July 24, 1943

Dear Mom, Pop, Marie, Shirley and Avis,

It's been up to 117 degrees here every day now and cools down to about 105 degrees around supper time. Everybody is wringing wet with sweat all the time. When you take a shower you dry yourself off starting from top to bottom and before you get to your toes you are just as wet as you were when you came out from under the shower. After we get through flying, out flying suits are wringing wet. When we get all together in one little classroom, it smells like a pig pen.

I've been getting anywhere from 92 to 100 in my exams, and I passed my twenty hour check this week. We went on our second long cross country trip. I hit my check points all on the nose. One of the boys for lost and ended up 300 miles out of the way. It's not too hard to get lost down here in Texas. The map will show a town but from way up in the air it's pretty hard to find a Texas town which consists of 3 houses. They're going to wash out the kid that got lost. You see, it's here today and gone tomorrow.

Next week we start night flying. After that we get instrument flying, formation flying and all that sort of stuff. It's really hard flying these BT's as compared to the PT's.

With all the meteorology I've been talking, I'll be a weather forecaster before long.

We had our individual pictures takes for our class book at eleven o'clock the other night, Mine didn't come out so hot but we had one made for you. We took there with flight caps on and earphones setting on our heads. Where they get their ideas is beyond me.

I'm the orderly here and everybody os on my neck to go and get their mail.

I can't write with them beating their gums so I'll close with love to all.

As Ever,

Al