Group XIII BTD, AAF TTC
Atlantic City, NJ
Tuesday, January 26, 1943
Dearest Mother & Daddy
Well! here I am in N.J. looking out of my hotel window. On one side I can see the ocean, and the beach where Miss America is selected from each year. It is about one short block. I look out the other window & look at tall buildings as far as I can see. I also find that I am not only in a hotel (Claridge Hotel), but I am in the biggest (29 floors) but the newest, & the best in the city. It is really nice. We have a large room with five rooms in it. Private bath with tile floor & walls, tub and show also. Very nice.
We left Atlanta Monday morning. It was all right there, but I am glad to be away. We rode Monday, Monday night, & Tuesday. We got here about 7 o’clock. They lined us up and marched us right up to our rooms. I met a lot of the boys on the train, & have made friends with a lot of them. I am in the room with boys from Wisconsin. They are very nice, but I will try to move in with the southern boys if I can.
It is pretty cold here. The wind is pretty strong off the bay, and it is sleeting now. It is not deep, but the tops of the buildings, & the ground is white. The streets & side walks look like they have a layer of ice on them.
I am in the air corps, & I am in the radio & signal corps of it. I don’t know how I will like that, but I think I will get along O.K. We will be put in technical schools & take different courses. I may get machines, or gunnery.
I called Anna Ruth yesterday. She is just about 100 miles from here, and is coming to see me before long. She said that she is getting along just fine. I didn’t get time to ask her many questions, because she was asking me so much.
I think I am going to need a little more money until I get settled. I just can’t keep from letting it go. I will reimburse you.
I have a real good chance to be sent back south in 8 weeks. That is how long I will be here.
We are in the bathroom now singing. I mean they are singing, and I am trying to write. We have to turn the lights out in the rooms and keep all of the light out of the room we can. All of the automobiles will have to keep black out light, and all windows have to have black out curtains up.
There is a boy here from Sand Mountain that is in the same hotel. We are on the tenth floor together, but I don’t get to see him very often. I don’t care though.
This is really a home sick bunch here. The boys that came with me are all from Alabama and Georgia. I am glad I have been away from home before when I knew I could get back so this doesn’t worry me.
I can’t write in here, so I will quit and write again real soon. Write soon and tell me everything and ask anything you want to know.
I love you,
George
