Dear A.C.

A friend of Roman's gave me these letters to mail back to you for him. I believe he said his name was Blumenfeld or something on that order. It so happened that I had told Roman that I was going to be in San Francisco for a few days during the middle of May. He took the chance on sending this Blumenfeld into town with these letters as his friend had a one day pass from camp.

The censorship which his friend told me they undergo in writing letters is very stringent and they tell me it is almost impossible to write decent letters anymore. Roman was supposed to have written three letters at the very beginning (that is, on his arrival in the new camp) but he was too busy to finish them. He then wrote three more letters and they were all returned to him because he said things which were censorable. As a result, I believe he has not been able to get in touch with you, n'est-ce pas, mademoiselle?

It was explained to me that the company officers of each company censor the letters of their own men. That way all their personal affairs or comments on persons about them must be restricted in addition to the restriction of military information. He didn't like the idea of letting your letters pass under their eyes so he chose this method of getting them back to you. After this it appears that they will necessarily have to be destroyed. It is too bad that such has to be the case since I know very well how much the saving of his correspondence meant to Roman.

Incidentally, the reason Roman did not come into Frisco with his friend was because of the furlough he just had. It happens to be a rule that the men who did not have furloughs received first choice in obtaining passes to town. That is only fair.

There is another thing which I did not understand but Mr. (I should say Private first class) Blumenfeld said I should tell you. Roman wants you to remember the importance of his letters which begin "my dearest Aunty Clara" and that you will know what that means. He also said that you should use the same salutation "my dearest Roman" in event that you have received some communication from him and wish to acknowledge the same. For instance, you would answer that way if he wrote you a letter with some personal information etcetera which he would not want unfriendly eyes to see. See?

There are countless of restricted bits of information which I don't think should even be divulged in a letter such as this because after all the army does have a purpose for some of its rulings.

yours truly,
/s/ Jack Francis
Jack Francis

Author's annotation July 2004: This letter was written - then mailed in town - to avoid censorship. The date is probably May 13, 1943. The location is San Francisco.