Dear Mom and Dad,

I hope this letter finds you well. I’m doing great here in the Marines! The life here is much better than working on old man Minch’s farm, that’s for sure! I think you should tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer to join up too, before all the spots are filled.

At first, I was a bit restless because we have to wake up early, but now I actually enjoy sleeping in a little. Before breakfast, all we have to do is tidy up our beds and shine some things. There’s no more hog slopping, feeding animals, mixing mash, splitting wood, or laying fire. It’s like a breeze!

The only downside is that we have to shave, but it’s not too bad because we get warm water. Breakfast is a bit different here. They give us lots of trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, and bacon, but not as much of the regular stuff like chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, and pie. But I’ve figured out a little trick. I just sit with the city boys who only drink coffee, so I get to have their food too. It keeps me full until noon when we’re fed again. No wonder those city boys can’t keep up!

They make us go on these so-called “route marches,” which our platoon sergeant says are long walks to toughen us up. I don’t really think they’re that tough. They’re about the distance from our mailbox back home. And when the city guys start complaining about sore feet, we all get to ride back in trucks.

Our sergeant is like a strict teacher and he’s always nagging us. The Captain is like the school board, and the majors and colonels just ride around and look serious. They don’t bother us much though.

Now, here’s something that will crack Walt and Elmer up! I keep getting medals for shooting, and I have no idea why. The target is as big as a chipmunk’s head and doesn’t move. It’s nothing like shooting at the Higgett boys back home. All we have to do is lie down comfortably and hit the target. We don’t even have to load our own cartridges. They come in boxes!

Oh, and we also have hand-to-hand combat training. We get to wrestle with the city boys. I have to be careful though because they’re so fragile. It’s nothing like fighting that old bull back home. I guess I’m one of the best at this, except for Tug Jordan from Silver Lake. He’s a massive guy at 6’8″ and nearly 300 pounds. I managed to beat him once, though!

Please tell Walt and Elmer to hurry up and join before others catch on to this great opportunity.

Love,
Your Daughter