Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
August 4, 1943

Dear Aunty Clara,

Again it is but a few short minutes before the evening meal and I will have to rush a bit to get this letter in this evening's mail. I will probably not have time to write again tonight because I am going to the other outfit with Lt Yantis to show "It Ain't Hay" with Abbott and Costello. I will let you know how everything turns out.

I got a haircut today --- at last. It was just a trim but I intend to go again in two weeks and keep up a two week interval so that is will always look trim.

Your letters of July 23rd and 24th arrived today. Gosh, that was something to have George drop in the house, wasn't it? Now I will not be able to write to him because I will know that he isn't at his old address. I hope you gave him my new APO so that in case he would like to start the correspondence once again, he will be able to do so. I sure would have like to have seen him. It was good just to read that he had been there. Chances are that he could still be chosen to be an instructor in bombing or navigation down in Florida and never have to leave the country. However, if he does leave on active duty, I imagine that he will be seeing quite a lot of action and soon. With the bombing of Italy and the imminent opening of a full-fledged second front in Europe all available Air Corps personnel will be up there doing their job. I hope he gets thru it alright and comes back home to tell of some of his experiences.

So the V-Mail postcard which I drew for you turned out to be fairly good, eh? That is probably because the reduction in size makes the errors less noticeable. I have tried to draw others since then but nothing has seemed to turn out well. I guess it was the occasion which gave me the inspiration on that one.

During that month when you can send me packages without a request you might send me a supply of Listerine Tooth Powder. They do not sell it in the PX and I do not care for the brand they do sell even if they are nationally advertised. I believe I still have enough for about two months or maybe more.

The utility kit which Senor G gave me is finally proving its real worth. I keep it on top of my cabinet and it is a right handy container for the toilet articles. I keeps them all in one place, it can be kept outside of cabinet and looks neat. Naturally, it doesn't hold much but that is not the purpose of it. I'll never forget how Aunty Florence laughed and laughed when I first got it. Come to think of it, I almost didn't take that with me, didn't I? If I hadn't gone home on furlough, it would still be parked in the box I sent home in February.

The PX is selling the Tootsie Rolls, Mints and Baby Ruth candy bars and as usual, when I have money in my pocket, I was beginning to cram myself with the sweets. But I decided that too much wasn't going to do me any good and I also thought that I had better go on a voluntary ration system. If I can possibly control myself, I will restrict myself to purchasing three bars of candy every other day. I believe that should be sufficient. How is my fellow strategist making out with his new found desire for candy? Has he upped his own rations to more than one a day?

That is a fine how-do-you-do. I sent your birthday present home on the 2nd of July and the 24th of July has already rolled around and you haven't received it! I hope that in the next three letters one of them will mention that you have received it. In that case it would be very timely to have arrived the day before or just on your birthday. I'll not send it that way anymore. It takes too long.

Say, I almost forgot to tell you, I am sending along a poem on a separate form. It is entitled "The Corps of Engineers". The best part of it is the windup in the last two stanzas. Someone in the office ran across it in some magazine.

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman