THE BLANK UNDERSCORES IN THE FOLLOWING LETTER DENOTE
SEGMENTS THAT WERE REMOVED BY THE MILITARY CENSOR
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Sept. 29, 1943
Hello Ma: |
I received a letter from you today. Also, one from a girl in Georgetown. Are you well again now? No, I as yet haven't received the magazines. Mrs. Roosevelt, in her travels in Australia, visited the town closest to my present base. No, I didn't see her. In fact, I had no desire to. I _______________________________. ____________ bomber could be doing a whole lot better job by dropping bombs on the Japs than by "joy-riding" some civilian around, even though ___________. Soldiers don't think much of that so called "goodwill tour." Likewise, the civilians back in America probably think more of ___________ [General MacArthur? - Ed.] than the soldiers under his ____________. After the war, I'll tell you why.
I hope Gordon's business turns out O.K.
Our baby kangaroo just hopped in our tent and then out again. The boys feed it with a baby's milk bottle and nipple. One of the boys has lined his field pack with kangaroo fur and at night the baby kangaroo sleeps in there just as it would in its mother's pouch. The baby kangaroo has a small pouch just about big enough to hold a pack of cigarettes. Sort of an animated smoking stand or something. No, we haven't taught it to light them.
Well, this morning, I had my two teeth filled. I am now officially a corporal and in a few days expect to be in O.C.S. at long last. Today, I turned in my gun. Well, I cannot think of anything else worth mentioning just now. So, until sometime later -
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| Earl |
[During First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's morale-building trip to the South Pacific, she traveled light, did serious inspections of Red Cross sites and visited with every hospitalized soldier. The part that is likely about General Douglas MacArthur has to do with rumors that he had a large residence built for himself at Hollandia while his frontline troops were enduring hardships. However, according to William Manchester’s biography of MacArthur, the construction of the house was arranged by subordinates, without the general's knowledge or approval, and he only spent four nights there. - Ed.]
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