Ahoy Pappy!
Hows tricks these days? I hope every one is well and that you have a good job by now, are you still at textile or have you landed a job somewhere else?
I am O.K. so far and am still taking it easy, still not teaching yet and I don’t know how soon I will be teaching. Boy I hate to think of starting to teach it sure is going to be tough, heck, they are training women to teach here now and it looks like a college campus with all these girls running around, they are of all ages above 20 and all shapes and looks. Boy they sure are going to surprise us if they can handle the job O.K., they are not doing so good in training so far.
We have excellent weather out here. It’s not so hot and it’s usually sunny, since it is open prairie here, it’s light until around 10 oclock, the nearest mountains are about three of more hundred miles west so there is nothing to block the sun out except the rolling prairie knolls or rises, which are only slight rises or “hills” on the prairie.
We had a few heavy storms since I am here, and one of them flooded part of Sioux Falls and raised heck here too, the lightening struck closely several times and scared hell out of the students, it was still raining when school was over and the students started to run to their barracks to keep from getting wet, one of the fellows forget there was a drainage gutter outside the school so he goes tearing out the door and right into the gutter which was full, he found up in water and mud up to his chest, ha ha boy ill bet he was still swearing three days afterwards.
Several others fellin the mud and did plenty of “cussing” too and the women instructores got plenty wet and one of them almost made the mistake of running into the gutter too but an army instructor stopped her in time, boy I got a kick out of all this but I did my share of “cussing” too when I got to the barracks I found the roof leaked and my bed, clothes and all were wet, I knew the roof leaked and expected my bed to be wet, but when I found my clothes were all wet too, i started to “cuss” the army in general, ha ha. After all you can’t beat fun you know, ha ha.
Well pappy at last after four long months I finally got paid now I’ll be going to town once, boy the day after pay day they had so damn many drunken soldiers who come in late that they couldn’t find jails enough for them, they had the court house and city jail full and still had more left, there was a fight in town too and a soldier stabbed a civilian, so we had a “shakedown inspection” to find liquor and the knife used in the stabbing, they took all knives with blades longer than three inches and found the knife used in the stabbing so some solider will wish to hell he had used his head and kept out of trouble. I thought I was going to lose my knife, I had it stoned to a razor edge and the “Looey” sure looked it over good and at last he left me keep it.
Boy hunting season here starts Sept. 26 and runs from three days to 90 days in some counties, and you can bag from three to seven pheasants a day (5 roosters + 2 hends, or 7 roosters) in different counties. You hunt from 12 noon to dark each day, and I hear jackrabbits are pretty plentiful here too. In this county the season is 50 days and you can bag 5 pheasants a day. So boy I have to get busy and see if I can’t make an acquaintance with some civilians here and try to pick up some hunting postures so I can borrow a gun and maybe get in a little hunting.
I tried hard to get a furlough for the 15th of August but I can’t get it, there is an order out that no technical school graduates will be granted furlough until further notice so I don’t know when I can get one now. I could have had a three day pass but heck it takes 48 to 50 hrs. To go one way so that didn’t do me any good. Snuffy will probably be home the 19 or 20th but for how long I don’t know.
Ha. ha. Heck pappy you shouldn't let old Sherlock get you down, up and at him, clean him up, ha ha. You may need him yet, I moved again as you will see below, ha ha Hell pappy there is a lot of things that they could get along without if necessary, but this is war and gas rationing and all must go, you can’t buck the army to stop it, and boy don’t wish you were here with me, be thankful you are not in the army, if you ever do get in it you will know what I mean.
Boy textile sure gives you fellows raw deals, but keep your chin up pappy and remember they can’t always keep a good man down. I hear H.B.I got Steinbeck, boy they should get them all what do you say? Well I must close now I’m on guard duty tonight and I have to leave now, so tell all the folks I wish you and they the very best of everything, your pal “Sammy Boone”
Pfc. John S. Pounder Jr
(I’m now private first class
$4 more a month, pretty bum but better than nothing)