Early-Mid November, 1943

Dear Mom, Pop, Mary, Jerry, and Mat,
   I received letters from each one of my family in the last week. The last couple of weeks the mail has been very slow in reaching me. From the postmarks on you letters it has taken anywhere from five to seven days to reach Las Vegas. Maybe they are using a stagecoach again. I wouldn't put it past some of these people.
  I received Mom's letter yesterday with the pictures. Boy you really got a bargain on that deal or .........did you?
  Speaking of pictures here's a couple we sneaked in here. The sailor is the pharmacists,in other words, the entire medial dept. Boy my friend "Trosky" would have loved to catch us taking those pictures.
   You know Mat, I just imagine Bub walking around with a shelaily in his hand. He's been singing that song so long, he must feel at home with one.
   So Jerry is up to his old tricks of hustling on the chance books. Boy if he isn't rolling in money by twenty-five there will be something wrong with him.
   I just came back from "Trosky's" office and boy I have news. Remember I had to get a letter from the hospital about my knee when I enlisted. Well it seems before a cadet goes to pre-flight school they check his records to see if any physical handicap may affect his training. "Trosky" told me that they have had so many cases where a cadet aggravates an old injury where is was possible to avoid it. I never heard of it before but I am not kicking. I was just talking to the pharmacists mate and he says it's nothing to worry about.  I will have to go to some hospital and get some sort of treatments. He was out in Long Beach Naval Hospital before he came here and he claims there were plenty of those cases. Pre-flight school is all exercises so they don't want to take any chances. Here's the best part of the deal. I am to leave next week some time. All the rest of the boys have to stay here for a few more weeks and I am to meet them at pre-flight school. Boy you must be able to hear the boys curse my luck. The  pharmacists mate has been talking to them about the cadets he knew back in Long Beach. They had liberty every night. The hospital was only a few miles from Los Angeles and Hollywood so there was plenty to do. Boy that sounds like some racket if I ever get to that hospital. Keep your fingers crossed.
   Gene is going around knocking his knee against the wall. Ha Ha poor boy.
   Well I guess that's about all. You might as well keep sending the mail here. They will forward it to me.
    Finally getting to see California, "The land of sunshine" - California chamber of commerce.
                                      Your loving son, brother, nephew,
                                                                     Jim