January 1, 1944

Pvt Aug. Haferkamp 36684775

Co. A 225th Bn. 69th Regt 2 R.T.C.

Camp Blanding, Florida



Sat., Jan. 1, 1944

Dear Mother :-

I received your letter yesterday and I was glad to hear from you. I have been wanting to write to you a week or so ago but just didn't have the time. I'll try to write you a few lines today as it will be about the only chance I'll have for the next 2 weeks or so.

I have a lot of work to do today and tomorrow such as washing some of my clothes and getting ready for our 1 weeks camping trip which we start on Monday morning. Where we are going I don't know but we will be away from this camp for 2 weeks. You should see the list of things we have to take with us. We really should have a truck apiece to carry it all.

Well I think I'll be home to see you all pretty soon. I hope to leave here for St. Louis in about 3 weeks from now or about Jan. 22nd. I went in at noon today and gave my Captain $20.00 to get me a railroad ticket. I should get some money back as the ticket isn't that much. I will be aloud to stay home 7 days. That's not many days but that is all any of the fellows here get. That doesn't include the time we spend on the train. That really isn't what you call a furlough but is a 7 day layover as I won't come back to this camp but I will either go to Fort Mead, Maryland or Ford Ord, California and then I guess from there we will get a boat ride to somewheres overseas.

I got my medal for shooting expert with the rifle. We got them Wednesday evening. Tuesday and Thursday of this week we were out to shoot the machine gun. We fired about 25 shots each on the 50 caliber machine gun.

Tell Henry I said "thanks" for the money he sent me for Xmas. I would have written to him but as I said I've been too busy. I also got a $5.00 check from the firemen and also $5.00 from George Wegener. I wrote a letter to thank the firemen but I haven't wrote to Wegener yet. I sure miss not being able to be up at the fire department today as it will be the first New Years party that I missed.

I guess by this time Dora has been up to see you and tell you all about her trip. I got a pass and left here last Friday evening and I went to Starke and got her. We then had to come back to this camp to catch a bus for St. Augustine. We sure enjoyed our visit there as there are lot of sights to see. The only trouble was that it rain Xmas and the following day so we didn't get to take as many pictures as we wanted to.

Dora's cousin's husband who is here in this camp came over to see me last night. He is in the rifle company. He married the Watkins girl. The one that Hermann Ruffini was going with when he died.

Well I guess I better close and get busy. I'll try to write to you while I'm in the woods if I get time. If you have time write as they are going to bring our mail out to us once a day. I hope in 3 weeks from now I'll be on my way to Staunton to see you all.

So long
Gus

Tell Bill that Bill Stoermer quit at Atlas and got a job at Quincy on a bardge job. Stemp White got his 1A card and Zeke got a job back there. I wrote to Regot several weeks ago but never did hear from him.

December 21, 1943--a letter written by my mother in Florida to her mother-in-law

The following letter was written by my mother to her mother-in-law back  home in Staunton after she had arrived at Fort Blanding to visit her husband.

Dec. 21st, 1943

1:30 P.M.

Dear Mom & all--

I arrived in Jacksonville Sat. afternoon at 4 P.M. Gus didn't get in until nine o'clock so I sat in the station and waited for him. He is fine but a lot thinner than I expected him to be. It was his clothes that made him look big in his pictures. They are a lot too big for him.

We got here in Camp about two Sunday afternoon. After I unpacked we went down to the lake and took some pictures. We got back and had our supper about 8 P.M. He had to leave about 10:15 to get back to his hut. Last night he came over about 7 P.M. He was to have waited on tables but he paid another kid to do it for him. He didn't eat supper so we went to the service club and ate. Tonight he has class so I guess it will be 9 o'clock or later before he gets here.

I still don't know where I'm going to stay after I leave here tomorrow. It is very nice here at the guest house. I wish I could stay but that is out. Gus is trying to talk me into staying over New Year's but I hate to take a chance on losing my job. But if he still wants me to I guess I will if I can find a place to stay. He's afraid he will not get his furlough or he wouldn't mind so much if I left after Xmas.

Gus has never gotten my Xmas package. Maybe it was in that train wreck. He got yours.

How did you get along with Skipper? Did he want to follow me?

I just came as far as Tenn. by bus. I came the rest of the way by train. I'll tell you all about it when I get home.

Take care of yourself and I hope you all have a nice Xmas. Thanks again for the Xmas presents as they were grand. This letter is from Gus too in case he doesn't get a chance to write. He said to tell you all hello & to write. He got Mamie's letter yesterday & one from Louie. Also about six Xmas cards & the paper. I sure hope he gets my Xmas box before Xmas.

Write when you can.

Love,
Dora & Gus

These pictures were taken of Mom and Dad during Mom's visit with Dad in Florida.

Mom asks about Skipper, their beloved rat terrier. Heard so many stories about him growing up, including that while Dad was away during the war Skipper would walk across town from my mother's mother's home on Hibbard to Dad's parents' home looking for Dad. He would walk into the house, wander through the house looking for Dad, they'd give him a treat, and he would go back home.

Mamie, whose letter Dad had just received, is his sister and oldest sibling. She, like his oldest brother, never married and the two of them ended up living together in the family home all their lives. I don't have any idea who "Louie" is. As far as I know, it isn't a family member.

As I looked at the envelope this letter came in I had to smile. Mom had put down the wrong house number, 623 North Laurel Street instead of 621 North Laurel Street, and yet there are no marks on the envelope indicating there was any problem delivering the letter. I don't even think that there is a house numbered 623 on North Laurel.

December 16, 1943

Thurs., Dec. 16, 1943

Dear Mother:-

I received your most welcome letter this morning and I was glad to hear from you. I also got the package which you sent me this evening. Thanks a lot for everything.

Yesterday it rained all day so we had classes indoors all day. the rain started the night before and rain all during the day and part of last night. During the night it got cold and windy. I always thought Florida was a warm state but here is what we wore today and some of us were still cold. I put on my heavy underwear; wool knitted cap; overcoat and gloves. I sure didn't think I would ever wear the overcoat down here but it sure felt good this morning and tonight.

I guess Dora will be surprised to find it so cold down here as I told her the other day how hot it was here last week. She should be on her way by now. I signed up for a pass this evening but we are to work until 5:15 this Saturday so it will be late before I get into Jacksonville.

I sure wish it would warm up before tomorrow night as I've got to walk guard again. That sure does come around quick. That will be about my last time while I'm at this camp. It's my 4th time.

I didn't get last week's Staunton paper until yesterday evening. Mail is sure coming in slow. I wrote a letter to Uncle Henry last Sunday. I told him to show it to Lillian and Mary to save me from writting so much. I got the Xmas card from you and bill. I got about 10 Xmas cards so far. I even got one from the Carters from Wentzville, Mo. who work at the TNT powder plant. I sent out 35 and I'm not going to send anymore.

I sure was surprised to hear that Jack Hockmuth had died. I wonder who will get his filling station now.

There is a lot of flu and cold down here also. The hospital is full of fellows. Our Captain told us yesterday evening when we were done to go to our huts and stay there out of the rain. He also said that we should be sure to take off our wet shoes.

I'm glad you like the picture of me. I didn't think they were so good but still they were a lot better than I had expected. Maybe sometime later I'll get it taken again and I can give everyone a picture. I sent Dora some snapshot that I took down here. I guess she'll show them to you when she gets up there.

Well it's time for lights out and I told you all the news so I'll close and I'll write to you later. thanks a lot for the package and Here's Wishing you all a Merry Xmas & a Happy New Year.

Gus

Dad was kept up-to-date on happenings back home through letters from his mother, his wife, and many others, in addition to the Staunton newspaper, and he often mentions Staunton news in his letters back home. Jack Hockmuth and his wife Johanna lived on East Main Street in Staunton. He owned the Hochmuth Service Station on West Main Street.

At some point in the early 1940s, before Dad was drafted, he and my mother lived in Wentzville, Mo., where he worked at the TNT powder plant, and it seemed that a number of friends and family did the same.

Dad mentions asking Uncle Henry to show the letter he wrote him to Lillian and Mary. They are Uncle Henry's two daughters, Dad's cousins, Lillian Glenn and Mary Wasilewski, both of whom lived in Athens, Illinois.

December 12, 1943

Sat. 3 P.M. Dec. 12, 1943

Dear Mother:-

I received your letter a few days ago and as you know I was glad to hear from you. I have this afternoon and tomorrow off so I'll try to write a few letters. I have so many to write I hardly know where to start. About the only time we get time to write is on the weekends. I got a card from Lillian and also a Xmas card the first part of the week from Uncle Henry. I believe I told you in my last letter that I got a Xmas card from the Ed. Roberts.

We have been having some awful hot weather this last week but today it is cloudy and has rained a little today. I sure hope the weather stays nice the few weeks that I'm here yet.

I got my pictures last week and set them to Dora. I guess by this time she brought you one. They aren't very good but still they are better than I thought they would be.

Well next week this time I guess Dora will be in Jacksonville waiting for me. I sure hope I can get a week end pass so I can meet her. I should be able to get a pass if I haven't K.P. or guard duty as I never did ask for a pass since I've been here. I guess she will have a time getting a room after her 3 days are up here at the camp. Rooms are awful hard to get down here now.

A lot of fellows left this afternoon on a sight seeing trip to St. Augustine which is the oldest city in the United States. There bus fare was to be about $1.25.

We had 4 hours schooling and a picture show on malaria fever this week. They tell us about this as the camp is in a low spot and a lot of mosquitoes breed around here. They have men out working every day spraying oil on the ponds and cutting weeds to keep the mosquitoes from breeding.

We were kept real busy this last week. We had night classes until after 9 o'clock 2 nights. During the day we had code; pole climbing and hooking up switchboards and telephones. Just 6 more weeks basic training here. Time has sure flew by fast since I've been here.

I was just out to see if I had gotten any mail but I never. I thought maybe I would get the Staunton paper. the mail is coming in very slow now. I guess there are too many Xmas cards & packages to slow things up.

Have you heard from Freddie this week? He never did answer my letter but I guess he is like I am most of the time, just hasn't time to write. I guess some of that Army life is tough on him as he is pretty big. Couldn't they do any thing about getting him a discharge for being over 38 years old? I thought John Lee was going to try and get him out. Has he forgotten again?

Well I believe I told you all I know so I'll close and will write you more later.

Gus


Dad seems to fill most of his time off writing letters. Sounds like he had been getting mail from family and from Staunton townspeople. His cousin Lilly Glenn has written, as has her father Henry Brackhane, both of whom lived in Athens, Illinois. His brother Freddie wasn't ever much of a letter writer, even when away in the Army, so Dad has been asking his mother in nearly every letter he's written whether she's heard from him.

I think that this picture, because it is so different from other pictures of him from this period and because only a couple of copies were found, is probably the one that that he write of in this letter and in a couple earlier letters.