Dear Mom

Well I haven't written in two days so I've got lots to tell you.

First, I went on my second mission and we saw a bit of flak. It really gives you a funny feeling. You just sit there and fly on and watch them shoot at you. You can't see the guns but the flak makes black puffs so you can see how close they are coming. They had our attitude but were aiming too far ahead of us. We had two days in a row when we didn't fly---one stand-down, that's when the group doesn't fly at all and the next day our mission was supposed to be Polisti but the Russians took it that night.

Today I got four letters; one was mailed to Topeka, the other to the APO. It sure was good to hear from home. We didn't fly today so we were on censorship detail again. Boy, that's one job I hate.

Oh, I almost forgot, on our last mission there were lots of vapor trails. They sure look nice. Today after we finished our detail we went to Cerignola and got paid; we also got our picture taken. Dan had to fly on a practice mission so he wasn't with us. We went to a barber shop and I got a shave and a haircut for 26 cents. That's about the only thing that's cheap over here. I said we got paid so I'm sending a money order today.

We went into the cathedral in town and it was really something. Everyone in town looks like a pauper and the houses are nothing to look at, but what a church. It is all built of marble. There are two large altars in alcoves and a large center one. Then there were about seven smaller ones. The dome above the center altar is about 150 feet high. At the entrance way up above the door were the pipe organs or whatever you call them, then at the opposite end was where the choir sits. I've never seen anything like it before. It's no wonder everyone is so poor. On one altar the Last Supper was carved out of marble. Then there were lots of beautiful oil paintings. Really, it's too beautiful to describe. The officers' red cross is really nice too. Just about everything you want. The only trouble is that all the girls in town are foreigners. That kinda spoils it.

Well that's about all I have to tell this time. Oh yes, you said Bob Schultz is here in Italy. I wonder where he is. Well next time we have a chance to go to town, we're going to go to Foggia. It sure was good to hear from you. I guess I might start getting mail pretty regular from now on. How about you, have you been getting my letters? You know your letters aren't censored so try and guess where I am and I can tell you if you're close. Well you get on the ball and finish that cabinet or shelves or whatever it is. Well I'll close now, my cot just ripped so I have to go and get a new one.

Love
Rae