October 22, 1943

SAAAB

                                                                                                            Santa Ana Calif

                                                                                                            Oct 22, 1943

Dear Mother,

            Well I suppose this letter is rather late but my time for the last few days has been rather limited.  We have completed the M days and I have just one thing to say about them. I have made the grade.

            Now that I have passed the days of trial I can talk about them and not feel that I am speaking too soon.

            M-12 day was the climax and it became at 4:00 when we got up and made our beds and set the bunk house in order, made our beds and rearranged our foot lockers.  At 5:00 we fell out for revielle  and roll call.  We then got into our good clothes and went to chow after which we came back and shined shoes and brass.  And they did really shine.  You could actually see yourself in my GD shoes and my brass was so clean it looked almost white.  At 7:00 we fell out for a preparatory inspection.  At 8:00 we were inspected by 3 captains from the General Staff and they found things in such good order that they gave us a superior rating.  We then got our “Cadet Issue” and that is really a laugh. Instead of the sharp outfits that they used to pass out they give you 2 pair of under ware 5 pair of stockings and some insignia.  No more Cadet Blouses, Cadet Caps or shirts or anything.  We then had our cadet graduation exercise and it was here that we found out if we got our first choice or anyone of the other 2 choices.  I made the grade for my first choice. Pilot.  Was I glad when I saw that written across the top of the folder with all my qualifications.  In fact I was the happiest one there.  The rest of the day was all ours and we had started to draw the $75 per month.

            Of course some of the fellows washed out and I feel rather sorry for them but some of them were expected to wash any way and no one expected them to come through.  About 15% of the fellows have washed out or will soon because they are still unclassified.  My room-mate Jack Pagen was illiminated because he was said to be not mentally stable and could not endure the period of training that will soon follow.

            Well now that I am an A.C. you will have to change my address a little and replace the A.S. with the A.C.

1 day later

            I might just as well start all over again. I have been trying to finish this letter so many times it isn’t funny.  I started this letter yesterday at 11:30 and now it is 18:30 the next day.  They are just making it uncomfortable for the fellows keeping the schedule full so that they get little time for rest or pleasure.

            We are now getting more classes each day and the classes are taught by 1^st Lts in long classrooms, so long in fact it is almost impossible to see the black board when sitting in the back of the room.  These classrooms will seat approx. 300 students.

            On class is on the basic principles of the present war and a study of the causes in back of the war.  The class is a study into the background of the countries that are the main participants, Japan, Germany, Russia, G. Britain and ends with Post War Problems.  You can see that as well as teaching us to fight in the air they are teaching us a little about some of the problems in a Post War world and giving us a little hint as to what to expect from our “Reconstructed” world.

            We have another class on Stratosphere Flight and this proves to be the most interesting I have ever had.  This is a series of 6 lectures the last 4 of which are made in a decompression chamber and the class is conducted in stimulated altitudes up to 38000’.  You go up the 1^st 18000’ with no mask and at that height many queer things happen to the body.  The rest of the way up is made with oxygen and can be very uncomfortable if the conditions with in the person are not just right.  I am just waiting until we hit that chamber.

            I think that I shall go to the movies now or soon after I have written one more letter.  This letter will be to Cousin Emma Johnson in Hollywood.  I got her letter the other day and haven’t been able to write until now.  I will do it right away because I feel that seeing she is so close I will really be able to see her in about a month.

With Love

Austin

October 16, 1943

                                                                                                            SAAAB

                                                                                                            Santa Ana Calif

                                                                                                            Oct 16, 1943

Dear Mother,

            I haven’t written for several days but I was very glad to get your letter.  It came in 3 days all the way across the country.  In fact it came a day ahead of mail sent from Beloit when they forward it to us.  Anyway the mail seems to be coming through pretty well.  I am now beginning to realize that I am far away from home.

            Well M days are continuing although all of the tests are taken and the results are coming in.  Some of the fellows have been “eliminated” already and the rest of us are beginning to hear about our tests and some of us are rather worried, in fact everyone will live under a strain for the rest of the M days.  My roommate was washed out by the psychiatist (no dictionary) and the reason seemed to be that his nervous system was not built to stand the strain the cadets will have to go through.  He was very disappointed but still has hopes of passing when he goes before the board today.  The examiner seems to be able to tell just how you will adapt yourself to training as well as tell if you can complete the kind of training you want.  As for me, no news is good news and if I don’t get called with the names on the list today I can feel a lot safer.  There will be 25 names today from 270 men.  I have got my fingers crossed.

            I never told you about the hair cut I got.  It’s a beaut and that’s what I mean.  When you get here you really get a GI hair cut and they took more hair of my head than I have ever had cut before.  I’ll even wager I had more hair when I was born than I had when I hit the door to get out of the barber shop.  I have a wiffel or something.  I can’t get my hair to sit down.  Even when wet it stands on end.  I can’t part it and it seems rather unruly to me.  However I don’t have to comb it any more and I can wash it every night.  My head don’t itch any more and I may not get bald because I don’t scratch my hair out anymore.  I sure would hate to go home now and let you see this mop-less head.

            I better explain that film.  Before we left Beloit our flight got “off the ball”.  We fooled around too much and just because we were leaving some of the fellows got wise with the instructors and everyone in general.  As a result instead of getting a lot of free time the 4 days before we left we got nothing but hard work and a lot of grief.  We got up at 6:00, cleaned our room went to chow and came back to do our details.  At 7:00 we fell out with gas masks for drill. We had drill to 12:00, 2 hours of which with gas masks on.  We then had chow and had our first class at 13:00 and another at 14:00.  From 15:00 to 17:00 we had P.T. and from 17:00 – 20:00 our time was taken up with evening chow and other duties.  We had to study until 22:00 and then could go to bed only if we didn’t have more than 3 giggs for each week.  Other wise we went out for 2 more hours of drill.  Therefore our day ended at 24:00 (if you weren’t on the ball).  It was rather rough and you can see time for picture taking was nill.  Also our open post for the week was taken away.  We were going to get out Friday night to say goodbye to everyone and get out Saturday morning at 9:00 to go to town and do our shopping for the trip.  We got neither.  The biggest slap in the face came when we got just 1 hour to go to town and get back.  It took us at least 20 minutes to sign out, 10 minutes to get to town and back giving us a mere 30 minutes to do all we wanted in town.  That was not enough time to do anything but the bare necessities and you couldn’t hear many kind words around.  You can see therefore that I just couldn’t use the film that was sent because I did not foresee our future at Beloit to be so strenuous.

            Well it is still foggy around here and the aerial activity has been cut down some.  I haven’t been able to see the hills for several days. Usually about noon and after enough sun comes through to allow take offs and landings and we see a lot of B17’s in late afternoon. Often in the morning the fog is so heavy that you might think that it was raining.  It is much like the dewy days we have at home some times.

            Well I don’t know what to write.  I wish that more news would come and I am glad that you are going to have the paper sent. Of course I won’t all ways be in this squadron as long as I am here but will move from the C.C. area (classification center) to pre flight.  They will get the paper to me and I can send my new address when and if I get one.

            Please write more news about what goes on in the neighborhood if you can.  Probably you do write as much as you can think of there probably is much going on.  Well I have to get to fall out soon so I will close.

            With love,

            Austin

October 11, 1943

                     Santa Ana Calif

                                                                                                            Oct 11, 1943

Dear Mother,

            Well I have finally found time again to write.  Yesterday (Sunday) was rather busy but today I am having tests and there is a lapse of time in between the darn things.  These are physiological tests and there is nothing you can do in preparation for them.

            We are going through what are called M days.  There are 13 of them starting with M0 and ending with M12 if we are successful in all of them.  M1 and M2 are intelligence and aptitude tests.  M3 is a psycomative (probably spelt wrong) test which is a study of your ability to retain your senses under strains.  The tester attempts to rattle you and affect the results of the test.  Numbers, names, and different things are yelled at you constantly and you have to remember all this.  M4 is a physical exam of some sort and I don’t have any idea what the other days are used for.

            California must be a wonderful state if you stay here long enough.  It is really an invigorating climate and a wonderful place to work.  However until the day before yesterday I didn’t know how much of a valley we were in.  We could see the mts. which are about 7 miles away but we never see the real mountains about 15 miles away.  The reason is that the country has a very heavy ground haze during the day and even though you can see the sun and it is very hot you can’t see too far on the horizon.  Friday about 3 days after we had been here we found out that those hills on the west were not the biggest thing around but the mts. behind really lift into the air.

            Santa Ana is really a very large air base.  All day long planes of 3 or 4 types fly over and land on the plane at the foot of the mountains.  They are AT-11’s  AT8 B17F’s P38’s and assorted navy planes from San Diego.  The Navy sends up a few Grumman “Hell Cats” (Wildcats) and the Army the P38’s and they dog fight right above our heads.  You can guess what that does to the formations around here.  Another trick they have is to “drag” the field just before landing.  They fly over the field at full speed after a steep dive.  After they reach the outer boundary with the 400 miles/hour and access they do a very steep climbing turn.  The motors roar and they climb and climb and climb until you think they will spin. Then they level off and come in for a landing.  Usually a whole formation “peeling” upward instead of downward.  They are a beautiful sight and all the fellows want to be P38 pilots now.

P 38 

            When we expected that S. A. would be worse than Beloit we were happily mistaken. S.A is a push over as compared with what we had been through.  There is very little discipline here and the hours are such that if you get your work done on time you can rest and enjoy life.  Of course we are in quarantine for 14 days and restricted to the post for 42 days but I don’t care as long as I classify for what I want.  I won’t see the town or any of the citys for awhile but that will all come in time.

            The trip along the Santa Fe is something I would like to do again and would advise any North Easterners with the time and money to do the same.  If Easterners think they are poor or work too hard they should see how much and under what conditions people in the South West work to make a meager living.

Santa Fe Side

            My biggest surprise came in see how much the country lacked cowboys or horses.  I only saw 3 or 4 on all range land and they were either Indians or of Mexican origin.  One raced the train up a little incline and really kept up for about a ¼ mile.  The rider was a tall lanky fellow who could really stick on the horse.  We saw a few cows along the way but a lot more of these loading chutes where the cows were put on trains.  As we went west the grass seemed drier and more sheep could be found.  Finally all we saw was sand, tufts of grass, tumble weed and a few cactus.  They were nothing like the pictures I have seen but a lot like some of the little ones at home.  I suppose that there are a lot more out there that I didn’t see.

Cowboy and Train

            The desert we saw was a valley with mts. all around.  The land was barren and the only signs of life was the Highway 66 and an occasional patch of trees marking a small pool of water.  Most of the water seem however to come from tank cars along the sideings.

            The first 3 hours of Calif. were marked by the desolation that we passed.  It was all desert and a constant climb between far flung hills.  When we did come down the mts were very steep and most of the trains going up had 2 and 3 engines.  We made several stops behind a freight and saw lizards sunning themselves on rocks beside the road bed.  We followed the mts just in their foothills down to L.A.  Here we had supper and had time off to look around.  In general we had a swell time and a wonderful trip.  I am enjoying my travels a lot and learning Geography faster than it could be taught in school.

            I will have to close now as I have very little idea just what will happen next.

            With love,

            Austin.

October 8, 1943

                                                      

                                                    This is funny.

                                                                                                            Santa Ana Calif

                                                                                                            Oct 8, 1943

Dear  Mother,

It has been quite some time since I wrote last but this is really the first chance I have had to write except on the train.  On the train however I was much more interested in the sights than in writing home.  It was really a wonderful ride and I think everyone is missing something if they didn’t see more of the country than I had until recently.  Now I have seen a lot of country and am almost glad that I am in a branch of the service that gives sight seeing tours every so often.

We came most of the way on the Santa Fe Trail.  I think Pop has seen a lot of this country.  He can tell you a lot about it.  My greatest disappointment was “Dodge City.” There was a cowboy with in mile and the town didn’t look any thing like what the movies depicted it.

Hoping for a glimpse of Errol Flynn, perhaps?

I have never seen a desert until last week and I might say that I was impressed by the desolation that people can endure to make a meager living.  Even where the grass would hardly grow you can find people with cattle and sheep and attempting to raise corn.

Trip from Beloit to Santa Ana made Oct 2-5 Saturday night 7:30 pm Tuesday 9:30 pm

I have made out our route on a map which I bought in Los Angeles.  You can get an idea how we came.  Each meal we ate was in a Fred Harvey establishment.  He seems to have the concession all along the Santa Fe. Most of his places were very picturesque and seem to have a very expensive look about them.

Santa Ana is a heck of a place to stay. I will just say that now because I want to stop writing and go to sleep.  Tomorrow is M-2 day.  We have our “aptitude and adaptability” tests tomorrow and I want to be on my toes.

With love,

Austin

October 4, 1943

Card #1
Typical of California, beautiful and spacious, the Lost Angeles Union Station is one of the most attractive in the country.  Built at a cost of $11,000,000, in a setting of unusual beauty, it typifies to visitors, the charm and hospitality of Lost Angeles and Southern California.

 These are the cards could have been bought in Needles Calif.  But I knew I could get them later.  So I got them in Los Angeles where we had a couple of hours stay over.  Here at Union Station we ate supper...

Card #2

and changed from Pullman to a stream lined day coach.  It was really the thing and an experience I had never had and I doubt if anyone at home has either.
These other two cards are just post cards which came along with the 3/5 cents sale.  They seemed very

Card #3

gaudy and seeing how everyone is interested in flowers they give an idea of what kind of flowers we saw along the way.  As yet however the most I have seen of Calif is a lot of desert.  All the state seem to be barren except for the land west of San Bernardino as this seems to be the first place with real Calif appearance.

With Love
Austin

October 2, 1943

{No letter or envelope included, just his travel orders and 2 post cards}

Kansas City's impressive skyline is indicative of the industry and culture found in "The Heart of America", one of the world's richest agricultural areas.  Kansas City is famous for its meat and other vital food processing and shipping facilities, and is one of the nation's most important war industry centers.  Union Station, foreground, served by 12 trunkline railway systems, is one of the busiest terminals in the nation.

Card #1

(This car is very bumpy so you can see by the writing.)  We left Beloit at 7:30 pm and arrived here from somewhere to eat.  Breakfast and dinner at the same time.  This station is rather large but we only saw the lunch room that

William Rockhill Nelson Art Gallery and Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, located in one of Kansas City's finest residential areas, is considered outstanding among the most modern galleries in the world.  With an endowment of $11,000,000 the gallery owns many famous art pieces, features travelling collections and, because of the war, is in possession of valuable collections sent here for the duration. More than 5,000 objects are on display in small, scientifically lighted and air-conditioned galleries, decorated according to various periods.

Card #2 Dinner eaten at 11:30 AM

was taken over by the army.  The picture on this card was taken somewhere in the city and even though I didn't see the place, the USO was giving 2 cards to each service man so I had to take mine.