Letter # 435 July 29, 1944

New Guinea
Saturday
July 29, 1944
My Darling wife;
No letters today so this letter will probably ramble around a lot.  Jack Benny evidently didn't get here for tonight.  It is postponed until tomorrow night.  Played ball again this afternoon.  We got beat this time 8-7 by a team picked from two platoons.  I guess I was bragging a bit too quickly about being able to take it.  In the sixth inning today I pulled a muscle in my right leg while trying to stretch a single into a double.  I even had to have someone else finish running for me and then I went to the showers.  My leg is pretty stiff and sore now.  Take a few days for it to work out.  Not so bad.  I can't not get around or anything like that, but I won't play ball for a day or two.  Some ball player aren't I?  Maybe I am getting old.  Think it's possible?  Don't believe I am and I'll prove it to you when I get a chance - I hope.
This morning I saw my first kangaroo.  It was only a baby.  Have no idea how old but its body was about a foot long and the tail that much longer.  Some of the boys had caught it yesterday.  Ran it down and they say they had a hell of a job too.  They can cover territory fast.  The colonel is keeping him.  Says he will drink and eat grass already and likes to be held and petted.  He's the color of a wild rabbit.  Hair looks very much the same.  Face resembles a rat somewhat.  Small front legs and big hind ones with heavy nails, about like claws.  Quite some critter.  No one has seen the mother.  He may be an orphan. 
The boys have been having a lot of fun trapping rats.  The island seems to be alive with them.  Get up in the morning and they have tramped out almost all our tracks in the dust inside the tent.  They are mostly little fellows about the size of a half grown one back home.  However, there is also a super race of rats here.  Get as big as an eight week old pig.  No kidding, the body is at least two feet long.  I've seen a few of them killed on the roads. 
Lots of pretty birds that I can't identify.  All I can recognize are parrots and there are plenty of them.  The jungle echoes with their harsh cries all the time.  Some pure white, some black, and some with all the colors of the rainbow on them.  I even saw some birds today that closely resemble our swallows, in actions, and size.  They don't have the tails and are a grey brown in color.  Another monstrosity are the big bats.  See them flying around every evening.  They are nearly as big as a small chicken with a three foot wing spread.  Vicious looking brat.  The insects are the critters that really thrive here.  If you look close you can probably see grease spots on the paper where I've killed them.  The lights attract them in swarms and I have to keep brushing and blowing them away so I can write.  From the fuss you make over one fly I can imagine you'd wear yourself out down here.  Alive with them. 
This hasn't been much love letter has it?  I think I'll renege on you tonight and quit with this much.  I'll see what I can do tomorrow. 
Night sweetheart, I'm loving you all the time.  I'm missing you too, like the very devil.
Your soldier.
Norm.