Another letter showed up when I went to the mail room last night. It isn’t the letter so much as what was in it that has set me on my ear. You could have knocked me over with a gust of wind (I think that “feather” expression has been rather overdone, don’t you) when I read that Cleon was going to wait and be drafted like I was. It is, generally speaking, alright for a fellow to follow in his brother’s footsteps, but he should at least wait until I get out of them. If I have anything to say about it, this is going to be an exception to the rule.
First of all, I will suggest to Mom, dad, and Cleon that they all reread those 3 letters I have already written on the subject (2 to Mom and Dad and one to Cleon). They need to read them over carefully and ponder each word. Unless they have proof to the contrary, they cannot ignore the points which were made. They say that Cleon thinks he will wait ‘til he’s drafted. But they give no good reason for his doing that, however. In a show I saw the other evening, one of the characters said, “There’s a place up the road for people who talk to themselves!” Was I talking to myself when I wrote those? Not intentionally!
I wonder what Cleon has to gain by waiting. I hope he does not think that the Navy might accept him whereby the Army might reject him, and that he therefore might get into service needlessly.
I realize that it is not easy for a guy like Cleon or me to walk into something like this of our own free will. But in Cleon’s particular case it almost amounts to going in “this week” or being drafted “week after next”. It will take some intestinal fortitude to go in the way I suggest, but it is a course of action which should pay off. About that girl trouble he’s having so much fun with, it’s too bad it has to end soon. Maybe she will write to him.
Cleon should like the Navy at least as well as the Army. Its physical and mental standards are higher and the average gob is younger than his counterpart in the Army. Thousands and thousands of 17-year-old boys have enlisted in the Navy since the war began.
I don’t like to say too much about the advancement that is available in the Navy because that depends on Cleon. But I have heard that ability plays a larger part there than where I am. And I think the Navy is more careful in its assignment of men to certain jobs. For example, compare Gene Elliott with me. Well, he was just an ordinary guy. Enlisted in the Navy, went to school to learn about sound-detection, came out a petty officer third class a few months later. That’s approximately equal to an Army sergeant. I don’t have to tell you what a genius I am (?). Figure out how long and how hard I’ve worked for my corporalcy. I could name other cases of the same nature.
Now, is the Navy more dangerous? Yes, it is more dangerous than what I am doing. What isn’t? But, I don’t think it is as dangerous as what Cleon will probably get into if he waits—namely, infantry, artillery, armored force, combat engineers, tank destroyers, etc. Well, I wonder what he thinks now.
[letterstohome copyright 2008]