Letter #10 April 17, 1943

Sat.eve.
April 17, 1943
Dearest Tootsie Wuggles;
I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten that name. All I needed was separation, you know what they say "absence makes the heart grow fonder". I don't know if that is happening or not but I miss you love you very much. This army business would be swell if they would do like the English do with the African natives, let them take their wives along. As that isn't possible I will just have to love you mentally until I see you again.
My day on the driving range didn't turn out so well. We got up at 4:30 and got a good early start for the range. It is about 5 or 6 miles from barracks. We all loaded in trucks and were driven out and got there just after daylight. Cold and stormy looking. They broke us up in about 10 small groups and gave each group a number, mine was #6. There were peeps, trucks, and tanks to drive so my turn would come after two groups had driven the peeps. Peeps first, trucks second, tanks third. The groups that weren't driving were taking instruction in flag and hand signals.
We no more than got started and it began to rain and I mean rain without stop. We stuck it out until noon and my group was next to drive when they decided to call it off.
The driving range is out in the woods and is up and down hill, through creeks, swampy places, over logs, around stumps, and trees and in general, country you would swear you couldn't drive over but they do. One tank even got stuck and had to be pulled out by another.
Some of these boys have never driven an automobile or anything before and I sure saw some good driving, but nothing was wrecked, I don't know why but it wasn't.
After we got back we had to wash the mud and crap from all the vehicles and from ourselves. So all I got out of it was a wet ass and a hungry gut. It was a taste of real army life to stay out there in the rain and keep working, different and kinda fun at that. I will get my chance later.
It has been very cool down here the past three days. It felt kinda good to me until it started to rain and then we had a mess. The army doesn't furnish or allow any rubbers and you can imagine what shoes like after walking around in the mud and water all day. Then comes the cleaning and polishing shoes, they have to be clean for the next day even if the first step you take is into a mud puddle. That was why I wanted the wax. The mud will wash off and still leave a fair polish after the shoes have been waxed.
Hazel sent me a box of cookies and candy and four spools of thread. Guess I can sew now. The biggest sewing job is putting all the insignia patches on my clothes. One on each shirt and coat, and that means about 10. That is quite a job for my poor sewing ability but I only have 3 or 4 more to put on and I will get them tonight or tomorrow if they don't decide to put me to work at something.
Leo Marks, that I wrote you about, was sent to the hospital last night with a high fever. T don't know wether the shots, we got two this week, or the exposure out on the driving range got him. Nearly 50% of the boys in this barracks either have been or are in the hospital since we have been here, So I guess there must be some life in the old man yet. I'll show you someday.
Today during military drill the Co. Commander called me out of ranks to act as drill sargeant for a while. I got along fairly well but I need plenty of practice. I got off some of my orders on the wrong foot and of course that screws up the works. All the movements are executed on different counts according to wether they are to the left or to the right and there is either one or two counts between the preperatory command and the command to execute and that was where I made a few mistakes. But not so bad, at least I didn't get told off. As our training in military drill progresses we will all be given our chances to drill the platoon. It sure is a good way to learn it and it sure keeps you thinking to keep your platoon from running into one of the other platoons that are drilling on the same area.
There are about 40 men to a platoon and we drill in 3 files, that makes it about 13 men long and one to act as sarg. The regular sargents and lieutenants stand by and watch and give us hell if we make too bad a mistake. It's fun though.
We have a little funny looking regular drill lieutenant, Lt. Rael, who doesn't know much more about it than we do. He gives us his orders on the wrong foot and is always mixing up his left and right movements. Says right when he means left and etc. Then he catches hell and then he passes it on to us. The old army game of pass the buck you know. He is the only one of the lieutenants the boys don't like, the rest are nice guys and if it wasn't for army regulations would be like any one of us.
Lt Rael is one of the 90 day men, that has never had any real army experience until now and being a little fellow, he is about John Dulaney for size, and is just as cocky or worse. He'll learn. The rest of the lieutenants and most of the sargents have had 2-3 yrs experience and know what they are doing.
Onr of the Lieutenants, Lt. Claymore was a sargent at Pearl harbor when the war started. He then went to O.C.S. and is now teaching us.
I just went over to the P.X. and stood around for a while on the chance I might see some of the hometown boys. Elder finally put in an apperance and we had quite a talk comparing notes on training and experiences. He is in the medics corps but is getting about the same training i am. He doesn't seem very homesick anymore. He has gotten some letters from home this week and that made him feel much better. mail call here at the post is the most popular formation of the day. The boys would miss chow rather than mailcall if they had to miss one or the other. If one of them doesn't get a letter for several days he begins to get blue. I guess when the army says mail is important to moral they know what they are talking about. Even I don't miss a mailcall and it does feel good to hear your name called. If one of the boys gets 5 or 6 letter one call you would think they had gotten a $50.00 bill.
Don't think I am asking for more letters because I didn't mean it that way. 2 or 3 a week will keep me in very good spirits and I know you are as busy as I, and don'y have the time to write so don't make it a chore.
Sunday morning.
Here it is Sunday again and still raining. It sure does rain when it gets started down here. They say it usually rains for a week every time it gets started.
We are off for the day I guess. Got up at 7 A.M. Imagine me with 9 hrs. sleep. Had a very good breakfast at about 7:30. Pancakes & syrup, ham and coffee. Not bad huh? I got a letter form Garnet last evening.
Well I guess that is all I have to say this time. Remember I love you a lot.
Your loving husband
Norm
P.S. Sometime when you have a chance you might send me that box of saddle soap. It is in the box by the furnace.
I love you.
Norm