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Robert

Jan 17, 1955

9:30 PM

Hi “Little One”:

Hope you are felling good tonight, I wasn’t. We had an inspection tonight at 7:30. They told us about it tonight at 5:00 and everyone worked like they were crazy right up to the lat minute. Then it really hit the fn. The cadre, our training instructors, went through an everything ended up on the floor, from bunks to canteens. Everything that was wrong ended up on the floor. I got by lucky and had only four t-shirts on the floor. They were rolled wrong. After they go through, you feel like the lowest critter on God’s earth. But I re-read your letter for about the fifth time and I was on top of the world again.

Today was our first day of basic training and beside the inspection, it wasn’t bad at all (Knock on wood). Tonight we had about 3 in of snow and I’m looking forward to our hour of physical training tomorrow morning. We also have to run for four city blocks tomorrow before breakfast. The only thing that has really bothered me about the army so far is that they expect you to do so many things in such a short time and do them right without telling you a thing.

My folks are sending down the Minneapolis paper every day but I don’t have any time to read it. I’m behind there days now and I doubt if I will ever catch up.

We just had a meeting of our platoon to discuss the “results” of the inspection. That took up about fifteen minutes, and since lights go out at 10:00, I am writing the rest of this letter on the staircase with a cold wind blowing in under the door. After I finish this letter I’ll clean up and then go to bed. I sleep in an upper bunk, thank God, because they ordered us to keep at least two windows open on each side and the lower bunks are continually being bathed with a cold breeze. They said this was to prevent our catching pneumonia. Huh!

Every night before I go to bed I think how nice it would be if I could get up in the morning and be able to see you that day or night. If you don’t know it, I miss you and love you very much. But I always think of the shining day when I come home and can be able to see you again. The time seems to be moving very slowly when you look ahead but very fast when you look back.

I was the first one on this staircase, but now there are four of us, all in our “long-johns”> What a sight! Wish I had a picture. Tomorrow I have to get another haircut because the fuzz is getting long enough so that I can run a comb thru it. Close your eyes and picture seventy-five guys running around in “long-johns”, boots half-way up to our knew, with bald heads. A guy sure has to be able to laugh at himself or he’ll go nuts.

I don’t know if I have said this before, but give my address to La Marre. I wrote him one letter but can’t seem to squeeze in enough time to write him another letter. Believe it or not, but you are privileged. I wrote you first and then try to get a few additional ones off to my folks, buddies, etc. Don’t tell me to stop doing it that way either, because that is the way I want it. It is now 10:50 so I think I’ll close, but be sure to say hello to everyone at the hospital for me.

Love and kisses,

Bob (alias Idiot)

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