Army life to a KY Grunt!! :)

[sharder8]

Army life

Mr. and Mrs. Braithwaite Backus, Bald Buzzard Ridge Mountainville,
KY RFD 2

Dear Ma and Pa: Am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer
the Army beats working for Old Man Minch a mile. Tell them to join up
quick before maybe all the places are filled.

I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly
6 a.m. (but am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all
you do before breakfast is smooth your cot and shine some things -- no
hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay.
Practically nothing.

You got to shave, but it is not bad in warm water. Breakfast is
strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of
weak on chops, potatoes, beef, ham steak, fried eggplant, pie and regular
food. But tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit between two city boys that
live on coffee. Their food plus yours holds you till noon, when you get fed.

It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much. We go on "route
marches," which, the Sgt. says, are long walks to harden us. If he thinks
so, it is not my place to tell him different. A "route march" is about as far as
to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys all get sore feet and we ride
back in trucks. The country is nice, but awful flat.

The Sgt. is like a schoolteacher. He nags some. The Capt. is like
The school board. Cols. and Gens. just ride around and frown. They don't
bother you none. This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep
getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The bull's-eye is near big as a
chipmunk and don't move. And it ain't shooting at you, like the Higsett boys at
home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don't
even load your own cartridges. They come in boxes. Be sure to tell Walt and
Elmer to hurry and join before other fellows get onto this setup and come
stampeding in.

Your loving son, Zeb.

P.S. Speaking of shooting, enclosed is $200 for barn roof and ma's teeth. The city boys shoot craps, but not very good.

[caddmannq]

HeeHeeHee

Ah'm a Kin Tucky boy Mah own self.

Covington KY, vintage '55

Don't shoot wurth a dang, but Ah do eat good!

[originel]

hahahahahahahaha, that's hilarious., i gotta send that to my friend in the army

[^hyd^]

hahahah good stuff!!

[alondra]

reminds me of a couple old boys from my old outfit. in WWll many guys in basic had never been more than 30 miles from home,

[Theophylact]

Did you ever read Mac Hyman's No Time for Sergeants, one of the funniest books ever written? There's a wonderful scene where some city slickers get into a pool game with Our Hero, who learned how to play on a table where the balls were so old the numbers "had wore off, so you had to tell which was which by their shape". You can guess the outcome.

[justy]

That is a pretty cool letter. lol

Isn't life cruel and gorgeous at the same time.

All the best, Justy. Ye al.

EDIT: hope you don't mind, but I sent it on to a great bud of mine.