June 21, 1945
My Darling,
At last there is plenty of action floating around. We left Lincoln at 1800 on Monday and were lucky enough to get Pullmans. It was a troop train with a G. I. mess car but it wasn't bad. The worst part about it was that we don't get any travel pay when we travel in troop trains. The trip wasn't too bad. Nice scenery and many Mexicans. They sure must be the passionate type - never saw so many kids in my life. They all seem happy too. No matter what question you ask them they smile before answering. We stopped for an hour in El Paso so I went sight seeing. It's a funny city. The streets just run any way they want to. You have the feeling that you're in something different. Every other store seems to handle curios. I was thinking what a swell time you could have buying Mexican jewelry. I'll bet Mexico is swell. I had lunch in a Chinese restaurant downtown. Not one single fish on the menu. I settled for a steak. It was big and good and only cost 70 cents with apple pie. I hope some wise guy doesn't let them know the stuff is hard to get. We pulled out of El Paso and arrived here at 0100 this morning. There were buses waiting for us so I didn't get much chance to see Tucson. The field is the best yet. The buildings are all white and green trimmed and there is plenty of grass and an occasional palm tree. The officers club is like a combination hotel lobby and night club. There's a soft drink cocktail lounge, music room, slot machines and card room and a bar room. Very elegant. Air conditioned too!
The officers mess is super too. It costs $38.00 a month but you help yourself and the food is good. There are tables and chairs too instead of benches. I like the whole set up very much. I don't know everything about the field yet but by next letter I should be an expert.
I've only picked up a smattering of information so far. I'm living in a room with the other four officers in my crew. As I came in this morning they were getting ready for take off so I didn't get much time to talk. Holy hotcakes. Honey, they are all from the south and me not even from southern Chicago. Remind me to keep my mouth shut. I'll have enough trouble fighting this war. I'll tell you more about them in the next letter.
We're on the last stretch in our training. We have about six more practice missions to fly and are scheduled to finish up on August 5th. After that it's a matter of a couple of days. I guess this definitely is it! Oh well, I've had a lot of breaks. No kick coming.
This morning we drew our flying equipment and we process this afternoon. I don't know how long that will take. If we get through early I'd like to go to town. We don't get any regular days off so I'm going to try to get to town as often as possible.
I've got to be shoving off pretty soon now. I'll write again as soon as I get a chance. My crew should be back tonight so I'll get more dope from them. Write fast and furious, will yah Honey? I'll start counting the days till I hear from you. Give my love to your Mom and all the gang. So long for now.
I love you
Ray
Squadron G. Sect. 1
Davis Monthan Field
Tuscon, Arizona