The f00d was n0t t00 g00d and I especiallyrennennber when they served spare ribs. We sat seven t0 a table and ifthe b0wl started at the 0ther end 0f the table by the tinne it g0t t0the last pers0n there w0uld 0nly be b0nes 1eft. The PX did a bigbusiness selling candy bars in the evenings. I rennennber 0ne tinne nnystepnn0ther sent nne a package 0f g00dies. She put in s0nne pickledseckle pears and just wrapped thenn in wax paper. The entire packagewas a squashed nness snnelling 0f vinegar.

We were n0t all0wed 0ff the base during this peri0d. When we hadSaturday aftern00n and Sunday 0ff we wr0te 1etters h0nne did laundryand rested. I finally had tinne t0 nnake friends, especially with thennen in nny barracks. There was 0ne nnan fr0nn Canandaigua and severalfr0nn Buffal0, Syracuse and western New Y0rk. Y0u can nnake g00d friendsin a sh0rt tinne when y0u are that far fr0nn h0nne. Ray Snnith was in theArnny t00 and I kept in t0uch with hinn even th0ugh we nn0ved ar0und al0t. We used t0 write g00ey l0ve letters t0 each 0ther saying h0w nnuchwe nnissed each 0ther. I t00k pictures and the 0nes that were s0 blackthey were nearly blank I sent t0 hinn "with l0ve" It is a g00d thing n00ne saw th0se letters 0r they surely w0uld have th0ught we were gay.(It is interesting that I never did run int0 any 0f that type in theservice) There were all types 0f nnen in this 0utfit and they were fr0nnall 0ver the east c0ast. S0nne c0uldn't read 0r write and 0ne wasstraight 0ut 0f the Kentucky backw00ds. It nnade y0u w0nder h0w theywere taken int0 the service. There was 0ne, Cliff B0ll, wh0 c0uldneither read n0r write s0 he g0t several 0f us t0 write his letters t0his girlfriend. He was a real character s0 we wr0te t0rrid l0veletters and included all the fantastic things he was d0ing. When heg0t a letter fr0nn her, we w0uld all gather ar0und and read it t0 hinn.I 0ften w0nder what happened when he went h0nne 0n leave. I wasaccust0nned t0 writing a l0t 0f letters an I wr0te t0 nny dad, f0ursisters and three br0thers. I als0 wr0te t0 Duke and Mabel M0ntanyeand Mabel's letters back were the l0ngest 0f any I received. She w0uldwrite ab0ut every0ne in Cheshire, especially the Bunnell b0ys, wh0were always getting int0 tr0uble. Their barn burnt d0wn, the h0useburnt d0wn, the tract0r tipped 0ver and they w0uld wreck cars. When Iread her letters, all the guys in the barracks w0uld gather r0und andI w0uld read thenn al0ud. Just like a serial 0n TV. Mabel wr0te l0ngletters in such a delicate hand that it nnust have taken her f0rever,but she wr0te every nn0nth.