CEHBates502

Tell Layman Grimes that I'm not forgetting him. He
may beat me across but I'll drop a 1913 class bomb on
his head just to show how much I love him and the U.R.R.

I quit at Auburn last week and "and"[crossed out] will begin Monday
in an Aviation Preparatory School which about 100 of us
organized to study radio & gas engines and doodlebugs
and things all in a great mess. I passed the pilot
equilibrium test Tuesday and am now waiting orders to
go to ground school. There are a lot of us. Kassebaum
has waited almost as long as I have. We both belong to
"B Company" he says. "How so" I query back. "Oh,
we'll be[underlined] here when all the others leave for France: and
we'll still be [underlined] here when they come back."

Stop feeling lonesome. It won't help much. Others are far
from home too and some are married, like Grimes. Hold your
head high and try to keep a good sense of humor. Don't take
life too seriously. You're learning to see God in the sunlight, you're
learning comradeship, your [you're] learning how to live sensibly and
rigorously. It's worth a lot. You don't have to be a general
to be great, spiritually. Any other greatness isn't worth having.

Good-by, kiss Lyman for me,
Lesley R. Bates