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Tom Leaving
He left his home in Gary, Indiana to join the army. -
Starting
Tom and the other recruits got their gear and are going to head for bootcamp. The cook finds ways to serve eggs and they to to eat all the food on their trays, but Tom was allergic to eggs, and was able to find other people to eat them. -
Promotion
Tom had gotten promoted to 2nd class, and earned another $4 a month to his paycheck. -
Dog-tag
Tom and the others with him had recieved their dog-tags. The next day he would get his paycheck, and his platoon won first in a competition. -
Gun Training
Tom had been drilled on how to use guns, and they took a test to see the accuracy. He qualified as a marksmen and just missed sharpshooter. -
To Home
Tom had gotten some time to go home, Before he left, he had written his last letter on September 7, and did not write again until September 19. -
Relocation
Tom had moved bases from some hot place in Virginia to a base in Rhode Island. -
Movie Time
Tom had started to watch a lot of different movies in his spare time. He started to dislike war movies at this point. He used his liberties, which I would guess are free times, to go out and watch movies and dancing and such. -
Ouchies
Tom had once hurt his knee before he went and joined. In his letter he asked his mom to get him a elastic band for his knee because he hurt it again. The doctors took an x-ray to tell him it wasn't broken, which he already knew that information. The doctor lightened his amount of work. I don't think the doctor there really care that much about him. -
Departure
Tom sent his last letter home before he left on December 8th. In his letter he was saying his last goodbyes and telling everyone he loved them. -
After Departure
This was the first letter written by Tom after the departure from the United States. I would have a hard time remebering to write all the time, but then again I'm not homesick. -
New Location
Tom couldn't give his location since it got censored, but they knew he had at least crossed the equator because he and a bunch of other men had to go through some sort of initiation. They had gone somewhere around Cuba. Before the censored location in the letter, it said they could now tell in their letters their location, so I think either they lied, or just may have not gotten the message. -
Money
Tom had metioned in this letter that he was going to send $100 home as soon as he could. He decribed the natives of where he was at as what I took as kind of stupid and lazy. -
Skinning Cats
Tom was going to get a job skinning cats. That really meant using a bulldozer. It makes me a bit relived they aren't literally skinning cats there. -
Another Promotion
Tom had been once again promoted, would now have been able to send $100 home every two months. -
Dentist and Celebration
Tom had to go to the navy dentist, which seemed very brutle but efficient, but had also signed up one year before and was sworn in. -
Pudding Time?
Their food started to go downhill in quality, so one of Tom's friends bought a can of condensed milk and was going to make pudding. When the guys came back with the pudding, it was like gunpowder, and the cans had blown up. They guy who bought the milk had gotten scratches on him. He then declared that he deserved the purple heart, which I found extremely amusing. -
Kindness
The Filipinos were very kind to Tom and the other Americans. They paid the Filipinos to do their laundry, who also gave they fresh food they caught. -
Official Letter
Some really official person sent home a letter to Tom's parents. I think the guy lied a lot in his letter, due to him saying that Tom had attended church regularly, which in a previous letter Tom stated he was sorry and had missed a lot of church. The official's letter and Tom's letters did not match up. -
More Relocation
Tom had moved once again, and found some Filipinos to do his laundry. -
Job Change
Tom had been changing jobs quite frequently, and now worked with cement. I think that his description of the job makes me never want to work with that stuff. -
More Money
Tom had managed to save almost $500 to send home to his parents. That was pretty nice, he also asked for a lot of stuff over the time he was there. -
Tooth Problems
Tom had to go back to the dentist since one of his teeth fell out. It was a false tooth. -
Not Home Yet
To be discharged, one needs to have 44 points. Tom only has 23 points, but if he were to get married, that would add ten more points, and closer to leaving. That system seemed really good and organized, and it looks like it may have work well. -
Dad's Raise
Tom's dad had gotten a raise, and was talking about all the new things they could get and fix. -
Discharge Numbers
Tom had taken a picture and sent it home to his family. At this point, he had 29.25 points out of the 44 required. He still wasn't married, but if he did, he would only need five more points. I think he might get discharged early, since the book is almost over. -
Last Letter in the Book
The last letter in the book talked about him getting his shots for his hives, that made him very shaky. He also talked about coming home for Christmas. This book was pretty good, but rather long compared to the non-fiction I normally read. I read it to keep my theme going.