Lot 15 Letter 13 - 25th of February, 1943

25		February		1943

To: Mrs H.K. Beyer

124 2nd Ave. West Reading, Pa.

From: A/C/C Private H.K. Beyer 13178657 Squardon #1128 T.S.S #602, B.T.C. #9

Miami Beach, Florida.

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Feb 24, 1943

Dearest;

I'm writing this letter in a closet. Lights were just ordered out and I didn't get a chance to write your daily lines yet. Its really tough, dear, to find time to write we have so little time to ourselves. Every thing is done in groups and the lines are usually very long consequently you must wait and wait. You can't walk across the street unless your with a detail. We haven't been away from our post once during free time yet, and as I told you we won't be either till maybe Sunday nite. They're treating us extra tough because they claim we must learn to take it if we want to give it later on as officers.

I miss you terrifically my darling, it gets worse every day. I'll be glad when

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the day comes that I can hold you in my arms again and say, Darling, I'm home again. All those thoughts and desires and even dreams yet we're so far apart. Sometimes I feel sick about the whole thing. I shouldn't be saying all of this it will probably make you feel bad but, darling, you must know how dear you are to me.

Well I promised to tell you about my clothing today. We got everything from soup to nuts. Winter uniforms, summer uniforms (what I'm wearing now) and lots of other things. Its very funny but all my clothing fits me perfectly. I have one of those swell field jackets and a canteen and everything. They even give you a safety razor and all the toilet articles you need. In other words I'll probably have to send everything home until I'm an officer and can have some more privileges.

I'm trying to make all my letters different, that is the ones to my parents different than the ones to you, so be sure to read them. Darling I feel very bad to-nite, we got our shots today. I'll write you a better letter tomorrow and tell you more. Good night darling.

Love and Loads of Kisses
Herb.

P.S. - Hurry that picture.

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Feb 25, 1943

Dearest Wife;

Now I know what a soldier feels like when he gets mail from the first time in the army. It makes you so happy you feel like yelling your head off. And I did, my one letter was on the top of the pile. Altogether I got two letters from you my darling and one from my parents.

I don't think its necessary to send my mail by air because I got a letter from Mom and Pop dated, Feb 23. It must have gotten here this morning but still two days isn't bad at all is it? I heard yesterday that we'll probably move out of here in about 18 days. You hear so many rumors that you can't tell what's really going on. One thing dear, they're really tough on us and they're making us learn real fast.

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They call this post the K.K.K. That means "Kimberly's Koncentration Kamp". The commander here is a broken Brig. General. In other words he was demoted from Brigadier General to Colonel. So they say he really has a chip on his shoulder. So far we've been drilling a couple of hours every day and I mean really drilling. In hot sun and plenty of dust. Now let me tell you about yesterday that was the best one yet. We got up, like we always do 4:45 A.M., lined up in formation and went for chow. Got back from chow about 6:30, back to polish shoes, make bed, clean up shave, etc, etc, (seems like a million things to do). at 7 A.M. sharp, we were called out nite formation again and marched for about 1 1/2 miles to a gymnasium. These we had to file into hard wooden, bleachers and take a 40 minute IQ and a 2 hours knowledge exam,

Did you know: The word "inst" was a very commonly used abbreviation for the Latin "instante mense" meaning this month.

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Near the end of the second exam my rear felt like it was going to push though my pants, It felt like I had been horse back riding for two days straight. Well anyway I got through them O.K. and hope to get a fairly decent mark. Oh yes, we had to sit at military attention, no slouching. After that we (Squadron #602 %E2%80%93 119 men) marched back to post and "fell out" for our mess kit's and right back into formation again. To the mess hall and another 1 hour waiting in line for chow. This post is really crowded. After that we were marched another 3/4 mile to the Infirmary where we really got the works. First of all we had to stand in line for about 1 hour in the hot sun, then we got it.

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"Shirts off and nothing in your left hand", was the command. The first stop was a blood test, then a soldier plastered us on each arm with Iodine, then we got shots one on each side at the same time. Then the next stop you got this "sewing machine" (vaccination, you saw it in the movies). Two men in front of me had passed out all together and several others looked like ghosts and had to sit down and put their head between the knees. I took it like I wanted to and stood up all through the whole thing without flinching or affects of any kind. In fact immediately after the shots a detail was formed for a few drills around the sick boys and I was in it. Boy they took a beating. After the shots wore off we marched back to our post and had about 1 1/2 hour of drilling. Again many of the boys

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had to fall out sick. Later we went to mess and it took so long that we only had bout 45 minutes before the lights went out. During that time I had so many things to take care of that I had to sit in the closet after lights went out and write that last 1 page letter to you. I wasn't feeling so well and the closet was very stuffy so my letter was terrible I guess so you'll have to forgive me, dearest. Believe it or not I've been writing this letter in intervals. Soon as I get started good we're called out. It makes me darn sore. For instance just as I said, sore, we were called out for mess and I am continuing just about

Did you know: The word "inst" was a very commonly used abbreviation for the Latin "instante mense" meaning this month.

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one hour and twenty minutes later. Oh well thats the army I guess I'm glad I not a "jeep", they're the drafters and as they jerked around. Last in everything and ridiculed to no end. I'm with a very nice bunch of fellows but they're mostly younger than myself, consequently I'm becoming more or less like a father to them. They're all nice boys though very clean cut mostly 18, 19 or 20. Last night our mess was called "very efficiently carried out" and I thought I could write about two letters in about two hours. Here's what happened, We were told that we'd better clean up for a personal inspection by Colonel Kimberly. So we scrubbed etc., etc. until lights were out. I just heard that the men(southeners) across that street one morning out and morning in. <br>

Did you know: The word "inst" was a very commonly used abbreviation for the Latin "instante mense" meaning this month.

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P.S.S - Inclosed in my first Army payment. I still have $20 left so I believe I'll have enough. Be good Darling, Write every day.

In that hotel we have lights out at 10 PM instead of 9 PM. I certainly hope it happens soon. This army is OK all except its very hard to realize that I'm not a free man anymore. We're always restricted to quarters. During the day when we can't even go inside our quarters, we're restricted to the grounds only. Boy they're really though on us. This morning Feb 26, we recieved our first partial payment. It was $10.00. We had to walk up to the paymaster, a captain in a military fashion, salute, sound off with - "Sir, Private Beyers Herbert K., Sir, reporting as ordered, Sir." get our pay execute an

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