Based on the letters of Earl Philip Reinhalter (1922-1953). Edited by his son, Earl Philip Reinhalter (1950-).


<- PREVIOUS LETTER December 13, 1943
New Guinea
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THE BLANK UNDERSCORE IN THE FOLLOWING LETTER DENOTES
A SEGMENT THAT WAS REMOVED BY THE MILITARY CENSOR
 
    Dec. 13, 1943

Hello Ma:
      Well, I am still located at my first base here in New Guinea, awaiting transportation to my squadron. If the clouds around the mountains ever clear up, I will be able to get an ____________ facilities to where I am going exist. All of this time, I am not of course receiving any mail and I won't until I once again get back. The other night I hitch-hiked with some other boys about eight miles to see a stage show. We saw Gary Cooper, Una Merkel, Phyllis Brooks, Andy Acari, and a G.I. band. It was pretty good. The next night I saw another stage show in my camp. It consisted of a few Aussie chorus girls and comedians and actors. The next night we hitch-hiked to another place and again saw the Gary Cooper stage show. The next night I saw a movie here at camp. There wasn't anything doing Sunday night except church stuff, so I went to bed early. There will be another movie tonight. I spent my last furlough in the city of Sydney. When I was stationed in Australia, I used to go to the city of Brisbane at nights. Well, it's the rainy season here in New Guinea and I haven't seen a day pass when it hasn't rained at least once. Also, it always rains during the night, too. Well, that's about all that I can think of just now. I just thought that I would write. So, until sometime again soon -
Earl




Actor Gary Cooper (in white t-shirt) and actress Phyllis Brooks signing 500-pound bombs in New Guinea, 1943.
There's also a photo of a "Twin Nifties II" plane at worldwarphotos.info. The spelling is different,
so it might not be the same plane. According to that site, it was a B-24 Liberator.



 
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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