Francis Poltrack relates an eventful bus ride with two screaming woman and a discussion about Nazis. This letter was sent to his sister Helen Romako.

May 23, 1941

Hey!

     Received your letter yesterday. Showed it to a marine. He said it was very nice. Also said “I wish I had a sister to write me letters like that.” He went to C.C.N.Y. for a couple of years.

     You said “apparently my trip home was uneventful.” Well until it got dark all was smooth going…Somewhere in North Carolina or someplace I was rudely awakened by some dayam (dame) yelling “Don’t hit him,” “He’s not drunk, he’s sick, Oh please don’t hit him!”; then cries of “Stop the bus, etc. Awoke to see a sailor apparently scuffling with some guy. The woman (his wife) said - please let him go or words to that effect. I thinking it was a fight said (Modestly, firmly, sharply quietly) “Sit down sailor!” By that time the driver came over and the sailor sat down… The guy was really sick and delirious - He had grabbed the sailor then started to get off the bus or something - The sailor in question was merely holding him.

     Another sailor came over & talked to the sick man for about an hour - you know soothing-like, all that stuff. The guy tried to get up a couple of thousand of hundreds times and my sleep was spoiled generally. Later I saw the couple getting something to eat. The fellow knew what was going on although he was still sick. So the wheels of greyhound rolled forward and peace and quiet prevailed…for a while … Until I was again awakened (Rudely) by the sound of some hysterical woman a screamin’ and yellin’ to beat the band. She was raving for what seemed like hours……She said something about being extremely nervous… A fellow replied that she was making him a nervous wreck. It was funny at the time. Finally she disappeared at some stop.

     Another impression the trip made on me was the discussion of the war situation with a woman whose husband was a major in the Corps. Talk eventually led to the Nicaraguan Campaign in which he took part. What impressed me was the vitriolic censure of the Nazis rendered by her. As she said: “They’re mad dogs & we should treat them as such. We should kill every last one of them……” (Shiver)

Luv to Choll and Cholline

Fran

P. S. Sorry there’s no room for a joke