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Today we have a letter from G.I. Harry Lowell to Hilda Firestone on Desert Training Center stationery in southern California.
November 30, 1943
Dear Hilda,
Today is pay day – the most joyful day of the month; it’s so joyful, indeed that I decided to write a whole batch of letters.
In contrast to what I thought of the desert during the hot summer months, I say now that the desert during winter is most enjoyable. The days are cool and sunny and the nights are very cold which makes one sleep very well. (of course, I have to be most careful not to knock my toes against any hard object early in the morning, lest they break off.) But it is rather nice now; and just when I get to like it here we are told that we may leave soon. Incidentally, my new mailing address is:
Pvt. H.L.
3352nd QM Truck Company
APO 181, c/o Postmaster
Los Angeles
I went to Yuma last week. On our way back we camped by Salton Sea, a nice salty lake near Mecca. The next morning I took a swim – alone, as my four [?] companies didn’t like cold water in the morning. When I got out of the water I was met by some major who had been watching me from a nearby cabin. Well, the old boy was furious and threatened to call the M.P.s to run me in for indecent exposure; he finally settled down and let me go with just a warning. How was I to know that anybody around there, especially pot-bellied majors, are in the habit of getting up before eight-thirty in the morning?How are you getting along with your work? I guess you’re quite busy writing Christmas cards, too.
What is the civilian outlook on the situation of the war and the possibilities of its termination in the near future? The opinion among the soldiers is very mixed, partly due to the fact that some read only the funnies or the sports page; some of them are seriously interested in the events, but quite a few don’t give a darn and pick up news items from the “well-informed,” misinterpret them, and start showing off their knowledge during occasional evening talks in the tents. It’s great fun and I have learned to keep still and just listen to the “latrine politicians.” Paul would just love it, I bet.
Well, that’s all I have to say for the moment.
Give my regards to your father and Paul and everybody else.Yours sincerely,
HarryP.S. Many thanks for sending me the copy of Albert Elkins’ speech.
A quick search came up with no information on Albert Elkins.
Harry lived with Hilda and Nathan Firestone when he came to San Francisco in 1939. They served as his guardians until he graduated from high school in 1941. Nathan died in September 1943, which is why the letter is written to only Hilda. We read about Hilda’s grief in a letter she wrote to Helene in 1946.
I am in awe of young Harry’s wisdom in this letter. Already, he was a keen observer of human nature – he wrote this letter before his 20th birthday. His words remind us that there is nothing new under the sun.