April 30, 1944

Sgt Stanley W Safford 39539976

5^th Auxiliary Surgical Group

Dodd Field

Fort Sam Houston

Texas

April 30, 1944

Dear Mother:

Again another week has rolled by and I have not written you a letter.

The weather has been very changeable and therefore everyone but myself seems to have colds etc.  It will be very warm one day and turn very windy and cold in a couple hours time. Yesterday morning it was very cloudy and looked like rain until about noon when it turned hot and sultry, but again today it looked like rain until about lunch when it started to rain and lasted for about a half hour but has not rained since.

I sincerely hope that I never put the idea of my getting married into your heads, so do not worry about any surprise wedding or otherwise as I do not contemplate such a move until the very far distant future if then.  And as for my going with girls, I am not and do not plan on doing so here or anywhere as long as I remain in the army.

I gave the cymbidium to Major Grubin to take home as after it had been here a couple days it looked rather beaten and it got too warm for them.  Mrs. Grubin thought them very nice.

What date is Muriel’s birthday?  I seem to have forgotten just whether it is the 1^st or the 2^nd of June.

In answer to your question regarding the Bond Tour.  The officers and enlisted men put on a surgical demonstration of some kind three or four times a day and someone of them gives a little speech of some kind regarding the work which they are supposed to be doing.  They carry signs telling how many $25 War Bonds such and such cost, example “Surgical Truck – 2000 - $25 War Bonds” and on down the line instruments and all.

Surgical truck

Enclosed you will find some pictures clipped from the Post paper of our Group and the Surgical Tent which is part of the truck.  As you see the tent is actually two tents one white one (floor and all) with a black one over it.  It takes about forty five minutes to set it up.

As you say in your last letter, it begins to look as tho we will be here for some time and I am inclined to think the same with in view of the things which have taken place here lately.

You asking about how a person’s jaw is wired.  Wires are put around each tooth until all teeth from the wisdom tooth out about six teeth upper and lower are wired on each, then elastic bands are placed over the hooks in such a way to apply traction to the desired place.  I may be able to draw you a diagram here which may help.

   

Some day I will send home a clay model of wired teeth which they have quite a few of around here.

The red pullets are really doing quite well when they are laying so young.  Are the hens still as fat as ever when you kill them?

I have always felt that early chickens layed much sooner.  Remember how some of our late ones waited until so late to lay.  Have you heard how the Freemont livestock affair is coming along?  They were building the pens when I was home.

Received a letter from Aunt Dell the other day and she said she does not see Cousin Gertrude very often since Gertrude has so much work and social things to do.

The clippings which you enclosed were very interesting especially the one regarding the Pearl Harbor fraud.

Sgt Rapp the Mess Sgt is getting a place here on the Post for his wife who is coming down about the middle of next month.  I am going to help him clean it up and get it ready.  We are going over to look over the inside tomorrow we saw the outside the other day.

I guess that Marshall figures she should finish her schooling as she only has a short time to go and I don’t believe she is so very young.  He tells me she is about nineteen and very small and barely five feet and a regular spitfire.  He seems to be quite happy and in the best of spirits about the whole affair.  He, I imagine, was quite lonesome and I guess still is.

The saber has no history to my knowledge but it just took my eye.

Yes I can well imagine the junk that has accumulated on the back lot and the great job it has been and will be in getting it cleaned off.  I do not envy the person any.  I am sending in my subscription for the Reader’s Digest tomorrow.  I guess the woman there in LA is not going to call, so will go ahead and send it myself.

Well enough news for now and I close with a tired hand after writing such today.

Always

You son

Stanley

PS – separate page – small

I can just see Jay having a good time making over his will and having a big kick out of it.  What is he doing now disinheriting someone again? I can never put much faith into anything which is so public.

I can just see Marie’s house never a thing out of place and just up to the minute.  I feel the same as you do about her in hoping she has to come down to earth some day.  Imagine her conceit!

March 30, 1944

Sgt Stanley W Safford 39539976

5^th 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.

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”[1]’s father Hanley Stafford[2], 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

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[1] http://www.radiospirits.com/BABY-SNOOKS.php

[2] http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/hanley-stafford/