Dear Ma and Pa, I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Army beats working for old man Michner by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled. I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m. But I am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, cows to milk, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing. Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm water. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food, plus yours, holds you until noon when you get fed again. It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much. We go on 'route marches,' which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it's not my place to tell him different. A 'route march' is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks. The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot. The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels just ride around and frown. They don't bother you none. This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't move, and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own cartridges. They come in boxes. Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain't like fighting with that ole bull at home. I'm about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake . I only beat him once. He joined up the same time as me, but I'm only 5'6' and 130 pounds and he's 6'8' and near 300 pounds dry. Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in. Your loving daughter; Alice
Dear Alice, I'm writing this slow because I know you can't read fast. Thanks for writing. Your Pa and I are glad to hear you are doing so well. It took a while for your letter to get to us because we don't live where we did when you left. Pa read in the paper that most accidents happen within twenty miles of home, so we moved. I won't be able to send you the address cause the last family that lived here took the house numbers with them so they wouldn't have to change their address. This place has a washing machine. The first day I put four shirts in it, and pulled the handle down. I haven't seen the shirts since. It only rained twice this week, three days the first time and four days the second time. The coat you wanted me to send you, your Aunt Sue said it would be a little too heavy to send in the mail with all them heavy buttons, so we've cut them off and put them in the pockets. We got a bill from the funeral home, said if we didn't make the last payment on Granny's funeral bill, up she comes. About your Pa, he has a lovely new job. He has over 500 men under him. He is cutting grass at the cemetery. About your brother Walt and his wife. They had a baby this morning. I haven't found out if its a boy or a girl, so I don't know if you're an Aunt or an Uncle. Your brother Elmer and a couple of the Higgett boys went off the bridge in a pickup. Elmer was driving, the other two was in the back. Elmer got out, he rolled the window down and swam to safety. The other two drowned, they couldn't get the tailgate down. Your Pa always did say them Higgett boys were a couple of fries short of a Happy Meal. Your uncle John fell in the whiskey vat. Some men tried to pull him out, but he fought them off, then he drowned. We cremated him and he burned for three days. Not much more news this time, nothing much happened. Write more often. Love, Ma P.S. I was going to send you some money, but the envelope was already sealed.
