Wednesday, February 15, 2012

April 24, 1944


Sgt Stanley W Safford 39539976
5th Auxiliary Surgical Group
Dodd Field
Fort Sam Houston
Texas

April 24, 1944

Dear Mother:
I am sitting here tonight at my desk with the cymbidium which I received today in very good condition before me in a little anesthesia cup.  The other bud is going to be open soon as the petals are very slowly beginning to open.  I certainly want to thank you for sending them to me and you did a very good job of picking and packing them for me.  What do you think of these or did you like others better that bloomed last year?  They could very likely take a little more water now as soon as the weather warms up.  You might even soak up some cow manure in water and pour that on them with a good watering afterwards to thoroughly soak I is as well as delude it. You see they always get a lot of water in Burma this time of year.
Received a nice letter from Marshall yesterday and he tells me his wife is not yet there with him but he hopes to have her there with him soon.  He plans on sending her on to school when she does get out there.  She was born in Idaho and raised there.  He met her while he was attending school there.  He states that they are quite busy there and that he is learning the work very well.  I wonder if that may be a permanent job for him after the duration?
You are certainly going to have a great surprise when you get the package which I am going to send home soon when I get a package or box large enough for it.  I recently bought a saber from Col Gay and you will soon get a chance to see it chain and all.  I want dad to oil and fix it for me when he has time.  Now do not become disgusted with me for I have to have something to vent my foolishness on.  You will very likely feel like using it on me when next you see me.
You asked me about the money order.  I only sent one but hope to send another one after next pay day.  I am going to save more from now on as there is really no new places to go or new things to see.  The weather has been much too warm to go anywhere and enjoy it anyway.
Since about last Monday, the weather has really been pouring out the heat and we have just about passed out from the heat here in the offices.  So I have had the carpenter lower two of the sides and construct frames to extend the curtains out on to make the inside more cool.  The new side is about the same level as my desk which makes it very easy for me to look right outside into the grass what there is of it.
I don’t think that I have mentioned to you that I had seen the picture “A Guy named Joe”[1] with Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunn and I enjoyed it, excellent acting and a very good team they make.
You asked about the Yellow Iris being moved.  Really the best time to move it is during the winter months but what you may do is after it finishes you can cut it way back and transplant it and keep it fairly moist.  Doing it that way should not be too harmful for it and it should be well established by next season.
Here the last few days the inspectors on the Post have been keeping us busy with their snooping and they really know how to do that.  And then we had a clothing inspection which took two nights to get all stamped and ready.
I keep telling myself that I should match your two letters a week but I have not been able to do so for quite a while.
The Air mail stamp on your last letter was the first one that I have received of the new issue.  I still have some of the old ones.  They are quite pretty.  Enclosed you will also find a few others to put away for me. Sgt Kupfer and I trade one another stamps once in a while and then I find them on packages etc when they come.  I am really going to have a good time some ay getting them all together and put into a book.
It is certainly too bad about Nelson getting transferred into a Casual Platoon or company.  They certainly do some funny things to a person.  We have a lot of them of the same type next door to us here in the Replacement Center.  The headquarters for the Southern Personnel Reassignment Center is here and they have so many as three and four thousand of them there at one time.  You should see the high ranking non coms over there: 1st Sgts and all.
The grapevine which you mention is as far as I know just a Concord. It came from Nelsons (the painter, place on 55th).  I am glad to hear of it beginning to bear.
See what you can do in the way of a tennis racket for me.  Do not buy it of course until I let you know.  I am going outside more now as I am in so much here lately.  Already acquired a nice sun tan.  I have played Badminton a couple of times and have grown to like the game.  Never used to like or care for it.  I like volleyball when they play it right here which they very seldom do.
Well the evening draws on and I had better go to bed now as I need the sleep for what we have to go thru around here we all need it.  I am also writing a thesis on Plans and Training which is taking a nice long time.  I will one of these days send you a copy of our P T history.
They took out the stoves today and will be all cleaned up tomorrow I hope.
Take care of yourself and give my regards to all.

All my love,

Your son,
Stanley

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