Name/Title
Spalsbury: #45 Letters Home September 15, 1943Entry/Object ID
2021.2.289A-EScope and Content
Letter Home from Pvt. Robert C. Spalsbury, ASTU 3938, Loyola University, Los Angeles 34, California to his parents Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Spalsbury, 806 South Eleventh, Saint Joseph 10, Missouri. Post Marked SEPT 15, 1943, 2 PM, Los Angeles, Calif., 6 cent Air Mail stamp.Context
Tuesday Evening - September 14, 1943
Dear Folks and Pat,
I heard from both of you yesterday, and also had a letter from Kathleen yesterday. I had no mail today, though.
Frank Hanlin and I are down here in the basement room listening to the "Record Hour." There are sixteen boys here this evening, about the usual number. Some of the boys have brought some of their own records, so we have quite a miscellaneous collection. Harry Beiderman's mother and sister came out here recently from St. Louis to live for awhile, and they brought a bunch of his records. He was largely instrumental in starting this record hour. I guess we'll have more when Father Connoly, the Dean, buys some from the long list we turned in to him.
I'm in Basic I now, and in Section G at that. It's a very dumb group, but it lost more men than any other section when 15 boys were shipped out last week, so I and two other boys from Basic II were placed there. Most of the boys in section G are just high school graduates, I believe. Bob Raidt is also in it. Section H has been made a remedial group, and some of the boys who were originally in it have been transferred to other sections, while some have been dropped down to H from higher sections.
Robert Olsen and I went into L.A. and Hollywood over the weekend. We left early Saturday afternoon, riding in the rumble seat of Ralph Cole's model A. We hopped out in downtown L.A. and walked along the streets a ways. Downtown L.A. is terribly crowded, at least on weekends, and maybe all week, for all I know. I went to the jewelers where I left my watch, and still no watch. Several times Mr. Koke has tried to pass another kind of watch off on me, but each time I put him off another week, and insist that he get my watch back from the manufacturer, where he claims he sent it. Boy, people really try to gyp the servicemen out here. Maybe I'm too suspicious, but I really doubt if my watch ever left that store. There was nothing the matter with the watch itself; only the frame was cracked. But I shouldn't have turned the entire watch in in the first place.
Olsen and I stopped in at a malted milk shop (there are lots in L.A.) where we ate. I had two ice cream sodas; he had a soda and a pie a la mode. We looked around in the windows for awhile, had a Ronda Cola, then took the street car to Hollywood, which cost us 10 cents apiece. There we went to the USO, and to the radio studios, but no broadcasts were on at that time. So we walked 'way down Hollywood Boulevard, ending up at Grauman's Chinese Theater, where we saw a double-feature. We saw Fred Astaire and Joan Leslie in "The Sky's the Limit," and the story of the town of Lidice in Czechoslovakia, called "Hitler's Madman." We got out a little after nine, and walked several blocks south over to Sunset Boulevard, where we hitched a ride west to the Guild Canteen. There we gorged ourselves - I had two pieces of apple pie, a dish of salad, and 2 or 3 glasses of milk. The Canteen was all filled up for the night, so since we didn't want to sleep on the lawn, we went up half a block to B'nai Brith, where we got two bunks and went to bed right away. After getting up about 8:30, we walked down to the Guild for breakfast. As I said before, it's all free, and you can have all you want. I had a cup of coffee, glass of chocolate milk, several pieces of coffee cake, and half a cantaloupe.
Olsen always wanted to take the bus, but I'd always talk him into hitchiking. It's usually faster, always cheaper, and much more fun. We went down to the LA. City College, where we saw several guys we knew. We also had lunch there. Then we went on down Vermont Avenue to Los Angeles Memorial Stadium and Exposition Park, where an Ordnance Display was in progress. Olsen was very interested in all the machines - he used to work in a machine shop, and his Pop's a carpenter. Then we caught the streetcar to Inglewood, and hitchhiked over to Loyola.
The officers are becoming more strict with us. Our rooms and equipment have to be just so. Tomorrow we're having gas mask drill - we have to fall out with 'em on tomorrow morning. We had two training films during military period today on gas masks. We hear we're to be issued rifles in the near future. - Something more to worry about.
There are rumors circulating (purely latrine) that Bing Crosby and Deanna Durbin will entertain us here tomorrow night. If John Chas. Thomas did last week, I don't see why we can't expect them?
Bob
Note running along the left side of page one:
I'm looking forward to those Michigan mints; Hanlin received another big package from his Mother today of cookies; he also had a smaller one the other day. So we've really been eating; I think I eat more of his stuff than he does.
Note running along the left side of the back of page one:
Has the Centennial Edition of the New-Press arrived yet? I sent it, together with some Earl Carroll booklets, etc., from L.A. last Saturday afternoon.
Note running along the left side of the back of page two:
P.S. I got 100 on a short Trig. test today, and an A+ and C- on two English papers.Collection
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Title
Letter Home from Pvt. Robert C. Spalsbury, ASTU 3938, Loyola University, Los Angeles 34, California to his parents Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Spalsbury, 806 South Eleventh, Saint Joseph 10, Missouri. Post Marked SEPT 15, 1943, 2 PM, Los Angeles, Calif., 6 cent Air Mail stamp.Description
Handwritten letter home to parents back in St. Joseph after being called up to serve in the US Army during WWII. Pvt. Spalsbury, at the time of this letter, has completed Basic Training at Camp Callan, California, was stationed for a short time with a STAR Unit for ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program) soldiers in Pasadena, CA and is now stationed at Loyola University in Los Angeles, CA for additional training.
This letter is two pages, front and back, written in blue ink on what appears to be a sheets of typing paper. The letter was mailed in a plain envelope with a 6 cent Air Mail stamp. The paper is folded in half and then in thirds.Condition
Overall Condition
Very GoodRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Robert C. Spalsbury
