March 25, 1944

Sgt Stanley W Safford 39539976

5^th Auxiliary Surgical Group

Dodd Field

Fort Sam Houston

Texas

March 25, 1944

Dearest Mother:

Well we are all back from our Galveston bivouac and yes we are glad it is over with.  We are all quite tired and none of us have any too much energy to do too much.

I received two letters from you while out there and they were most welcome.

First of all I want to thank you for the little surprise gift of the two sided mirror.  It is just what I needed and it will come in quite handy.  Another good feature is that it is metal and therefore less breakable.  I am also quite pleased with the photographs.  They are very good.  I did not have the time before bivouac to take care of a lot of things but will get them done now.  The thanks for the gifts just simple slipped my mind.  I will try and write a better letter hereafter. You have very likely received the box with the red material in it by this time.  I do not know what you might use it for.  If you don’t want it you keep it for me and I will make some cheap curtains or something of that type out of it.

It was decided that I was to fly down and ride back by motor convoy on the bivouac but the colonel decided to send me back by plane also so back I came and arrived here yesterday feeling a wreck and I got up this morning and went to work and put a small dent into the work here.

We left at about eight o’clock last Monday morning and rode in trucks out to Alamo Army Air Base where our planes were just arriving, a total of five, four of which were C-47 and one C-53 a cargo plane which carried our jeep and a few hundred pounds of baggage. 

These planes only had two engines and carried twenty passengers setting on seats along the wall and the baggage was all piled down the center isle.  There were also windows in the plane which made the trip much more interesting.  It took us two (2) hours to fly from here to Galveston, flying an average speed of 120-150 miles per hour and from 1500 to 2000 feet elevation.  We didn’t know even when the plane  took off or when it landed because of the smoothness.

From there the group marched out to the bivouac are where we stayed.  I remained behind to arrange transportation for our baggage etc since all we had was the jeep.  I finally got a large truck for our use and then the Col. And myself went on our way to Fort Crockett[1] which is a sleepy little fort on the seawall which I imagine is quite nice in the summer time.  From there we went on out to the area where we remained in waiting for the other half of the unit which arrived the next day at lunch time.  Our area was down below the seawall away out in a restricted military area with a lagoon between us and the seawall.  At high tide vehicles had to pass thru a lot of water to get to the highway, a small stream otherwise.

Well we had nothing but a vacation all the time we were there.  I went fishing a couple days but caught nothing and worked on papers the third day. On two evenings we went into Galveston which is only a town of 60,000 normal times.  We had one delicious seafood meal and another very good meal at one of the many fine old Louisiana type homes in one place before, and the size of them floors a person. And everyone has a very lazy attitude about all that goes on. I would like to see more of the town some day.

Well anyway after a(n) otherwise uneventful trip I returned yesterday by plane and the return trip was a little rough and several got sick. There were quite a few air pockets which made it quite choppy.  The entire trip has been a very interesting and long to be remembered experience.

The Gulf is quite muddy and the waves are not as large as ours on the coast.  It was the first time that several of them here had ever seen the ocean.  One of them even brought home one of those large hard shelled crabs and has it in  large jar of alcohol and thinks he really has something.

The pictures all look satisfactory and you need not have any more made.

You ask regarding Johnson. He is training for a pilot from the last I heard altho they have made quite a few changes in the Air Corp just recently and have or are cutting down on our pilots training.

I have not written Nelson and you may send his address because I just can’t at the moment remember where it is.  Very likely in my address book which is down in my tent just now,  Did you ever send him those razor blades?

Major Kuhns took some pictures which should be very good and I am going to get copies of them when and if they come.  You will get some of them when I do.

They are enlarging the Prisoner of War camp for another five hundred which should be in any day now.  They have started something new here with them.  They take them out for rides 2 or 3 times a week so that they can get some fresh air.

Well I am tired now and will write more later when I can think of more interesting things to say.

Take care of yourself and thanks for everything.

All my love,

Stanley

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[1] http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qbf12