Camp McCoy in the Words of My Uncle: POST FIFTY-SEVEN (I GUESS THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL US!) 30 JULY 1943

July 30, 1943

Friday

Dear Mom,

Just a note to let you know I'm O.K. I thought it was hard when I came home but since I've got back I never saw the beat of it. Start anytime from 4 to 6 in the morning and go to 9 or 10 at night. It was 9:45 when I got washed up to-night. Scrub barracks, wash windows, even washing the paint on the finish outside. You can't go to the shows, P.X. or for a walk. Gee, I guess they're trying to kill us. You sleep when you can. Makes you feel like a dog or a jack ass. Do I wish this thing was over with. (Uncle Charlie, you have only just begun. Sorry.) I'll never stay in the Army. We fire to-morrow afternoon (Saturday) that means work a good part of the day Sunday. Civilians don't know how lucky they are.

Rick told me he wrote his mother telling about you and how I was here. He's going to let me read the letter when he gets an answer.

Have you head from little Helen? Even if I'm not going out with her she's too good a girl for him. I'll never feel he's playing square with her like I did. I think she'll still come up to see you. I'm still looking for the day when she will change her mind and say a few little words to my face. (For any of you who have been a long time reader of my blogs, knows Helen Ladd was his first girlfriend and he never got over her. My mother and the rest of Uncle Charlie's brother and sisters never knew what caused the break up. They all thought he was going to marry Helen. It appears only his mother and dad knew the facts.) Some at the mill at S. D. Warren asked me if I thought Helen had changed. They said they felt she had since her mistake. Maybe, but I know it's a hard thing to admit. (What was the mistake? Helen breaking up with Uncle Charlie? We will never know.)

Well, Mom, I'll close as I am dead tired. Will try to write to-morrow. Love to all,

Charles

President Franklin D. Roosevelt speaking to the nation by radio from the White House on July 28, 1943. President Roosevelt declared that “Our terms to Italy are still the same as our terms to Germany and Japan – ‘unconditional surrender’. He promised Italians the four freedoms and warned Americans of bigger battles still ahead in the war. (AP Photo)

On July 28, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the end of coffee rationing, which had limited people to one pound of coffee every five weeks since it began in Nov. 1942.