Edward J. Thomas - World War II
Below letter is copied from Eddie's letter word for word.
Dear Izzy & Mac: Tuesday, October 26, 1943 Alaska
So far I have three of your letters which I haven't answered.
One is dated Sept..19, another Sept ..20. and the third October 12.
I was very glad to receive these letters and hope you will continue
sending them. What troubles me, though, is that I am not sending
out enough letters to encourage you to keep on ting to me.
I was going to write this letter last Sunday which happened
to be my day off. Before I could get started, I was called back
to work and the off-day was postponed to today which is Tues, today
I slept "until 11 :35 AM to make up for the sleep I lost Sunday night
by working at the office until 2:45 in the morning.
Your letter of Sept. 20 says that you haven't heard from me
for a long time and that you are wondering if I am sick. It isn’t
sickness that prevents me from writing--it's health. If I were sick,
I'd be in bed with nothing to do but read and write and under those
circumstances I'd easily be able to send you a letter every day.
If it does happen that you begin to receive a couple of letters from
me each week, that will be the time for you to become worried
because you'll have good grounds to believe that there is something
wrong with me and that I'm in bed flat on my back: wondering what
else I could do besides read and write. On the other hand if you
receive a letter from me once every three weeks or a month you can
feel pretty sure that I am in the best of health. When I'm well
I have to work and when I'm through with work, my good health makes
me too restless and I can be easily tempted to play cards and checkers
- 1 -
or to go to a show. If not any of these, I am tempted into some
argument such as which one of us in the hut had the stiffest military training back in State, which city is the best one to live in, -whether it is better to be
single or married." when 'Will the'war end. etc., the conclusions we
come to depends on the number in the argument. If there are four,
there are four conc1usions. In other words, each of us-arrive at
the same point we started from and then we go to bed with the resolu-
tion that we will write our letters- tomorrow instead of today.
It seems as if you are very erratic in your bowling. Your high
and low score seem to indicate that you are curving the ball -
more than usual. Remember my mottos “the wider the curve, the
lower the score", and "A straight ball is the best of all". I still
have to prove the last motto and I am determined. to do it just as
soon as I am back in the States or sooner if someone cane send me a
bowling alley for Christmas. This hint I so subtly inserted in
this letter may solve your problem of what to send me for Christmas.
There are many other things-in your letters I wish to write
about but I'm afraid I must stop because I'll have to get started
on a letter for Gertie and Gene if time will allow.
I remember that in one of your letters you wrote about a dance
Held at your local hall for Christmas boxes for the soldiersn from your
shop. You were the waitress and Mac the bartender. Reference to
Mac's bar tending refreshes my memories of the good old days when
I was in front of a bar and Mac behind it. At Christmas time, I'll
be thinking of Mac being behind his bar and how far I'd have to reach
to clutch one of his mixed drinks.
- 2 -
At the end of your last letter you say that you and Mac are
still working at the same place. Are both of you doing the same
work? I'd be interested if you explained in detail just what your
jobs are even though they are the same ones you held at the
time I left.
This is the end of my mail visit. Let us shake hands and say
toodle-de-oo'.
Thanks for your birthday greetings.
Izzy :
I am writing this on a separate piece of paper so that you
won't have to show it to anyone else I'd like to give Mom and Harry
a Christmas present and wonder if you could find the time. to buy them
something and hand it to them at Christmas time with a card saying it's
from me. You may spend any amount within my means-and then let me
know what the bill is and I'll repay you with a money order.
Sat., Nov 6 Russia reclaims Kiev captured by Germany in Sept. 1941.
