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

At ten o'clock this morning Mersing performed what might be his last official act as Orderly Room Orderly for Company A by waking me up to tell me that I was wanted at the Personnel Office. I was CQ for the day and didn't even know it until Beaumont quietly had Mersing page me. But the reason I say it might be his last act is that he is going to go into the Motor Pool possibly as a driver or mechanic. That is his line of work and something which he is more interested in than clerical work. Right now he is on a three day pass which he will spend at a recreational camp with four other fellows from the company.

I thought that I might have had a chance today to get a few letters out but it just wasn't to be. I had to rush out a few letters which had been pending for quite some time, do a little work for the company on a report of equipment etcetera and a few other miscellany. Then I had planned to work on that masterpiece of mine before chow only to find myself helping in the construction of those individual clothes racks which the boys had begun working on earlier in the afternoon.

I went to the show this evening but only stayed for the two shorts because I had already seen the feature picture "The Mysterious Doctor" back in the states.

Say, I just read a magazine article advertising Listerine Tooth Powder and it says that the powder which comes in this new war-economy container has something new added called the quick-foam formula so that it feels more like a paste when you brush with it. Now that is the very thing I wrote and told you about which I object to. It is just soap that has been added to the powder to make it lather up in your mouth. It leaves a stinging sensation on my tongue which I do not like. They advertise that bad point as a new taste-thrill in the winta-mint flavor. I suppose by now you have sent out the tooth powder as I asked you to so I will use it but I think that after that batch is done, I might as well switch to a different brand. It was not those qualities which I liked in Listerine and they have lost a customer by changing it.

I received two letters from you today dated August 29 and September 1. The August 29th one came in its original form without having been fotoed. In the place for the censor stamp they have written "Damaged by Cutting Machine" and on the face of the letter underneath the address they have stamped "Unsuitable for filming, Army V-Mail Station." When they film the letter, they evidently out off the side flaps as they did with yours but they do not intend to cut part of the center away as they did in your case. The form is held together with Scotch tape. I first noticed that a segment was missing when the address seemed queer. Three letters were missing from Klick, two from Engineers and one letter apiece in both Postmaster and San Francisco. Then on down thru the letter parts of words had been cut away as the cutting machine had taken away a strip.

By the way, Aunty Clara, I remember you telling me that perhaps you would take that airplane trip to Milwaukee sometime later on in the summer. That would be good news if during the next week I heard from you that that is the way you went there. Then we could talk it over on how swell air travel is. It doesn't seem possible that you haven't been there since last November. I'll never forget those Marines who entertained us all the way home. I suppose by now all their little silver medals for marksmanship have changed for the real thing.

Its rather late now because although I started writing at eight o'clock, Larry and Mike have been talking to me and on one occasion I began telling Larry all about the box industry. Believe you me I can go on and on explaining to him how a box is made and how an office runs. Somehow almost all my memories of Rathborne are pleasant and I like to gab about them.

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman