Dear Ma and Pa:

Am well. Hope you are. Tell brother Walt and brother Elmer
the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell
them to join up quick before maybe all of the places are filled.

I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till
nearly 6 am, but am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt &
Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot and shine some
things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to
split, fire to lay. Practically nothing!

Men got to shave but it is not so bad, they git warm water.
Breakfast is strong on trimmings. Like fruit juice, cereal,
eggs, bacon, etc_but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak,
fried eggplant, pie and other regular food. But tell Walter & Elmer
you can always sit between two city boys that live on coffee.
Their food plus yours holds you til noon, when you get fed again.
It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much. We go on
"route" marches, which the Platoon Sergeant says are long walks to
harden us. If he thinks so, it is not my place to tell him
different. A "route march" is about as far as to our mailbox at home.
Then the city guys gets sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.

The country is nice, but awful flat. The Sergeant is like a
schoolteacher. He nags some. The Capt. Is like the school
board. Majors and Colonels just ride around an frown. They don't
bother you none.

This next will kill Walter & Elmer with laughing. I keep
getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The bulls-eye is near
as big as a chipmunk and don't move. And it ain't shooting at
you, like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there
all comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own
cartridges. They come in boxes.

Be sure to tell Walk and Elmer to hurry and join before
everybody gets onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,
Gail