January 20, 1944 Thursday

Dear Bunny,

Very routine day today. Had our communications exam, but that's about all. Strange silence from the gig department all this week, as far as I'm concerned. Must be improving, I hope. My bunk-mate Bill Bryant of Ohio State is taking it now. He has a staggering total for the cycle and was still climbing last I knew. If you get out of the groove just a little, they come with great rapidity. They are a part of the press that endeavors to turn out a standardized, interchangeable piece of equipment known as a second lieutenant. The motto here “We mold leaders” is very true. Conformity down to the last small habit. They haven't given us any positions to sleep in yet, but it wouldn't surprise me at all.

I'm griping because this type of training is an exact prototype of of what Nazi education would be. But it is the best of a fundamentally wrong kind of education. It's Army and G.I., but it is efficient, it accomplishes the end they want, and they do not pretend to do anything but work toward that end – to manufacture 2nd Lieutenants. I admire it as a working example of a highly organized system. To use testing terms, it is valid and reliable. Does what it sets out to do consistently and well. It is such a good example that the fundamental errors of regimentation, authoritarianism and conformity can be seen more clearly than in an ordinary outfit where they are poorly applied.

Found today why a 2nd lieutenant wears a gold bar on his shoulder. It is because you couldn't see it very well if it was on his socks. No need to laugh. Noone has yet, and I've been trying a long time.

I love you, Honey, and think of you a hundred times a day.

Yours always and always,
Wallace