(MILITARY--WORLD WAR TWO.) Letter and photograph from a young Army recruit at basic training. Autograph Letter Signed only as "John" to his parents. 2 pages on 2 sheets of Fort Benning letterhead, 10 x 6 inches; mailing folds, minimal wear. With hand-tinted photograph, 10 x 8 inches, no caption of credit, mounted in slightly worn period mat, with overmat detached. Fort Benning, GA, 5 July 1943
"Your son is now a member of the Armed Forces of the U.S.A. . . . Have marched about 20 or 25 miles in the past two days. Drilling is fun when you do it correctly. We out-drill most of the units attached here. The fellows swear that we have had some past military experience, for they can't see how we could learn to do so in such a short time. . . . 250 of us are down here. . . . We get up at 5:30 & are on the go until 11 or after at night. I am expecting to get some sleep when we get back to Nashville." He describes his unit's arrival at about 11 p.m. on Thursday, 1 July, which may help identify the regiment.
