Document Type
Personal Letter
Rights Management
All rights retained by Bryant University
Transcription
[Envelope:]
Pvt. L. J. Turnbull MCWR
Bks 160 M. A. D.
NATTC
Norman, Okla.
John Turnbull
Rockdale,
Wis.
[Postmark:]
May 31, 1944
[Transcription begins]
Dear Johnny, (Bull) & all
I meant to answer your little 10 pager before this but they keep us plenty busy. Today a bunch of P-38s were flying around the base. They did some barrel rolls & are they beautiful & graceful when they fly. I can tell it’s a Lightning just by the sound & not by looking at it. They sort of whistle—you know what I mean. A Sqdn. of B-17s went over, too. We frequently see B-25s & 26s & a lot of TBDs—They [sic] sky is full of NS-1s & NR-1s—Ryan & Stearman trainers. You see, the North base (↗ PT-23) in the Army)
--which is real close is a Primary Training Center.
You ought to see the engines we work on. Wrights + Pratt & Whitneys. This week we’ve got a 1820 Wright – 9 cylinders. We’ve taken it apart & put it back together again. It sure is fun. Next week we work on 16 + 18 cylinder jobs. Do you know anything about engines?
The other day as we marched to class we crossed the [?] where they warm up the planes. There are rows of them just like you see in the movies. As we walked behind a TBD, a fellow in the cockpit reved [sic] up the engine and the prop wash blew the whole platoon to pieces. Hats went flying off & rolled a long ways. It really was funny.
Well, Johnny you be [a] good boy now – Good luck with the ducks – I’ll be counting on a “ dinner when I come home.
Mom, I’ll write again tomorrow.
[Transcription ends]
