Stinson Field Feb. 21, 1943.

Dear Mother,
          Here it is Sunday night so I
thought I would drop you a line before
going to bed.
          It has been a grand day out. Just
like a day in June at home. I went
to Men's Bible Class this morning and
also church. Both are were very nice
services. It won't be long now before
the will dedicate the new chapel here.
I think after they get that done they
will have a full house. They have around
150 to 200 at the services now.
          I received a box of candy from Luella
Saturday and a box from Ebersoles. I guess
they seem to think quite a bit of me since
I am in the army. If I could get out to
farm I would go up and farm for him
again.
          I guess you have been haveing some
mean weather back home from all the
letters I have been receiving. Luella


complains, Lenore, complains. Irene and
Marie. So I guess it is bad.
          Lenore wrote me a letter and I guess
she just wanted to complain to somebody
so she wrote to me. Sounded as if
she is scared that Harold will have
to go into the army. Looks like they are
going to get everybody. I don't know what
they will do with them. We aren't doing
much and they have put all the camps
on field rations now, instead of garrison
rations. We just about get enough and that
is all. So you can see times in the army
are getting tough too.
          I got a whole carton of chewing gum
and sent it to Irene. She says you can't
buy it in Toledo anymore. I bet she will
be surprised to get it. She was going to
come home today if her and Irma could
get out there. I told her the next time she
was home to call you up. I don't know if
she will or not. Can you tell me what
date eather Easter come on this year. We
don't have any calenders in the barracks.


So it is hard for us to remember dates like
that. All the calenders we have are just little
ones on front of writing tablets and so on.
          What have you been doing all day? I suppose
you went to church. Is this getting serious
between Audrey and Glenn? Everytime you
write it seems as if Glenn has been
down there. Well one thing he doesn't have
far to go.
          How are the cactus I sent you? Are
they growing any bigger? I suppose Luella
and Lenore is tickled because I sent them
some.
          Well I can't think of much more to write
about now. So I guess I will have to call
this a letter and get to bed. We probably
have more hikes again next week.
          Yesterday we were on maneuvers. The
repair Squadron had to capture the
Headquarters. They even used live gas
bombs of tear gas. You should have seen
the fellows cry who were slow in putting
on there gas mask. We had to wade
the river and the water came clear up
to our waist. They had gone ahead


of us and as soon as the crossed over
a bridge they would smear white
wash on it and this was to destinate
that the bridge had been blown up.
What fun. The commanding officer sat
in a cactus and now he can't sit anymore.
Everybody gave in a laugh then. It is
all in a days work doing the maneuvers
to get us use to these things.
          I sent my camera home yesterday so now
you can be expecting it. Have Freeman
or somebody use up the film in it and
put it away with the rest of my stuff.
So long for this letter.
                                 Love Ralph.


The next letter will be posted on February 24th.

Background Information (and comments):

• Glenn was Ralph's second youngest brother. He lived and worked at home on the family farm.
• Freeman was Ralph's youngest brother. He was also still living at home.
• For more information on rationing during World War II, here is a link to a PBS video https://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5406.htm
• Here's some additional "gum" information from another site: As a part of their rations, American troops in WWII received gum.  Indeed, Redclift argues that the gum was an integral part of the rations, and every American GI received it for each meal. 26.  It was lightweight, unaffected by temperature, stable for long periods of time, and was appealing.  Over 500 million sticks of gum were chewed by the soldiers every year, and this forced the Wrigley Company to only provide gum to the U.S. Army and Navy in 1944. 27.  Sleep researcher Gary Kamimori invented caffeine gum, and the U.S. Army readily supplied this to its troops to help through the fatigue of military operations.  Each piece contained roughly the equivalent of a six-ounce cup of coffee, minus the difficulty of transport, need to go to the bathroom, and can be used in all kinds of temperatures. 28.
•          A garrison ration is the quantity and type of food served to a soldier when they are stationed somewhere. It is generally not the same as the rations fed to troops in combat or transit - usually termed combat rations, field rations, marching rations or some other task-specific term. This term is mostly used with respect to historic militaries. Modern thinking about nutrition and military logistical support is generally very different today, although people may still speak of garrison rations in relatively underdeveloped countries.

Traditionally, the garrison ration of an army was quite simple and often inadequate for basic nutrition. The British army in the 18th century encouraged troops to grow vegetables at their bases, and
sometimes raise livestock, in order to supplement their nutrition. British garrison rations at the time generally consisted of one pound of bread and three-quarters of a pound of beef daily.