Dear Mother,
Saturday, April 18, 1942
We had a little lecture today and got the liberty situation straightened out. Beginning next week, a week later than I expected, some of us will have liberty on Saturday and some of us on Sunday. The Sunday liberty will be best because on Saturday we will have from 3:00 P.M. to 12:00 P.M. and on Sunday we will have from 12:00 P.M. to 12:00 midnight (from 12 noon to 12 midnight). The fellas that have the best record etc. will get Sunday.
The one week we have K.P. we won’t have any liberty. If we are being punished for something, we may lose our liberty. That is the one person that doesn’t do what he is told, backtalks to an officer, doesn’t keep himself and his clothes clean, and last but not least going to sleep on guard. However, I have been getting along fine so far, and I will in the future I am sure. The officers are all reasonable and a person that does the right thing by them they are all very easy to get along with. The chief petty officer of our company is a very nice fellow. His name is Mr. Metcalf. Our company commander is an ex Marine and he doesn’t fuss around with anybody’s foolishness or lazyness.
Some guys that were caught smoking in the next barracks when they weren’t supposed to had to carry all their belongings in a pack on their back in front of these barracks for four hours. The pack weighing eighty or ninety pounds and is quite big. I think that in most cases those punishments are a very good thing. Those guys probably wouldn’t have had to do that if they hadn’t sassed the officer in charge. Some of these smart alecks think that they can get away with that.
About our leave, after our training the officer said that was not definite. We may have some leave and we may not have. I hope I do.
Our parents are allowed to come on the grounds from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. on our graduating day which will be May 22.
You mentioned about submarine in your last letter. When we were having one of our tests they asked for volunteers for submarine duty. Quite a few of the fellows in my company volunteered. There has been a rumor around that some of the fellows that are a little more advanced in their training are being drafted in the Merchant Marine. I don’t know what to think about that trade school business. It seems like they send you wherever they have an opening. I was talking to a fellow the other day and he said that all but 12 in his company made trade school. He said that he had about 2 1/2 years of experience in a machine shop and they put him in the electrical school. You would be surprised all the men with trade and educations that are in with the rest of us. There is ? through college and is a chemical engineer etc. However I am not worrying about it. The worst of Navy life is nothing compared to what the Army men have to go through with. If I don’t make trade school and get aboard a ship, I will probably get ahead faster.
They need a lot of skilled men on them. In fact that is the object of trade school, to fit men for jobs on ship. Everybody in the service soon gets the idea that we will go wherever fate or whatever it is puts us so the only thing we can do is live from day to day to day and forget about the future. Since I have been here, I have come to the same conclusion. Our future is in the hand of God and what’s the use of worrying about it. (All things work together for good for them who love the Lord). What is there in life that is so dear that we should place it above everything else.
The men that are afraid to die do some awful carrying on whenever they’re in danger and it makes it all the worse for them. As I have said before, I may get in the trade school. I may not. But I am not going to set my heart on anything anymore because it just makes it hard in case you are disappointed.
I am done with my shots now and feel better. Everything is ok as far as I am concerned. I am enclosing my life insurance paper. We can lower or drop entirely this insurance any time we want to.
So with love,
Erwin Holmquist
P.S. If you send anything anymore, I like oranges better than anything. Those thin mints were nice too.
Here is an interesting article about how orange juice has its roots in World War II military. Link
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