Fri January 1, 1943
Had a swell time in town last nite. Went in with Freddie West & Bobbie O & we made the rounds. Wound up at 2 & went to the Caddo Hotel to bed. Had to be back on the field at 9:00 & had to paint numbers on the plane. Some numbers. Don’t feel so good.
Sat, January 2, 1943
Well it wont be long before we start for home & boy am I glad. I sure have been homesick for my honey and the children. One of the B-26 landed on its tail today & jammed it up some. No one was hurt. Gave the Capt. & Lt. the signs for there desks today. They sure were pleased. They were made out of Lucite & two 50 cal shells on a walnut stand. I also gave Lt. Kumin a ring of the same.
Tue, January 5, 1943
The plane we first started to use, the 1167 a B-26, went out on a routine flight today & 10 miles from the field crashed into a swamp & burned. They have found 2 of the bodies & are still searching for the others. They were from the outfit that we are detached to, the 476 Bomb Sqdn. I knew the engineer & the day before I was talking to the mechanics as they finished working on the motors.
Wed, January 6, 1943
Sure was funny, Freddie West and I had an overnight pass & went to Shreveport. We made the rounds & about 2:00 in the morning we were waiting for the bus when an an Army car came by & offered us a lift to the field. When we got in there was a tire off of the plane that crashed & the car was coming back from the plane wreck. They had found another body, but there was still 2 unaccounted for.
Thu, January 7, 1943
Well we are about to go home. We got all our equipment loaded on the trucks & will take them down tomorrow to load. It cannot be too quick for me. We turned in all of our extra equipment & packed our foot lockers. The trucks will roll at 7:00 tomorrow.
Fri, January 8, 1943
We got up at 5:00 & ate at 6:00 and at 7:30 was pulling out to load the box car. We finished at 10:30 then back to eat lunch. We went back to Shreveport at 12:00 & went & put our baggage in our pulman. We got a drawing room & 4 of us to a room. Sgt. Fred West, had the upper. Vic Bradburry & Dell Nodiene had the lower & I had the side seat & bed. After that we we were dismissed until 2:30 so the 3 of us went up town to the bar & had a few. When we arrived at the train we were very, very happy. We pulled out at 3:00.
Sat, January 9, 1943
Nothing much happened today passing thru Texas & I’m sure glad were passing thru. Some lady with her children woke our Capt. up & said will you feel my husbands pulse. I think it’s stopped. He did & called the conductor. The man had died of heart failure. They stopped at a little town in Texas & took off the body. The lady was sure broken up. Played Gin Rummy most of the day & slept. Wish this train would knock on it.
Sun, January 10, 1943
Rode the train all day & will be home tonite at 9:00. Played Gin Rummy. Worked on a pair of ear rings for Rosemary out of celoglass & when finished one was lost, so I had to fix it onto a charm bracelet I bought at Yuma. There was a train derailed ahead of us 30 miles from home. It seemed like a year before we got here. Mary & Ronnie were there to meet me and the CO let us go home for the night. Boy was I glad to see the family. We sat up & talked until after 12:00.
Mon, January 11, 1943
I found out we have a new boss in the paint shop. My friend Schindler is out now & I do not know whether I’ll get along with the new one or not (I think not). Well we signed in today & then waited until about 10:30 & then went down & unloaded the box car of our equipment. We finished at 3:00 & then I asked for 3 days off. They gave me 2. So I brought mother’s & Ronnie’s present home. Ronnie a sail boat & mother a Chenille house coat.Tue, January 12, 1943
Spent the whole day home. Lazed around the house, cooked ham for supper & then walked to town to meet mother at 5:00 went to see about our C card for gas got the form to fill out. Built log houses with Ronnie after supper. Going to bed early.
Wed, January 13, 1943
Spent the whole day home. Went over to sis’s & spent two or three hours there. Then to meet the wife & home. To bed early. Not much excitement, but I loved it.
Thu, January 14, 1943
Well I went back to work today. Got here at 6:45 found out revelle had been discontinued, that is roll call. Didn’t have to go to work till 8:00. While I was away in La my friend Schindler got his job taken by a cut throat Jew named Crusiene & he worked hell out of me. He doesn’t like my brothers so he took it out on me. I’m either getting out of this dept. or going awol or into the guard house.
Sat, January 16, 1943
Took the day off & went home. Got my “C” gas card today. Stopped by Buff & Hazel’s before lunch & at 9:00 that eve went home. Boy what a time. I forgot to get Mary & she had to take the street car home. Had lots of fun.
Sun, January 17, 1943
Took Mary to Lockheed to put in her application for work. They talked like they would put her on this week some time. They gave her first call because she had a husband, son, brother in the service.
Mon, January 18, 1943
Was called in today & was told I was to soon be assigned to a Combat Unit for overseas duty as a Sgt. Major of the unit. It should be formed within two weeks.
Tue, January 26, 1943
Well awaited hour has come. I went to San Pedro to the point of embarkation & had my yellow fever shot. I wasn’t bad. We were back camp at 11:30 & then was told to report back to our dept that we were to get our shots then start our combat course. I can’t wait now.