Dear Mom, Dad and all:
Well
here I am over 9,000 miles from home in what I think is the most beautiful land in God's earth. I was very much awed with the beauty of Honolulu but it doesn't even compare
with that of the Philippines.
We
landed in Manila about six
o’clock in the evening October 23. We stayed at a hotel that
night and reported to the Philippino department the next morning. We spent three
days at Nichols Field at Manila before we came to Clark Field
so we saw quite a bit of the night life there. We were in night clubs in Manila that were every bit as swanky as I've ever been to in the U. S. One of the best places is the Jai-Alai (pronounced hy-ly) Club. Jai Alai is a Philippine game that is as popular here as football is in the States. They also have a large roof garden and a big orchestra there. Army
officers are admitted free to almost every place in town. It is much more advanced
here than I expected it to be. They have a lot of American mad automobiles here
and driving down the main street of Manila is about like traveling
down Market Street in Frisco. They also have a lot of calesas which are carts drawn by little Philippine horses. You can rent one for a whole day for the sum of two Pesos (one dollar).
You can buy almost anything in Manila that you can
in the States and every bit as cheap. Army officers also get a 15% discount on
anything they buy.
We
left Manila for Clark Field Sunday morning. It is about sixty miles north of Mila and the road is paved all the way.
Clark Field is right beside Fort Stotsenberg
and is a comparatively new field but is expanding very fast. Fort
Stotsenberg is about the size of Ft.
Leavenworth and is fixed up pretty nice.
We have a very fine Officer’s Club, about six bowling alleys, tennis courts and a large parade ground where we
play baseball and foot-ball. We have a fairly large cavalry here and can get
a horse to ride when-ever we want one. We also have two theatres on the post.
I
am staying in a house with seven other officers. We have a Philippino boy cook
which is the best cook on the post. We also have two house boys that do all the
cleaning the house, shine our shoes and serve our meals. We have electricity,
and hot + cold running water. Our lavanderos do our washing every day and have
it all set out for us to wear the next day. Labor is very cheap here so it doesn’t
cost us a tenth as much as it would in the states.
I
bought me a tailor-made white uniform and a sharkskin white suit which cost me about eight dollars a piece. For every day we wear khaki uniforms.
I
was assigned to there 28th Bombardment Sqdr. We fly B 18’s and
I like them very much. I would like to have gotten in pursuit but the multi-motored
type will be much more valuable to me when I get out than if I had been in pursuit.
Our squadron is more or less for training bombardment pilots to fly 4 motored B17’s. We are supposed to get 200 hours co-pilot time before we make first pilot but I think they will cut it
down before long. Here at this field we have P35’s, P40’s, B18’s
and B17’s of which I am not allowed to tell how many.
Being
here is more like a vacation than being on duty. Our flying hours are from 7 A.M to 11 A.M. and the rest
of the day we do as we please. In the afternoons we usually play tennis or soft
ball and go tot the show or bowling at night. We have two picture theaters on
the post and they both show fairly new pictures. The picture shows in Manila are about 20 days later than when they are released from Hollywood.
Mom
you sure would have a good time over here. The flowers are much more beautiful
than I ever saw them in California and we have a lot of
orchids growing wild on the trees. We got here at the end of the rainy season
and the climate is very agreeable. However I heard it gets pretty hot later on. We have furniture makers and wood carvers here that make furniture of any kind. I would sure like to get some of it if I could find a way of getting it back without
having to pay a fortune for the freight.
Several
of us are going to Manila this weekend and try to do some
Xmas shopping but I don’t know what kind of luck we’ll have though. I
may have to send my Xmas presents as I run on to them.
I
have a few pictures that I took on the boat over that I’ll send later.
Well
I’ve tried to give you a rough sketch of what the life in the Philippines
is like so much as I have seen it. Maybe I can find more to write about next
time.
Did
you get my letters I sent you from Honolulu and Guam? Please write soon and let me in on all the news at home.
Lots of love from your son,
Don
P.S.
Address my letters
Lt. Don Larson
28th Bomb Sqdn.
Clark Field
Pampanga, P.I.
