January 24, 1945 Wednesday

Dear Skip,

                There’s quite a lot to say but I don’t know where to start.  I’d rather answer some of those welcome and intriguing letters you write but I imagine you’re wondering what the score is here fist so I just as well start from last Saturday.  After I wrote you at the U.S.O., I went to the picture “Princess and the Pirate” Bob Hope and Technicolor. I got a kick out of it but would have much rather have giggled with you instead of alone.  But then that’s only natural so I won’t elaborate on that.

                After the show I hitched a bus for Cecil Field-that’s quite a trip so I was waking Prud up at about 2:30 a.m. to tell him I was around and was going to find a sack on his Base for the night.  When I woke up at about noon the next day and that sure felt good to think-no classes.  Well naturally that hour of the day Him was out on the crash truck so I just helped myself to some dungarees and a shirt because dress blues aren’t so good to mess around planes with.  Then I finally found Jim and we had a bit of chow.  After chow they wanted the crash truck over at Brannon Field so we cruised over there to stand by while the pilots practiced carrier deck landings.  No excitement-a few crude landings but no excitement.  We secured about 4:30 and I started for my base.  I got back in time for the last show.  It was one I’ve been waiting for for a long time.

                Skip, if it comes there you’ve got to see it.  It can show you more what our life is with airplanes than I could explain in a few dozen letters.  It is “The Fighting Lady”-the story of a carrier and all the battles she has been in.  It’s in Technicolor (or how ever you spell it) narrated by Lt. Robert Taylor and is the best war picture I’ve ever seen.  Not much story or plot but it just shows life with many planes. It may not have been released for the public yet but when it comes around see it-What?

                Well Monday we spent part of the time on a work detail and part putting our sea bag in shape.  Then the think we’ve been waiting for-the Drafts came in.  They were posted and then the talking, scheming, and planning began.  I won’t explain to you just what a situation like that is like. Men from almost every state in the Union-married and otherwise-which of course would make a difference as to where a person would want to go.  Most of the guys were thinking, “I wonder if that draft will still be open when it’s my turn to choose.” Some of the boys could have gone to a base right in their home town but just because they were too far down on the list they had to choose a place a thousand miles away-such is life.  But it’s all in the game.

                It would be a lot easier for me to talk to you in a letter like this if you could just understand the situation.  My explanations must seem pretty clumsy.

                I don’t mean to brag but out of 93 men, I made about 25^th choice or there abouts.  It took 20 weeks to work for that but it was satisfaction just the same, especially knowing that the rest of the men were quite a bit older than I. My choices were:

1-Advance Air Base Training at Quonset Point Rhode Island

2-Two drafts for Banana River Florida for work on flying boats

3-Draft for our Ferrying Command at San Pedro, California working between there and New Foundland, South America, and Europe probably.

4-Advnace Base Air Training Unit St. Louis, Missouri

5-Duty at Wildwood, New Jersey just a small ride from the big city New York

6-Two drafts for Norfolk, Virginia.  One for Assembly and Repair shop and the other for “carrier air supply unit”

7-One for the Philadelphia Navy Yard

8-Another for “carrier air supply unit” at Quonset Point Rhode Island-duty in South America and one of the best navy bases there is

9-Then two drafts for Main Side of this station here at Jax.

Then there was a messed up fouled up affair for the West Coast.  They didn’t say where.  If you said West Coast it could be anywhere from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. So I just walked around and listened to the different guy’s opinions and different discussions and got the map out and looked and studied, etc... at the different places.  There sure are a lot of things to take into consideration.  As you can see, they don’t give you much to go on.  You can’t tell very well what kind of a deal it is. Then after a thorough map study, we begin to wonder what we do want.  Do I want to get closer to home-even if it is 1,400 miles away? Do I want to see the show get some life that will quicken your heart beat-or maybe stop it? Probably you know that so long in this life and action it gets in your blood.  WE talk and hear stories and see picture shows until it couldn’t be otherwise.

What would Skip and the folks want me to do? How long will I be in that place if I choose it-before I ship out? What would be my chances for a leave? What kind of work will I be doing there? What kind of planes do they use? And the point that was never over looked-what kind of Liberty town is it? How do people there like sailors? Is it like it is here where they’re thick as flies and treated like dogs? IT went on and on like that, long into the night.

Feeling the other men out and trying to see if his choice would interfere with yours and if it did, try to talk him out of it.  Finally I hit the sack for some sleep but sleep didn’t come so easy.  I thought lots about you and the drafts and asked our Creator to guide my mind and decisions.  In the morning, I knew what I wanted.  There was no way of telling if it was the right choice.  But, I knew I wanted it anyway. 

We lined up according to our class standing and one at a time we filed into the Commanders office to make our choice.  When a man came out, everybody was anxious to see where they guy chose and alter his plans accordingly.  I come to find out that there were a lot of men who wanted the same draft as me.  It was getting near my turn and I was wondering if I wasn’t going to have to change my choice but things came fine.  My draft is a 10 man draft and I made it as the 8^th man.  Just 2 more men and I wouldn’t have gotten it.

I hope it’s in accordance with your thinking, because the place I’ll spend the next several months at is St. Louis, Missouri.  Now maybe you want to know what the deal is.   If I can tell you, it’s the scuttlebutt (rumors) about it.  It’s an A.B.A.T.U. which means that it’s an Advanced Base Air Training Unit.  Some say the Navy has taken over the Municipal Airport and that’s our new Base.  Some say it’s advanced schooling.  Some say it’s a mobile or traveling repair unit that goes to different places to work. That’s what we know about it.  The only thing we can do now is wait for our orders.  Our draft is here but no sailing orders.  We ought to ship out before the end of the week.

Now, last night I went ashore to meet Jim.  I figured it would be the last time for a long time and I had a couple of rolls of film I wanted to spend with him.  He was detained at the Base though so he was late getting there and it was too dark to take pictures.  I’m going to meet him tonight through and we’ll try to get some pictures again.  What I’ve been leading up to is that Jim is shipping out too-maybe the same time as me-probably before the end of the week.  And can you imagine he’s going to Memphis-just 200 miles from St. Louis and maybe after awhile I can see him some more.  You’ll have to get the word from his folks to see what his deal is.  Excuse me-you can’t do that.  I’ll tell you after awhile when we get things straight.

Well, it’s morning now and I’ll try to finish this up.  Last night I went ashore and met Jim and we finished off a roll of film.  It was quite late in the evening so they may not be too good.  Then I left Jim in town for awhile and I came back to the Base and went over the main side to the usual church meeting.  I felt quite different than usual through because it was the last time I’ll see some of the people there.  I’ve met some elegant lads and that’s the only regret I have about leaving here.  They always have the guys that are shipping out say a few words and it was my turn last night.  Then I went ashore again and met Jim at the USO and sat around and shot the breeze for the rest of the night.

                Can you imagine the boys and me sleeping until 8:00 every morning? This is the life since we graduated! We haven’t been doing anything lately except have liberty from 5p.m. until 12 a.m. and during the day we go out on an occasional work party and do odd jobs such as gather laundry bags from different barracks and haul stuff around in trucks, etc… Then it seems like I’ve always got something to iron or some buttons to sew on or some dungarees to patch.  Whenever a call comes in for work they take volunteers you know-“You, you, and you come with me.  You’re volunteers.”  Of course you know the Hyer lad.  It doesn’t take him long to get help and find a knack to dodging the afore said.  My sack is right by the fire escape and when they start taking volunteers for a work party-I disappear.  I’ll write soon my love.  For now and as ever.  
Pablo