Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
12Oct43

I met a very old friend of mine last night under very peculiar circumstances. You probably think I'm talking about some person but I'm not. It is none other than my favorite constellation, Orion. It is a winter constellation (not our winter down here but your winter back home). It is this time of the year back home that Orion begins to shine forth in all his splendor and strangely enough, now that summer is coming around the bend, he is beginning to show himself in these parts. Of course, back home I could walk south, towards the house, from 22nd Street along 57th Avenue and look right up at him over Nervino's house. In this unholy place, Orion appears upside down and to see him the right way you have to twist your head half way around your neck. You recall that last night I was very tired for seemingly no good reason and as I sort of staggered to my tent with my eyes half shut, I happened to glance up to the mountain and there was Orion, plain as night.

So much for that. The show ran off very well tonight and the advantage of having only two reels was immediately apparent since it gave the entire show a more professional touch as Lt. Yantis puts it. Right now Lt. Yantis is up there running the show over again for the 1st Sgts. When I went up this evening, after listening to the news bulletins, I found that Lt. Yantis had connected the radio to the loud speaker for the news broadcast and then had left it on for the Henry Aldrich program. As good as the Aldrich Family is, it is not fitting entertainment for a group of soldiers, so I shut the radio off and started the recordings going. They expressed their approval by cheering when the radio was turned off.

As for the picture itself, I enjoyed it again with the sound added to it. Clarence would have been one to enjoy a soundless picture because then every bit of the acting ability or inability sticks out like a sore thumb. There was one part of the picture which I imagine went over big at the Villas. It is when a Mrs. Novotony is calling Dr. Gillespie about her insomnia. Speaking of pictures, reminds me that they are still making cracks around the regiment about the "For Me and My Gal" film when Gene Kelly says that the part of Chicago they are showing in is a two-bit burg. And then there was that other crack when Judy Garland says the Chicago laundries can't even iron a blouse right.

Did I tell you about the little gadget Lt. Yantis fixed up to tell the time it is back home at any time of day it is here? He even has the little movable disk so fixed up that he can find the time in any of the four time zones of the United States and then the principal capital cities of our Allies and Foes. If the time is in red, that means we have to subtract a day meaning it is still yesterday back home. When we are starting our day, you are in the middle of yesterday afternoon. By the time we are eating lunch, you are either reading the newspapers or listening to the radio after supper. When I lock up my typewriter to finish the day, you are just about ready to go to bed. When I am fixing up to go to bed for the night, you are either sitting by the oil stove reading the Tribune while the coffee is heating up or going into the bedroom to wake Aunty Florence up for the third or fourth time. While you are talking to Mrs. Reed over the phone, reading the early mail from me, going downtown, or eating lunch, I am pounding the pillow only I haven't any pillow.

No, Uncle Jack has not yet told me that he subscribed to the Chicago Daily News for me. That will be swell because then I will be sure to read each issue. I have seen one time to time but never consistent like.

Since you've told me that the covers for the V-mails are not available, I will begin working to fix up covers as best as I can. I'll let you know what I do about them and how I do it. Until tomorrow,

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman