9 Oct. 44
Dear Dad –
Well – at long last I’ve met my second sister-in-law. I got a 3-day pass Saturday Sunday and Monday for Little Rock, Ark. and left camp Friday night. Lad got a weekend pass good till Monday morning. We met about 9:30 Saturday morning. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday morning with them. I like Marian very much – but who doesn’t? Lad looks fine – and everything was perfect except that I was going to go back to Miss. with them until we found the connections were so poor. You see they came up to Little Rock in the Buick. I left them at 12:30 Sunday noon and boarded a bus headed for Ft. Smith. I spent the night here at the Salvation Army U.S.O. in Ft. Smith. At noon I’m going to catch a bus to Fayetteville and spend the afternoon and evening there, then I’ll catch a bus tonight to Neosho. I’ll get to camp about 5:30 tomorrow morning. I figured it out and found out that I could have come home on this three-day pass. If you could come to the RR station I could be with you about an hour. Some fun – eh?
In another hour and a half or so I’ll be going through Bob Burns’ hometown – Van Buren. I came through it before on my way down here – but it was in the middle of the night. This trip is taking me through the Ozarks and there certainly is some beautiful scenery. These Ark. towns are certainly “Western”. All the jukeboxes play Bradley Kincaid stuff. Ced would love it here.
Well – I’ve gotta catch my bus. So long –
Dave
Tomorrow I will post another letter from Dave to Grandpa giving him details.
Judy Guion
"Greatest Generation" Life Lessons 
I had to comment on this one. Who would have thought that a small town NH girl would end up married to a guy from Arkansas who grew up in the same part of the state that Uncle Dave talks about? My husband’s hometown of Alma is right next door to Van Buren, and we now live in Springdale, which is just north of Fayetteville. Places that were once unheard of are now very familiar to me. Love these connections!
Andrea, I apologize for taking so long to see and reply to your comment. WordPress has changed their format and I have been struggling with getting my post scheduled. I just saw your comment. I didn’t realize you were so close to the location of Camp Crowder, but it is really cool that you are familiar with the area. Knowing that he spent most of his 18th year there, we get a clear picture of what is going on in his head at such a young age. I’m glad you are enjoying these posts.