The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1942-11-12
KEEP 'EM FLYING

since all there is in Kansas is rollins
plains, muddy rivers, and wind,
weather.
Fort Riley is very old camp. 1
existed solely as a cavalry outpos
during the Indian wars. Gen. Custer
stable still exists, 1 am told, at thi
fort. The past headquarters building
where I work was built in 1884, which
makes it rather old structure. Mucl
of the cavalry has been mechanical
although they still have several thou
sand horses here. Regarding the sizt
of the whole fort, well, one coulc
take Ely and lose it in the center O.
this reservation. That is one reason
why they have bus lines in camp
| pfc. Uno Hanson of the station
hospital unit in Fort Riley came back
from furlough in the fair city of Ely
and told me that Ely is quite dead
Quoting him, Lots of women and few
cars I can understand this, since
there are so many men in the armed
| forces.
Forward my best regards to Pvts
Donald Butala, Eddie Golob, and
George Jamsa, who are now stationed
in the East"
Pvt. Louis Perushek, somewhere in
the Rockies" writes:
Il am sending you my new address
to which you can continue sending
The Ely Miner. I am now situated
somewhere up in the Rockies. What
a country! Sure fits the name Rocky
Mountains. I am here in Utah next
to the Nevada state boundary line. For
how long I don't know. The noun
tain tops are as white as a sheet
covered with snow, but down here in
sort of valley there isn't any snow
yet. The scenery is really wonderful
around here with the mountains
reaching up in the clouds all around.
But I wouldn't like to live around
here. 1t seems as if it's too far away
from nowhere
II have finished my 72-day course
in sheet metal in Chanute Field, ILL.,,
and am now classified as a sheet
metal specialist. I have found the
course very interesting. 1t includes
work of repairing everything on a
plane in the line of metal, gas and
fuel lines, radiators, work on plexi-
glas and other items. I graduated and
received my diploma on the 18th of
Oct. So think it won't be long now;
I'll be ready for the line along with
other sheet metal men doing our part
in keeping the planes flying I am
now assigned to 375th bombing squad
ron, 308th group, Wendover Field,
Utah. I have had The Ely Miner
coming regular every week, and
enjoyed reading the soldiers page
very much. Also the news about Ely
Makes me feel sort of at home every
time I read the paper. So if you will
continue sending the paper I will sure
appreciate it. Am also thanking you
and everyone taking part in sending
the boys the paper. I know all the
boys getting the paper feel the same
way. So with saying hello to all my
friends in Ely and all the boys in
service and wishing them the best of
luck"
Pvt. Edward D. Klun, 60th Chem
Depot Co., Camp Shelby, Miss, writes:
81 wish to express my appreciation
and sincere thanks to the VFW, The
Ely Miner, and all the people respon-
sible for the Ely boys in the armed
services to receive The Miner. Next
to receiving letters from the folks back
home, The Miner adds great comfort
and enjoyment to the soldiers in
knowing just what's happening back
in Ely. Done about half through my
basic training now, and upon COM
pleting that will start on my tech
nical training in the chemical depart.
ment company
Pvt. Tony j. Bolka, LIST Bly,. Prov.
TT. Bn., Fort Cronkhite, Calf, is do
ing what lot of us would like to
do, spending the winter in California.
He writes:
"We're spending the winter in good
old sunny California, at least a good
majority of it, I imagine most of you
envy us somewhat now that you're
walking around in overcoats. We do
all our drilling and spending of our
leisure time in shirts. The evenings
are little cooler and foggy. But We
would rather have a little fog than
couple of feet of snow.
Maybe I better say what I mean
by we". There's three of us here from
Ely. Rudolph Grahek, Adolph Janek-
sela and I. The rest of the fellows
that were drafted with us got scattered
throughout the southern states. Have
not heard from any of them as yet.
when the three of us get together
and talk about Ely we get a little
homesick, especially now that there's
a season coming up. We've got sea-
a deer season coming up. We've got
season coming up, but not deer
season. Our job is to protect the
Golden Gate bridge and San Fran
cisco harbor.- It's impossible for any
enemy to get even close to here. We
got plenty of equipment to keep them
miles away.
"At the camp we're in we have
blackouts right along. These are mere
ly to train us to handle ourselves in
the dark. We're getting our basic
training here and then We'll get per-
manent assignments.
81 found out the army skips some
of the words in the dictionary For
instance, the words why and no. Never
ask why or say no, or you'll usually
wind up on K. p had it. It's no snap.
"This training camp is right on the