April 11, 1943

Dear Folks:                                                            April 11
            Got your first letter the middle of the week and the last one yesterday. Also got the watch and a bunch of Dispatches. Yes, I got your letter from Arlan. He must be getting absent-minded like a professor!! Got paid last week but didn’t get to town in time to get a money order. You should put some bonds in your name or keep the money in payment on that $250. We had a real dust storm here last Tuesday from the northwest. The sky was clear of clouds but every few minutes a wall of dust would come over from the field, which is largely bare of vegetation. You might give $15 to the church. Sorry to hear about Adamsons. I wrote a letter to Roscoe and addressed it to Green. Hope he gets it. I must have not gotten his last letter.
            Air sickness is like seasickness. When used to it, it doesn’t bother. Some cadets never get used to it. One was washed out here for that reason. Of the 5 of us with my instructor 1 has been eliminated and another is up for an army check ride to-morrow. I soloed last Wednesday and the other 2 will solo this week.
            Got a box of cookies from Aunt Hattie. I ordered 3 enlargements of the picture taken for the class book. They should come to you C.O.D. — $5.
            Went to church this morning with Henry Haag, one of my pardners on the same plane. He comes from Wisconsin and took 2 yrs. of Forestry at Wisconsin University. Be sure and take some pictures of the colt.
            The radio reception is very poor out here. Can get only one station with volume full on.
                                    Yours truly,
                                                John

Dear Arlan:
            Got both of your letters last week. You’ll have to be more cautious when mixing letters. It might prove disasterous some day! Ha Ha! Got the radio fixed for $2. If you haven’t sent the camera don’t be in a hurry. Take some pictures around there. Can’t get film here either.
            Went to church this morning with Haag, one of the men with me under the same instructor. He comes from Wisconsin and went to Wisconsin University for 2 yrs. He tells stories about the rivalry between the Engineers & Lawyers at W.U.
            This sunshine is getting fierce and our helmets and flight caps have no bills on them. My nose has been peeling for a week. Of the 5 men under my instructor one has been eliminated and another is up for an army check ride to-morrow. I soloed last week and the other two including Haag will solo this week. Watching the rest of the men solo is quite funny. Of course its every bodys turn to laugh when the other fellow is doing it. One man landed across wind; another landed it perfectly about 10 ft. off the ground. One man got it down all right but couldn’t keep it straight on the ground and started to skid & turn in a big circle. When the dust settled he had given it the gun and taken off again for another try. One man went around the field 7 times before getting it down. The record at this field was 17 times, set by a previous class. One man came so close to the T-house (where we sit between flights) that he had to raise one wing to let it by. Somebody yelled to “open the windows and let him through.”
            Just got your card this afternoon. It takes about a day to get an air-mail letter here also. For some reason your card came through fast — 9th to 11th. Hugos got a letter from his girl & she said Farrel had resigned but didn’t say why. Yes we can continue the life insurance after we get out of army. In fact when we get our commissions we start paying the premiums ourselves. The book work is negligible so far. Take notes in class and study them before a quizz. Radio reception is very poor out here. Can get only one station with volume full on.
                                    Yours truly,
                                                John