November 3, 1943

Sgt Stanley W Safford 39539976

5^th Auxiliary Surgical Group

Dodd Field

Ft Sam Houston

Texas

November 3, 1943

Dearest Mother:

Here it is again the middle of the week and I had better be thinking of getting on its way.  How fast this week has gone and so few things have gotten done to show for the time spent.  I spent most of the time today up on the post on a wild goose chase that one of the Master Sgts up on the post phones us about and as always he is so very plain when he is on the phone.

He never tells a person anything and when he has an idea about some paint for a sand table he orders it and then goes and telephones us that it is at the paint shop and not which one and they only have about six or eight of them here.  And after that I had a run in with a dumb clerk at the hospital and did I tell him off.  After that, went to the Post Surgeon and could get no information out of a kike WAC which is another new one there.  So when I see the Sgt again I am going to tell him about her.  They expect to be in the army and then know nothing about it in any way shape or form only they think that they should sit and primp all day.  They had so much trouble and noise here about the WACs getting all the ratings (a come on for more enlistments) that the boys should have here in the Eighth Service command that all ratings have been frozen on them and the men directly under the 8^th Service command.  Boys held the same job before and had a PFC and lucky to get that, but along comes a WAC and gets a fancy Sgt of some kind out of it.  So you see how most of us feel.

I am sitting here tonight in the office with a nice wood fire burning in the stove and am quite warm and comfortable.  The weather here has really been quite chilly the last few mornings and we well need a fire.  The wood we use is the small scrubby trees, which grows around this part of the country.  They even tho small make a very good fire and are warm once they begin to burn.  We had some rain here yesterday and I hope that it rains again before the week-end for we will then cut out the overnight problem which we were going to have.  We none of us are fond of the idea and all think it much too cold for such things but the Col. Who is on leave thinks it is just the thing for us but he managed to get out of here for a while when we are planning these things.

Major Skinner is doing quite well and think that he will like the hospital work much more and I do not blame him since he was a doctor to begin with and not an office man.  I am going to try and get the chance to go up and help him or at least watch him for awhile some day. He you know, is also a Plastic Surgeon, along with the other things he does but they do very little of that type of work here or in fact any Army hospital, they don’t keep them long enough for such things and operations of that type several months to completely finish such as noses, ears, and things of that type.

They are going to send the majority of our group to DS (Detached Service) about the fifteenth so we will be quite free down here for awhile I hope and then I will be able to get a little more writing and a few more things of that type done.

I just finished writing Aunt Dell a letter.  She said in her letter that Cousin Gertrude had not been feeling well and that she herself had had a couple heart attacks this last summer.  But she still continues to dig and plant bulbs and is bringing them in for the winter.  She really has a great love for her garden and her flowers.

I will have to write Cousin Gertrude again very soon.  She is very likely very busy and does a lot of work during her day.

The box of cookies were very good and the candy and dates were well received.  I sure enjoyed them.

How is Aunt Nina getting along these days?  I hope she is getting better and I will write her tomorrow evening as well as Nelson and will try and send the blades to him which I have got here for him.  He told me that he had a few on hand to last a while for him.

I am also going Xmas shopping soon and will have a time picking out presents which will not be many but will be of quality I hope.  I am going to be a little more careful and take my time this year.  Also am going to get my Christmas cards on the way very shortly after Dec 1.  And I am quite confident that we will b here then because there is sure no life around here now, let alone then.  I am thinking of some kind of school for myself to occupy my time.  You will very likely think that I could be writing in my spare time.

So I will close for now and will write again very soon.

As always Love,

Stanley

I took the balance of the pictures the other day.