Based on the letters of Earl Philip Reinhalter (1922-1953). Edited by his son, Earl Philip Reinhalter (1950-).
<- PREVIOUS LETTER | December 6, 1942 (audio recording) Lockbourne Army Air Base, Columbus, Ohio |
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Private Reinhalter made an audio recording in one of those booths they used to have where you could make a disc to send to your loved ones. This is the only known recording of his voice. The audio quality of the original record was recently restored by Anna Frick at Airshow Mastering. The "Restored Version" on the left has most of the surface noise removed. On the right, for historical purposes, is the original version. Click the white triangle to begin playing the audio. If the audio player does not work in your browser, try the standard MP3 links. |
RESTORED VERSION: | ORIGINAL VERSION: | |||
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MP3 LINK | MP3 LINK |
Transcribing the recording was difficult because of the poor condition of the original disc, which had no doubt been played many times over the years. Even after professional sound restoration, intelligibility remained a problem. A breakthrough came when I realized that many passages matched what he wrote in his letter from the same day. Perhaps he used the letter as a guide when speaking, or brought written notes to the booth and later used those notes when writing the letter. Nonetheless, gaps remain in the transcript where it was impossible to determine what he said. Even with notes to prompt him, he did make one faux pas. When giving shoutouts to individual family members, he forgot his half-sister Phyllis (“Phus”). - Ed. |
SIDE ONE:
Hey, Ma. It's Sunday, December sixth. The snow had stopped and the sun is now shining brightly at the Lockbourne Army Air Base. Been in the Army just about one month now, and no desire to return to civilian life. As you know ............ In the past 22 days, I have gone out every night except two. Yesterday, Saturday, I left the camp at 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon and didn't get back until 20 minutes of three this Sunday morning. I had a good time going to the movies, eating dinner in Columbus, roller skating, and then drinking a couple of beers later before coming back. The other night I went to an opera show. Saw The Desert Song. Pretty good. ............ Ohio State football ............ Plenty cold up here. We had a lotta bad weather last Wednesday. Hailed all day. It got six degrees above zero. ............ sliding off balance and slipping out of formation ............ Yvonne, do you still like school and the boys as much as ever? ............ Turn it over. SIDE TWO: Hey, Yvonne. What do you want for Christmas? Kitty ............ ice skates? Hi, Pa. How's your ... business? ............ coal business ............ season ............ home coming ............ Ma, if I don't get home during the holidays, I'd like to say now I wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. In regards to the cold weather ......... The winds blew between 30 to 40 miles per hour all day, and all the electric wires were whistling. The snow was almost flying ......... We have to walk about eight blocks to the mess hall. Four of the boys came back with frozen ears and another with a frozen nose. ......... I expected the shingles on the next barrack to be torn off as they were rippling like a flag in a breeze. One boy came back had his eye frozen shut. It seems that snow melted and it froze on his eye lashes. ......... wore glasses took 'em off because he couldn't see. Soon the ice and snow ......... We usually walked backwards when ......... against the wind. Our clothing consisted of two pairs of pants, two shirts, gloves and heavy socks ......... jacket, overcoat ......... We had two hats, too - one was inside the other one. Helps keep our ears ......... shoes are rather heavy. ......... Ma, if I don't see you ......... Happy New Year and a merry Christmas. ......... Today is December 6th, 1942. Sunday. |
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NOW AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK! The Kindle book includes the letters; all 23 issues of the unit’s wartime newsletter “The Squadron Pulse,” which was originally edited by Leonard Stringfield; all 12 issues of the “Pennant Parade” newsletter that Stringfield published while sailing home after the war; complete text of the U.S. government booklet “Pocket Guide to Australia,” which soldiers heading Down Under were given to read; more than 200 photos; pre-war and postwar family history; and over 700 explanatory endnotes. |
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This page established: November 11, 2018 Last updated: February 22, 2023
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