Steve19;1491211; said:
Guys, a quick thank you. I send these to my son in Afghanistan daily and it really lifts the guys' spirits.
He might really enjoy this one:
The Army for Country Folks
Dear Ma and Pa,
I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother
Elmer the Army beats working for old man Minch by a mile.
Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are
filled.
I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed
till nearly 6 a.m. But I am getting so I like to sleep
late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is
smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop,
feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay.
Practically nothing.
Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm
water. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice,
cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops,
potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular
food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two
city boys that live on coffee. Their food, plus yours,
holds you until noon when you get fed again. It's no
wonder these city boys can't walk much.
We go on 'route marches,' which the platoon
sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so,
it's not my place to tell him different. A 'route
march' is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then
the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.
The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot.
The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels
just ride around and frown. They don't bother you none.
This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I
keep getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The
bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't
move, and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett
boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all
comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own
cartridges. They come in boxes.
Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat
training. You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to
be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain't
like fighting with that ole bull at home. I'm about the
best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over
in Silver Lake . I only beat him once. He joined up the
same time as me, but I'm only 5'6' and 130
pounds and he's 6'8' and near 300 pounds dry.
Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before
other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.
Your loving daughter,
Alice