Last Post from Arkansas

Ralph writes on June 10, 1943 from Hazen, Arkansas, expressing some of his frustration.

"I expect you think these letters are few and far between, but I don't have a whole lot of time to write. There are times when I would have time to write if I just knew it beforehand, but you never know when to start anything.

We're still here but no one knows why. The rivers are going down fast, and we haven 't done anything on them for a week, except for a couple of motor boats. They've got us building roads now. We are grading and widening a road by pick and shovel method, just exactly the way the W.P.A. did it, and working just about as hard. If they wanted a road very bad they could take a little machinery and build it in a couple of days, but I think the main idea is to keep us busy 'til they get ready to send us back to Camp Swift. The Company commander announced at formation the other day that he had heard a pretty reliable rumor that we were going to leave here for Camp Swift next Tuesday. I certainly hope it isn't a false alarm this time. I've had more than enough of this business. If it wasn't for the fact that we get to go to town almost every evening, I think we'd all go plumb crazy. We can't have too good a time when we do go to town because most of the boys are broke the rest are badly bent. We're supposed to get paid sometime today, but I'll believe it when I see it, just like I do everything else around here.

These small towns around here are about like Thornville - dead as the dickens except on Saturday night. The people do all they can to entertain us but that isn't a whole lot."