not my pen yet and my buddy is using his pen.  Please excuse!?

We had a swell train ride, in fact it turned out a lot better than I really expected.  It was a little expensive but what is the money to me when you have so little time to make such trips around the country.

We had no more than gotten on the train when we struck up an acquaintance with a young lady going to San Francisco to meet her Lt. Comm husband.  She was one of those North Shore girls so I guess that is enough explanation.  However she was very good company and had a lot of books to read.  So we swapped stories and read books most of the way with never a dull moment.

We got into Chicago about 5:30 p.m. and got two Pullman tickets and then went to the Officer's Club at the Knickerbocker Hotel for supper.  They have the swellest layout I have ever seen in an Officer's Club.  They have a reception room with young ladies to greet you and show you around.  There is a big lounge where you can sit down and read or smoke or just plain relax; they have a huge dining room where we got the best meal I ever saw for a dollar in any city; then there is a large dance floor with an orchestra stand at one end with chairs and tables all around.  It reminded me of what you see in the movies.  There were all kinds of officers around.  I guess they have the nicest place to go in the whole U.S.  You know Chicago is noted for what it does for servicemen and what they have for officers is not an idle boast.  We went riding around in a taxi of course to see what the city was like and I might say that I was favorably impressed.

Chicago's Hotel Knickerbocker

I tried to call you by phone from Chicago but couldn't make the connection in time.  I guess maybe you were all out because I could hear the connection being made all the way through to Boston.  I was very anxious about my orders even though as yet we have used but one little paper out of the sealed envelope which had our histories more or less on it.  I had all kinds of visions of the big squabble you could all get into trying to make sure they got away on time for me to get them.  I had also thought that I sent the telegram too late for you to get them off.  However I had not reckoned with the hour time difference which gave them a kind of head start on me.  I guess that all these differences of opinion can really get somewhere when the crucial moment arises.  I guess the coordinator of internal affairs should have a hand.

Well to get on with my trip.  We got on a Southern Pacific Pullman at 8:30 p.m. and found that we had a much cooler and cleaner car than when we came from Phoenix.  In fact I doubt if we got the least bit dirty on this train.  Of course we picked up a lot more fellows coming back to Luke and had a lot of fun with them but we had the most fun with a girl named Betty Clark from Coolidge, Ariz.  She was going home after her first trip away without her mother. ( I might say she was 17 years old).  She had been to a farm in Idaho and had met the sweetest 4F farmer in the state on a blind date.  In fact she had let him kiss her on the 6th and last date with him.  She had come on the train prepared for a long hungry trip.  She had all kinds of food; in fact she had enough to feed her and the rest of her friends for a week.  There was fruit, sandwiches, pickles and everything.  She was rather cute too, being a second Patty Morrel without the nose.  She just believed everything you said and was very serious about everything.  She had about all the magazines on the newsstand except a "Life" and a "Time".

Of course we met a lot of other girls and spent a lot of time talking to them too so you see your little boy doesn't allow a dull moment to enter his leisure time.  The only trouble is that everyone we met was engaged or married and we had no intentions of breaking up any happy homes so don't worry about my fighting the war single - handed.

We got into Phoenix 2 hours 25 min. late which made us 1 hour late signing in.  I don't think anything will be done as we still had 24 hours grace.

Tuesday we didn't do much except get a few lectures and some of the fellows were assigned to new posts.  I did not get assigned and was very glad because nothing came up that I liked.  Some were assigned instructor school and twin engine transport school.

Today we got a few more lectures and more assignments and everyone has an assignment now.  For once the 2nd Lts. got a break and the F.Os did not.  All the F.O's go to the A.T.C. for transport flying while the single engine fighter boys that made 2nd Lt. got their wish.  On or around Sept. 10, 1/2 of the LTs. will go to gunnery while the other half goes to P39 school and 14 days later get assigned to the O.T.U. (Overseas Training Unit).  We got the best break yet and I was very glad to hear it.  It means that we will never get stuck flying slow ships but get something that can be maneuvered and played with.  We will have fun and enjoy our training and see a lot more of the country.  It is swell to feel that out of a class of 340, 1/4th of them are to be fighters and to know that you are in the cream of the crop.  It is something to be proud of I think.  All the rest of the boys except the instructors will always be only average pilots.

I still have not made arrangements to get my foot locker out of town.  No one seems to know how it is to be done.  I am very much concerned about all the soiled uniforms without which I cannot look to o well on weekends.  I am beginning to think I shall go in and get the last things and send them to the cleaners and put the rest in storage.  Maybe I should not have had them shipped with me seeing I am about to move again so soon.  Seeing California is the next stop I doubt if I will need much but summer wear for some time yet. Even so I guess I can wear my winter clothes in California even so in a couple of months.

Life in this post will not be bad for the next few months except that they are trying to keep us busy by breaking up our day, read full-time guards and taking PT and Retreat.  We have to report twice a day to the director of training but that is just to keep us on the post.  We will get a few minor details but they don't have enough for 150 of us to do so I doubt if we will do anything but get fat on the food in the Officer's Mess and get tanned in the swimming pool.

With love

Austin

August 22, 1944

Aug 22

Dear Mother;

Here I am with a little time on my hands so I will write a short note to you.  As usual everything turned out all right and I am on the Post with no serious complications.  We were 45 minutes late but we straightened that out by the train being 2 hours and 1/2 late.

We were half way between Boston and Newton when I remembered I had a set of orders at home.  It hit me like a ton of bricks and my first thought was to hop off at the next stop and get them.  Of course that was foolish considering I had no other means of getting back.  So I sent a telegram and hoped that you all would not get a bunch of ideas how to get it to me earlier.  In fact I had visions of it not getting out at all.  Well I worried all the trip about it until I went into the Adam's and found them waiting.  I was sure happy.

I got a load of letters today and I read that one you told me not to just to see how sentimental you are.  I got a kick out of it because it is all so far behind now.  I guess I was more than welcome at home after all.

We had a swell trip, in fact it was the best one yet.  There were so many people to talk to that the time just flew.  It was a short trip and a lot of it was at night.

I guess I just wanted to tell you that I was OK and enjoying life.  Lt. Smith wishes to go to the show so I will have to close on the shortest letter I have ever written I guess. Everything here is going to be fine.  I will send some money home soon to cover my latest expenses.  We will not get flying pay this month so I will not have too much money this month.  I am still thinking about you coming out and see this part of the country.  Maybe I will not be able to pay your way so you will have to talk to A.P.

I am in the Officer's Club and enjoying my relaxation.  This is really a swell place.  I will write again tomorrow and tell you about the trip.

With love

Austin

August 2, 1944

August 1, 1944

Mrs. A.P. Rounds received a letter, a program and a small pamphlet from the Central Methodist Church in Phoenix, Arizona.

Stamp used to seal the envelope

June 4, 1944

Luke Field

Arizona

June 4, 1944

Dear Mother:

I really have the best intentions in writing but as in every other place time is short here.  We start about 7:30 in the morning and finish about 8:10 in the evening.  In between that time we fly and have school and all our meals.  After that time we have time to our selves.  As it is now we are preparing questionnaires so I can solo tomorrow.

Last week has been rather uneventful.  I haven't yet received any letters directly from town but I guess I should get one or two tomorrow.  (I can't find a good position to write in)

Saturday I went to the dentist and got my teeth fixed good and proper.  He filled 8 little holes in my head.  He had quite a time but said when he was finished I was done.  I sat in the chair for more than 2 hours and you can bet I felt done before he was.  The dentist ruined my Saturday schedule and made it impossible for me to solo.  Well tomorrow I will get off the ground in a hurry and solo and then go up and see what I can make this AT 6 do.

AT-6 Trainer

The AT6 is one of the best training planes in the Army.  It handles like a dream.  You don't have to move the controls you just think about 'em and they move by themselves.  You can fly by using pressures and don't have to make any noticeable movements.  It has retractable wheels and hydraulic flaps.  It has all kinds of safety devices to keep you from fouling up the works.  However it is a fighter pilots ship and much too hot for a bomber pilot.  It must be the easiest ship to ground loop in the Army so if I keep away from ground loops I will get through all right.  I have just go to get through.

I can just see that this phase of training is going to be the one to "sweat out" but be the most interesting one yet.  It is all in the plane.  It really is a wonder.  You can train it to fly straight and level and level and then you can fly it at any speed you want and not break an arm trying to control it like you did in that old B.T.  May the Lord help me if I have to become an instructor on BTs.  You can do everything with this ship you can do with a tactical ship. Spins near the ground are dangerous but with plenty of altitude you can do anything.  You can even do slow rolls going straight up.  When I get a little more familiar with it I am going to have some real fun.  "Rat racing" is in order here so we are really going to have fun.

This post is a regular GI post but has quite a number of "feather merchants" working in the hangers on maintenance.  Also they have WAC's but we hardly see any of them.  They have quite a lot of military discipline but it hadn't bothered too much yet.  The food is about the best you can get anywhere.  We really live off the fat of the land.  The only trouble is that the fellows waste more now.  I must admit I waste more myself than if I were starving.  We get pie and ice cream or cake for dinner or supper every day.

Would I like to get home!  I still don't see much chance for  quite some time.  We have heard that 1/3 of the class will get a 10 day leave when we graduate but 10 days will do me no good unless I could fly both ways and plane reservations are hard to get.  Well maybe the rumors don't mean anything.  They also say we will fly P47's or P39's before we get through.  

Well I have got to write to my old primary instructor so....

With love

Austin

May 26, 1944

Luke Field

Arizona

May 26, 1944

Dear Mother:

Here I am in Arizona again.  I have been here 2 days and I have neglected to write because although I am not doing much I am getting acquainted with the post I am to spend the next 2 months or more on.  Actually we will be here about 10 weeks and then maybe I will get 15 days to come home and see everyone again.  I will have been gone more than a year when I do get home.

We had a rather uneventful trip down here.  We left Bakersfield Calif. about 1800 Tuesday and arrived down here at about 1100 Wednesday one full day ahead of time.  We got a 20 hour pass so I got to see some of the city of Phoenix and found it a rather pleasant place to spend a pass.

Air Field at Luke Field, Arizona

The first thing that I saw that really opened my eyes was the number of P-40's buzzing around here.  I have hopes of getting into one before my training is over but I think chances are very slim.  The graduating class got a number of hours in them but they are being taken from the field and may be replaced with P39's which I do not like.  That 40 is what I like the looks of.

Today I sat in the cockpit of a grounded mock up of one.  The engine had been removed because of a damaged right wing.  I kind of thought I might be too big but found out I am not.  I need all the room available but I still think I could be very comfortable.  Of course there are are a lot more gadgets and dials but I would be glad to be inside when they come to life.

We will not start flying until early next week.  Then we will find out if we are military pilot material all over again.  They have a pretty high wash out rate around here for an advance school.  They may get 20% of us and maybe more.  They have that many out of the present class so I guess I better not get my hopes too high.  Most of them wash because they can't solo out or that they ground loop which is a very easy thing to do in these planes.  Well if I get the normal breaks and keep my head out of the cockpit I guess I can get through all right.

Curtis P-40

This is the base where I will really gain weight.  You get all you can eat of good food an all the milk and cream you can drink.  Ice cream 2 meals a day and I bet we could have if for breakfast if we wanted it bad enough.  Just think of eating a dessert of pie a la mode and chocolate frosted cake at the same time.  I bet I weigh 190 before I leave here.  I only hope it's not all fat.  They must starve civilians to feed us this way.  We get all the green vegetables we can consume.  We get raw carrots and cabbage each meal as well as boiled peas and carrots and sometimes beets.  Of course we have potatoes and meat but I think the green vegetables are better when you can have all you want.

This is swell country here but it gets too hot for my money.  We have the coolers going full blast all the time and it is hot and summer is still just around the corner.  They say it gets to 140 degrees in the shade around here in the summer and the shade is scarce.  I hope they don't want us to be too active when the hot weather gets here.

Just because we are not too busy now does not mean that we will not be in the near future.  In fact they have civilian help here that cleans our barracks and latrines so that we will have more time.  When we get on schedule we get 7 hours on the flight line, 3 hours of classes, 1 hour of PT and 1 hour of drills each day scheduled.  Besides that we have to eat and keep busy on homework and our own personal house cleaning.

I was going to write last night but I met a fellow I went to CTD with who is a class ahead of me.  He told us a little about what was ahead.  One of the things I like the sound of is a 300 mile cross country with a maximum ceiling of 200' ft.  Most of the time you spend looking up at the cactus and chasing each other up and down the washes in the desert.  You also get a lot more formation and "rat racing" term applied to chasing each other all over the sky.  It's a wonder they don't have accidents here but I guess by now most of the fellows can handle a plane pretty well.  I could handle a PT pretty well when I left primary but that BT still has me stumped.  It was more or less like driving a truck I guess and I can never like that.

Well I have been writing from my bed which may explain the illegibility of this letter.  I hope they are not all that way.  We are not very well organized yet.

I am putting in a money order for $100 which you may put in the bank or buy bonds with and remove my recent expenses from.  If you buy a bond make it out to the usual beneficiary.  Please hurry the watch on its way because I am lost without it.

With love

Austin