Lester:
Received your letter yesterday. I thought you had forgotten about me.
I wrote a letter to Red Moyer over a week ago and to date I’ve heard nothing from him. Odeon’t Early know where he is.
Thanks for sending Red Founders address. One of my buddies left for Scott Field yesterday so I told him to look Pounder up and give him my regards. I will write to him and Bachman too.
As for the blonds down here. We don’t see many of them. I sent Parsons a card and told him I’d send him five coconuts for each blond he sends me but I haven’t received any yet. Tell him I at least expect an answer to my card even if he can’t spare any blonds.
I get lots of time to look around. We are free from five till ten at night and all day Sunday. We may go anywhere in Miami Beach. You see, this army post is really in the city. The army took over dozens of big hotels and restaurants for use as barracks and mess halls.
My outfit was in the St. Moritz first. It is a modern eleven story hotel where rooms cost fifteen bucks a day during the winter.
We are now in the Jefferson, a hotel not as large and swanky, but more homelike.
There is not much to do here except swimming, movies or drinking so I am often in my room by eight o’clock. There is very little chance to get a girl here as there are about five hundred soldiers for each girl. There must be more than twenty thousand men here.
They gave me three shots so far but we get more and more of them later. They make me a bit stiff for a while but not sick.
We have plenty of room for guys like you down here. Have you heard anything yet?
The gas rationing don’t bother me. I haven’t been in a car for over two weeks. When you get in the army you learn to walk and like it.
As for topping going to the dogs, its been there long ago. I’m darn glad I’m out of that racket. That’s all for now. Write soon.
Woody
**For those interested, we were able to find both the hotels Woody mentions here. We shared the St. Moritz in a previous post but here's the Jefferson!
