GRAPHITE ON WHITE: The World War II Letters of Earl Reinhalter (1922-1953)

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

<- PREVIOUS LETTER January 29, 1944
Saidor, New Guinea NEXT LETTER ->

<- PREVIOUS LETTER	January 29, 1944 Saidor, New Guinea	NEXT LETTER ->

Jan 29th 1944 - "I think"
- yes, it must be.

Hello Ma:

Since I last wrote, I have received from you a Christmas card and a letter dated December 27th. Also, a "V-Mail" from Phus, Fred Roussey, and Mrs. Roussey. Fred is now somewhere in the South Pacific, too. I guess his days of playing around in the States are over for a while. At least I will beat him in coming home. Judging from your letter, it must have been a rather poor Christmas without any of the celebrating and such. I guess Yvonne was glad to get the sidewalk bike. [See photo below. - Ed.]

Well, although I still have my same address that I had in my last letter, I have again moved. This time to a new area, but still at the same airbase. Some of the boys reported seeing a small alligator. But I don't know how true that is. Myself and some of the other boys were talking to a fuzzy-wuzzy [native - Ed.] last night who said that he had beheaded two Japs, but he showed us where he got shot in the left hand doing it. All of the boys gave him enough tobacco, cigarettes, and candy to last him a year. He could roll a cigarette pretty good, too. He knows how to shoot crap, too, and the first roll he threw a seven. He was smoking a pipe and cigarettes at the same time. Well, we still have air raid alerts at night. Not much activity though. Well, that's about all that is worth writing. So, until next time -

Earl

Yvonne and her bike, 1944.

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 23, 2023