November 19, 1945

Brooks Field

Nov. 19, 1945

Dear Mother:

What do you think of green ink?  I ran out today and have no more blue so I have to use some that Bill left behind.  

I got your letter today and noticed right away the two Air Mail stamps.  I had been wanting an Air Mail stamp for a letter going to Mary.  I owe her a letter and when the mail goes by Air the lapse time seems less.  So I will send one of them off to Mary.

I have just gotten over a bad case of tonsils.  I had a sore throat when I got back and last Wed my tonsils became inflamed and swelled up so I could hardly swallow.  It was about twice as bad as a sore throat.  I went on sick call and the "Doc" gave me some pills which did no good.  Well now I can write because I am all over my trouble and you won't worry.  I don't know just what cured my trouble but it is really gone now.  I feel like having my tonsils out and will if I have any more trouble.

I guess the women do take a lot of my time and perhaps money but I don't know what to do about it.  Maybe it's me but it doesn't seem to be something you can take or leave.  If I don't see Anne I miss her and when I realize that soon I will be gone for good I feel that I will miss her very much.  I probably could live very well without the female influence but they do make life more interesting.  So what can I do about my case?

Do you remember that pink shirt I said I was going to give to Anne?  Well she has it now and what a perfect fit.  She put it on for me last night when I went home with her and I have never seen a better shrink job in my life.  It looks like it was made special for her and fitted to her.  I was so happy when I saw it.  She says it will be a good golf shirt.

You should have seen me this weekend.  I went to one of those much publicized "Dude" Ranches up in Bandera Texas about 50 miles from San Antonio.  I wore a beautiful red, black and yellow plaid shirt, a pair of blue jeans and a pair of cowboy boots.  I hadn't intended to tell you about the boots because I am sure you will think I am crazy but I have had them some time now and they fit well and I don't feel so foolish about them.

Well to go on with the story, those clothes were all I wore up there.  I really felt like a civilian again.  We got up there at 8:00 PM and I changed my clothes in a cabin and off to town we went.  We all had on plaid shirts and blue jeans so we bummed a ride.  They have dances going on all over the place so we picked out one and danced almost all night.  They have hill-billy music in the "Juke Box" so we danced "Put Your Little Foot", "Shoittish" and "Cotton Eyed Joe" most of the time.  We had a grand time doing all those funny new dance steps.

No one sleeps in Bandera, not if anyone else knows about it.  We all had two cabins which were connected by a bathroom and all night after we got back they were throwing water, wet towels, wet sheets and finally wet pillows at each other through the bathroom.  Finally things quieted down a little and then someone filled a bunch of "coke" bottles full of water and then went around soaking beds.  That was the last straw as far as any good sleep was concerned.  So at 0600 AM everyone was asleep but up at a 0800 AM for breakfast.

After breakfast we went riding and I as usual looking like a great horseman was given a high strung horse.  I had to hold him for all of the 3 hours and all he did was prance around stiff legged.  Boy!  do I have a sore rear end.  I wore the skin off in places and can hardly sit down.  Anyway I pick nice big soft chairs now if they are available.

These photos are probably not from this trip, but from an earlier one in either Phoenix or Roswell,
as evidenced by the uniform and lack of plaid or cowboy boots.

After a wonderful dinner they all couldn't stop to sleep for a few minutes but had to go play softball and then go dance again.  Anne and I finally got the party back so I could change clothes and back to town we came last night at about 9:00 PM.  It had really been a memorable weekend, one I shall never forget.

Today I am sleeping in between formations.  I have one more to go and then I must get some shoes in town.  What I really need is rest and more rest and it feels like it will take a week to get it all.  I think the trip was all worth while, because I have some clothes like I have never had before and a lot of pleasant memories.

I guess I am running out of paper so will have to close for now.

With love

Austin

PS Just call me "Tex"

December 19, 1944 (2)

Roswell Field

Dec. 19, 1944

Dear A.P.

As I write this letter you and Mother may be making your last minute plans to go to Chicago.  I hope that is so.  This letter should get to you about the time you get home or ahead of you.

I cannot get home for Christmas and get only a pass from Sat noon to Tues-noon which in my poor opinion is a very poor Christmas leave.  I probably will go to Dallas with my friend and spend the holiday with them.  If that is the case it will be the second year way from home each time with friends.  Last year it was with Mother's cousin and this year with friends of mine.

I wrote to tell you about the horses we rode the other day.  They were regular cow ponies and really spirited animals.  After we got on they went into a trot and continued to do so no matter what we did. We galloped them so much after that that I guess we wore them down to a walk but even so they were awful jumpy.  The one I had was so jumpy that when I kicked him in the ribs his hind feet almost slid out form under him in his efforts to get going.  I tried to remember all you had ever told me about horses so I guess we didn't hurt them any.  We only had trouble taming them down because they just couldn't stand still.  I doubt if I am a horse man but if I had a horse like one of these I'll bet I could fool most of you easterners.  They had very small feet and had smooth shoes.  They even slipped on the paved road to say nothing of the frozen snow on the roads.  We rode through the woods in about 3 inches of snow as much as possible and then let them go.  We could steer them by laying the reins against one side of their necks, no pulling but just pressure. 

What surprised me was the way they ran with me 185 lbs and them so very small..  They are really rugged little nags and would make any owner back home proud.  They were awful looking having none of the shiny hair and well kept manes but they were not kept in stables and had real thick coats.  They were the best fed horses I have seen.  They weren't in the least bit bucky making no attempt to buck or bite you.  I don't know but I guess you must have seen them when you were out in this part of the country.  I would really like to own one of my own.  Maybe when I get home we can go for a ride together and you can show me how.

We had a lot of fun last weekend and hope to go up to the Ruidoso again.  It is a winter resort with ski trails and toboggan slides. It would be fun to get on the snow again and have a snow ball fight or make a snowman or something.  It would be more fun to do in Stoneham but your week ends come where you find them and you can only be in one place a short time so you might as well get your fill of everything because no two places offer the same opportunities.

Well I hope you have had a lot of fun in Chicago.  Tell me what you think of that big town.

With Love

Austin

December 18, 1944

Roswell Field

Dec. 18, 1944

Dear Mother:

I started to write this letter last night and got as far as the date and then quit because we had a couple of visitors. With all the gab and the tall stories flying I just couldn't concentrate on a letter.  I guess you have the same trouble.

I want to tell you about Ruidoso N.M. We were going down to Mexico but didn't get our plans made early enough to make the trip.  Now I guess we will never get there.

The bus going up leaves at 1230 and our last class ended at 1200 so we figured it would take a lot of hurrying and fast talking to get in on time.  We had to get a pass in the form of a V.O.C.O. and had to sign out.  We also had to wait for a ride so we missed the bus.

Well seeing the next bus was at 2000 we decided much to my dislike to kind of stand on the side of the road and look very hopeful and maybe get a ride.  We got a ride all right with a young lady traveling from Nebraska to San Fransisco.  She was going to see her husband who is in the signal corp stationed out there somewhere.  She was a very attractive young lady and I might say that she had a lot more courage than a lot of women I know.  We asked her how tall she was and she said 5 ft and weighed 94 lbs.  She said that she wished we were going to Calif so she could rest from driving all the time and know that there was someone to change any flat tires.  Her car like most women's cars was a little rickety but I am sure it would get her to Calif all right.

She took us to the junction to the town and from there we took a taxi.  The two of Ruidoso is not anything wonderful except that it is very quaint and a typical movie town.  Except for a few modern buildings which would look out of place the town could be taken for a real live 1890 boom town.  It has one theater, 3 bars, 1 pool parlor, and a couple of drug stores.  There are novelty stores about every five steps so there are plenty of places to buy things.  They have rollerskating rinks to go to but the were not open.  Of course this town survives because of the tourist trade and therefore there are about a thousand cabins in and around the town.  The principle residents of the town are ranchers, Indians and the bar tenders and waitresses.

We got into town at about 3:30 PM and got steaks at a drug store and they were the best I have eaten in a long time.  They were cooked on a grill in the window of the store.  This drugstore had most of the amusement in town as it had a jukebox and lots of hot chocolate so we spent a lot of time here.  The owner also didn't mind us talking to his waitresses as long as we drank hot chocolate and played the music.  It was rather cold so we didn't do too much running around. 

Right now there is a slack season because there is no summer crowd around and not enough snow to draw the winter crowd.  We looked around and found skis and toboggans and sleds in all of the lodges so when snow comes we will go back.

I had the softest bed I have ever slept on.  I sat on it and almost disappeared into the mattress.  It was one of those beds I have dreamed of, one that you don't need covers on because the mattress flows over the tops of you when you get in.  Of course that stretches the point a little bit it was a very soft bed.

We went horseback riding Sunday (By we, I mean, me, Sanput and another buddy, Ernest Punis from Tenn.)  Sanput the Texan had never ridden and neither had Punis.  I had ridden once in Phenix so I got the most spirited horse.  They were western cow ponies and very small compared with what we have at home but I'll be they would take on all comers for their spirit.  We had no more than got on when off they went in a trot, which developed into a gallop with no urging on our part.  You don't steer these horses by pulling on the reins but by pushing them from one side of the neck to the other.  The harder you push the sharper they turned and we later found out that the only way to stop them was to put them into such a sharp turn they had to slow down to turn.  These horses gallop at very little urging and stop only with the greatest effort.  I think they find it easier to run than to walk.  Most of the horses I have ridden before had to be really stung before even trotting and then you got the roughest ride of your life.  These little ponies gave you the easiest and smoothest ride I have ever had.  The horses in Phoenix are old fans in comparison to these.  We rode for 3 1/2 hours in our shirt sleeves and half the time in a trot or a gallop.  I think I shall some day be a horseman.

It is known to be rather cold up in the mts so we bought a pair of long underwear.  I remember how many times you had tried to get them on me and my excuse was always that it wasn't cold enough.  Well it was only 38 degrees F up there and we had them on.  We were riding without our blouses but that made little difference.  I had on that sleeveless sweater which was a great help.  I went it quite a lot under my jacket and find it swell.  I had no idea what a wonder it would be when I got it last year.

We skipped our first class this morning and go caught at it and will probably be restricted to the post a couple of days.  It is quite a price to pay for staying in the sack an extra hour but we got what was a due so I am not too mad and have learned my lesson.

I always look forward to mail from home.  My little mailbox is often empty for days on end and that is a disappointment and a morale destroyer.  You wouldn't want me to go AWOL just because I don't get mail from home do you?  I am sure I won't if you keep up the letters.

With love

Austin.

September 19, 1944

This is written in a big hurry

Dear Esther:

I got your letter yesterday and I might say that it was unexpected.  I already had a couple of letter in the morning mail and then this one.  You see it was not that I didn't expect it but that it came in an unexpected time.

It seems that Betty is having a lot of trouble with all her family.  If I remember correctly the "refugee" was a little shy but she seemed friendly enough when I left.  I guess maybe I frightened her.  Well I guess she will get used to having strangers around if she is one of Betty's children.

So Harold was home lately.  I'll bet William was especially glad to see him.  William must miss having friends his own age around.  If what Mother said about Harold was true I guess the loosing 10 lbs didn't hurt him physically but maybe some mentally.  I guess I gained a lot more than I lost. I think I put on about 20 lbs but am slowly losing it because of the lack of activity.  However while at G.B. the last weeks I gained a couple of pounds.  Maybe the Army doesn't go wrong when they allow some fellows to take A/C training and disqualifies others for reasons mental and physical.

As for his record of not getting a gig I would say he has done well.  Maybe that is the trouble, he worked too hard trying to get and stay on the ball that he has missed a lot of the training down there that you don't get form the books.  I hope Harold doesn't have to go back to the G.I's because he will hate it after the way he has been treated lately.  I don't think he really wants to go back without that commission no matter what he says.

I was just thinking that maybe you had better not write anymore letter or company time because you might get fired but then I might not get a letter if you didn't.  I guess you are indispensable so you just go ahead and write all the letters you want to me on company time.

You know I think Mother is worried about me.  She asked in a letter today what kind of a girl would stay out all night with a strange fellow?  Well I don't know what kind of a girl she was if they can be classified but I see no harm in living at night rather than during the day.  After all you can meet a girl at 9:00 in the morning and stay all day and not create any talk.  Well you can assure her that that was the first and last time because I enjoy my sack time too much to waste it at dances at 4:00 in the  morning and on hard bony old nags which riding schools call horses.  I have had enough of that.

I realize Mary has a birthday soon and it will probably be by when you get this letter but I will try to do something.  I have no idea what I shall get but I am going to town today and will find something nice for her.

I am so glad to hear that she is going to school this fall.  I only hope she has found what she wants.  If she ever needs any money please write and I am sure I can send a gift along that may help her out a little.

Will I must close now and go to dinner.  I am very hungry because I had only a 10 cent breakfast.

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