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

And we celebrated Armistice Day too by having a Retreat Parade this morning and hearing a short speech by Lt Colonel Stelzenmuller. However, the speech didn't go over so hot because the sound system was a bit shot in the first place and in the second place, a plane was circling around overhead and right during the speech it zoomed down close above us drowning out every word.

I'm typing this letter on my own typewriter which has just come back from the typewriter repair shop within the last half hour. They did an excellent job on it. Not only did they fix the broken coil which operated the carriage but they also fixed up the old trouble of a broken spring in the carriage return lever. In addition to that they cleaned and oiled it inside and out so it looks like a new machine. That is one thing about these Army portable typewriters and that is that they are sturdy machines and have all the gadgets and conveniences of a standard model. They are not like the portables in civilian life that just have the bare essentials for typing and nothing else. I wouldn't mind being able to buy one of these machines after leaving the Army upon discharge.

Larry and I finally opened up the box of Mrs Snyder's candies today and are eating it very conservatively as we want to make it last. The candy is a fresh as the day it was purchased. This box did not have the outer wrapping of cellophane but was just sealed by adhesive tape around the edges.

There was no mail today. No papers, no letters and no packages. It seems that our entire tent felt the sudden mail drought of the day because no one received anything. This makes the second day in November that I have gone without mail --- terrible isn't it? I'll bet there are some boys up at the fighting fronts who are continually on the move, day after day, who haven't had mail for weeks. When you think of that, you begin to suspect that being able to receive mail on nine out of the first eleven days of this month makes a person just about as rich as he can be --- and happy too.

Because of the day being the 25th anniversary of the close of the last war, there is going to be a big celebration in town tonight with all the bigwigs of the Island and other military authorities and, as a result, we are not going to have our usual Thursday night band concert. Remember how I used to say back in Oregon that our band must be pretty good? Well, from the way they are booked in advance on this Island, they must easily be the Number One Spotlight Band.

The payroll is not done but I did make a sincere effort to work on it. The beginning was good and I was down to the last name on the second page when I made my first error. The only trouble was that it was not an ordinary error. As a general rule (with apologies to Mr Perrara) an error can be detected through the fingers immediately after being made. My error came as a surprise to me as I struck what seemingly was the right key and another letter was printed on the page. Very rarely will you find typists running into that type of difficulty but you do have a few such spells. It is then advisable not to type any too much for that day and I didn't. It would only have meant smudgy mistakes and a lot of wasted paper. After I write tonight's letter to you, I am going to give the payroll another try and see if I can't go to bed this evening with the thought that at least I am well on with it.

The final resting place of the Atlas is in an upright position between my field desk and field box. It is available to the personnel of Personnel, but with the admonition that it is not to be defaced by day by day insertions of gains made on the war fronts.

The show for this evening is "Wild Captive Woman " and Jack thinks a girl from his home town, Norristown, Pa., who he went to school with, plays in the picture. We shall see.

So-long,   /s/ Roman   Roman