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


<- PREVIOUS LETTER June 28, 1945
Floridablanca, Luzon, Philippines
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June 28, 1945

Luzon

Hello Ma:

      Received your letters of June 16th and 19th and also Phus's Topics of the Tropics, which I think is meant to be on the humorous side. Maybe I have lost my sense of humor. The calendar would be nice, but it seems that it is always of the month which has just passed. [Described in one eBay listing as a “newsletter for kids by Brown & Bigelow,” each issue included a full-color print showing animals doing human things, such as playing golf or collecting taxes from a street vendor, plus a fictional Topics of the Tropics newspaper page containing silly stories that only a child would find humorous. The same title was also used for several other things around that time - a sports column in a Miami newspaper, a gossip column published in the Marshall Islands, and a musical program that was performed for troops in the Pacific. - Ed.] I appreciate Phus's time and trouble that it takes to mail it to me, but don't send me any more such uninteresting trivia. I prefer a letter or nothing. Harsh words, these, but I don't believe in "beating around the bush," so to speak. In connection with this, I want you to remember that this year, I do not want to receive any silly Christmas or New Year's cards. A letter or nothing is what I request. Is that too much to ask for? Well, so much for that.

      Read Yvonne's school paper, clippings, and Baltimore Sun. Also, the story about Louis Culiner. I guess that Steve Dackow was pretty lucky to get home - or was he? I wonder if the shrapnel wounds will keep him from skating. I am glad that you received the six snapshots. Did Daddy have a nice Father's Day? Did Yvonne get over her sun poisoning and did she pass in school?

      Enclosed, you will find another in a series of papers (Nov. and Dec. issues) that were published in Manila during the Jap occupation of the city. I would like you to notice particularly the Dec 13th and Dec 17th issues. There are a few articles about a Jap paratroop attack on Leyte. Remember? [The attack happened in early December 2944, and is probably where he got wounded and earned his Purple Heart. - Ed.] Also, you will find enclosed a Manila paper as now printed.

      Well, Ma, this is all for the time being. So, until later -

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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