April 6, 1943

Dear Mae,

The other day I happened to be examing my wallet and I remembered that it was you who had given it to me. It seems that it was long ago that it happened, but in reality it was only a few months. Since then, as you might know just about everyone is in the Army now. I was able to finish one semester at Duke and it was something that I won’t forget. There is something about college that is different from anything else that there is and I know that after the war is over, I am going to go back. The Air-Corp seemed to be the best branch of the service so I took the Air-Cadet examination and was lucky. They called me in February, and after a month at Miami Beach they sent me up here to study math and physics for five months. We will be flying in two or three months if the weather is good. It feels rather good to be an Aviation Student, but really there is nothing to the title. We are just a little better than privates, and have to take more “guff’ than about anyone in the Army I guess. It is worth it though, because if I make the grade, there us a lieutenants’ commission waiting for me in fifteen months. Then, Barbara and I are going to see if we can get married. We are still quite young so I suppose we will have to wait until a later date, probably after the war.

Well Mae, I won’t take up any more of your time, but I just thought that I would like to write to you. I always liked you, and you always treated me extremely well. I want to thank you for all the kind things that you did for me. I hope that you are well and enjoying yourself.

Sincerely,

Richard