Rifle Training Stops Weekend Passes

March 21, 1943 finds Ralph writing once again from the USO in Austin. He says he hadn't planned on visiting Austin again that week because of the impact of the expense on his limited budget. However, once rifles were issued, he had learned that they would be training 7 days a week for several weeks in order to train with the rifles. There weren't enough rifles to go around so only the first squad in each platoon received them. Ralph was in the 3rd squad, so he hadn't been issued his own rifle yet. The weapons would be passed from squad to squad for training. The country was still trying to catch up with the demand for war materials.

Once again, while in Austin, Ralph was able to attend services at the Lutheran Church. He comments, "I think that does me more good than anything I do here in town." He is also able to spend the night in a small building the church has built to house their Sunday school program. They put cots in the building on Saturday nights. The only problem with it is that the guys need to get up early on Sunday morning to vacate the premises so that the Sunday school classes can use the facility. The cost is still $.50 a night.

Ralph received his first paycheck totaling $24.47, more than he was expecting. He comments that the allotment for Margie had not been taken out of this check.