Letter # 132 November 20, 1943

Nov 20, 1943
Sat. Eve.
My darling wife;
Got your Wed letter today. I'm sorry honey that you are getting such poor service on my letters to you. If they ever give me a few minutes off when the P.O. is open I'll get some air mail stamps and will try that for a while. Keep me so busy that until this evening I hadn't even been to the P.X. for two weeks. Was nearly out of cigarettes and writing paper or I probably wouldn't have gone tonight.
It's time for lights out now, but I'll go to the day room and finish this. Don't have to get up until 0700 tomorrow, so I can afford to stay up. Go to work at 0830. They give us that much of Sunday off.
Just finished doing my weekly laundry and my hands are clean again for the first time this week. Honestly sweetheart, I never had a job where I got myself and my clothes so dirty. Put on a clean pair of fatigues and in a few minutes they look like they had never been washed, so I usually just make a pair do all week. By Thurs. or Friday I have to climb up on something and jump into them in the morning. They are too stiff with grease to bend. After I have them on a few minutes they warm up and bend freely. Some shit huh? Not quite that bad. We do most of the work in good weather outside. Plenty of oil and grease and then lay in the dust under a tank and you can imagine what happens. You used to think my old plumbing overalls were dirty. You should see these. Becoming a real grease monkey.
The army is so short of the regular fatigues that this week they issued us each a set of salvage suntans, just a patch here and there, but plenty good for work clothes. The army always has to be uniform, so they tell us all to wear these suntans the last two days of the week. I bet you can imagine what mine looked like when I came in tonight after two days of wiping the grease from all the odd parts of tanks and then being out in the field all day herding a company of 15 tanks. They are just a nice color now. Won't show either dust or grease very much. Maybe I'll leave them that way.
I also got a new pair of shoes this week, for the ones that wore out at Knox. They aren't really new. They are completely rebuilt ones and they sure do a good job of it. Except for a scratch or slight cut here and there in the uppers, they couldn't be distinguished from new ones. I'll try to keep them polished up. I even took time to polish my work shoes this evening for the first time in a couple weeks. They don't look at all bad either. Terrible isn't it? But that is like the clothes, no use to try keeping them shined.
I had a good rest today, even though on duty. They sent me out to ride herd on the tanks, 15 of them. Went out on battle problems. Covered about 50 miles, all cross country and, believe it or not, only three of them required any attention at all and they only took about 10 minutes apiece. Foot accelerator stuck wide open on all three. Just a small job and the rest of the time I just sat in the maintenance half track and followed them. Didn't even have to do the driving. Furnish me a chauffeur now.
One tank got stuck and I mean stuck. Hit a sink hole going about 30 and it just seemed to drop like it had hit a hole. Only about 3 ft. of the hull showing above ground. No work to that either. Got another tank to pull it out and the tank crews even hooked the cables. It was fun watching them maneuver.
First time I had ever watched a whole company on a battle problem. They pick a series of hills on which enemy guns and fortifications are supposed to be and then they go about capturing them. Four or five of them will stay just behind the closet hill to the one they are trying to take and first one will move up to the crest and fire a shell. They don't fire the shells, but go through the motions. Then back down quick before the enemy can get a sight on them and another goes up at another point and does the same. They keep that up, always going to the top at a different place, and then while they keep the enemy busy, the others scurry off around the hill like big beetles and try to flank the enemy. The officers stand on the "enemy" hill and act as referees. After the problem they tell the boys what they did wrong and how many tanks they think the enemy would have knocked out.
Rather interesting to watch these big animated steel battle wagons, go scurrying around, like a bunch of busy ants. Almost unbelievable how such heavy monsters can get around, over all types of terrain. A cloud of dust hangs over them all the time and they sure set up a racket. Seems like the enemy could hear them for miles. Just seem to shake the ground.
We have some work to do on them tomorrow. Got a new engine to put in one and then I guess all 17 of them will go out Monday. As far as I know all the mechanics will go with them and we won't be back until Wed. night. If I have a chance I'll write out there, but I'm not promising. If you miss a few letters it isn't because I was tired of writing to you, but because I didn't have the opportunity.
The weather has been just perfect, nice and snappy, morning and evening and nice and warm through the day. It even felt good to be in the shade today. Hope it stays like that while we're out this week.
Well I guess that's enough of this stuff. You said you wanted to know everything I did, so there. Now to answer your letter.
So you are back to work again? Bet you are so tickled. Poor, honey, have to get up early every morning and teach a bunch of brats all day long. Sooner have you getting my breakfast, dinner & supper and darning my old socks and loving me instead of teaching brats. The time will come and I hope soon, when you can have that job back again. That is, if you want it. I'll promise not to be too hard to work for. I'll even love you if you'll let me. Will you? You'd better, or by damn I'll find me a red head to take your place.
I didn't think your letter sounded "bitchy". I thought you were just telling me things as they were and that's what I want. After all if everything was just perfect I would know you weren't telling me the truth. I like every one of your letters. They are all I have of you to love and, gosh honey, I sure do love you.
As for the school business I don't think the captain is blaming me. He's as nice as can be, but I didn't like to start out that way.
So far when I've gone out with the tanks I've been the only mechanic, but so far I've gotten them all back under their own power. Keeping my fingers crossed though.
Don't worry about me going crazy, sweetheart. I couldn't go crazy more than once and I already did that, over you. About you, I should say.
This isn't the best camp in the world by a long way, but most of the boys are just restless. Want to get moving. Can't blame them a bit.
I expect Franklin just remembered the worst Dick said.
Here's a little jingle about the army wolf I mentioned. It's pretty good I think.
Night sweetheart, I love you so much.
Your loving husband
Norm.