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


<- PREVIOUS LETTER September 5, 1944
Saidor, New Guinea
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New Guinea

Sept. 5, 1944

Hello Ma:

      Nothing much doing here worth mentioning. Enclosed you will find the two Air Corps insignias which you requested. Also, enclosed you will find a New Guinea shilling. This is the type of money with which the Australian government paid the natives - before the war. Too bad about C. Ashley [first name Chauncy - Ed.] having to return to New Guinea again. I think that I'll wait my turn in going back to the States. That way, it will take longer for me to get home, but I'll be guaranteed at least three months' time in the States before the Army sends me overseas again - if they do send me over again, that is. And if the war isn't over by then, they probably will.

      Does Yvonne like her new bicycle?

      You asked me what I wanted for Christmas. Well, besides what you probably have mailed to me already, I would like to have this: I might add that you may, and I am almost sure, find it practically impossible to get. That is, a pair of Wilsonart polaroid sunglasses; but, in addition, I would like you to have them ground to fit my eyesight. [He probably means Willsonite polarized sunglasses, made by the Willson Goggles, Inc., in Reading, Pennsylvania. There is a company called Wilsonart, a manufacturer of laminated material used in furniture, but they weren’t founded until 1956. - Ed.] A boy in my squadron has a pair. You can get the full details from the place where I bought my glasses. They have my prescription for my eyesight, too. They can give you the full details and whether they can do the job or not. I think that the name of the store is "Herbert-Bradley" or "Bradshaw-Herbert" or something like that. It's located on the same street as the Washington Monument and it is on the right-hand side of the street just before you come to the Washington Monument - going away from Howard Street, near Mount Vernon Place. [Bradley & Herbert Opticians, formerly located at 525 N. Charles Street in downtown Baltimore. - Ed.] I think that you were with me when I got my glasses. A boy in my squadron who used to be a civilian pilot has a pair of these ground sunglasses. See if you can do anything about getting them. But you probably won't be able to because I believe that all of the Wilsonart pilot sunglasses are being issued to the Army.

      Well, I almost have my movie camera half paid for. Two or three more paydays and it will be mine to keep. The films will fit on my projector. Remember how we used to show Gordon's pictures of him in the ice skating rink? Well, mine will be about like that.

      And, that's about all for now.

Earl


 
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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