Cpl Roman F. Klick 36620923
Co "A", 353rd Engr Regt
A.P.O. #502, c/o Postmaster
San Francisco, California
22 October l943

No mail today at the lunchtime mail call but there is still a possibility that I will get one of the packages in this evening's mail which the mail clerks have just now brought to their companies. Every one of them walked away from the mail tent loaded down with an overfilled sack of newspapers and packages.

As far as Personnel work was concerned, we didn't have much to do today but I was kept rather busy standing by for Captain Hanton's next piece of work. From morning on into the afternoon, Edie and Burkard took turns coming into the office with some "immediately if not sooner" work.

Larry and I figured the PX wasn't going to get any more candy this month so I blew another 30 cents for the combination orange-grapefruit juice drinks. We are now scraping dangerously low to the bottom of my own reserve and, by golly, it worked like a charm because the Exchange brought in a candy bar this afternoon. Luckily we still have enough for a dozen or so candy bars yet before going plumb broke. This new candy is called Zagnut and is one of those fly by night candies yet in spite of that it tastes good.

While wandering into the Recreation Tent the other day, I noticed that the Chaplain had fixed up a little stand to hold various literature which was available to the men as they desired it. There was a small magazine there called "The Link" and although it is filled with quite a bit of religious pep talk, it is still a readable magazine for its articles. In reading over the thing, I noticed an article which might cure the bad habits of quite a few of the people in this world and especially in the army. It was entitled "Ten Reasons Why I Swear" and here they are: (1) It pleases Mother so much. (2) It is a fine mark of manliness. (3) It proves I have great self-control. (4) It indicates how clearly my mind operates. (5) It makes my conversation so pleasing to everybody. (6) It leaves no doubt in anyone's mind as to my good breeding. (7) It impresses people that I have more than an ordinary education. (8) It is an unmistakable proof of outstanding culture and refinement. (9)It makes me a very desirable personality among women and children and in respectable society. (10) It is my way of honoring God who said, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord Thy God in Vain."

During the course of the day I got to thinking over the World Series. Although the affair has been over with for at least a week, we know what the score was and all talk of it has died down; yet, it will not be until the clippings and the more detailed accounts of the games come from home before we will really get the full benefit from the games and then we can have something to argue and talk about.

O, by the way, I'm feeling okay once again and even my morale has stepped up a bit to a point where - once again have a rational outlook on life. Sometimes this war and everything weighs mighty heavy over one's head and it is almost impossible to visualize any end to all of this business. And, another thing, that swelling on my wrist, whatever it might have been, has begun to recede. I've noticed that from time to time as I've told you of my ailments, I've neglected to mention their subsequent disappearance.

There was an article in a Life magazine which dealt with Malarial Mosquitoes in and around Chicago and said that because of the war the United States may come to have malarial epidemics. They claim that the only reason the US has been spared was that there were not many people in the states that the pest could carry the disease from. The article also went on to state that 10,000,000 people are suffering and dying from the disease right now.

Nyalka and Molyneaux tried to get me into another argument on the relative merits of Chicago over Pennsylvania but I was disinclined to do so. For once, I think we Chicago boys dealt the Pa boys a smashing blow when we said that arguing over their relative merits was foolish. It was as foolish as comparing the World Champion Yankees to the lowly Philadelphia Athletics down in the cellar, no comparison. And then too that was just our one city of Chicago outclassing the entire state of Penna.

So-long,
/s/ Roman
Roman