Today in the Written Richert Record: Robert to Cornelia 12 June 1944

Monday, June 12[1]

Dear Cornelia,

I'm looking forward to tomorrow with great joy, but I'll bet you can't guess the reason. The laundry has come back & I can start the day with clean sox & underwear. I arrived in Texas with a barracks bag of dirty laundry which I sent out at the first opportunity so the last 11 days have been limping along with a pair of shorts & 3 pairs of sox which I washed out every few nights and a wilted set of suntans [2] with which I could do nothing. The laundry is just one of many situations inadequately referred to as delicate.

I think I wrote you or momma describing the choice location of my living quarters with the choice view from the front lawn of the civilian workers housing unit, the colonels' home, the Texas landscape, the chapel and the officers club. There's a gala time in the last named tonight there being a dinner dance with Al Donahue, who is supposed to be somebody, and his band playing and thru the lattice fence around the terrace can see glimpses of the tables & people. It's nice seeing women in long fluffy summer formals — reminds me of the spring formals at State[3]. It's still early, the band not having started yet and over the P.A. an uninspired, & I assume reluctant, toastmaster announces a new craps table is opening so don’t crowd around table number 1, and at intervals intimidates someone into buying a bond by the subtle method of mentioning his name: Who's going to buy the first bond? Capt. Blank are you stepping up etc. or: Col. Dany has just bought a hundred dollar bond who's next?

There's been a quip buzzing thru the barracks all day I thought you might enjoy: In the ground forces a pass is a pass but in the air corps a pass is out of the question.

By now you must know that I was disillusioned in thinking Hondo in the midst of a desert[4], I don't know whether this country extends very far but I had always thought of San Antonio & the Alamo as cactus country. May be I'll find out this week if lucky enough to have open post.

Have you started your painting project yet? It sounds big enough to last 3 months. My project is to finish this course. Wednesday we fly our first mission & I'm quite anxious to start flying again. The training seems thorough and intelligently planned so I shouldn't have too much trouble as long as I eager and accurate unless there are unforeseen obstacles. The latest rumor going around is that our course will be 16 instead of 20 weeks finishing the middle of Sept. Instead of Oct. You hear the darnedest things sometimes.

Write and keep me informed on the state of the farm.

Love

Robert

[1] Envelope is also missing, but the content indicates that the year is 1944.

[2] This is slang for the summer uniform worn (and paid for) by officers.

[3] Robert was a pre-war undergraduate at Fresno State College, which eventually became California State University, Fresno. It is still called by many “Fresno State” and “State”, especially in casual conversation. Robert was a member of the Zeta Mu fraternity, a local fraternity at Fresno State College. In 1949, they would become initiated as the California Iota chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Many former members of Zeta Mu took the steps necessary to become ΣΑΕs, but Robert did not. His brothers Ted and Hubert did and became founding fathers of California Iota.

[4] This phrase is slightly confusing. I think he might be saying that he didn't expect the base to be as much of a shithole as it was. Or less.