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Today’s letter is from G.I. Harry Lowell at the California Desert Training Center to his sister Eva in San Francisco.
December 7, 1943
Beloved Sister,
It is with great pleasure that I received both your letters.
Well, first of all I want you to know how glad I am that you have found a good and well-paid job. Now that you are the capitalist of the Lowell family, you’ll be able to do a little saving on the side – I guess I don’t have to tell you that. As to my promotion in the army right now, chances are very slim, indeed. The only way that I can get a rank or rating is by somebody’s elimination [?] or transfer. I am doing some brushing up in Spanish, math, physics, and I may start some other language. Then I’ll take over my I.Q. test and try to get 140; if I can make that high an I.Q., I’ll be general before my next birthday.
So you finally moved, eh? Is the new place nicer than the old one? As to your bedroom suite I could get you some mahogany-ultra-modern-hazelnut-finished army cots if you need them very bad.
We had some rain lately, and the mountains that surround the camp have a thin – very thin – cover of snow; they look pretty.
How is Hilda getting along? Let me know how her state of mind is, so that I can write my letters to her accordingly. The last two letters to her have been on the cheerful side.
What are you and Ursula doing in your spare time? Have you been boating or horseback riding yet?
How is your beau Walter? Hahaha!
Have you seen any good pictures lately? I haven’t.
I suppose S.F. looks like a big ant hill, with all the people hustling to get their Christmas shopping done. San Bernardino is a sucker’s paradise, therefore I won’t buy you anything this year – unless I can get to L.A. As for a present to me, use your head and judgement, I don’t need any clothes or books. (Use algebra to find x=present; you know, the system of cancellation of factors.)
Well, that’s all for today. My best regards to everyone.
Your baby-brother,
HarryP.S. That Turkish actor’s name is Turhan Bey.
P.P.S. Note my new address:
3352nd QM Truck Company
APO 181, Postmaster,
Los Angeles
P.P.S.S. The joke was pretty good.
P.P.P.S.S. What’s the name of that fancy restaurant you talked about in your letter?
P.P.P.S.S.S. Even if I didn’t remember the poems, at least my grammar was correct. (Did I have a hard time, too!)
Despite his light tone, Harry touches on a more serious issue when he suggests that his sister save part of her paycheck – an unspoken reminder of their parents’ plight and their hope to bring them to the U.S. after the war.
According to Wikipedia, Turhan Bey “was an Austrian-born actor of Turkish and Czech-Jewish origins.” Just like Harry and Eva! He “was dubbed ‘The Turkish Delight’ by his fans and acted in dozens of Hollywood movies.
The last P.S. refers to the letter he wrote in German a few weeks earlier, which we saw in the November 8th post.
I don’t know whether Eva and Ursula — a friend from nursing school — ever went horseback riding together. The photo below was taken a few years later (cigarette in hand) – my mother’s recollection was that it was taken in 1947.
