November 23, 1943

U.S. Naval Hospital-Long Beach, California

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry, Mary and Mat,
   I have just come out of a nice warm shower and suddenly had the urge to do a little more writing.
   Last night after sending my last letter out I dressed up and went down to Long Beach. I roamed around most of the time visiting the famous "Pike". It's the exact same thing as Coney Island except it's about half the size. Same old penny arcades, "freak" shows, pop corn stands and baseball games, jammed together. As you might expect it was over run with sailors. They were throwing salutes at me left and right. It got so bad that I had to keep looking to my side and at the the ground. I sent home some junk but it shouldn't be there for two weeks.  I have a few things here that I bought in Mexico but I don't know how I am going to send them out.
   A Red Cross nurse was in this morning and invited two cadets to someones house for Thanksgiving. I said I would go so it looks like I am going to get a free feed. I don't know what kind off deal this is but there's no harm in trying.
   Every Tuesday Kay Francis comes around with a group of movie starts and distributes smokes to the patients. I was told she was working on a picture at present so wasn't going to be here today. Most of the movie stars aren't too famous. One of the girls I saw though, I remember her in a picture but can't recall her name. If I ever do think of her name, I will let you know.
   I received only one letter today. That was from Mat. My gosh, Mat with all those connections you have you should be boss of the P.O. in no time.
   No kidding Mom this is the life. I only got eight hours sleep last night so I snoozed for a few hours this afternoon. Boy what I wreck I am going to be when I get out of this hospital. All this rest will kill me. Say Mom, if you have any wash you want me to do send it on to me. I have to do something.
   This west coast has the worst transportation I have ever seen. All buses stop at 2430 and you are out of luck for the rest of the night. From 1800 to 2430 they only run every half hour and your can imagine how packed they are. Last night I was lucky enough to get a hitch back to the hospital. Two elderly couples gave me a lift right to the gate.
  Funny part about it all was that five of us in the care and we all came from different sections of the country west-midwest-east-south- southwest. It seems that everyone here in Long Beach comes everyplace but California. The population has tripled since the war started.
   There are millions of jobs out here paying good money. Some plants are paying 90 cents and hour while you go to school. The problem is housing. There isn't a room to be had in all this section of the country.
   California seems to be the land of defense housing projects. There are thousands of these small houses, no larger than our garage, surrounding the defense plants.
   Douglas Aircraft in only five miles down the road and I can see these defense homes from the ward. I hate to think of what's going to happen after the war.
  I had better watch myself. I want to write about five more letters tonight and rambling on like this will never help.
                                          That's all for present.
                                                      Your loving son, brother and nephew,
                                                                                               Jim

November 24, 1943

U.S. Naval Hospital- Long Beach, California

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry,Mary and Mat,
    This will have to be a short letter. I want to get this letter in today's mail and that only allows me 15 minutes.
   I have some very , very, very, good news. My leave papers came back and were approved. It isn't definite as to what date I will start my leave but it is between the 10th and 15th.
   Didn't do anything last night but write a few letters. Today liberty starts at 1300 so I am going downtown to get a haircut and pick some baggages from railway express.
                              Will have to close now.
                                        Your loving brother, nephew & darling son,
                                                                                           Jim

November 19, 1943 (out of order)

Dear Mom, Pop, Mary, Jerry and Mat,
   Surprised, this is the second letter I am writing you in three days. I guess wonders will never cease.
   I received a letter from Mom yesterday and one from Pop today.  The boys back in Las Vegas are readdressing my mail so it won't have to go to the Selection Board in Los Angeles then here. Probably take a day longer that way.
   Ever since I have gone away, Pop has had his hand in my card parties than Father Linibach. Well, the Chellis family has to make money some way. My Mammy always said that the family first got a start when Pop became an usher in church. - Easy Poppy. Glad to hear Jerry won something- stay in there churching and we'll soon refurnish the house.
   Don't say it too loud, but it is raining here in California. These natives claim it is heavy fog but it is as wet as rain we had in New York. Last night, coming back from Long Beach I ran into a fog. Boy, I could hardly see ten feet in front of me.They tell me at this time of year, Long Beach section has them every night. Don't let it get around that I told you or I would be run out of California by the Chamber of Commerce.
   I went to see some bone specialists today and he has recommended diathrmy (sp?) treatments. What a racket. Please address my mail Chief Goldbricker Chellis, from now on. He didn't say how long I would be here buy I kind of like this place and would enjoy a rest for a week or more, then a nice leave- wishful thinking.
   Last night I went to the wrestling matches down in Long Beach with a few of the other cadets. Boy what a bunch of comedians. They are the biggest phonies going. People go there for a laugh more than anything else.
  I haven't decided what I am going to to do over the weekend but believe me I shouldn't have any trouble amusing myself. I think about the best thing to do is to see Long Beach first. They have an amusement center down there similar to Coney Island called the "Pike". I noticed the roller coaster when I was coming in from Los Angeles.
   The scenery here in southern California must have been real pretty. You should see the outlying districts now. The whole mountain side is covered with oil wells. The are no more than 25 ft apart, and almost black out the ground from a distance. Only one out of three are in use now. I imagine they would be able to beautify Long Beach and Los Angeles a 100% if they tore those structures down.
  A ha the sun has just come out for the first time today. The chamber of commerce can smile again.
   Out here in Long Beach all the homes are of the bungalow type that you might see in the better sections of Rockaway. Palm trees line the residential streets just as maple trees a stringed along our streets in Woodhaven. I must compliment California on their beautiful schools. About six or seven years ago an earthquake tore down all the old structures and these new buildings replaced them. You might have seen some of them in the various movies. All modernistic and will kept campus really could make school enjoyable.
   I had better close now. I almost forgot about chow so I have to hustle if I want to eat. Friday today- what can I eat?
                                   Your loving son, brother, & nephew,
                                                                          Jim

November 22, 1943

U.S. Naval Hospital- Long Beach, California

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry, Mary and Mat,
   Read this letter and weep. I just come back from show of a delicious, tender steak, boiled potatoes, string beans, tomato juice and peaches. What a life.
   I have been sleeping all morning, trying to recover from a hectic weekend. What a time I had. Saturday morning, three other cadets and myself started out , by car, for Tijuana, Mexico. It's a small town on the border and about 100 miles from Long Beach. It took us three hours before we hit San Diego, a fairly large town just this side of Mexico. One of the fellows had to see someone so I had a chance to look the place over. I never saw a place that was so turned over to the war. Consolidated Aircraft Co is located a few miles to the north of San Diego. I could hardly believe that a factory could be so large. It stretched for miles and miles. All of it covered in nets to camouflage the works. Small wooden houses were built over the nets, streets were layed out and even trees were growing over the entire plant.
   When we finally reached the border we had to change all our money into two dollar bills, our money orders issued by U.S.. The were the only bills expected in New Mexico.
   We had not trouble getting across the border since our I.D. cards were in order. On the other side of the border, you can secure a slip for four gallons of has. Car drivers living in San Diego can go over the border every day if they want to so the have no gas worries
    Here's the payoff- of all the days I had to pick to see Mexico it was Independence day and everything was nailed shut. We couldn't do much more than get our 4 gallons of has and go back to San Diego. It was about 8 o'clock by this time and we were a little tire. Foolish as it seemed we started to look for rooms.
   San Diego is a little larger than Jamaica. A Marine training station, Camp Pendleton with 15,000 men is only ten miles out of town and a Navy training station with 10,000 men is in the town and we were trying to find rooms. Just for the heck of it we stood on the corner and counted the civilians and service men that past by. The average was 28 to 1. Your can't imagine a place with so many service men. Millions of them. After trying about ten places we were going to sleep in the car. One of the boys wanted to take a crack at one more nice place. Him and another cadet went in a were lucky to get a room with double beds. They came out and told us the number of the room. About a half hour later the other cadet and myself leisurely walked into the hotel and up to the room. It was pretty good. The beds weren't big enough for two to sleep in so we flipped to see who slept on the floor. Luckily I---- spent the night using the rugs as a mattress. It wasn't too bad because I had the pillow and the other fellow had none- What a break???
   Sleeping on the floor was comfortable for awhile then it became cold, mighty cold. I got up and put on the heat. I tried to roll up in the blanket but it didn't seem to do much good. It seems I will have to be much more than cold to lose sleep.
   I woke a couple of times during the night, trying to get in better positions to keep warm. My friend on the floor was having the same trouble. When morning finally came we woke the other son of a guns up. No use letting them sleep. Too much might hurt them. Suddenly I noticed the two windows were wide open. The venetian blinds had blocked our view during the night and we had shut them the night before. One of the characters in the bed was a fresh air fiend and had opened them up again. We almost murdered him. One of the other boys and myself went to church while our friends caught a little more  shut eye.
   About ten o'clock we sneaked out of the hotel and due to the shortage of good old (???) we ate breakfast-dinner together.
   Again we were Mexico bound. After crossing the border we picked up 4 more gallons of gas. Tijuana was crowded with Sunday visitors and caliente, another nearby Mexican town overflowed with horse racing fans. There was no sense in going to either one of those places. The only other half way decent town was Ensenada about a hundred miles down the coast. We had heard that further in Mexico we could get all the gas we wanted. A traveling we were - I have never seen such horrible roads called a highway in all my life. They were nothing more than wagon trails.
   We ran across a farm house and thought we had better stop for water. There was smoke coming out  of the radiator and that wasn't good. One of the cadets knocked on the door and a little Mexican stuck his head out and said in his best English " Sorry boys, we no open for business". After arguing in Spanish (out Spanish) we finally got him to give us water. When we went around the back we saw all these gambling tables piled up. I guess someone had some bad luck.
   Later on we hit some good pavement and made Ensenada in two and a half hours. What a disappointment. It was a typical poor peasant village living off the fish from the sea and the visitors from the States. This town has a beautiful hotel that was used by many movie stars when the come down the coast for deep sea fishing. Now it is being used for a  military reservation ( I hope that is what the sign meant). We walked all over the grounds and didn't see a soldier. Someone got the bright idea to get an American flag and run it up the flag pole. Hard as we looked we couldn't find one. Boy that would have started an international affair. About six o'clock we started back to the states. According to Navy regulations were only to be 50 miles away from the hospital. Here we were 200 miles away, so I think it was  best we did make ourselves scarce.
    I think I had better stop here and tell you about my trip back some other time. I don't think I will be able to send this letter air-mail if I use the other heavy paper (please excuse)
   Jerry asked me to get him a sweater. Down here in the hospital they have a store of Navy equipment. If Jerry wants a black sweater and cap like mine, send me his size. I imagine he would like something that is regulation Navy. That can be his birthday present ( his 18th birthday) ( I will give it to him now though)
   By the way, up here in ship's service I can get all the candy and cigarettes I want.  24 bars of Hershey only cost 24 cents. Tooth paste, razor blades, and all other toilet articles are for sale (no ration points). Maybe Pop would want something.
   Do you realize this is the third letter I have written in sic days. Pretty good eh?
   There doesn't seems to be much more to say except that my chances for a leave are increasing.

                                                                 Your loving son brother and nephew,
                                                                                     Jim
P.S. My hand is just about broken.

November 17, 1943

Dear Mom, Pop, Jerry, Mary and Mat,
   Here it is - the land of sunshine Beautiful California. Remember Mom how I said we were going to go to California some day. Well I am here now how are you going to get here? Give me time and the Chellis brain should start clicking.
   I arrived here a few hours ago and this hospital is a beautiful place. I am in a wark with about fifteen other cadets. I have been talking to one of them and from what I gather this place is a racket. No study, no work, plenty of sleep and too ??? much liberty. The have moovies in the hospital every night.
   Maybe I had better start from Las Vegsa and explain my wild trip to the hospital. Yesterday morning I was to catch the 0715 pullman. As could be expected, the train was two hours late. When it finally did come in, we were out of our bunks. Two Arabian knights had hired two entire cars.Some crust. We (three other cadets washed out and myself) had to wait another hr for the coach section of the train. We were lucky to get seats on that wreck. Without a doubt, Lincoln must have enjoyed riding in those cars but Chellis wasn't the least bit impressed with the air-conditioning. When we stopped at Albequerque, we took a shot in the dark and asked the ticket agent if there was a possibility of getting a pullman. Lucky us- for eight bucks a piece plus our government train tickets we could get a bedroom and an upper and a lower. Nothing like comfort, so we took them. We took our luggage off the wreck and waited a half hr for the "Chief".Oh what a beautiful train. One of those slick, silver, streamline jobs. One of the other cadets and myself took the bedroom. Boy I was living in style. My mother taught me to be a gentleman so I should live like a gentleman. That wsa real class, our own washbowl, toilet and all the privacy in the world. It was costing us a little more money but it was worth every bit of it.
  We were furnished with meal tickets for a dollar a meal. That helped a little since my meal came to a little over two dollars. Boy-what food. Real class. I didn't know what to do with all the knifes and spoons they threw at me. I guess we were the only servicemen on the train that weren't officers.
   After supper we went back to the lounge car. Boy we were sitting on the top of the world.
   About 2030 we had the porter make up our bunks and then turned in.
   At about 4 o'clock I was awoken by the door slamming against my bunk. I threw it shut and started to turn in again. Then I thought it would be a good idea to see if all my clothes and money were there. After carefully checking my pockers I discovered my orders had disappeared. That put me in a fix. I woke the other fellow and we turned the place up side down. After a fruitless search , we figured our sleep was being neglected so in to our bunks again.
  I woke a couple of hrs later just to see the sun rising over the Rockies. Boy it was beautiful. As the sun rose higher, it's rays painted the rocky slopes into a gorgeous color blended backround. I layed in bed looking out the window, appreciating the beautiful scenery for almost an hour. By that time it was breakfast.
   When we went to the diner I ask the stewart if he found my orders and, low an behold there they were. Luck of Irish.
  What a breakfast I packed away. Those meals are few an far between so I went to make the most of them. This meal only cost me a buck and a half.
   About noon today we arrived in Los Angeles. I don't want to describe the beautiful scenery I ran across this morning. that will come later on in another letter.
   The other three cadets had to catch another train for San Diego so I bid them good bye. Coming down the platform from the train I passed by Anita Louise. She was waiting for her mother who was on the same train as I was on.
    After checking my bags, I went over to the Los Angeles Selection Board where they gave me a routine physical and gave me orders to go to Long beach Naval Hospital. I picked up my baggage again and hopped a street car to Long Beach, then a cab to the hospital. That was my trip. Now I am "only" 3000 miles from home.
   Speaking of home, I have heard that my chances of getting a leave are very bright. They don't even blink an eye when they give thirty days. It would be swell if I could get home for Christmas.
   Before I forget it. I have been inquiring about cameras out here and it is next to impossible to buy one. I would sure love to take some pictures out here. Do  you think you could rush one out here. If you can get films, it would be appreciated. Thanks a million.
                            That's about all for the present.
                                 Your loving son, brother and nephew,
                                                                                           Jim