March 6, 1945 Tuesday

Dear Skip,

                I honestly wish I weren’t writing this letter.  The song, “Three o-clock in the Morning” isn’t so funny, enjoyable or anything else anymore.  I’m as usual-on watch-and it’s just before three.  I cam on at 2400 and I’ll be on until 0400.  Matters could be worse, of course I could be out in the weather at the north gate sentry post or the prefabricated huts.  The weather is moisture in frequent and bountiful quantities. As it is I’m in the Master at Arms shack in a chair, doing a bit of office work but confound it It’s the principle of the thing.  Getting a lad out of the sack in the middle of the night to sit around for 4 hours! Besides, I had a big wash tonight and you know how I love that. But I reckon as how it’s just counterbalancing the past weekend I had.

                Maybe I said that Friday night I played a bit of basketball with the staff men.  Saturday night I had one fine enjoyable time, in fact, the best for quite some time. I was over to a fireside chat.  The mutual takes that here and we shot the breeze awhile and played different games and even danced some.  I’m wondering if I’ll ever get on to the idea of scrubbing my feet around the deck again.  The females are quite patient though which helps.  Then we had some tasty chow-ice cream, cake and the likes.

                Sunday I made it in good time to church and really digested mentally a fine Sunday School and testimonial.  The smallness of the Branch and the scattered location of the members by no means hampers their activities here.  They really do commendable work.  After church I latched onto 4 Army boys and we had some fine noon chow-french fried shrimp.  Do you like shrimp? Then we latched onto some bicycles and had one time all afternoon.  (Today my stern is the worse off).  We played tag and rode around in the zoo and in the paths through the park-one of the best and largest I’ve seen.

                After while the tag game got a bit rugged-the Army bent a pedal and almost a car and put a little skin on the deck so we gave it up in preference to the more conservative sport of eating a couple of pints of ice cream and riding the trolley to the U.S.O. A bit of pool and then to evening meeting then back to the noise I was griping about in the first of this word.  Same as usual though.

Paul