December 30, 1943

Santa Ana Army Air Base

Dec 30, 1943

Dear Mother:

I have a lot of spare time now so I am writing and spending the time the best way I know.  Of course I could have written last night but I wrote to Cousin Emma in Hollywood.  I think I hsall go there over the New Year weekend.  She is really so nice I really enjoy the visits very much.

In a week or 2 or more you will get a package of stuff I have collected here in California.  There will be old letters, cards, etc. along with books, papers and other junk.  The reason I am sending them you may be able to guess.  We are sure to be shipping out in a short time and although I am not positive I will go I am not worrying as  much as these fellows who got low academic averages and too many giggs.  They have washed out a few fellows already for too many giggs.  My grades in school were not too bad and we don't know just how the averages came out because some classes got more credit than others.  Anyway I got a 95% in Physics, 87% average in Math, 93% average in Aircraft Identification, 93% in chemical warfare, 85% average in gunnery but fell down in Navel and at 78%.  I had one midterm examination that was very poor and it pulled the whole average down.

One thing I do know.  The squadron will be broken up and different sections will be sent to different fields.  We were not good enough to stay together.  I was going to leave a lot of friends anyway because a lot of fellows are being held over for some reason or another.  Only 7 from one section of 46 will leave.  In our section however (No I) we got all good averages and will have only 1 holdover if things all go well.  Our section by the way seta  few records around here.  We got the largest number of superiors in class (43 in a row) that has ever been recorded.  No one failed code, another record.  Got the highest marks in Aircraft Identification of any class (above a 90% average).  We carried the E flag for 4 straight weeks.  Oh well, we did pretty well but I only wish the whole sqn had done better so we could stay together.

There has been a rumor around that we are going to ship out of California to Arizona or Texas or some such place.  The reason is that the last class has not received enough flying time to leave for Basic and therefore we shall be shipped to some clear weather states where we have a chance flying.  This is a poor time of year to be flying out here.  Last week there were only about 1 1/2 fly hours per student and that is not enough.  You have to have at least 20 to get out. Well it really isn't too bad to see such rain if you don't have to fly but if you want to it is disappointing to see all the rain we get.

Maybe the Chamber of Commerce has fooled the whole country but not the natives around here or the soldiers who are training here.  We fall out at 5:45 and find a clear star-lit sky but it is usually raining by 8:00 and not later than 1200.  It isn't a bad rain but a slow drizzle that always seems so cold and penetrating.  Out here however they are warm and do not chill so much.  Some times it really pours and then it really rains.  The water comes up about an inch every where so that it is impossible to keep the feet dry.  We wear the wet shoes to dry them out and because they will dry out no other way.  The only trouble is that socks wear out fast and with no mother around to mend we just have to buy new ones.  It is terrible waste but then we figure our time is worth more than the stockings.

So far I have been very lucky and have lost only a few minor articles of clothing.  I have only lost one O.D. hat with the insignia on it.  I always thought that you would lost more than that but it seems that I am in with a picked outfit and they don't swipe so much as the regular "run of the mill".

I seem to be just rambling along here and not answering any of those questions you are always asking. Cousin Emma asked me if I ever got questions from home and if I ever answered them.  She said that her boy Robert hardly ever answered her questions and I guess I must seem that way to you too.  I gave her the only answer I know and that is that whenever you write you never have the old letters available to get questions from.  Right now I am C.Q. and don't have letters available.  I guess if you have anything you want answered you will have to write it on something special that I can carry around for reference.  By the way, the Independents are coming through very well and I have received the last 3 or 4 issues.  They are really swell; I must write something some day to put in.  You wrote that old Seward got his commission.  Well if I don't become a pilot I will look like him when I get home.

With love

Austin.

December 6, 1943

Dec. 6, 1943

Dear Mother:

This letter may seem wrinkled but it should be because it has traveled quite a few miles before I even got a chance to start.

Saturday night we started out to L.A. as usual but being very late to start because of a late class and consequently the long line waiting for the bus out we got as far as Santa Ana and decided to go somewhere a little nearer to the base.

We went to Long Beach about 24 miles from Santa Ana.  It is a place very much like Revere Beach only it stays open all year around.  It has all the amusements and little gambling booths as they all have.  Of course the first place the Air Corp heads for is the very tame Roller Coaster.  We rode on that until I was almost sick.  I rode on the first car, the last car and the middle car.  I rode everywhere.  It was a lot of fun but much tamer than it used to be.

We next went on the Dodgeums, you know the little electric cars. {Bumper cars} We rode on them until my knees were black and blue.  They are so big that they kept hitting the little dash board and hood over the front of the car.  When you get a whole gang on those cars you can have a lot of fun.

Things were beginning to quiet down then so we went into one of these places where you roll balls to win presents.  I tried once and didn't win anything so I quit and called it a day.  My friend Bob Sundius (from Brooklyn) had better luck.  He won a package of cigarettes on the first nickel and won every time after for four times.  Missed a couple then won again until he had a carton of cigarettes which cost him about 75 cents.  Regularly they would cost anywhere from $1.15 to $1.50.  I guess that it is possible to win if you are lucky but not many people have the right kind of luck.  We decided that we had better not trust his luck any more so we quit.

We went back to the Hotel Room and got a good nights sleep and I can say that I did sleep.  I don't like sleeping in hotels however.  They can be noisy but noise don't bother me any more.  I do wonder some times who slept in the bed before me and I wonder who might try to get into the room while we are sleeping.  Any way when there are two together you can be pretty sure that nothing can happen.

Well about 12 hours have passed since I started this letter and this new paragraph so things may not follow too well.  

I have received several letters since I wrote last but I just can't find time to write.  I have to study nights for if I don't I may become a military holdover and I don't want.

So I don't complain hu..., well it's this way.  I always feel pretty good when I write and I forget a lot but right now I am burned up because right now I have enough giggs to walk a tour and it was because of someone else's neglect and general lack of responsibility.  We were issued rifles the other day because we are going on guard.  When they were put away today someone put his "piece" in the place I should have mine.  Because I didn't move it I got gigged for improperly putting my rifle away.  This fellow left his bold closed and I got his giggs.  Of course I can protest but I'll have to write a letter to the C.O. and attempt to explain why my rifle wasn't in the proper place.  Even then I can get 5 giggs for improper form for a military letter.  Really there is no appeal.  I have never walked a tour while I have been here and I am burned up with this system.  From now on it's A/C Rounds for himself and no one else.

Two sqns near us have been quarantined one for Scarlet Fever and the other for "Spinal Meningitis".  Of course we can't see those fellows and you can bet we are keeping clear of them.

This letter was not written on the way to L.A. as I expected and is pretty well tattered.

Tell A.P. that I have received all his letters and will send his air mail letter home when I have the occasion.  Get busy on that watch or tell me what the stay is.  I could have got a good watch Saturday but passed it up because I hoped you would send one soon.  I will have to wait a month now for another chance.

With love

Austin.