Sgt
Stanley W Safford 39539976
5th
Auxiliary Surgical Group
Dodd
Field
Fort
Sam Houston
Texas
March 30,
1944
Dear Mother:
After a very busy week I am going to find time to write you a
few lines. We have been getting ready to
start out a new training program, our seventh, and that always involves work
for all of us here.
Then
to top off the week we had one of those big inspections this morning and Maj.
Grubin came back from the field, raving because of the dumb bells answering the
questions the way they did. He sure
wasted no time in going over and telling the colonel what he thought of his
lambs. So he will very soon start a
program which they will never get out of their minds.
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| Galveston bivouac - March 44 |
Some
of our group are going to Fort Worth sometime next week with a demonstration
for participation in some kind of War Bond Drive. They are also taking with them the Surgical
truck that we have here with us now. General
Kirk designed the truck and it is worth $50,000 dollars. Quite a play thing. It has a double thickness tent, the inner one
white for reflection of light and the outer one black for camouflage. The truck has hot and cold running water,
autoclave, electric lights and a great number of other things including enough supplies
for 60 operations. The main idea is for
it to be used as a supply truck with the tents attached on the tail end. The diagram as shown here
Well I think that my friend
Freddie who used to be Mrs. Tedesco’s assistant is going to go over to his
friend who is the Commanding Officer of the Persian Gulf Area. What a break! He is only a Brigadier General
tho. He used to be his private secretary
when in civilian life and the Gen was then a Col. Here in the Eighth Service
Command.
One of Sgt Ryan’s friends wrote
and asked him if I was any relation to “Baby Snooks”’s
father Hanley Stafford,
the radio stars. He had seen my name on
the “Good Conduct” award sheet. Several
have asked me the same question. It
sounds so similar when over the radio.
Sgt Kupfer has started going
to lectures on “Post War Education” here lately. He gets all excited about a thing for a while
and then lets it drop away.
Have you heard from Joe
Scheltema lately? He owes me a
letter. I have the picture all ready to
send but have not done so as yet. I
wanted to write a line when I do send it.
Yes I can well imagine Aunt Nina’s great desire to be through with
work. She has done it for so long.
I am also quite anxious to
hear of “Jay Day” and all that took place and what he did etc.
Well tomorrow I will have
this office floor to scrub and all else in here to clean up for the week
end. I have not cleaned the floor here
for some time. So I am sure that it
needs it.
I heard from Uvalde North(?)
in Tulau. Wrote interesting long letter as always.
Will close now and will write
again soon. What do you want for Easter?
Let me know.
All my love,
Stanley
April 3, 1944
Dear Mother:
I
put off writing this time so that I could get the enclosed money order and also
send the Easter card. They are rather
hard to find here, much less good ones of any kind. You may consider the “us” as Muriel and I.
The
Money Order is to finish off the balance which I got from you for my furlough
last fall and the balance is to be applied on whatever else I owe you. If any left, deposit it in the bank towards
another Am T & T some day. I
certainly should have paid what I owed you a long time ago. I am able to save more now since I do less
running around. After all I have seen
the most of San Antonio so why go again.
Well
I suppose you have heard the news by this time of our giant hail storm here
yesterday. The news here today said a
million and a half dollars damage.
Yesterday about noon this huge black (the darkest cloud I have ever
seen) cloud came over and all of a sudden the hail about the size of marbles began
to fall and they became larger and more heavy.
They came down so heavy that a person had to yell to be hears by another
person in the same tent. I brought one
in and it measured 1 inch across. They seem
to have been larger upon the post and in town as they broke windows, neon
signs, street lights and went through the tops of the old type car roofs. A lot of the cars which have the turret top
which were outside appeared this morning with a lot of small dents in the
metal. And the old tin roofs really took
a beating. Well it will be something for
me to remember.
Sgt
Ryan is in the hospital today as a result of four Mexicans jumping him downtown
Saturday night and knocking him unconscious and taking his “Longines” watch
($125) which was a gift from some relative a few years ago, although they did
not get his money. They must have been
scared away or something of that type. I
do not seem to understand why that sort of thing continues here when it happens
so often. The police don’t seem to do
much about it. A person would hardly
recognize him the way his face is swollen etc.
You
asked me about “Lady in the Dark”, I thought it was very good and a
wonderful job of Technicolor and filming.
The story of course is something different from the everyday thing. I also saw “Buffalo Bill” the other
day and thought that it was very good.
It is also in Technicolor and a very good portrayal of his real
life. Otherwise I have not seen any
others of any kind a lot of them are not worth seeing in my way of thinking.
I
suppose Clarence & Frances are
there by the time you will have received this letter.
Give
them my regards and tell them I am sorry to not be able to see them. I suppose their children have grown quite a
bit since last I saw them in San Francisco.
Well
they have the bee in their bonnet about flying all the way to “Yellowstone” or “Grand
Canyon” on the next bivouac. Can you
imagine such a thing. We really drew the
attention one our last trip. We got some
pictures today from one of the plnes which flew back with us this last time
merely for the purpose of taking pictures.
You will get one of them if I can get a hold of one of them, for you. They are all entitled “Airborne Medics”, what a joke!
Well let them spend the money while they have the chance I guess. But what the last one must have cost. We will pay for it someday.
Well
enough for now and I hope you all have a grand and beautiful “Easter”.
Love,
Stanley
