DIY History | Transcribe | Nile Kinnick Collection | Nile Kinnick correspondence, December 1942-March 1943

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Nile Kinnick correspondence, December 1942-March 1943

1943-02-24: Page 05

the folks in Omaha, and divided the remaining days between Adel, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids. Reported at Norfolk on Sept 24th under the impression that I would be at sea in 5 weeks. And now here it is 5 months later, and I am still on the beach. From October to January I was in operational training at Jacksonville flying the good old Grumman Wildcat. It was by far the best training yet. Most of the instructors were veterans of Midway or AVG pilots. Enroute to Quonset Pt to join my permanent squadron I was detained in Norfolk a few days for carrier landing & take off qualification. Since coming here we have concentrated mostly on gunnery. Inasmuch as the war is being fought, with guns, I find myself in hearty accord with the squadron training policy. Have been down to New York a few times and once up to Boston on liberty. Have seen some good plays and raced around a bit on a minor scale. A few years ago, the spring of 1940 to be exact, I sat beside brother Edward Everett Horton at a banquet tendered in his honor by the Phi Psi group in Cedar Rapids; he was playing a two night stand in "Springtime for Henry." We became pretty well acquainted, and he asked me to bring a date, and watch the performance from the wings, which I did. Well, when in Boston I chanced to notice the same billing at the Colonial Theatre. Just for the devil of it I decided to drop backstage after the play and say hello. Happily, he remembered me and even seemed pleased. At any

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the folks in Omaha, and divided the remaining days between Adel, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids. Reported at Norfolk on Sept 24th under the impression that I would be at sea in 5 weeks. And now here it is 5 months later, and I am still on the beach. From October to January I was in operational training at Jacksonville flying the good old Grumman Wildcat. It was by far the best training yet. Most of the instructors were veterans of Midway or AVG pilots. Enroute to Quonset Pt to join my permanent squadron I was detained in Norfolk a few days for carrier landing & take off qualification. Since coming here we have concentrated mostly on gunnery. Inasmuch as the war is being fought, with guns, I find myself in hearty accord with the squadron training policy. Have been down to New York a few times and once up to Boston on liberty. Have seen some good plays and raced around a bit on a minor scale. A few years ago, the spring of 1940 to be exact, I sat beside brother Edward Everett Horton at a banquet tendered in his honor by the Phi Psi group in Cedar Rapids; he was playing a two night stand in "Springtime for Henry." We became pretty well acquainted, and he asked me to bring a date, and watch the performance from the wings, which I did. Well, when in Boston I chanced to notice the same billing at the Colonial Theatre. Just for the devil of it I decided to drop backstage after the play and say hello. Happily, he remembered me and even seemed pleased. At any