Good old autograph book, part 1

On January 14, 2014 By AnnIn Family, Lester1 Comment

During these weeks when there are no written communications home from Lester, it’s fun to share his autograph book, signed by many of his school friends and relatives during his high school years. Posts in the autograph book are dated from 1930 to 1935, in no particular order. The practice of having your friends post a cute message in your autograph book carried into the next generation, but seems to have become a relic of the past. It’s fun to read what Lester’s friends wrote to him.

Lester, about the age when he received his autograph book.

Americus Kansas

December 26, 1930

Dear Lester,

Remember me.

When this you see

Tho many a mile,

Apart we be.

Your Cousin

Norma

Dunlap Kansas

December 29, 1930

Dear Lester:

When rocks and hills divide us,

And you no more I see,

Just sit down by the table

And write a line to me.

Your cousin

Nelva May

Dunlap Kans.

Jan. 2, 1930

Dear Lester

Dry is a cracker.

Without some cheese.

So is a kiss.

Without a squeeze.

Your friend (ha ha)

Roy

Dunlap Kans.

Dear Lester

Round is the ring

That has no end.

So is my love

For you my friend,

Roy

Americus Kans.

Jan. 7, 1931

Dear Lester:

Fill the day with friendliness,

And little kindly deeds.

And you will have the brightest day;

That anybody needs.

Your friend,

Frances Edmiston

Dear Lester:

Lester now

Lester never

Lester now but not forever!

Erma

Dear Lester,

Remember me as a good writer

As I remember you as a good actor.

Your Friend,

Nelson Parru

Dunlap Kansas

January 2, 1931

Dear Lester

Some love one

Some love two

But the only one I love is you.

Ha Ha

Your friend

Claude Miller

Dear Lester

Choose not your friends from outward show

Feathers float but pearls lie low.

Mother

Americus, Ks

Feb. 3 1931

Dear Lester,

Remember me early

Remember me late,

Remember me at the garden gate.

Your friend,

Marjorie

Americus Kansas

Feb. 4, 1931

Dear Lester,

Remember me early:

Remember me late:

Remember me on your

Wedding date.

Your school friend

Wanda

Ha Ha

Dear Lester:

“Read and me I

This down not am

Up Forget while around.”

Your friend

Nelson Miller

Freshman 1931-32

Dear Lester

Geese on the milk pond

Ducks on the ocean

Lester can’t get married until

Frances takes a notion.

Your friend

Gene Daharsh

Dunlap Kansas.

January 19, 1931

Dear Lester:

Down by a pond is a rock.

And on it is written,

“I love you” not

Your Friend

Belle Ho: Ho:

Ha: Ha:

Dunlap Kan

Jan. 9, 1931

Dear Lester

Remember me in friendship

Remember me in love

Remember me when we meet

On that happy land above.

Your school friend

Hurschal

January 9, 1931

Dear Lester,

I love you in my hart

I love you in my chest

And it will tell you

Who I love best.

Your friend

Herman

Dunlap, Kansas

Feb 3, 1932

Dear Lester,

Down in the valley

Written on a rock is

“I love you”

Your friend

Rosalee Edington

Dear Lester

I hope you remember

The Geometry Book.

Your friend,

Taylor Blossom

Americus, Kans.

Feb 3, 1932

Dear Lester:

As sure as the vine grows around a stump

You are Frances’ darling sugar lump.

True isn’t it? Ha! Ha!

Your Friend

Elizabeth Weller

Dunlap Kans.

April 6, 1932

Dear Lester:

Remember me early,

Remember me late,

Remember me on your wedding day

And send me a slice of cake.

Your friend

Freda Pritchard

February 4, 1932

Dear Lester

I don’t like to study.

I don’t like to go to school.

But when I come to loving I am an educated fool.

Junior

Dunlap Kans

Feb. 3, 1932

Dear Lester:

When the Whip-poor-will is calling

Out over the lonely sea

And when of others we are thinking

Won’t you sometimes think of me.

Your schoolmate & friend

Lawrence Sexton

Dear Lester,

Three years have past and gone quickly

But they have been filled with many happy

Experiences. I hope that your remaining experiences

Will also be happy.

I have enjoyed knowing you and I wish you

Much happiness and success.

Sincerely,

Helen Frost

District 72

Feb. 9, 1932

Dear Lester:

A good thing to remember

And a better thing to do

Is to work with the construction gang,

And not with the wrecking crew.

May your school days reward you richly

and may your success be unbounded.

Best wishes for a high school

and college (?) career.

Your teacher,

Mrs. Frances Sheaffer

Dunlap, Kans.

Feb. 5, 1932

Dear Lester

I love you little

I love you big

I love you lake

A little pig.

Your School Friend,

Annie

D.R.H.S.

May 12, 1932

Dear Lester,

Your school days in D.R. H.S. are almost gone,

And I hope that commencement is only a beginning

Of the success that your excellent work and dependability

Prophesy for you.

Wishing you success and happiness always,

I am

Sincerely,

Norma E. Ryman

DunlaP Kan.

Feb. 4, 1932

Dear Lester,

I love you little

I love you big—

I love you like

A little pig.

Your School Friend,

Shirley

Dunlap, Kansas.

Feb 3, 1932

Dear Lester

Way down in the sticks

Now don’t you blink

I’m in a pretty fix

Now don’t you think?

Your friend

James Edington

Christmas Day in 1941

On December 25, 2013December 25, 2013 By AnnIn Family, LesterLeave a comment

Inside this card from Christmas 1941 is a message from John Downes, Rear Admiral USN, Commanding.

“It it my privilege and pleasure to extend Christmas greetings to the officers and men at the Naval Training Station and to their loved ones at home.

During the coming year we will be bound together even more closely, by the united efforts of all, to defend and preserve our American way of life.

It is my sincere wish that each of you may have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

The following page included a menu for the CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER at the US Naval Training Station.

Cream of Tomato Soup

Saltine Crackers

Roast Tom Turkey Oyster Dressing

Baked Spiced Ham

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Giblet Gravy Fresh Cranberry Sauce

Sweet Pickles Stuffed Celery Ripe Olives

Fruit Cake Hot Mince Meat Pie Fruit

Hot Rolls Butter Coffee

Candy Nuts

Cigarettes

The back page listed Christmas Church Services. Those on Christmas Eve, December 24th for the Main Station included Protestant services at 2300: Candlelight Choir and Carol Service followed by celebration of Holy Communion, at the Drill Hall, Building no. 4.

Catholic services were at 2400: Midnight Mass in the Auditorium of Building No. 3.

Services on Christmas Day, December 25th for the First Regiment included Protestant services at 1000: Christmas Service, Drill Hall, Building No. 4. Frank Lash Captain, USN, Senior Chaplain.

Catholic service also at 1000: Christmas Mass, Auditorium of Building No. 3. Additional Christmas Masses to be held at 0715 and 0915 in the Hospital Chapel.

Though no personal note from Lester exists, he evidently was able to celebrate Christmas at the training station with other Navy personnel. The note from the commander echoed the tension felt across the country as troops and sailors readied themselves for battle in World War II. No doubt many prayers were lifted that Christmas season for peace on earth and a quick end to the escalating conflict around the world.

A Bucket of Sand

On December 23, 2013 By AnnIn Healing, Loss and Grief1 Comment

Sometimes clawing, creeping fingers of ice threaten to douse the sparkle of the season.

A few years ago, in the aftermath of my father’s death, I was called to tune the piano in the home of a man who had lost his wife within the previous few months. She had always been the person to arrange the tunings. In his attempts to heal, he was following her habits, taking over tasks that had always been hers. So he called me to tune the piano, even though the main piano player was no longer around.

Given my fresh loss, and his, we fell into conversation about our experiences. There is healing to be found by talking with someone who walks the same path you walk. When I headed to my next appointment, my spirit had been lifted by sharing our separate and individual grief.

Dan Deener is the man who grieved for his beloved wife Lin. Before I left his home, he gave me a link to find a special analogy he wanted to share. Over the past few years, I have shared his story with others who faced a new loss. I am always amazed at the healing power to be found by simply sharing a personal story with others who hurt.

This is Dan’s story:

Many years ago when I lost my father suddenly and unexpectedly I came up with this metaphor for the grief I was dealing with. I was struggling and it hurt so much. It was as if God handed you a bucket of grief and it was soooo heavy. You had to get up every morning and carry it with you. You didn’t know how you could carry it but you did.

Bucket in the sand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But, every morning when you could swing your feet over the edge of the bed and get up you were entitled to take a scoop of sand from the bucket. Every time you cried, every time you smiled with a pleasant memory, every time some one said how much your loved one meant to them, every time you told some one a story about your loved one, every holiday you must endure without them, every anniversary, every birthday, every night when you go to bed……………….you get to take another scoop of sand from your bucket. You get the idea.

The bucket gets lighter but there is always more sand in the bucket and you will have to carry it the rest of your life. Such is the cost of loving some one.

As I sit in front of the computer and tears run down my cheeks, guess what. I get to take another scoop of sand from my bucket. I hope we can help each other make our load lighter.

Many thanks to Dan Deener for permission to share his story here today. And with compassion, I think of all my friends who are nursing pain and loss of their own. I think of those who face this holiday season for the first time in their lives without a special loved one. I think of Cheryl, of Madeline, Kelley, Travis, Scott, Linda and Michael, Maureen, Derek, Barbara, Ann, Helena, Daniel, and Vickie. I also think of Jim, and Mary, Sheryl, Marcel, Travis, Ralph, Mildred, Derek, Kay, Chaz, Gary, Donte, Mike, Jan, Ashley, Wayne, Phoebe, Allison, Juanita, Betty, Jeff, Roxy, and Joyce who continue to feel the void of beloved family members through the passing years. I think of Grizzly, and Barbara, and others who struggle with health issues of their own or in their families.

And I want to say, “You are not alone.”

With each passing day of this holiday season, we can all take another scoop of sand from our buckets of grief. By connecting with others who know what it’s like, we can all help each other make our loads lighter.

Wishing you many blessings for Christmas!

Holiday Blues

On December 17, 2013 By AnnIn Healing, Loss and Grief4 Comments

It happened again last night. I tossed in bed, unable to sleep, trying to still the voices in my head. They pointed out every flaw I’ve ever had, identified my weaknesses, my insufficiencies. Whispers in my mind invited me to retire from civilization, to crawl into my cozy hole and give up on the crazy madhouse of insanity the world has become.

The landscape outside is painted in drab colors. Temperatures plunge into single digits. Winter has arrived, and with it, the holiday blues. I wonder how many others struggle to step through each day, as if dragging buckets of sand with each foot. The joyfulness of the season is forced into shadows of a heart that weeps silently with unforgotten pain and memories of Christmases long ago when excitement was real.

Those who brace themselves for another season without the presence of a dear one must number in the millions. There are new widows and widowers every year, as well as newly bereft parents, and children who will never share another holiday with a parent. There are friends who miss best friends forever, treasured aunts or uncles or grandparents now living only in memories. There are beloved pets who now wait for their owners at the rainbow bridge, not to mention people who have lost other treasures. Marriages, relationships, and friendships have gone sour. Some people have lost their robust health. Some are disfigured with scars of character in a culture that worships a narrow definition of beauty. Some have lost the vitality of youth and grieve for days that will never return. Some mourn the loss of dreams, of visions they once harbored about the way life should be and never was. Do they all struggle to remain cheerful like I do?

The things to mourn mount in number as we age until they could easily overwhelm us with grief, especially at the holidays. Given the vast array of personal loss, I wonder sometimes if anyone can escape the cold, clawing fingers of holiday blues that spread around the heart and threaten to snuff out the season’s joy. Are we all simply seduced by the advertisers to make ourselves feel better in the stores? Shop until we drop. Buy. Buy. Buy. I have yet to see the frenzy of Christmas shopping make anyone truly feel better. Are we all simply just going through the motions, with no regard for the long-range consequences?

And yet—and yet—the actions involved in going through the motions can bring healing. Getting up and dragging myself through the day’s routine can be a salve for those forever-wounds. Taking steps to bring a moment of cheer to someone else can lighten my load and brighten the day’s drab landscape. Choices made in honor of missing loved ones ease the pain of their absence.

So, I smile. Even when I have to make myself smile. I stand a little taller. I pull my shoulders back and put a spring into my gait. When I reach out to others, the gesture warms my own heart. Perhaps it warms them too. Somehow, in some mystifying way, the joy and the peace inherent in the season finds its way into a small crevice in my armor. I am one step closer to feeling whole again.

Some things I have tried at various times in the past to help vanquish the blues include (but are not limited to):

1. Take a box of my homemade cookies to someone who wouldn’t expect them.

2. Focus on the music of the season. Play it every chance I get, in every way possible, on every instrument I have. Piano arrangements, dulcimer music, handbell choirs or small ensembles, even recordings–all can bring joy through beautiful melodies.

3. Contribute whatever pocket change I have every single time I encounter a bell ringer for the Salvation Army.

Cattle Baron Inn Bed and Breakfast, Howard, Kansas

4. Expand my horizons. Do something I’ve never done before, like booking an overnight stay at a nearby bed-and-breakfast.

5. Take a long walk in a natural setting. Walk until I see something new, or think of a totally new thought.

6. Renew an old friendship or make a new friend.

To all who struggle to find cheer during the holiday season, may you feel a moment of peace now and then to comfort your heart.

Lester’s note from December 7. 1941

On December 7, 2013 By AnnIn Family, LesterLeave a comment

Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was attacked on December 7, 1941, catapulting the US into World War II. All over the country people learned the news with disbelief. They braced for decisive action, and worried more about their sons in military service.

Lester jotted a quick note of reassurance to his family on December 7 and air mailed it home on December 8, with two 3 cent stamps instead of the usual one. He knew they’d be worried, and for good reason. At the time he wrote, nobody knew what to expect in the coming days or weeks. But he wanted to let them know he understood how worried they would be and to tell them that he would be in touch when possible. He had been in the US Navy a total of six weeks.

When the letter arrived, his folks didn’t take the time to release the envelope seal. They dispensed with proprieties and ripped the end off to get his news as fast as they could.

There is no evidence that he was able to keep his planned Christmas leave. All leaves must have been cancelled.

Dec 7, 1941.

Sunday 3:30

Dear Folks:

Anything I am about to tell you may be changed by the time you receive this letter. First, my leave has not yet been cancelled but the chances are that all leaves will be cancelled. The boys who did not make trade school have received notice that they will leave for the coast this Friday. We may have to leave also then but have had no word to that effect. Ernest did not make trade school & must leave Friday so of course he will not get leave. The news of the war has been quite a shock to us here. There is a lot of activity here now. I might call you by telephone if I learn anything but don’t jump every time it rings. Will write more when I learn something. Try not to worry as I may yet get to go to trade school. Don’t write after Wednesday unless you hear from me again.

Lester

Evidently, this is the last letter sent home in 1941. The next envelope would not arrive until mid-January. Perhaps he was able to telephone with news once or twice, but there is no way to know. It was weeks before his regular letter-writing schedule returned to a pre-war pattern. The holiday season in 1941 surely held more anxiety than joy. His family must have agonized about their beloved son and brother and what would happen to him next.

The First Day of the Rest of His Life

On December 3, 2013 By AnnIn Family, LesterLeave a comment

Though none knew it at the time, Lester’s letter home on December 3, 1941 was written on the first day of his last year on earth. It was a routine letter, upbeat and chatty. Nobody suspected that in only a few days, life would change drastically for all of them, or that Lester had only 365 days to live.

December 3, 1941

Dear Folks:

I want to drop you a line to let you know that I am feeling fine. I hope that dad & granddad are better by now. I’m sorry that I can’t find much news to make my letters more interesting but we live very much of a routine life here, one day is just about the same as another. Today we had another bag inspection & this time nearly everyone passed it. Mr. Baker said it was the best bag layout any of his companies had ever had. By the way, that picture of the “other boy” was Mr. Baker. He is our commander or boss. We all like him just fine. He is going to sea when he gets through with us.

A new officer is working with Mr. Baker so as to be able to train recruits. We call him Bakers’ shadow & “The Little Colonel”. He is a mighty fine fellow too. We joke & have a lot of fun with him. He came into the navy as a petty officer, has been in five months & is drawing $110 per month. Of course he had special training to do that.

I forgot to tell you in my other letters about Mr. Baker. I sent you the little booklet about Navy life but I didn’t know what was in it as the envelopes were sealed when we got them. You asked about the training here. We drill with rifles nearly every day but it is all marching. We haven’t fired a shot & won’t while we are here. I don’t get along with the marching any too well. It is hard for me to keep in step.

Postal card from the U.S. Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Ill. 1941

We won the red rooster flag this week. It is a flag with a rooster emblem on it which is awarded on points won on drill. There is a blue rooster for next week. Our bag inspection, barracks & personal inspection count on it. We are working for it.

Something To Crow About (Photo credit: cobalt123)

Does the climate agree with me? Well, the last time I weighed I had gained about twelve or thirteen pounds. The grass is still green here & we don’t wear coats or gloves except once in a while. I’ll probably freeze when I come home. It is damp & foggy a good share of the time.

Yes, we will have to pay our own expenses home but I will have enough money & there isn’t anything I need, thanks.

That sounds like a dirty deal about Lillian & her boy friends. Did you go to her program? Ernest is ready to mail a letter so I’ll close & let him take this one too. Write again.

P.S. I got a letter from Wylie. Lester

Thanksgiving Dinner in the Navy

On November 27, 2013 By AnnIn Family, LesterLeave a comment

Lester’s memory book included an engraved menu card for the dinner served to Navy personnel on November 20, 1941.

Inside, beside a list of officers–commanding officer, executive officer and commissary officers–was the menu for the day.

Cream of Tomato Soup with saltine crackers

Roast Tom Turkey

Baked Spiced Ham

Apple Dressing

Giblet Gravy

Cranberry Sauce

Sweet Picles

Ripe Olives

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Buttered Asparagus

Hearts of Celery

Pumpkin Pie

Neapolitan Ice Cream

Hot Sweet Rolls

Butter

Coffee

Cigarettes

Perhaps Lester mailed this menu home after the holiday to prove how well the Navy was feeding him and the other sailors.

It sounds like a delicious dinner, with much to reflect on the blessings of the previous year. Little did anyone know that before another month was out–in only seventeen days–the situation would change dramatically with the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Letter to a brother

On November 23, 2013 By AnnIn Family, LesterLeave a comment

Most of the letters in the collection from the early 1940’s were addressed to the folks at home. A few, such as this one to Lester’s younger brother, answered specific letters written to him. His posts were frequent enough, I have to think he was very quick about answering letters. He kept his loved ones reassured that all was well with him in Michigan. Interestingly, in this letter Lester mentions a typewriter which was available for use at the USO, but it was in such demand that he never had a chance to type. All of the letters from Lester are written in his fine penmanship on US Navy stationery.

Lester, on right, with his sister Frances and younger brother Wallace. About 1928.

November 23

Dear Wallace

I received your letter yesterday & was very glad to hear from you. Yes, I must admit this last letter was easier to read than your first one but I am glad to get either kind. I got the envelopes. Thanks. You don’t need to send me anything else as we can get liberty now that we are in Paradise.

Ernest went to Milwaukee with a friend yesterday & went for an airplane ride. The boy is a pilot. It was foggy so they were only up about ten minutes.

Charles Miller & myself along with a hundred or so more sailors went to Waukeegan. It is a town of 6,000 a few miles from here. There wasn’t much going on there except at the USO centers. There are five places for the entertainment of service men there but we took in only two of them, the Catholic place & the U.S. O. They have games of all kinds, ping pong, checkers, shuffel-board & pool . I played one game of pool & got quite a kick out of it. They also have reading & writing rooms & dances. I intended to write you a letter there but the typewriter was always busy.

typewriter.detail5 (Photo credit: jcbonbon)

We stayed a while for the dance but left about 8:30 & were back home by 9:30. They have dance instructors there but I didn’t take advantage of them this time. There were about five sailors for every girl present. Everyone had a grand time, no drunks & nice girls who were there for fun & to help the sailors enjoy themselves. The USO is for soldiers also but I saw only one soldier & several hundred sailors.

I can’t say for sure that I will be home for the Junior play but according to the schedule I should be there by then. We are hoping that they will either hold us an extra week or grant an extension of leave so that we may be home Christmas but don’t plan too much on that as there is nothing definite yet concerning that.

I don’t know if I am still gaining but I am feeling the best I have felt for a long time & I’m quite sure I’m not losing any weight. I have more letters to write so must close now. Most of the boys have KP duty this week but I don’t. Priveleged character, huh?

Write again.

Lester

Letter from Lester: November 18, 1941

On November 18, 2013 By AnnIn Family, LesterLeave a comment

Ambassador Bridge at Night between Detroit, Mich. and Windsor, Ont. Photo from postal card, 1942

Lester’s letter from November 18, 1941, less than three weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor, describes routine life for Navy recruits. Perhaps he did enjoy a “liberty” in town and was witness to a scene like the one in the post card he sent home. He is looking forward to a trip home over the Christmas holidays.

November 18, 1941

Dear Folks.

I have just finished writing to Uncle Loren & I guess I should have made carbon copies as I can’t think of anything that I didn’t tell him. I hope your good weather is holding out as well as it is here. The sun has been shining fairly steady the last few days. It is still warm here. You must have been having some bad weather there. Did you have my anti-freeze tested? Also did you get my battery from Fred? I intended to give you the money to pay for it but forgot to do so. Tomorrow is pay day but by the time we get our bills paid there won’t be much left. I have a little other money so I will have enough to come home.

Lester and the automobile he was proud to own.

We received our grades yesterday but this is the first time I have had time to write to you. Here are my grades: English 87, Spelling 94, Arithmetic 95, Mechanical Aptitude 93, General Classification 93, with an average of 93. I was one of the five highest in our company, So I should get to go to trade school. I don’t know where the school will be but it may be here at the Great Lakes.

We have to go to a show or something tonight so I won’t have much time to write tonight. Did Josephine tell you that I have received the rating of a petty officer? I was made a squad leader as a result of the first bag inspection. We had another inspection today & I made it ok, too. There were about three or four others in the sixty on this floor that had good bags. I didn’t tell you about my rating before because it isn’t permanent & I didn’t know if I could hold the job. I’ve gotten along ok so far so chances are that I will make it now.

We go over to Paradise this Saturday so we will start getting some liberties then. I haven’t found it bad here except that there isn’t anything to do on Sunday afternoons. We’ve walked all over the place where we are allowed to go & we can’t just study or write letters all the time. We usually have time in the evenings during the week to keep up on our correspondence. If there is anything you want to know which I haven’t told you, ask some questions. Frances sent me some papers & Josephine sends me clippings once in a while. She sent me some candy this morning & I didn’t get time to open it until tonight. I didn’t get to read my letters until this afternoon. I got four letters today. Everyone wrote on Sunday, I guess. That means no more until the last of the week which won’t be long at the rate the time is going. We got another haircut today. Just when my hair was getting where I could part it. It will grow some more tho, I guess. I’ve gained almost ten pounds. Paul, I enjoy your letters. Keep on writing to me. I will write you a special letter someday.

Lester

November 12, 1941

On November 12, 2013 By AnnIn Family, Lester1 Comment

I’ve had a challenge to keep up with Lester’s letters over the past week, given a whirlwind race a thousand miles distant to greet my new granddaughter, with three letters dated during the week. But the amazing thing about today’s technology is its availability from almost anywhere you might go. Hours on the road provide ample time to ponder the circle of life, from a peek into history through letters written more than seventy years ago to a peek into the future through a fresh, new life. My new grandchild, Arya LaRue, is Lester’s great-great-niece. Perhaps life is more than a circle. It is more like a spiral, cycling ever upward and onward, built on the foundation of the loops which precede us. The loop which represents each of us starts rather tight and small. With age, it will expand to support more loops as the spiral grows. So Arya, meet Lester. His story is part of your own.

Nov 12, 1941

Dear Folks

I received your letter today just before drill so didn’t get to read it until this evening. Sure am glad that it isn’t raining all the time now. It cleared off here today & the sun shone for the first time in a week.

No, I haven’t had any more boils except the one on my arm which had started when I left. It went ahead & developed & is ok now with no signs of any more. I do have some pimples but I’ll be careful of them. Too bad about Ola, hope she gets along ok. Is Mabel Bruton still working at St. Marys? No, I haven’t been out on the ‘big water’ yet. In fact, I haven’t even seen the lake. Of course, since I haven’t seen the lake, I haven’t been on a ship, either. We sleep in barracks, not ships. The barracks are built in this shape.

The ends are where we sleep, sixty on each floor & each end. The toilets, work rooms, showers, clothes dryer & clothes wash room are in the center.

We will have our pictures taken Friday but I think that I will wear my hat. It doesn’t look so good but it is better than the haircut. I watched the clock when the barber cut my hair. It took him one minute & twenty seconds. He was a little slow on me. We don’t think anything about our hair but sure notice the shaggy locks of the new recruits.

Lester F. Harris. (He didn’t wear his hat.)

How much did it cost to get my suitcase? We weren’t allowed to pay for it here. I don’t remember what Ernest had except a bottle of hair oil. Did you get my film from his suitcase?

What’s the matter, can’t Junior get along without his mama? I had heard that Wirsigs were going out there. You don’t need to send me any papers unless I get settled for awhile & that won’t be until after I come home. Josephine has been sending me a few clippings & you might do the same if you want to.

We took a bunch of tests this morning which will help to decide our entrance into trade schools. I think that I made it OK. Sure hope so. If I didn’t, there will be a lot of the others that didn’t pass either.

Yes, I do like it better all the time. When we first came in we were the target of a good many jokes & remarks. The tables are turned now & we are the ones that shout, “rookie.”

Well, Aunt Mabel did have to answer Uncle Loren’s letter after all. I’m sorry if she felt left out. I didn’t mean it to be that way. I wrote to Aunt Nelia the other day so she knows that I am ok. Is granddad ok? I’ll try to get him a letter some time. I have written about fifteen letters so I should have some coming in along.

The boys are sure busy tonight, rolling clothes. We will have a bag inspection tomorrow & most of them haven’t kept their clothes rolled. I just have one jumper to roll so that won’t take long. I had a good bag the other day. Hope I get by tomorrow ok.

I guess that we will probably get off from here Dec. 12 & so will have to be back here Dec. 23. Pretty close isn’t it. That isn’t certain yet but that is the schedule now. If I could get some new recruits I could get an extension on my leave at the rate of one day for each of first three recruits, two days for the fourth & three days for the fifth. If you hear of anyone who wants to join, let me know who they are.

We’ve sure been having good eats lately. Tonight we had chili minus the broth, rice, apple & cabbage salad, butter, two slices of bread, a cookie & cocoa. Usually we have coffee. I haven’t tried to drink it yet. For dinner we had boiled meat of some kind, sweet potatoes, gravy, carrot & raisin salad & cake. The carrot salad was made of shredded carrots, raisins & cream, I think. It sure was good. We have ice cream two or three times a week. If you want to send me anything, make it candy. You don’t need to send anything as we have enough to eat & can buy candy at the canteen if we want to. We aren’t allowed to have much except what they furnish us. I’ll have to get busy now. I’m always glad to hear from you. Hope all is ok with you. Everything is fine here.

Lester

The Bridge

Author: Ann

Good old autograph book, part 1

Dear Lester

Choose not your friends from outward show

Feathers float but pearls lie low.

Mother

Americus, Kans.

Feb 3, 1932

Dear Lester:

As sure as the vine grows around a stump

You are Frances’ darling sugar lump.

True isn’t it? Ha! Ha!

Your Friend

Elizabeth Weller

Christmas Day in 1941

A Bucket of Sand

Holiday Blues

Lester’s note from December 7. 1941

Dec 7, 1941.

Sunday 3:30

Dear Folks:

Lester

The First Day of the Rest of His Life

Thanksgiving Dinner in the Navy

Letter to a brother

Letter from Lester: November 18, 1941

November 12, 1941