April 25, 1942
Dear Mother,
This is Sunday morning and I have a little time to write a letter so I thought I had better. I hope you got the letter that I sent the other night. We are going to graduate next Friday. If they change that many more times I won’t know what to think. However, I believe that this is certain now. All companies that go through from now on will be five week companies. Next week Friday we will graduate and from then until the time we leave I don’t know where or when we will be in OGU (outgoing unit). They say we may be in that a week or so. We don’t know though. We can’t depend on a thing.
We have a pretty nice job now escorting all of the guests from the gate to wherever they are going. All the people that want to see their sons etc. have to go to the hostess house which is a little way from the gate. And then the lady there gets in contact with these sons and they come to the hostess house and visit.
We found out what we got for our grades on our exams the other day. I got an average of 75 on them all.
The officer of the building where we had to go said that they have to fill a certain quota for each trade school each month. Some schools nobody volunteers for and then they have to draft some men into it. They have a hard time getting men into the hospital care, signal men, and maybe some others that I do not know about. Those trade schools I heard last about four months and when they’re in trade school, they have liberty 32 hours each weekend.
Well I soon will know what I am getting into. I hope it is something I want. They have a lot of different kinds of schools.
Well I am going to quit now. I will write again soon.
With Love,
Erwin Holmquist
Ancestors Across the Ages 