543 2/5/1944 Jim Erwin to Sadie Erwin

Jim Erwin Lakeland Field, Lakeland, Florida Saturday, February 05, 1944

Sadie Erwin Box 44, Enumclaw, Washington

Dear Folks, Arrived on the field about two hours ago. Some of us were lucky to get into barracks. The others are in tents. It’s dark so can’t see much. The land is flat and covered with soft sand. The buildings are all temporary tar paper shacks. There are two towns nearby. One is six miles and the larger town, Lakeland, is seven. There is a curfew in town at 11:30 every night, including the weekends. Our barracks bags were already here so our clothing and equipment arrived okay. The ride down was the best I’ve had since being in the army. We had nice Pullman cars and had our own mess car. They brought the food down the aisles and served us in our seats. The food was much better than we had back on the field. Nobody knows what the setup is yet. Don’t know what we will do or how long we’ll stay. Should learn a little more about it tomorrow. We all liked Barksdale Field and will now really realize how nice it was. It was a beautiful field. Wish you could see it sometime. The sky is clear and lovely out. It was warm today but it is a little chilly tonight. Thought for awhile our bags with blankets hadn’t come. Think we’ll be glad we have them. There is bound to be something nice about this place but haven’t heard what it is yet. I’ll write soon and let you know all that happens and what we’ll be doing. Am pretty tired now so am going to bed. With love, Jim