Name/Title
Spalsbury: #73 Letters Home February 18, 1944Entry/Object ID
2021.2.317A-EScope and Content
Letter Home from Pvt. Robert C. Spalsbury, 17135556, Btry B - 778th AAA A.W. Bn (S.P.), Camp Haan, California to his parents Mr. and Mrs. George C. Spalsbury, 806 South 11th, St. Joseph (10), Missouri. Post Marked FEB 18, 1944, 10:30 AM, Camp Haan, Calif., 6 cents Air Mail stampContext
Wednesday Night ---
17 Feb 44
Dear Folks--
Right now I'm up here in the Topside Service Club No. 3 sitting at a little typewriter table. I just put a dime in it, and it's supposed to type for 30 minutes. It's a Woodstock make, and I don't like it very well. The ribbon is too fresh , for one thing.
I started work on that "good deal" I was telling you about in a letter I wrote you from Camp Irwin. I finally managed to wiggle myself into the Battalion Personnel Office. I was on Guard yesterday, and while I wasn't walking it, I went into the Perwonnel Office to wpekk with Mr. Flynn again. He's a Warrant Officer, and head of the Battalion's Personnel. He told me to report for work this morning. I'm going to work there for a week, then if my work is satisfactory, and I think and hope it will be, I'll be transferred to Battery A as an assistant to that Battery's present Personnel Clerk, who is in line Corporal (he has two wstripes on his arm). He's a pretty nice fellow -- in fact, most of the guys in the Personnel Office are--but he's just a little flighty and absent-minded. He's 30 years old, but doesn't look a day over 25. He used to be a credit manager before he came to the Army, so he's fairly efficient at that type of work. I think I can handle him diplomatically.
Our work consists in keeping up the men's Service Records, Pay Books , Insurance and Bond allotments, etc.--keeping 'em up to date, etc. We have to enter various things in the Records, for instance, today I was writing in the fact that the men had had the Articles of War read to them, and also had recently seen a film and heard the Sex Morality Lecture. These two things, by the way, must ???ur to an Enlisted Man every six months. Then I did a little typing on Pay Books. Right now they're very rushed. The Personnel Clerk for headquarters Battery also is short an assistant. He's a little Mexican kid--very nice.
The job definitely has its advantages. For one thing, you're always assured of a weekend pass. For another, you don't have to "hit the line" with the rest of the men in the Battery. Hitting the line" is falling out for formations, etc. You're much more on your own, and much more your own boss. For another thing you're around nicer fellows. I enjoye d my three months of hitting the line in Baker Battery, and being a cannonee r was fun. But the fellows in general weren't of my caliber, and after all there's something better than being a cannoneer. I hadn't taken advantag e of my typing ability in the Army yet, but I knew I could always bring it out when I wanted to get into something like that.
Good news--beginning Monday, February 21st, the 778th is getting its second furlough. However, the mowt important men in the Batteriew--that is , the top sergeants, cadremen, etc., will get theirw first. This is so that they'll be back when the outfit iw alerted, which won't be so long off, and they can tend to the very important business then of loading the halftracks on flatears for shipment to some other state, etc. I plan on getting home about April sometime, probably when Duane's there. The weather and countryside will be ideal then, also.
Had a letter from Hamlin yesterday, after a very long time. He's in Term III now, and getting along satisfactorily. I believe he said he heard from Haglund a while back. He's been released from the Hospital, and has jooned his outfit, wherever they are. They were at Needle s, and I believe they still are there. Hamlin told me what happened to the graduating class at Loyola. These were the 35 or 40 boys who were in Term II when I was. He said 10 of them have been sent to Arizona State for Advanced Engineering, 2 or 3 were sent to UCLA into medicine, Feldman and Becker, two Jews, were flunked out because they cut class just once too often, and the rest were went up to Camp Roberts into the Field Artillery there. One of them, Tom Fotines, a Greek I never liked very much, was sent to the Infantry, which givew me a nice feeling. A few of the Term IIers last term were taken out and sent to school to take up dentistry or medicine. Irwin Braff, our little Jewish friend from "Flatbush" (Brooklyn) has been sent to UCLA for medicine. Not a bad deal at all. UCLA is the best school around here. Very beautiful, and situated handily between Beverly Hills and Santa Monica in lovely Westwood Village, and excluwive rewidenti al diwtrict. Hanlin is beginning to worry about the "deal" he will get when he leaves Loyola. His grades aren't good enough, I believe, to warrant sending him someplace else for further training. He would like to be a Chaplain's Clerk, he says. He'd be in his glory there, the Puritan!
Had a short letter from Aunt Esther today. It was very nice of her to write. She just returned from a trip back East visiting her oute kids. But I guess she told you all about it. The Gazette also came today, Pop, showing Bob Stigall and his exploits.
Some of us went down to the Hospital the other day, to the Eye Clini c, where we were fitted and meawured for our gas mask glasses. If you have poor eyesight, your gas mask lenses are fitted with your glawwes prescription. Naturally, this is mainly for overseas duty. Many of the fellows have been sent up to the Dental Clinic lately, where they've had teeth filled and extracted, and some have got partial plates. Naturally, this is for overseas duty, too. I'm telling you, this is really a "hot" outfit. But don't let it worry you. I have no fear of going overseas, in fact, in many ways I look forward to it. I guess I really enjoy travel and adventure.
I'm glad you like the perfume, Mom. It was the only stuff the P.X. had, and it seemed [NOTE: this is the point in the letter where Robert switches from typewriter to handwriting] of fairly good quality. [NOTE: the next sentence was written and then a line run through to strike it out] It cost 2 bucks, which means that the retail cost is probably 3 bucks or so. I guess it's really not perfume, but cologne. I don't know exactly whether "Congo" suits your personality, but it'll do. It might have suited some flaming redhead better.
I'm sorry I missed "Destination Tokio." All the officers and men raved about it when it showed here about two months ago. It was supposed to be very authentic, I believe.
Cpl. Kurtz is in the Hospital here recovering from an appendicitis operation. I'll go down to see him in a day or two. I sent him a little card tonight. I bought it in Riverside last weekend, when I thought he was in the hospital at San Bernardino, -to send to him there. ---He's a nice kid, and helped me a lot in feeling at home in Baker Battery.
Yeah, you told me about Ellen Wood's deal. I'd like to see that gal now - I bet she's a little more mature than she used to be. And probably fatter than ever now.
I don't know what I want yet for my birthday. Yeah, maybe I'll be home then.
Have you been getting checks from your work lately, Mom? I guess it takes a little time to "get the ball rolling."
Had a surprise the other night. Found that Robert L. Rogers, my squad leader in C-57 at Callan, is in Area 22 - right south of us - he's a line Corporal now - he's in charge of a Director crew. He was disappointed because he wasn't put in a halftrack outfit. He's the fellow who turned down the ASTP; whose folks have some money. He's been over to Europe with his Dad on Business before. It was good to see him - he was pretty nice to me during Basic Tng.
I'm enclosing two negatives from that last bunch, some of which I already sent.
I decided I wasn't going to stick another dime into that damned typewriter. I spent 20 cents already. So - - - the longhand.
The Valentine was cute, Mom. Thanks. I sent Miss Reichert a card, acknowledging the calender.
Had another postcard from John Hanson today. He's at Camp Carson, Colorado, in an Engineer Maint. Co. - He likes it fine, and says the Camp is so superior to Haan. The buildings and general appearance are all so much finer.
Sgt. Dodson, my Section Leader, and Cpl. Gentile, my Squad Leader, are all "pissed off" because Mr. Flynn has "swiped" me. I told them yesterday there was a lot of extra work to be done at Personnel, and since I could type, Mr. Flynn wanted to use me. I told 'em it was probably only temporary. I hated to tell 'em the truth, and don't want 'em to know that I had a lot to do with it. It's nice to think they thought I was a good man on the crew, but I'm really better situated in the new "deal." Of course if I don't like it I can always go back to the "line." Those office jobs are in big demand around here, in fact, there was a fellow in Btry. A itself who wanted my job, but Cpl. Hall said Mr. Flynn thought I was better qualified for it.
Yes, in a way Lee Dubach is lucky. He always was quite a "home" boy. In lots of ways I didn't like him - he was rather childish and sorta goody-goody. He's still a good kid, though. ---Lucky Jr. Olson, being sent to England - I envy him. Jamison, also, is fortunate to be in China, I believe.
Love, BOBCollection
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Letter Home from Pvt. Robert C. Spalsbury, 17135556, Btry B - 778th AAA A.W. Bn (S.P.), Camp Haan, California to his parents Mr. and Mrs. George C. Spalsbury, 806 South 11th, St. Joseph (10), Missouri. Post Marked FEB 18, 1944, 10:30 AM, Camp Haan, Calif., 6 cents Air Mail stampDescription
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 then moved to engineering training at Loyola University in Los Angeles, CA. After flunking out of the ASTP program, Robert was briefly stationed at Camp Roberts, located in central California assigned to the Infantry Replacement Training Center. At the time of this letter, Robert is stationed at Camp Haan in southern California, a U.S. Army training camp for Coast Artillery Anti Aircraft gunners.
This letter is two pages, front and back, partially typed and partially written in blue ink on very thin, plain stationery (likely Air Mail stock). The matching envelope is equally thin and shows signs of deterioration along the edges. The pages are folded in thirds.Dimensions
Height
10-1/2 inWidth
7-1/4 inCondition
Overall Condition
Very GoodRelationships
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Person or Organization
Robert C. Spalsbury
