June 28, 1942

Dear Helen and Wilson:

Everything is going along smoothly. My trip back was uneventful and I have shaken off the cold you mentioned.

My shots didn’t seem to have any effect on me other than to give me a little soreness in the arm where it was injected.

Today is Sunday, the soldier’s day of freedom in the Army. We can’t do very much around here though except to walk around and look and I’ve looked at about everything there is here.

I’ve taken some pictures of what I’ve looked at, but I don’t have my good camera here and don’t know how they will turn out.

Since I’ve come back we have been transferred from the barracks to the tents which are quite comfortable at this time of the year.

There aren’t as many men around here right now as there were when I first came here. Incidentally, I will be here a month tomorrow. You know the men get two weeks furlough before they come to a camp now.

We have a fellow in this tent is in class 1-A when it comes to snoring, and he advances to class 1-A+ after he has a few beers. He goes right up and down the scale when he snores. The first night he came in I had a job getting to sleep, but by the next night I was used to it.

Tell Bob that he ought to see these Airacobras being tested around here. They zoom in here from out of nowhere and get out of sight fast. I think he’d get a kick out of it and you probably would too. I think that next week-end I will apply for a weekend pass and go down to Niagara Falls and spend Sunday. It’s getting sort of monotonous here since being unassigned to any division of the Army as yet, I can’t get off the Post. When I am assigned I’ll have more privileges.

I’ve found the Post Library, the USO Club, and the theatre since I came back and usually spend my evenings at one of these places. The Library is pretty much up-to-date, having the latest books, magazines, etc.

The theatre is air conditioned and the admission fee is 20 cents. At the USO Club you can buy sodas, sandwiches, ice cream etc, and they have a large lounge room where you can set and write letters, read, play cards, or just set.

We’ve just put the tent flaps down for the night and although the sun is pretty high yet and it being early in the evening, it is becoming real warm in here.

Howard’s mother-in-law and her daughter were up here last Sunday and found me watching a ball game. They were lucky to find me because we don’t stick around the tents much during the day on Sunday, and that is because some corporal or sergeant may come in and want you to do something. Nobody likes to do anything on Sunday.

It’s getting too hot to continue writing and haven’t got much more to write about just now anyhow.

Russell
Fort Niagara, NY