MilColl_WWII_118_ODonnell_John_B_Papers_B2F2_Corr_Apr_May_1944_006

of what we so often see as a 100% American boy with
snub nose and mischevious eyes - the Tom Sawyer type.
His friend is a little older, but they live together and
come and go at meal times as regularly as any G I
might. The kitchens help feed them as they might any
pet, ad we sometimes have them at our table for
"company". As would be expected, they love their American
cigarettes - so far I have never seen them use "guum".
And I have never heard them ask for anything. They
just are expected and go their way when they are
filled full of good American food. They are cute little
fellows, and are accepted as one of us - cute and
unspoiled.

Do you remember how surprised we were when we were
told by the girl down near Washington that she had never
been more than twelve miles away from her "home"?
Such is the rule among the people here, rather than an
exception. I was talking to a farmer the other day, and
altho' he has lived near a town of a fair size all his
life, he can never forget the time he ventured forth to that
place with the smoke and dirt in the air-" I thought
it would nearly kill I", so he has never been back. And
never will!

I am afraid I am beginning to acquire some of their
sense of distance, for now where I am four, five, or six
miles away from my headquarters, I begin looking at my
watch and wonder whether I had better start back -
for it seemed so far!