Stone, Robert L. (1921-2009) to Gella Hecht
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09620.019 Author/Creator: Stone, Robert L. (1921-2009) Place Written: Ellington Field, Texas Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 18 April 1943 Pagination: 2 p. ; 27.8 x 19.6 cm. Order a Copy PDF Download(s): Transcript of document
Addressed to "O'ma," his step-grandmother. Thanks her for a generous check. Writes briefly about the difficult classes, and drills that last from 5 AM to 5:30PM. Compares the weather to New York City in the middle of the season. Tells her the food is the best, even better than back home. The fellows in his squadron range from twenty to twenty-six in age and are from any area from Maine to California.
The date is written as "Sunday" but "Letters in a Box" notes the letter was written on April 18, 1943.
Robert "Bob" Stone was a Bombardier in World War II and served in the Pacific Front. These letters, were compiled by Bob's wife, Sheila M. Stone, and Ali Adair into a book named Letters in a Box. This book details Bob's service to his country, and his life after the war. Bob's letters were donated to the collection by his wife, Sheila M. Stone, in 2017. It contains a variety of letters, postcards, patches, pins, photographs, and scrapbooks that relate to Bob's training and combat missions.
[Draft Created by Crowdsourcing]
Sunday
Dear O'ma -
It was good to hear from you again and to know that you're back in New York. I'm sure I don't know the occasion for my deserving such a generous check but none the less I do appreciate it very much and can't thank you enough. You can be certain that I'll find some good use for it in one way or another. It was really so swell of you O'ma, and I can't express how grateful I am -a millions thanks!
Life here at preflight is swell although it's quite tough. The classes are very difficult for me and they move darn fast trying to cram alot of work into a small period of time. Right now I'm taking math, physics, code, maps and charts, and military science.
Besides our classes we have an hour of calisthenics and drill every day. From 5:00 in the morning until 5:30 at night we haven't a minute to ourselves - we're really busy!
[2]
The weather here is just like mid-summer back East. All day long there's a bright sun shining down that tends to sap all your energy out of you. Slowly but surely I'm getting used to [inserted: it,] and it doesn't bother me too much any more.
The food here is the best I've ever eaten at college, prep-school, or even home. We really have the most wonderful selection of delicious meals [struck: that] [inserted: and] every chow is a real pleasure.
My fellow classmates are a great bunch and we all get on just fine. On the whole we're all about the same age ranging from about twenty to twenty-six. We have boys from all sections of the country stretching from Maine to California.
I can't think of any more news to write but again I want to thank you so much for the very generous check, Oma. Many, many thanks!
Much love -
Bobby
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