January 14, 1954

Thurs  Jan 14, 1954

Dear Mom, Dad, and Snapper

I had a letter today from Dad.  Jan 6.  That ship, the Marine Lynx, was the one I went from Sasebo Japan to Inchon Korea on.  It sure is a nice ship.  The names you picked out were the right ones.  Have you heard from them yet?

Hope you cold gets better Dad.  I don’t have one now.  Seems like I always get a little one.

It sure was bad about the baby.  I guess Jim really is going into business.  Hope he makes out OK. 

About that robe.  It wasn’t the same one I ordered.  I sent a black one with gold trim.  Guess they didn’t have any of those left in stock when they filled the order so they sent that one.  I thought a sent a medium.  I guess Mom wears a small one.  When I got to Japan I will send a man’s robe and another women’s robe.  A med for a man and a small for a woman.  I sent you a birthday gift down at school.  Hope you get it close to your birth day.

I thought I told you about the Xmas card you sent.  They were sure nice.  My thumb by the way is OK now.  I will probably lose my nail.  It is all black but it doesn’t hurt anymore.  It hurt at first about like my finger did that time I broke it at work.

May be by some chance I will run into Richard in Japan.  It could be but I will probably be there and gone again by the time he gets there.  He might be at Camp Stoneman at least a week and it will take two weeks to get to Sasebo.  I could run into him on my way back to Korea.  I’ll keep my eyes open anyway.

I have been wondering about the income tax.  I am not worried about my self because the army will tell me if I have to fill out a return.  I have been wondering if you still are going to claim Snapper on you return.  You had planned on it.  I think you can.  I haven’t claimed him in the army and I did at Westinghouse for the time I was there.  So let me know what the out come is. 

It has snowed all day today.  We had our usual training today.  We are going to have a parade Sat and we have practice this afternoon.  Snow, mud and all.  It hasn’t been to cold the last day or two.  It has snowed several times lately but doesn’t seem to last.  I think there may be a good one.  The bad weather gets here in Feb, March, and April.  Squad leader’s job is OK so far.  Hope I can make section leader when the one we have now goes home.  There is a good chance of it.  It will either be Guthemiller or I unless we get a Sgt from Germany or the States... They always get the jobs before us because they are RA and have twice in grade and in the army.  I should be hearing from you about my going to Japan.  May be in you next letter. 

No news on the troops leaving here.  From what I can put together it seems as though a peace will go through if Sigmound Rhee doesn’t up set things.  I have never seen him yet.  I think he is afraid to come up in this part myself.  There are a lot of people who would shoot him it they had the chance.  They sure are making money off of us.  Have more now than they ever had.  They black market counterfeit etc, ROCK corporals here make 30 cents in our money a month.  If they could make just a couple of dollars a month off us you can see how much money they would have.  They think they are rich if we pay them for doing something.

Well not much more to say.  I’ll write you later on.

Love, Ted