Well, the first day is over and I have gained a sunburned neck, nose, arms and a stiff back. They got us up at 5:30 but since my bed was so soft I didn't mind getting up early at all. They gave us half a pup tent but instead of making tents we make sleeping bags and then just lay it down anywhere. This is how it is made up:

The loops are folded over and passed through the button holes and held in place with a stick. The long blanket that sticks out is folded back and tucked under the short one.

It looks thusly when ready for use. You crawl in under three layers of blankets and on top of one. The pointed end folds over your face and keeps the bugs off. Oh, by the way, I just chased a 4 foot bull snake down a hole about 20 feet from my bed. Maybe he'll come sleep with me tonight. As I was saying, we got up at 5:30, ate at 6:00. We had a lecture on how to fix a pack, both combat and travel packs. After that we practiced making them. We then had an hour free until lunch. After lunch every one was put on a detail. Thirty of them, including me, were sent off in a truck. We went about a mile up the road and then started pulling up tomato plants by the roots. They were around six to eight inches high. Some civilian owned it and couldn't get any help so I guess the colonel was big hearted or something. We only had to pick 36,000 plants. We had to count bunches of 25 and then a guy would pick up the bunches. From this total you can see I picked over 1,000 plants by myself. When we finished picking we climbed across a stream - it had an inch of water in it but it was about 25 feet down and 50 feet across. On the other side were some orange trees so for the first time in my life I picked an orange off a tree - in fact I picked 13 - my pockets couldn't hold any more. We got back to the area in time for supper and I am writing this after. I have to hurry up because it's getting pretty dark. This place is 12 miles north of our camp. It is in foot hills, in fact, we are sleeping on a hill. From the top - that's where I am bunking - you can see a range of mountains on two sides on the other two sides you see huge valleys with more mountains on the other side. At night there are lots of lights in the valley and it sure does look nice. In fact, it's so pretty I really can't describe it. The only catch is sleeping. It's quite cold and uncomfortable. If you move around too much you're libel to roll down the hill and it is steep. It's so steep no matter how slow you came up you're panting when you reach the top. In 150 feet distance there is 100 feet difference in height. That's about right - for every 1 one half feet you go 1 foot down. Tomorrow morning we are going on a hike. It will only be a four hour one though, and we will only carry battle packs. Thursday we're going on an all day hike with traveling packs and only K field rations to eat. The moon is just about full and it sure is pretty shining down in your face. Yesterday when we got here all we did was learn how to make our bags and then I played horse shoes all afternoon. It's getting dark so I'll close until tomorrow.

-Tues -

We made the hike OK. We went on top of some ridges that overlook the camp. Boy it sure was some climb up there. In the afternoon we had a gas lecture.

-Wed-

We had extended order drill all morning and we also had scouting practice. It was while I was going through a sheep pasture on my stomach that I lost my fountain pen. In the afternoon I was on KP. All I had to do was gather wood and chop it up.

-Thurs-

This was the big day. We started out at 6 AM in the morning with traveling packs. We had to carry one blanket and our tent half plus our gas masks, canteens, mess kits and field rations. The first three hours we followed roads and then we started up the hills. We would follow ridges and that meant a climb up and down every hill. We had dinner on the ridges above camp and we reached camp about 2 PM. They finally gave us some water and did we drink it up. We had only one canteen-full on the hike and it was boiling hot. We came to a stream that had water in it so I filled my hat and then put it on my head. The water ran all the way down to my toes and did it feel good. This is very pretty country and you can see an awful lot from the tops of the hills we climbed. If these hills we climbed were home I would call them mountains but since I'm out here they're just hills. I carried a towel around my neck to keep from getting sunburned so I threw it in the water and got it soaking wet and then put it on my head. When we got near camp we had two gas attacks and we met some land mines that they exploded for us. We ate supper in camp but it was also a K ration. Boy those K rations are really something. For breakfast you have a small round can of eggs and ham. It looked something like dogmeat but it sure was good. There were six biscuits they looked like dog biscuits. They were long and narrow and hard like dog biscuits. They were supposed to have vitamins in them. They had no taste at all. There was a fruit bar consisting of prunes, apples, and other fruit. It tasted mostly of prunes and dates. There was some powdered coffee and five lumps os sugar. Besides all that there were four cigarettes in a package and a stick of gum, these were in all three meals. For dinner the can contained american cheese. Just a big hunk of cheese. The cans are about the size of a small can of tuna. I ate the cheese with the dog biscuits. Instead of coffee there was lemonade and instead of the fruit there was a box of dextrose and malt tablets. For supper the can was a mixture of pork, carrots, and apple. Instead of lemonade there was bullion soup and instead of tablets there was a chocolate bar that had 300 calories in it. I chewed the gum on the hike and it kept me from getting thirsty. The cigarettes I gave to one of the guys, they were Fleetwoods - I guess they're an expensive brand. All day of marching and I didn't get any blisters. The food didn't seem like much but I was never hungry.

-Fri.-

Today I put on my shorts and tee shirts to get a sunburn. My arms got burned but my legs burn in spots. I kept a towel around my neck and shoulders though and just gave my torso a slight rosy tint. We had PT this morning and this afternoon we went through the camouflage area. This sure was something. Out of 25 men, no further than 20 feet from the path, I only saw one and he was supposed to be seen. As we'd go by the guy would call out the names and the guys would pop out of nowhere. Boy, it was really good. One guy was 2 feet from me in a fox hole and I didn't see him until he scared me stiff. I got the hankies today but don't send anymore unless they're all white. We're not supposed to have them but I'll keep these. Did you send the box of cookies to here or Canyon? I haven't received any here. Don't buy another pen for I'll get one here. I'll need it right away.

-Sat-

We loafed around all day and just had details. I got M.M. so I had to clean some stores.

-Sun.-

We had to march back and boy was it hot. We came back on roads so it wasn't so bad but we sure did hit a fast pace. I had some oranges to eat on the way but we didn't get any water at all. We didn't have any dinner so we were hungry when supper finally came. I took a shower and stood in it about a half hour. Boy did I have the beard. I broke the blades trying to hack it off. Ha Ha. After supper I went to the show to relax. We start pre-flight this week so I'll only be here about 9 more weeks. We are supposed to get our blouses today - boy I sure hope so. I got four letters today: 2 from you, 1 from Doris, and one from Roy King - he's in Ohio going to Kenyon College. No I don't get a letter every day from Doris, just every other day and she is a swell gal. When Robin comes home have him show her to you. I don't imagine I'd know Jack if I saw him and I imagine he is too busy to look me up, besides, he wouldn't have any reason to. Please remember he's an officer. I got a letter from Bud and he said he paid $200 for a uniform sooooooo. He's coming along pretty good I guess. About MM - everyone on this field has to have at least 4 days of MM. They just happened to give our squadron three days straight of it. Theoretically I'm not supposed to get any more while I'm here but we'll see. It sounds to me like Sonny had a good time but I think the rest of the family had even a better time. I hope everything is as successful with Robin. The lucky boys - getting to come home. Ray King had a week home too. I sure am waiting for those pictures. The only thing better than getting a letter is to get some pictures of home. We haven't done anything yet today and I don't think we will do much. I tried to buy a pen but they only sell sets so maybe you better send me another one. I'm all through with bivouac now so I don't guess I'll lose anymore. I could use some scotch tape too. Well, I don't have much more to tell so I'll close and mail this.

Love,
Rae