DIY History | Transcribe | World War I Diaries and Letters | Robert Morriss Browning correspondence to Karl S. Hoffman, 1918 | 1918-02-11 Bob Browning to Karl Hoffman Page 1

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Robert Morriss Browning correspondence to Karl S. Hoffman, 1918

1918-02-11 Bob Browning to Karl Hoffman Page 1

Feb. 11, 1918
36th Inf. Ft. Snelling, Minn.

Dear Karl,
Of course you don't need to write unless you want to but I'm mightily interested in all you're doing and how you're coming.
My letter on learning of your appointment may not have been as excited in its congratulations as you might have expected, but then I was expecting it and sort of took it for granted. You probably were surprised. The competition in all these camps looks pretty keen and a modest person often feels that his chances may be pretty slim, but as soon as your letters showed that you were really interested in the work I felt ready to back you in any sort of competition.
Now don't get discouraged if the instructor calls you occasionally. Just don't let it happen too often. Many officers feel that when they can't find something to call a man for once in a while it's a sign they're getting old or growing stale. Don't mind a little of it but try not to get called twice for the same thing. This training camp stuff is pretty stiff but if you stay with it you will have got through the hardest work you'll have till you get to France. Of course, when you get your commission you'll have responsibility enough to make up, but the steady grind will not be so monstrous when you have an opportunity to do your work a little more at your convenience. An officer has to study and work but there is a certain degree of flexibility in his daily program that makes it much more pleasant and no less difficult than the O.T.C.
We are getting cheered up a bit here by news of a prospective voyage. No orders have been published but it is understood that we are to go over this spring. "The sooner the quicker", as far as I am concerned.
Did I tell you in my last letter about being elected to the Masons? I'm hoping to get down to Mediapolis within the next two weeks or so to take my first degree, but don't know whether I can make it or not. If I can, I want to stop off in Iowa City for a few hours.
I've been having an interesting class in

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Feb. 11, 1918 36th Inf. Ft. Snelling, Minn. Dear Karl, Of course you don't need to write unless you want to but I'm mightily interested in all you're doing and how you're coming. My letter on learning of your appointment may not have been as excited in its congratulations as you might have expected, but then I was expecting it and sort of took it for granted. You probably were surprised. The competition in all these camps looks pretty keen and a modest person often feels that his chances may be pretty slim, but as soon as your letters showed that you were really interested in the work I felt ready to back you in any sort of competition. Now don't get discouraged if the instructor calls you occasionally. Just don't let it happen too often. Many officers feel that when they can't find something to call a man for once in a while it's a sign they're getting old or growing stale. Don't mind a little of it but try not to get called twice for the same thing. This training camp stuff is pretty stiff but if you stay with it you will have got through the hardest work you'll have till you get to France. Of course, when you get your commission you'll have responsibility enough to make up, but the steady grind will not be so monstrous when you have an opportunity to do your work a little more at your convenience. An officer has to study and work but there is a certain degree of flexibility in his daily program that makes it much more pleasant and no less difficult than the O.T.C. We are getting cheered up a bit here by news of a prospective voyage. No orders have been published but it is understood that we are to go over this spring. "The sooner the quicker", as far as I am concerned. Did I tell you in my last letter about being elected to the Masons? I'm hoping to get down to Mediapolis within the next two weeks or so to take my first degree, but don't know whether I can make it or not. If I can, I want to stop off in Iowa City for a few hours. I've been having an interesting class in