April 23, 1944 Sunday

Hello, my Honey,

Lt. Russell now finds a break in the mad rush of official obligations to stop and think of better things. Namely, you. How are you, Bun – hair all dried out from last Friday? Well, I feel I was just lucky to find you home at all. I felt pretty sure of finding somebody home at 23, but I figured you would be at a movie. Was very happy to get you, tho, because I didn’t know what would come up this weekend.

The graduation went off well and was satisfying. Everything was just as it should be, except that I felt more like an onlooker than a graduate because there was noone here I knew or that knew me. A surprising number had relatives or girls down. Naturally that made me lonely for you, and if you had been here it would have been a big day in our list of big days. We’ve got to get together soon, Hon; I get very impatient seeing things like this go by, meaning so little, when they could mean so much if we could have them together.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. We fell out all prettied up at 8:00 and had pictures taken by everybody – for school papers, newspapers, and alumni college papers, etc. Then we marched behind the band to theatre No. 1. We marched in three columns – one on the very left of the road, one in the center and one on the extreme right. That spread us out so it looked like a large group – and to see so many pink pants in perfect step was very thrilling. The exercises were like a college graduation. A lousy speaker included. When we had received our diplomas, the band played marches while we broke and went to all parts of the theatre to have our bars pinned on by mothers and wives and sweethearts. That is where you should have been, Hon. Pat’s wife, Milly, was the only girl I knew, so she pinned mine on. Then we went out and paid a dollar to the first person to salute us. Mine happened to be a soldier driving by in a car, so I saved a dollar. (Leave it to a Yankee, they say, to save his dollar.)

Then back to work. Got about 300 dollars in back pay and paid out most of it for uniforms. And to innumerable collections and knicks for everybody. These tips and contributions went on all day, until it seemed that palm greasing was a Lt.’s chief duty.

Left for battle training at 1:00. All the parents hanging around still made it like the day school lets out. They followed us out to our new quarters – old C.C.C. cabins near Cedar Creek. We were oriented there, and came back in around five and got a free ride to Louisville with nothing more than a longing look.

Then we found out how social life is made easy for officers. Also how the smooth way is paved by tips. The Seelbach was full, but the clerk remembered a room for four when the four Lt.’s – Skofield, Doon, O’Donnell and Russell asked for one. We went to the “Colonial Gardens” for our class party and took over the spot. There was an awful lot of drinking. All our tac officers were high and many of our instructors also. Most of them are Louies, too, and they really let down their hair. Seemed very queer to see the barriers so quickly dropped. I took advantage of the situation to get into a very stimulating talk with Lt. Klee, who is one of the few thinking instructors we had. Along the Mr. Stearns type – tho you won’t like that. We got quite chummy, I met his wife and got a ride back to the hotel. He’s got a lot on the ball – is owner of two retail stores in Chicago. You’d take him for a professor, tho.

Now I have slept and had a good breakfast here at the Seelbach. That’s my career as an officer to date. Officers get much better service from everybody and have a real advantage as far as doing things goes. I am glad I am a Lieutenant, but my military ambition is now satisfied. Promotions from here won’t amount to enough to warrant breaking an arm over. I am content for the duration, and shall spend my time doing my job rather than trying to get to be a general.

My next objective is to marry you, Bunny, and we’ll start on that right away. I understand it is much easier to be a married officer than a married E.M.

Bye, Hon, I love you more than ever and wish very very much you were here now.
All yours,
Wallace
P.S. Pat’s wife is very anxious for us to marry and for you to live near her in Louisville.



April 23, 1944 Sunday
Dear folks,

Graduation came off on schedule, and was quite an impressive affair. The wife of George Patten, and A.G.R., pinned on my bars in the absence of Marjorie. So now I am a Lieutenant and starting a new career in the army.

We are now still together, not as Class 61 but as Attached Officers’ Group 61 – my complete address is more than I gave over the phone:
Lt. W.A. Russell, O547328
Attached Officers’ Group 61
Battle Training Det.
A.R.T.C.
Fort Knox, Ky.
That’s quite a mouthful for an old C.C.C. camp where the Armored Force basic trainees come for the last two weeks of basic training. The trainees are called “Thunderbolts” from the A.R.T.C. motto – “We forge the thunderbolt.” Looks like we’re in for a rough month, but we’ll learn a lot and that’s what we want now. Seems good not to have to keep bucking for a commission. I probably won’t be more than a 2nd Louie, so now I can just work at doing well at that, and not worrying about advancement.

Had a big weekend in Louisville; we had a class party. Now I am back at camp getting ready for tomorrow. We are going to have a week getting oriented about work here. 20 of us were chosen to take a platoon tomorrow morning! They went alphabetically, so I was glad my name was Russell.

Will see you soon.
Love,
Wallace