January 18, 1944 Tuesday

Evening, Dearest – I'm using up some old stationery I have around before I invest in some new stationery.

Felt like a brother of Annie Oakley as we fired the carbine at the range today. Everyone does well at it, but it's nice to get high scores. Got 10 consecutive bull's-eyes at 200 yds and fired 94 points of a possible hundred there.

Met George Patten at the P.X. tonite as usual waiting to call up his wife in Louisville. He calls her about every nite and sees her week-ends. Must be very monotonous for her in the interims, however. That way isn't for us, Hon. Think how disappointed we'd be when I was restricted week-ends if you were in Louisville!

If I am ever going to gain weight, this is the place I will do it. As a rule we have field work half a day and half a day of class work. That makes it that I get an enormous appetite, but don't get too tires physically. And as you know, we eat like kings. I chuckle with glee at each meal and eat just as much as I can crowd in, in the time I can afford. Guess there's no limit to how much I can eat. If time were no factor, I'd just live in the mess hall.

Today we continued radio procedure in our L.S.T. class room. They have 2 or 3 nets rigged up, 5 stations to a net, and we operate the stations thru different situations. Three men to a set, so we all get plenty of chance to speak. My radio voice is probably golden – but I don't know, you can't receive your own message when you are transmitting.

You will go home this week-end, won't you? Been quite a long time now. Give my love to Grammie. What you can spare of it, anyway.

We are taking a course in mess management now, too. Expect to be wise in the ways of kitchens when I'm thru – so be prepared for rigid inspections of our kitchens. Nothing served from over a 50 gallon container, no cigar ashes in food, etc.

'Bye now, I love you to pieces,
Wallace