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Nile Kinnick correspondence, June-August 1942
1942-06-25: Front
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Thursday June 25, 1942 Dear People, Not until tomorrow will I get off for Miami, just one week later than I had anticipated. Transfer orders for three of us were held up out of Washington somehow or another and didn't arrive until yesterday. The boys whom I had intended to take over with me had to go on ahead last Tuesday, and now I have lined up two other fellows. Marvin Haugebak came through the KC base and was one of those riding to New Orleans with me. The other lad, Carlson, by name, is from Philadelphia and was no acquaintance of mine until a couple of days ago, but he needs a ride and I have the room so we are all set. Tentatively I plan to drive to Tallahassee, then down the west coast thru St. Petersburg and Tampa, on down to Ft. Myer, and finally across the state east to Miami. With my orders I received a letter authorizing me to buy gasoline en route, so there will be no trouble on that account. Enjoyed thoroughly my first two or three days of rest and then I began to get restless. Am now quite anxious to be at it again. Have played a little golf, read some, but mostly just slept and lolled on the beach. Yesterday I stopped over at the library for a look around and ran across a recent biography of W. Churchill by Philip Guedalla. Immediately started to read it, finishing it up this morning. The forepart amounts to a resume of the Churchill's autobiography, A Roving Commission, then proceeds up thru the 1st World War, right up to August and September, 1940. I found it most interesting, as I always do anything that concerns Britain's present Prime Minister. His actions and words set me on fire every time. At last and for sure I have found a man in history whose every move and writing attracts me. And his life has not been without plenty of adversity, at least, in politics. Following the last War he had plenty of tough going, but it now all appears as so much preparation for a greater glory. Incidentally, he is going to have plenty on his hands explaining the defeat in Lybia. Anytime anyone wants to buy some thing for me and can find a book by Churchill that I don't have, grab it and rest assured he has gotten me a welcome gift. Have I before made mention of the caste system so prevalent in the Navy---and in the South. Separate drinking fountains for white and colored, ditto urinals, ditto theatres, busses, restaurants, etc. At the Brigade bldg there are certain doors for cadets and certain doors for officers. At the theatre the sailors must sit here, the cadets there, the officers someplace else, and the chief petty officers yet another place. Don't under any circumstances sit inthe wrong place--for you might contaminate the other group. It is all in the interest of discipline, I suppose, and, perhaps, cannot be otherwise as long as leadership is superimposed quite apart from merit and promotion is on the basis of seniority and not ability. It would be hard to arrange it otherwise, however, for it is such a loose, rambling, huge organization. Does remarkably well under the circumstances, I presume. Matters little to me--no gripe--just an observation. It has been awfully hot down here for t he past two weeks except for a few days of rain. During the summer this area is infested with huge, billowing, cumulus clouds. Makes flying a little difficult sometimes, but we keep right at it, nonetheless. You don't need to send me my Readers Digest this month, I already have purchased one. Did you ever get the Hawkeye and small book containing information about the station in general?
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Thursday June 25, 1942 Dear People, Not until tomorrow will I get off for Miami, just one week later than I had anticipated. Transfer orders for three of us were held up out of Washington somehow or another and didn't arrive until yesterday. The boys whom I had intended to take over with me had to go on ahead last Tuesday, and now I have lined up two other fellows. Marvin Haugebak came through the KC base and was one of those riding to New Orleans with me. The other lad, Carlson, by name, is from Philadelphia and was no acquaintance of mine until a couple of days ago, but he needs a ride and I have the room so we are all set. Tentatively I plan to drive to Tallahassee, then down the west coast thru St. Petersburg and Tampa, on down to Ft. Myer, and finally across the state east to Miami. With my orders I received a letter authorizing me to buy gasoline en route, so there will be no trouble on that account. Enjoyed thoroughly my first two or three days of rest and then I began to get restless. Am now quite anxious to be at it again. Have played a little golf, read some, but mostly just slept and lolled on the beach. Yesterday I stopped over at the library for a look around and ran across a recent biography of W. Churchill by Philip Guedalla. Immediately started to read it, finishing it up this morning. The forepart amounts to a resume of the Churchill's autobiography, A Roving Commission, then proceeds up thru the 1st World War, right up to August and September, 1940. I found it most interesting, as I always do anything that concerns Britain's present Prime Minister. His actions and words set me on fire every time. At last and for sure I have found a man in history whose every move and writing attracts me. And his life has not been without plenty of adversity, at least, in politics. Following the last War he had plenty of tough going, but it now all appears as so much preparation for a greater glory. Incidentally, he is going to have plenty on his hands explaining the defeat in Lybia. Anytime anyone wants to buy some thing for me and can find a book by Churchill that I don't have, grab it and rest assured he has gotten me a welcome gift. Have I before made mention of the caste system so prevalent in the Navy---and in the South. Separate drinking fountains for white and colored, ditto urinals, ditto theatres, busses, restaurants, etc. At the Brigade bldg there are certain doors for cadets and certain doors for officers. At the theatre the sailors must sit here, the cadets there, the officers someplace else, and the chief petty officers yet another place. Don't under any circumstances sit inthe wrong place--for you might contaminate the other group. It is all in the interest of discipline, I suppose, and, perhaps, cannot be otherwise as long as leadership is superimposed quite apart from merit and promotion is on the basis of seniority and not ability. It would be hard to arrange it otherwise, however, for it is such a loose, rambling, huge organization. Does remarkably well under the circumstances, I presume. Matters little to me--no gripe--just an observation. It has been awfully hot down here for t he past two weeks except for a few days of rain. During the summer this area is infested with huge, billowing, cumulus clouds. Makes flying a little difficult sometimes, but we keep right at it, nonetheless. You don't need to send me my Readers Digest this month, I already have purchased one. Did you ever get the Hawkeye and small book containing information about the station in general?
Nile Kinnick Collection
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