Dear Mother, Dad, and Jocie;
I received your sweet letter yesterday and enjoyed it very much. All the fellows in the barracks read Jocie’s letter and marveled at the wording and penmanship. I haven’t much chance to sit down and write out here because we’ve been on the go most of the time.
I almost forgot-I passed my flying physical!! My eyes were excellent, at least, that’s what the doctor said. They register 20-15 instead of the normal 20-20. If you have 20-20 that is good enough but the doctor said only one person out of 5000 has 20-15 eyes. I felt terribly proud and I hope you are too. I haven’t been classified yet but we expect to be in a week or so. I certainly hope I’m a pilot. I’m afraid they might make me a bombardier because of my good eyes, but I told them I wanted to be a pilot so we’ll see how it works out. Bombardiers have to have excellent eyesight, even better than the pilot’s. You see they have to hit the target every time with that new bomb sight. This requires excellent vision.
I really don’t care what I am just so I get my wings. You certainly can tell the difference between the air cadets and enlisted men. Everybody I have met so far has been very nice and very helpful, which is important here.
My experience at St. Thomas has helped me ever since I arrived. I teach the awkward squad how to drill daily. Some of these fellows are pretty dumb when it comes to drilling. I really am fortunate as far as having good roommates goes. They are really nice fellows–very easy to get along with and a all-around bunch of swell guys.
I get a little lonesome for you and Thelma once in a while but I really like it out here. I think all the exercises we do will really make men of us. Remember when I was worried about my weight, well the doctor said he has never seen such a difference between my shoulders and waist measurement before.
Well darlings I have to go to drill now so write soon and I will try to write back as soon as possible.
Love Jim.