Correspondence to Richenda Rhoden from Lawrence Kay dated Saturday, November 7th, 1943. (1/5)
Item
Title
Correspondence to Richenda Rhoden from Lawrence Kay dated Saturday, November 7th, 1943. (1/5)
Description
Correspondence to Richenda Rhoden from Lawrence Kay, dated Saturday November 7, 1943. Letter discusses Lawrence arriving in North Africa, and his time in the barracks. (1/5)
Identifier
MS.2019.01.1003
Type
text
Is Part Of
Box 10 Folder 3
Format
PDF
8 w x 5 h
Date
1943
Creator
Kay, Lawrence Lew, 1914 -1943
Subject
correspondence
personal correspondence
World War, 1939-1945
Africa, North
Rhoden, Richenda, 1917-2016
Medium
paper
Language
eng
extracted text
Saturday, November 7th .
My dearest Richenda,
Well, '.1e a re back in c i vilized quarter l:l aEain. This
afternoon we r:loved back frOl:l the tent area to the permanent ba r racks thtt t I t old you a bou t . In a ilfa:; 1 am sorry to lEave the
tents . In th~ first place 'lie had ca nvas cots and I hr\d a very
c omf <r te.ble bed . The 'bed I have no. is a Fren ch st eel oeJ. Instead of spring::: , the:h a re i r on bars (five) abou t 2 lnche!.> "lde
and spaced 2; inches apart that r un the length of t he 'bed . If;le
h ttd mattresses these bads would be fIne , 'but we don ' t have such
c O!!lforts. However , I am ma.~int: the best of it by u lling all I;o r t s
of padd'\.ng under my hips. The bar s a re curved and a re s pringy ,, 0
that go down wh'm sat upon .
Ano the r reason I am sor ry to leave the te nt area i~
that I often lfDul d step out of the t ent and l ook u p a t tne s;;a t'O; .
I we lcomed the feel of the earth beneath r:ry i eet . I c otlIol l ook
out ove r the hor :lzon and see a na tura l out l ine of t h e hills , t h e
mountains and t he valleY lI--God ' s s cene 'Rithout th e ugly ' ut11MS
of man I 5 a rtifices.
HO'Rev e r, he r e ..,.e are t Ro in a room tl bj 15 wit-l) Frencn
dears o p p o ~ lte the entrance. The French d oors lead out to a.
balcon,y , so tMt ~ can still l eak out at the stars \IIh6n O V~ l' :i
"If m t to, 'Rhich is often .
.....e have rWlIli11i 'Kat ~r and a gc.oU m1rror
in the room. I mana ged to get a t able and 6. stool , 50 tIl/it, I
cnn s it c omf ortably 'Rhe ne ver I want to and '. ri te ~ou as • a m
t onight .
Ever y ~ aturday , there i s rec orded mus ic and a danC6
,
at the officers' club.
I can hellr the ll1usic tnru t;he open P'rencl,
wlndo'ofs , ho"evar . I don ' t like the IltJllOliphere of 11.1'l1li' dances .
There 1s t always suffocati ng , smoll;t ",1.1' . Nolse Ilnd bedlAm .from
half drW'lk. and 1runl!. SOldiers. So littia talk timt ::oakes S6!1.36 .
SO, I should rather 51t and talk to )'OU and "iihen I am not dolnt(
that I am mulUng over thoUj!:ts In Dind for things to "rite abou t .
Our officers' quad rangle runs east and ""est. on each
end are t"o r ed colored barracks , each 3 stories high. There are
tllO roO!lls to the width of the building "ith a hal l \f1l.¥ in bet seen .
The floors BrB set '..-it,.h marble squares six inchessquares . The
marble Is of a llIOttled brONnish color .
The court yard 1s oval' a bloek long !lnd about balf a
block wide . On the north and south sides (-Ute-'II'i.H,h .....~i; liha
long sides are other buildings like ours . 0:: the north are two
'bar r acks a nd on the south just one , ne3.l' the ea~n. end , ""hic)) is
used for the of1'1cer3' mess , club, bar and ilanclOl hall . M;;'
barraeks Is !in the northll'ast earner of the r ectang le .
TM only thing that spoils this whale set up is the
f act thgt the enlisted llIen are sleep1ng on the grQund in tents .
But you wl11 hea r a lot more of the class fe eline amongst Arllb'
men. The offieers ge t preferential treatment . Among the officers
the fhld officers (llIaJors and colonel:> , ) get special privilege"
as distinct trOlll the captains and 11eutelUln ;:s . The general.> of
course are in a hallollfoo class by themselves.
/i) " that we are settled and CO:llfortable , 1 am turning
to things to "rite about . Right now I am In quite a turmoil .
,
the morals of our men. Can a ~!I;tn be 'J.!ll>aiti,!'u l t o h is .Ii.f e an']
still be a man I'IQ rthy of beinS lIlY friend? Can he and doe a ne
do his Job to the best of hi:! ability? These lus::;tions bother me
and i certa1nl;i' can't answer thalli 1.It this po i nt.
I kn01'J maru uf
these me n and they are all right as men. Perbj:o/l.S it 1s t h e vI d
state of being amoral rather than i!IllllOr " l. !io ... e v er. I teel t hat
if thel' ·" ure t o deny ther:tlselves, the;)' would 'teC " Cl e ll.uch stront:er
men andliould flnd SOUie \"krth,fhile outlet and emplo:,men t for b-l<9fil-
their minds.
1s
Another thing that bothers me a&w6- the lack of commune
sense in rUllning afft!rs that are indeed quite simple . .1os t
peoy le believe that they ar e go od managers a nd administr a t " r" . b u t
in :eallty ver y feN are . The effects of ~ls!l:a nag elllflnt arB ... iU!!~
SIlread. They can lose the '. rnr or delay it. In the l ( ng r u n Lhe
effects are felt too . If the enlisted men a r e ne glec ted , th il'"
devOl!lop a sl.llfish attitude of getting everyth lll6 t he.;, can for t. h emselves and they becQlI:e non-cooperative becaCis e "he~' can s ee not hi n b
in cooperating. This a t titude ·"111 c a rryove r in t.o civil i a n l i f e
a nd perhap color the entire thlnkinl: of Ii f!] ao in 11l ter ..,ears . So
I a!ll :].uite interested in bringing out the be J': that i ~ i n oan,
so that '/fe 1II1 Ll all have the spirit of friendJ.;r , ald and cuope r a t. ivoness. Sometimes I h"-ve to b ugh at my hi gh ideals and p "r po", e ~
;~c~i{~n~~nt~~i ih~8 s~~~~~~~~o~f e~1a~= ~:~: ~~~~ ~tI~~!n~aJ°~o
go . Often I get d1sco<lra!;ed . b a t t h en I come back t.o t h e t h ou ,; ht
that 11' I don't d o 'Il>' bes t , ,n o,," can r expec t o .. her;:; to t. rj' even ~
4
Today I Sova r.tf major his second l.ess on 1n s po ken Chl1l8 se and he
!~ ~~!~~l~rh~;S&~~o~:!l.~l~n~;l ~l;~~;~! ~~~~:v;C~~: ~
!
good foundati on will p8j' hill d ivide nds 1n the f utu re. tie is
enjoying his lessons very mue h .
I a ID not rooming with Dan'l. beca us e he doesn ' t Itno,", me
'll'ell enough yet . I told him one da:,' the"it '/fe .'I!lre movin g ba ck
t o the ba rra cks , but he thought )I I was just k i dd ing him, s o he
s a id he wnnted to sta:;- "'here he '/fa., {with a !!ledl eal. majo r 1 n a
tine hut} . Sine e Dan'l handles t h e enl:!.st;ed men a t sl ck c a l l . I
could understa nd his want ing t o stay nsar t hem . So I lldn't " r ca
him to move ove'/' . NOill it develops tha t he t hO~l gh I wa s Jqst pas;>in,.
or creating B. l'UlIIOI' . I tolcl, Da n' l , th e n ext t i me ,)0 <.. ' 11 !too" ~ha t
I don't pass rumor s a r oun:i, 1 find ou t the fS'"'ts as far a !) I can.
Anyhow, Dan'l isn ' t i'ar 00'1' , he is j ust beloill' lIIe and I ca n thump
en the f loor and br ins him o ut of his bur ro'''' ,
Speaking of' burrows r8::11OOs ::Ie of bu rro s . !lere .i n 1! or~h
Afr iCA are th e tiro' beasts of burd.en s ome tills less than th r ee 1 ee;;
high. Peo ple ride t he,,!! and use the;ll to o ra .. carts. I t str uck me
one day that they are the kind tha t Chr.1st ilsed tu rid.e on . The~'
are the little fell o"s in the fable ab,-,ut the fathe r, h1s .'Jon an.!
the burro . Re:lle::ober t h e tale? SomebJ~' aa" pal-<' r1 d 1n6 a nd s vnny
walking a nd s a id. Shame let sonn,y r1d e . Then s omebod;i e lse saw
!~~'P' ~~nn~o~~d w;;i d w~~~~ h~:t i~~ei ~ ~~~ ~~kd~g1tS~ont
ri de. 5 0 it stB.rted allover again unt1l pa pa and sonn,y dec i de d t o
,
.•
~~~~y t~h: g~~:~ h;~e{h;a~~~;d a*ia!lw~~~o 1'~f~~~:n~~~~n;;;"!~~~d
~~~a~~Ck;~n~tUs~;; ~~r~~~~l;.~~ie~e brl1gg into the
OIU :ie!' .
To ge t back to lOY ro ommate . I MY!! '" Je ,d~h l ad ""h em
eve r yo ne has been picking OIl to the extent that he hU:i ta"'en the
offensive and has bec ome just that. On the boat I Marned hie not
to be going a roU.-''ld with a chi? on his shoul der anl makio£; cra cks
a t people . For a ".while he was ver,/. verI silent and then one o ay
he realized that I ",faS ~"lng him a favor . He and I get ulang q ui te
well t ogether. One of the bo¥s warned me t o Watch him and his
selfishness , but I always maintain that if you give a person II
break aoo shall h1m you are )'9 his frl .. nd, he ;fill coma to trl.i.H
you and be a very good friend especlall;." if mo"t peo ple a re his
ene:llies.
Thl! llIor.n here 1[1 North Africa lookS di fferent fr a il! ;,' o urs
in NY . The waxi!lg or ne.. 1II00n curves 1n the opJX)slte J. i rect ~cn .
Tha t ' s beca.use \l'e see it from adi ft'eront 1l116le I trunk . The moon
is not quite a half !:loon yet .
I think of ~ou eve:t'l time I l ook u p
Ilt the moon s.nd the stars . r "'ish I could Just talk to )01.< r l O!o h t
noo'/ . my 5",eethell.rt .
Good ni ght . Illy darl.inC .
, >:4..47~~· , _k7J·
.
~~----
My dearest Richenda,
Well, '.1e a re back in c i vilized quarter l:l aEain. This
afternoon we r:loved back frOl:l the tent area to the permanent ba r racks thtt t I t old you a bou t . In a ilfa:; 1 am sorry to lEave the
tents . In th~ first place 'lie had ca nvas cots and I hr\d a very
c omf <r te.ble bed . The 'bed I have no. is a Fren ch st eel oeJ. Instead of spring::: , the:h a re i r on bars (five) abou t 2 lnche!.> "lde
and spaced 2; inches apart that r un the length of t he 'bed . If;le
h ttd mattresses these bads would be fIne , 'but we don ' t have such
c O!!lforts. However , I am ma.~int: the best of it by u lling all I;o r t s
of padd'\.ng under my hips. The bar s a re curved and a re s pringy ,, 0
that go down wh'm sat upon .
Ano the r reason I am sor ry to leave the te nt area i~
that I often lfDul d step out of the t ent and l ook u p a t tne s;;a t'O; .
I we lcomed the feel of the earth beneath r:ry i eet . I c otlIol l ook
out ove r the hor :lzon and see a na tura l out l ine of t h e hills , t h e
mountains and t he valleY lI--God ' s s cene 'Rithout th e ugly ' ut11MS
of man I 5 a rtifices.
HO'Rev e r, he r e ..,.e are t Ro in a room tl bj 15 wit-l) Frencn
dears o p p o ~ lte the entrance. The French d oors lead out to a.
balcon,y , so tMt ~ can still l eak out at the stars \IIh6n O V~ l' :i
"If m t to, 'Rhich is often .
.....e have rWlIli11i 'Kat ~r and a gc.oU m1rror
in the room. I mana ged to get a t able and 6. stool , 50 tIl/it, I
cnn s it c omf ortably 'Rhe ne ver I want to and '. ri te ~ou as • a m
t onight .
Ever y ~ aturday , there i s rec orded mus ic and a danC6
,
at the officers' club.
I can hellr the ll1usic tnru t;he open P'rencl,
wlndo'ofs , ho"evar . I don ' t like the IltJllOliphere of 11.1'l1li' dances .
There 1s t always suffocati ng , smoll;t ",1.1' . Nolse Ilnd bedlAm .from
half drW'lk. and 1runl!. SOldiers. So littia talk timt ::oakes S6!1.36 .
SO, I should rather 51t and talk to )'OU and "iihen I am not dolnt(
that I am mulUng over thoUj!:ts In Dind for things to "rite abou t .
Our officers' quad rangle runs east and ""est. on each
end are t"o r ed colored barracks , each 3 stories high. There are
tllO roO!lls to the width of the building "ith a hal l \f1l.¥ in bet seen .
The floors BrB set '..-it,.h marble squares six inchessquares . The
marble Is of a llIOttled brONnish color .
The court yard 1s oval' a bloek long !lnd about balf a
block wide . On the north and south sides (-Ute-'II'i.H,h .....~i; liha
long sides are other buildings like ours . 0:: the north are two
'bar r acks a nd on the south just one , ne3.l' the ea~n. end , ""hic)) is
used for the of1'1cer3' mess , club, bar and ilanclOl hall . M;;'
barraeks Is !in the northll'ast earner of the r ectang le .
TM only thing that spoils this whale set up is the
f act thgt the enlisted llIen are sleep1ng on the grQund in tents .
But you wl11 hea r a lot more of the class fe eline amongst Arllb'
men. The offieers ge t preferential treatment . Among the officers
the fhld officers (llIaJors and colonel:> , ) get special privilege"
as distinct trOlll the captains and 11eutelUln ;:s . The general.> of
course are in a hallollfoo class by themselves.
/i) " that we are settled and CO:llfortable , 1 am turning
to things to "rite about . Right now I am In quite a turmoil .
,
the morals of our men. Can a ~!I;tn be 'J.!ll>aiti,!'u l t o h is .Ii.f e an']
still be a man I'IQ rthy of beinS lIlY friend? Can he and doe a ne
do his Job to the best of hi:! ability? These lus::;tions bother me
and i certa1nl;i' can't answer thalli 1.It this po i nt.
I kn01'J maru uf
these me n and they are all right as men. Perbj:o/l.S it 1s t h e vI d
state of being amoral rather than i!IllllOr " l. !io ... e v er. I teel t hat
if thel' ·" ure t o deny ther:tlselves, the;)' would 'teC " Cl e ll.uch stront:er
men andliould flnd SOUie \"krth,fhile outlet and emplo:,men t for b-l<9fil-
their minds.
1s
Another thing that bothers me a&w6- the lack of commune
sense in rUllning afft!rs that are indeed quite simple . .1os t
peoy le believe that they ar e go od managers a nd administr a t " r" . b u t
in :eallty ver y feN are . The effects of ~ls!l:a nag elllflnt arB ... iU!!~
SIlread. They can lose the '. rnr or delay it. In the l ( ng r u n Lhe
effects are felt too . If the enlisted men a r e ne glec ted , th il'"
devOl!lop a sl.llfish attitude of getting everyth lll6 t he.;, can for t. h emselves and they becQlI:e non-cooperative becaCis e "he~' can s ee not hi n b
in cooperating. This a t titude ·"111 c a rryove r in t.o civil i a n l i f e
a nd perhap color the entire thlnkinl: of Ii f!] ao in 11l ter ..,ears . So
I a!ll :].uite interested in bringing out the be J': that i ~ i n oan,
so that '/fe 1II1 Ll all have the spirit of friendJ.;r , ald and cuope r a t. ivoness. Sometimes I h"-ve to b ugh at my hi gh ideals and p "r po", e ~
;~c~i{~n~~nt~~i ih~8 s~~~~~~~~o~f e~1a~= ~:~: ~~~~ ~tI~~!n~aJ°~o
go . Often I get d1sco<lra!;ed . b a t t h en I come back t.o t h e t h ou ,; ht
that 11' I don't d o 'Il>' bes t , ,n o,," can r expec t o .. her;:; to t. rj' even ~
4
Today I Sova r.tf major his second l.ess on 1n s po ken Chl1l8 se and he
!~ ~~!~~l~rh~;S&~~o~:!l.~l~n~;l ~l;~~;~! ~~~~:v;C~~: ~
!
good foundati on will p8j' hill d ivide nds 1n the f utu re. tie is
enjoying his lessons very mue h .
I a ID not rooming with Dan'l. beca us e he doesn ' t Itno,", me
'll'ell enough yet . I told him one da:,' the"it '/fe .'I!lre movin g ba ck
t o the ba rra cks , but he thought )I I was just k i dd ing him, s o he
s a id he wnnted to sta:;- "'here he '/fa., {with a !!ledl eal. majo r 1 n a
tine hut} . Sine e Dan'l handles t h e enl:!.st;ed men a t sl ck c a l l . I
could understa nd his want ing t o stay nsar t hem . So I lldn't " r ca
him to move ove'/' . NOill it develops tha t he t hO~l gh I wa s Jqst pas;>in,.
or creating B. l'UlIIOI' . I tolcl, Da n' l , th e n ext t i me ,)0 <.. ' 11 !too" ~ha t
I don't pass rumor s a r oun:i, 1 find ou t the fS'"'ts as far a !) I can.
Anyhow, Dan'l isn ' t i'ar 00'1' , he is j ust beloill' lIIe and I ca n thump
en the f loor and br ins him o ut of his bur ro'''' ,
Speaking of' burrows r8::11OOs ::Ie of bu rro s . !lere .i n 1! or~h
Afr iCA are th e tiro' beasts of burd.en s ome tills less than th r ee 1 ee;;
high. Peo ple ride t he,,!! and use the;ll to o ra .. carts. I t str uck me
one day that they are the kind tha t Chr.1st ilsed tu rid.e on . The~'
are the little fell o"s in the fable ab,-,ut the fathe r, h1s .'Jon an.!
the burro . Re:lle::ober t h e tale? SomebJ~' aa" pal-<' r1 d 1n6 a nd s vnny
walking a nd s a id. Shame let sonn,y r1d e . Then s omebod;i e lse saw
!~~'P' ~~nn~o~~d w;;i d w~~~~ h~:t i~~ei ~ ~~~ ~~kd~g1tS~ont
ri de. 5 0 it stB.rted allover again unt1l pa pa and sonn,y dec i de d t o
,
.•
~~~~y t~h: g~~:~ h;~e{h;a~~~;d a*ia!lw~~~o 1'~f~~~:n~~~~n;;;"!~~~d
~~~a~~Ck;~n~tUs~;; ~~r~~~~l;.~~ie~e brl1gg into the
OIU :ie!' .
To ge t back to lOY ro ommate . I MY!! '" Je ,d~h l ad ""h em
eve r yo ne has been picking OIl to the extent that he hU:i ta"'en the
offensive and has bec ome just that. On the boat I Marned hie not
to be going a roU.-''ld with a chi? on his shoul der anl makio£; cra cks
a t people . For a ".while he was ver,/. verI silent and then one o ay
he realized that I ",faS ~"lng him a favor . He and I get ulang q ui te
well t ogether. One of the bo¥s warned me t o Watch him and his
selfishness , but I always maintain that if you give a person II
break aoo shall h1m you are )'9 his frl .. nd, he ;fill coma to trl.i.H
you and be a very good friend especlall;." if mo"t peo ple a re his
ene:llies.
Thl! llIor.n here 1[1 North Africa lookS di fferent fr a il! ;,' o urs
in NY . The waxi!lg or ne.. 1II00n curves 1n the opJX)slte J. i rect ~cn .
Tha t ' s beca.use \l'e see it from adi ft'eront 1l116le I trunk . The moon
is not quite a half !:loon yet .
I think of ~ou eve:t'l time I l ook u p
Ilt the moon s.nd the stars . r "'ish I could Just talk to )01.< r l O!o h t
noo'/ . my 5",eethell.rt .
Good ni ght . Illy darl.inC .
, >:4..47~~· , _k7J·
.
~~----