Oct. 9, 1943
Hello Ma: |
I received two letters from you, one dated Sept. 16th and the other dated Sept. 21st. Both were forwarded to me from my old squadron.
Well, now about school: I have been here for one week. The subjects are not hard, but we hardly have enough time to study. We get up at about 5:30 in the morning so that we have time to eat, shave, wash, mop the barracks, shine our shoes, clean the windows, clean our rifles, roll up our mosquito netting, and make up our beds, all before inspection. We have to march about three quarters of a mile to our classroom. This we do, to and from, three times each day. The drill field is about one mile away from our barracks. By the time we get back to the mess hall, we only have about 20 minutes in which to eat lunch and supper. We, too, have to eat breakfast quickly so that we can get ready for the morning inspection. A typical schedule for one day is as listed below:
A.M. 8:00 - 8:15 - inspection
" 8:20 - 8:45 - physical drill
" 9:00 - 9:50 - organization of the Army
" 10:00 - 10:50 - company administration
" 11:00 - 11:50 - map and photo reading
P.M. 1:00 - 1:50 - military law
" 2:00 - 2:50 - first aid, hygiene, sanitation
" 3:00 - 3:50 - interior guard duty
" 4:00 - 4:50 - disciplinary drill
" 7:00 - 8:30 - study period
" 8:45 - 9:45 - training movies
So, you can see that I don't have much time to myself. We have from Saturday, 5:00 P.M. until Sunday 7:00 P.M. off to ourselves, and it is in that time (now) that I write this letter.
I had to have my hair cut short according to regulations. There is not one hair over ¼" in length. As I said before, I have weekends off, or at least partly so. I'll have to spend that time studying. So, far, I believe that I am doing just as well as anyone in my platoon. It is questionable, as it is in the case of all others, as to whether I will get through satisfactorily. It will be possible any time after six weeks to be dropped from the school. The course, if we last that long, will run for four months. Well, anyway, I'll spend all of my spare time studying and maybe be one of the lucky minority that gets through O.K. The goal, as you know, consists of a commission. Most of the boys are so uncertain about getting through O.K. that they hate to inform their friends that they are attending this Officer Candidate School.
I hope that you are all well again. Does Yvonne still like school? I haven't received my magazines yet. Anyway, I won't have time to read them until I finish school. I won't do any more flying either, now that I am at school. My old squadron is in New Guinea. Well, that's about all that I can think of just now to write that is worth mentioning. So, until later -
Earl
P.S. - In sending me a letter, do not put any rank in front of my name in the address.
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