Day 42

5/17/43
Hollywood, California

Phillipines

25 August 45

Dear Folks,

   Now that we are no longer riding the high seas maybe I can find some spare time to write some letters. There just wasn't anything to write about on the ship. Of course we got the news every day but you folks had already heard it before we did. We had only been here one day before we got mail so it wasn't so bad. I got several letters from you and Jerry. One from my friends in England, one from Cecil and Jack D. I was glad to get in touch with Jack again but then I read in the clippings you sent that he was back home so now I don't know where to write his letters to. Cecil is doing just fine and is at midshipman's school at Notre Dame. He really is getting around only in the higher ups than me. But I guess you could really say I have seen plenty of the world. At least I have seen plenty to suit me. But I am just waiting until I get back home. 

   I suppose before I go any further you will want to know a little more about the land over here. We were in Manila but it is a pretty deserted looking place. Of course we were only at the waterfront and along the railroad tracks and that is never the nicer part of town But the whole city is pretty well bombed out. The people live in little shacks built on stilts to keep the water off the ground floor. It is the rainy season right now and it rains on the average of once every four hours, and then just to break the monotony it rains in between. We can buy lots of bananas, coconuts, pineapple, and mangos over here. But they are very high priced. Eight bananas for one peso (fifty cents). Most of the land we saw was under cultivation and the principal crop was rice. We saw it in almost every stage from before it is planted until it is ready to be harvested. All the fields were terraced to permit irrigation and it showed that a lot of work had been spent to build it up. We saw lots of water buffalos working in the fields. The people are very short and of course dark skinned. Most of them can speak a little English which was picked up from the GI's. Every GI is "Joe" to them and they run about shouting "Hello Joe" to everyone they see. Their clothes are mostly misfits and used GI clothing. My Cpt. got a kick out of the way the little boys dress over here. About half of them wear nothing but a shirt which reaches to their knees. And about half of the shirts have been outgrown and as a result reach to their waist. We also saw these big hats they wear to keep off the rain. One of the men in my squad is a former school teacher and he met a Phillipine school teacher. She had had 3 years of college and can speak English much better than some of us can. Due to the fact they don't use so many slang expressions. Anyway she invited him to visit her school and see how the schools are run over here. Well, I guess this just about takes care of this side of the world. 

   I got the pictures you sent and Dad seems to have aged quite a bit since I saw him last. But I guess not too much because he seems to have put on a little weight in the well known places. Jenifer seems to be growing up very fast. Guess I won't be able to recognize her when I get back. But after all it has been several months since we have seen each other and I guess I may have changed too.Of course I don't notice it in myself so much because I usually see myself every day. I am just fine and managed to put on weight on the ship. But I won't promise how long I'll keep it. Tell Dad to take it easy and I'll be back to help him next spring, I hope. Well, I guess I have rattled on long enough for now so I'll start in on a letter to Cecil. I'll write again as soon as I can but the evenings are so short.It is too dark to write at 7:30. Love to all, Jean 

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It's a slow news day today so I decided to share a letter my dad sent to his parents during World War II. My dad was born 1/19/24 so you can figure out how old he was in the picture and when he was in Manila. His first son, Michael was born in February of 1945 and he had not seen him yet either. Also, just a note, I DID NOT spell Jenifer wrong - his sister's name was actually spelled that way. His parents had a farm in Iowa and he was looking forward to going back and helping on the farm. He actually took over the farming for quite a few years and finally "retired" from farming in 1959 and moved to California with his wife and 4 children (I was the youngest). At that time, farming was just not a profitable occupation and California seemed more promising to them.   

Now for current news - had a great morning of Sunday School and church. Relaxed during the afternoon. For dinner tonight Jason and Peggy shared a feast of chicken from Lee's (way, WAY better than KFC.) It was great, thank you. Now I'm just relaxing again and planning what jobs I need to take care of tomorrow. 

Wade had a good busy day. He's got hot coffee, internet, and enough work to keep him occupied. Busy-ness is good for him. Lots of people asked about him today at church - he is missed and prayed for.