Author: Margo Palmer

Darlings,

We were scheduled to start our night flying tonight but, I guess I fly tomorrow instead. I’m sitting by my bed with my little radio. I am listening to some hymns I can remember so well. “Stand up! Stand up! For Jesus” and “onward Christian soldiers” – gosh! Darlings, I can remember not so many years ago when I sang those sweet hymns. I can still see Dad standing beside me in church. I was always so proud of him because he had such a nice voice. Then we would file out after the sermon-Mr. Hoefner there at the door waiting to shake our hands. Gosh! The old neighborhood will look good when I come back.

Seriously, darlings, I wish you would look for a new home after Jocie finishes school. The good old friends we knew seem to be leaving. I’ll bet that neighborhood will look like “Sam Scratch” in a few years. I’m contradicting myself  today.

Well, darlings, I’m so glad you’re feeling up to par now. It must’ve been a rugged winter. I have ordered my blouse, two wool green shirts-one pair of pink pants-one pair of green pants-and a garrison hat. I will wait until I get into town for the fancy stuff. I bought this much at our Post Exchange. I looked some private stores uniforms over but, thought the P.X. had them beat. And cheaper too.

Love, Jim

They can’t get the material Uncle Sam can.

I am not going to order a ring-I didn’t care for them at all. My St. Thomas ring is much better.

Darlings,

I’m afraid the schedule will kill me before long. Today is Saturday-but, no day off. Gosh! I wish they would give us at least one day off so we could sleep and write letters. We signed our reserve commission papers last night. We are the last class to receive reserve commissions in the Air Forces. The classes coming up take the upper 15% and give them commissions in the United States Army. As soon as the war ends their commission ends. If we are lucky and pull through this thing we will have our reserve commissions-of course we will report for a period of active-duty each year but, that will be fun.

I am so glad I joined when I did-remember when I planned to wait? Boy! Am I glad I didn’t now.

Darlings I witnessed the best airplane acrobatics yesterday. Wing Commander Donaldson (A.A.F. pilot with 20 victories) put on a show for us in his P40 the American government gave him. He was flying so close to the buildings we all ducked when he came overhead. Gosh! He is a wonderful flyer. I hope to fly like that someday. He made a hit with the boys from the start. At the start of his talk he said, “I hope you can understand me, I speak a foreign language you know-‘English’!” Everybody laughed-all that boy had to do was fly that P40-everybody stood around open mouthed. He actually started a loop just 10 feet above the ground and completed it. Before we try a loop we must have 10,000 feet of altitude.

Well, darlings, I must go to the flightline again.

Jim

Darlings,

Well, I had parts of my uniform fitted today. I had a look at some of the uniforms the private owners had but, they don’t seem to have the material our post exchange has. I guess Uncle Sam has taken the best for himself. Well, anyhow, the blouse is really nice. I also bought two green shirts-a pink shirt, a pair of pink pants and a pair of green pants to match the blouse. The green shirts cost $12 apiece and are form fit. Boy! It will really look sharp with those wings. I haven’t started to buy my complete uniform yet but, I think I will wait until I get into a large town so I can see what they have to offer. I will give you an idea of the prices.

One blouse-$40

One green pants-$16

One pink pants-$15

Two green shirts-$24

One pink shirt-$12

I still have many things to buy but, it is a good start anyway. Our tailor has worked for 30 years as a uniform tailor. I hope he does a good job on mine. Our post commander said our uniforms must fit perfectly because we must set examples to our men under us. Gosh! I’m really going to try to look good.

We haven’t been doing much lately. We fly formation every day, also instrument rides. We will be starting our night flying in a few days. I wonder what these A. T.s will land like at night. Well, I’ll soon find out, I guess. They are rushing us through with our time because the lower-class is due in pretty soon.

I’m sorry I haven’t written as much as usual but, we have so much to do here.

Your loving son,

Jim

Darlings,

The start of a new month-a little closer to those wings. Say, darlings, you don’t have to send me any presents. Gosh! We all need our money nowadays. I’m glad to hear the oil company allows you a little more fuel. What did you do on those very cold days?

What do you think happened yesterday-I sat in a real P40 fighter. You know the plane with the sharks teeth painted on it. Boy! That certainly is a ship. It has six 50 caliber machine guns mounted on it. The gunsight is the same as the one we have in our A.T.6. I wonder if I will ever fly one of those babies. It is very well protected. It has very thick armor behind the pilot’s seat and bulletproof glass 2 1/2 inches thick for the windshield. Uncle Sam protects his pilots but the Japs sacrifice armor so their planes will go faster. We have faster planes though, even with the armor.

I certainly will love to send an announcement to T.C.Grogan. That’s a good idea Mom.

We had our cross country today. The storm came up just before we reached home so we had a tough time landing. Boy! That wind blew the sand so fast we couldn’t even see the field. The man in the radio tower told us when to make our turns. I don’t want to live like that again.

Say, darlings, there’s a good article in the readers digest about our training-some points are a little off but, it gives you a good idea of our schedule. I am listening to Dr. I.Z. now. Remember when we listened to that program together? Boy! Those were the days-oh well, thanks for your letters.

Your loving son,

Jim

Darlings,

We had a day off today so I took a nice long sunbath-gosh! I couldn’t help but think how cold it is back in Minneapolis.

I have nearly 30 hours now-just about half through with my advanced flying. Tomorrow we take another cross country. This will be our last day cross country but, we have three at night left. Boy! A night cross country will really be something won’t it. I think I am so lucky-at the age of nineteen I have nearly completed the toughest course in the world. It does give me confidence in myself. I want you to be so proud of your son.

Say darlings, I finally got some mailing envelopes so my pictures and class book from Chico will reach you soon. I hope you will like them-

Hello Jocie-no, your big brother hasn’t forgotten his little sis. Just tonight we were looking at my pictures. The boys think my little sis is a knockout. It makes me so proud. Your brother certainly misses you-have you grown much, darling? Say, sis, don’t get too mad if dad doesn’t approve of your midnight shows. Dad and mom know best-you will learn how much they do know if you ever leave them. Yes, I certainly miss home, my girl, and my family but, the further I go the more I realize we are fighting for something worthwhile.

Love-

Jim

Darlings,

Couldn’t find time to write yesterday-we had Link trainer all night. I wish they would give us our nights at least. Your letters are swell darlings. I wish I had more time, then I could really answer them.

Have a told you that I have Uncle Sam take $6.25 from each monthly paycheck for war bonds? I think that’s the best way to save.

Say, Mom, I don’t know what you see wrong with Thelm. Don’t worry Mom-I have seen plenty of gals out here. They were from wealthy families too-they still don’t attract my attention. I have been away from home a little better than a half year. I have seen so many different types of people. I hope you don’t think I have been just sitting in camp-not seeing anything. Mom-Thelm is really a peach of a gal. She writes every day-most girls would have forgotten long ago. She thinks the world of you, Dad, and Jocie. All I have heard lately is how nice you have been to her.

I really miss her mom. I sometimes wonder why she likes me but, maybe I have a little something on the ball-I don’t know.

Say, darlings, my little radio needs a new battery. I have tried to order one but, they can’t get it out here. EverReady # 467 67 1/2 V mini-Max.

Well, darlings, I just received a letter from Eric-he’s feeling pretty badly about things. He said you were so nice to him. He certainly has had some tough breaks the poor guy.

Your loving son,

Jim

Darlings,

Well, I just finished plotting my course for another cross country. Boy! This cross country is going to be a long one. I hope I don’t get lost-it would be quite embarrassing to run out of gas right over a mountain range.

I have some bad news. One of my classmates was killed yesterday. It was his fault though. He and another kid were up practicing the beam procedures. They got a little bored with instrument flying I guess so they decided to see how fast they could dive the plane. From what I hear they dove the plane until they were going well over 400 mph. This airplane is redlined at 300 mph. The wings were literally ripped from the fuselage. One fellow, Altland by name (Minneapolis boy), jumped in the parachute. He was so low when he jumped that his shoot opened about 50 feet from the ground-just in time to break his fall. The kid in the rear didn’t get out.

They were breaking regulations so it will go hard for the cadet who escaped. It pays to stay within orders. Then if the wing falls apart-they can’t blame you.

Well, darlings, I must go to bed. Every day that passes brings me closer to those wings and bars-

Your loving son,

Jim

Darlings,

Your swell address book arrived-boy! Is it ever swell-thanks a million. Say, Dad, I was sitting in the cockpit warming up the engine before take off when a mechanic pokes his head in and said “Excuse me sir but, would you mind telling me where you bought that watch band?” I told him my dad sent it to me from Minneapolis. I have had more compliments on that band-it’s a beauty. I have mother’s money put away for my uniform. By the way, we were looking at some uniforms today-I didn’t care for them at all so I think I’ll wait until I see something better. Some of the guys buy everything on sight. I figure you might as well look them over first. If I can’t find them here I will wait until I get to Los Angeles when I buy-I want to get the best.

We flew formational morning-it really is fun. This plane is really tricky to keep right in place because of its speed. Once you get onto it, it isn’t so bad. We just had a touch of formation flying at Basic. We get about 20 hours of it here. What I like about formation flying is-you must be on your toes or something will happen.

When we are all flying at 200 mph-a slight touch of the router or stick may cause a smash. Don’t worry though-my eyes are glazed on that relationship every minute.

After formation we start a Lufberry Circle – around and around we go trying to get on another guy’s tail. Boy! Is it ever fun. My instructor shot me down three times he claims-I have some new maneuvers figured out though-maybe I’ll shoot him down next time.

Your loving son,

Jim

Darlings,

Gosh, you’re just wonderful! Poor Thelm just about worships the ground you walk on. She told me you have been so kind to her. Thelm said you even let her use your beautiful fur coat to go to the funeral parlor. You are so sweet-thanks again darlings. I guess poor Eric was hit pretty hard. I know how bad I’d feel if my dad or mom left me.

Poor Eric has had so many setbacks-it’s so hard to fly when you were worrying about something else. In this flying game your head must be out at all times or you won’t last long.

We were looking at officers uniforms today. Boy oh boy! Are they ever classy open (remember how you shuddered when I used this word) Ha! Ha!

I have been saving my money like mad lately-have over $100 now. I will have a lot more too by the time we pay for our uniforms. We get so much from Uncle Sam but. I am really going to get a uniform.

How’s my little sis-keeping on with your piano, I hope. When I get back-I will probably see my little sis banging out some jive-while the gang jitterbugs-on Mom’s new rug.

Well, darlings, think of me-I’m always dreaming of home-

Your loving son,

Jim

Darlings.

My lovely package arrived-thanks so much. Those shoes are just perfect for this climate. Just high enough to keep the sand out. That’s what we need here. Boy! Oh boy! Has that candy ever made a hit. Thanks again darlings.

Boy! I’m still talking about that cross country we took yesterday. Gosh! I hope you’ll be able to actually see me fly a plane someday. That’s my ambition. I’d give anything if they would let me fly home in a P 38 or P 51-land at Wold Chamberlain after performing above the field with a few slow rolls. That would make them look, wouldn’t it? Pete’s girl works out at Wold Chamberlain airport now. I’ll bet the airport is really immense now. I went on sick call today to get some cough medicine. This sand gives everybody a cough it seems. Anyhow-the doctor is a Minneapolis man. I believe he said 39th and Fremont. He graduated from the U of M. We had quite a talk. The first thing he asked was, “have you been back lately?” That’s all a man in the army thinks of is home, I guess.

Well, darlings, thanks again for your kindness. I hope my little address book comes. If I ever graduate I want to send my announcements everywhere-including England. Boy! I hope I make those wings and bars.

Your loving son,

Jim