3 6/17/1944 Jim Erwin to Sadie Erwin

Jim Erwin 497th Service Sqdn. 44th Service Group, APO 9898, NY Saturday, June 17, 1944

Sadie Erwin 1414 Cole St., Lake Charles, Louisiana

Dear Mother and Helen, Your V-mail letter came yesterday telling me of Helen having a baby girl. Congratulations Helen. Hope you both come along fine. Don't know how much of Shreveport you saw Mother, but the residential section is really lovely. Wish you could have gotten out and seen Barksdale Field too. Haven't received word from anybody in the states that they have heard from me yet. My mail should reach there soon if not already. I sent a cablegram to both you and Dad and that should have gone quite fast. Lake Charles is a nice town and had many nice times there. You should enjoy the stay there. I have gotten several letters from Dad and he seems to be getting along okay. I wrote and asked him to send a few things that are either impossible or hard to get here. Yesterday was the warmest day I've ever experienced. that is at least to my remembrance. When a breeze did blow, it was like coming off of a blast furnace. Myself, along with many others, didn't sleep a wink last night. The sweat rolled off of us in puddles. It was the only time since arriving that it hasn't cooled off enough to sleep well at night. This morning is cooler and a nice breeze is blowing. The sky is a little cloudy but they are disappearing fast. This afternoon will probably be plenty hot. Even with the heat, things are pretty nice here and would like to stay. The shield on top of the page is a replica of overseas shoulder patch. We are in the CBI theatre of operations (China, Burma, India). We were all glad to hear that the invasion of Europe has started and is progressing as planned. A signal corps truck is just across the field and it picks up a London news broadcast each evening. Yesterday in a Time magazine, Henry Ford stated that the war would be over in two months. Nothing is impossible and it could happen but not very probably. Don't know why people make statements like that. Our foremost military leaders don't even make statements like that and they should be in a position to know all the facts. The Army, Navy and Marines have a rotation system of their men. The men who complete two years of foreign service are supposed to be replaced and sent back to the states. We hope that the war will be finished before our time is in. By now you are probably in Tennessee. You have added a few more states to the list also. When you return to Washington, are you going to stop in Chicago and Minneapolis? Shirlee is working and living in Seattle. She is staying by herself at the Evangeline Hotel for Women, but her sorority sister from college is to move in with her when school is out. She is working as an accountant. Just what she was studying for in college. If she wants to get married when I get home she better save all her money. Wish I knew there was a good job waiting for me somewhere when this is over. I really should go back to school. The Government has an education plan for servicemen going back to college. Am sure things will work out okay so won't worry about that. Cliff and I had our pictures taken recently so am sending one to Helen. I sent one to Dad and another to Shirlee. It's not very good but is something. We were under the impression that things were cheap in India. They might have been at first but the natives got smart in a hurry. Things cost as much and in many cases more than they did in the states. Cliff and I are still hoping to get that next stripe to make us Sgt.., then we'll be contented. Don't know your address in Tennessee so will have to send this to Louisiana. Should hear from you again soon. With love, Jim