WRITING LETTERS

[This continues the letter of January 30, 1943, written by my dad, Vance, from Camp White, Oregon, to his folks on the farm in Idaho. Vance was drafted at the age of 38 – apparently at the high end of age eligibility. Many of these "older" men became sick because of the strenuous winter training in the cold, damp Oregon environment. Vance has applied to return to civil defense work. He notes that "men are leaving all the time."]

I enjoyed your large letter. I have written Shirley but not Ethel. I hope to soon. I'd like to relieve you of forwarding letters but I write you details I really haven't time to write everyone in the hope you will send the letters on. Why don't you let me forward some of yours and relieve the pressure on your correspondence. I had a letter from Shirley a few days ago. From news from the north it seems the country from Portland to Seattle is having a bad cold spell and lots of snow. No snow here and not very cold, praise be! Your weather has been on the jump, too.

. . . next week we start exams since next week ends our first phase of basic training – then we go into the second phase. This radio course is for 12 weeks but I won't be here to finish it, I hope, tho I am enjoying it.

I am glad you got the extra revenue from the flax without a fight. I think you did well to pay up as much as you did. I hope you got enough for the beeves considering the present price of meat. So far the markets in Medford are putting out fine displays of meat if the market Ruth works in is any example.

I had a card from Pearl promising a letter when they got settled. I'm sure you did miss her. I enjoyed her a great deal on my visits to Corvallis. [The photo here is of my grandmother, Ina, with two of her daughters, Shirley and Pearl, at Volunteer Park in Seattle. I wonder if Volunteer Park still exists. I think Aunt Pearl spent some time with the folks on the farm in the fall of 1942. She and her husband, Al Sanders, were relocating from Canada to the United States, and my guess is that at this time they are getting settled in Seattle. Aunt Shirley also lived in Seattle.]

Yes, I get $50 per month. So far have had one pay day and got $60, but there were some deductions. We have another pay day next week, I think. I think Grant rates his stripe partly because of his marksmanship. He is a nice chap. I went into Medford Wednesday night and met him and Ruth in town and had a nice session. It was the first chance I had had to talk to Grant. We walked Ruth home and Grant and I caught the bus and rode out to camp together. [When I think of war, I think of the sacrifices made by mothers. It was hard on marriages, too. KW]