Keywords

World War II;Mountain Home;Boise, Idaho;G.I. dance band;military band;Alfred Rockwood;Dave Larson;tear gas;weather squadron

Rights Management

All rights retained by Bryant University

Transcription

[Transcription begins]

Det. 24th Weather Squadron
Mountain Home, Idaho
April 25, 1943

Dear Friends at Bryant,

Due to my moving about from one station to another your Easter present was a bit late for Easter, but it was a birthday gift as well as it arrived on my twenty-third birthday. May I express my thanks to the Bryant Service Club for making it possible for us to receive such gifts and I would like the person who has the knack for knitting [to] know that her handiwork is appreciated.

I’d like to tell you of our work here at Mountain Home and the activity on the base, but you know how things are. We are at a base that is at least thirty miles from the nearest mountains hence the mane Mountain Home, Although we are out on the desert in the wild and wooly West, we do have fine recreational facilities.

As at most bases there are Post Exchanges, a thereafter or two, a gymnasium for P.T., and a fine Service Club for Enlisted Men. We have a fine dance band which is made up of part of the regular military band, but it is the best G.I. dance band I’ve heard in months. As we are about fifty miles from Boise, there are times when we can go there and twice a month two buses fill of the fair sea come out to the desert for dances at the Service Club.

How are things going this year at Bryant? Are there many more changes in the teaching staff? I suppose the College is about “ninety-nine and forty-four hundreds percent” girls now with all the man power either digging for bombs, flying planes, or plotting weather charts. It looks as though I’ll be moving out of U.S. again as more and more women are getting into my line.

It hardly seems that over two years have gone by since I left Bryant, but in two months I’ll have been wearing brown for two years. Ratings have been rather slow in my group in face after eighteen months one gets awful tired of writing the same rank beside his name. I trust you’ll pardon this bit of gripping, but you know the old saying “A fellow can’t be a good soldier if he hasn’t something to squawk about”.

Perhaps I’ll be a soldier yet. After twenty one months of service I manage to fire on the range and I don’t mean fire a range as I did several times when cooking last year. I won’t tell you my score – it’s not polite to brag – they too I don’t I don’t want you to think I am lazy for if I remember right I had very little patching to do on the targets I aimed at. From the remarks of the other weather buds it looks as though I’d better stick to slinging a psychrometer and not volunteer for the infantry. A. F .B.

Thanks again for the Easter present and all the other packages.

Sincerely
Anthony F. Bowler

Have you heard from many of the boys of the classes of August 1941 and 1942. I know about Alfred Rockwood and about where he is. Dave Larson is in the Seabees somewhere. If you are having any bulletins on any of the fellows I certainly would like to know what is going on.

Well in about two minutes I can take the ______ gas mask off and go to chow. You see about every Tuesday they spray gas around and see how many fellows are caught without their masks. Of course, to my way of thinking, I don’t believe in regular routine gas drills any more than routine fire drills in a school. For testing purposes the surprise method seems to be practical. Of course, if a fellow is caught without his mask at the time he may get some for of duty to that he’ll remember when Tuesday comes but he certainly won’t forget how – the tear gas makes him cry.

[Transcription ends]

Download
COinS