Dear Mum, Dad, Bette and Commando Jack:

…Well, in four more hours I will be old enough to vote, but so far it hasn’t had any effect on me. Tomorrow is my birthday and I will be twenty-one but I sure don’t feel that old. That twenty-one makes me feel as if I am crawling right up and I don’t like the sound of it….

I sure don’t want to spend my birthday out on a scheme. The last one was bad enough…and I don’t want to spend two bad ones in a row. I wired Johnny the day I heard our leaves were cancelled to see if he could put his off for a week. I was afraid he couldn’t but today I had an answer from him and he postponed his for a week. I was sure glad to hear that because I really want to go on leave with him, he is certainly a swell fellow. The major went on leave this afternoon for 11 days. He sure is a swell “boss” and I get darn near everything I want from him. He sure gives me all the breaks I could ask for. I am the only fellow in the company who gets 12 days leave and is all on account of him. I guess I was lucky to get him for a company commander.

We had another inspection today and it went off without a flaw. The colonel couldn’t find a thing wrong with anyone. Believe it or not…if the old boy finds one little thing wrong with one of us we get it in the neck….

The news has been really good this past while and if it keeps up the fellow with the moustache is going to be plenty worried. They are going great guns on all fronts now and if they open a second one he will be really in trouble. I have reason to believe the second front is not very far away and when it comes it will be plenty tough, but I guess we are equal to it.  There was a Colonel giving us a talk on what the fellows in Italy were up against. He just came back from there and they have it plenty hard. It was hard to believe some of the things they went through.

Well folks, if I go on this scheme I won’t be able to write again until Tuesday, but if not I will write soon. Sorry this is such a poor letter but I have not any news. Keep those letters coming and give my best to all. All the best to the best family a fellow could go home to.

Lots of Love to All,

Bill