[Letter] 1945 March 12, New Guinea [to] "Doc" Stoughton
Dublin Core
Title
[Letter] 1945 March 12, New Guinea [to] "Doc" Stoughton
Subject
Papua New Guinea
United States Armed Forces Institute
Description
Scheiper writes of life on New Guinea and of the extension course he is taking through the Armed Forces Institute. He also tells of church services and of activities taking place in the Red Cross hut.
Creator
Scheiper, Caspar Alfred
Source
Wagner College Archive, Horrmann Library
Date
3/12/1945
Contributor
Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
Is Part Of
A complete index to the letters in this collection can be found here: http://library.wagner.edu/wagnerarchive/StoughtonPDF/Correspondence index.pdf
Format
application/pdf
Language
eng
Type
text
Identifier
Scheiper4
Document Item Type Metadata
Text
New Guinea
March 12, 1945
Dear "Doc" Stoughton,
I'm still on New Guinea but am now in a different part. This place is sort of a "Soldiers Tropical Dream." We work one week & are off the next. The week we work, we only work every other day & for only 4 to 6 hrs. per day. We are right on the shore & have a beautiful clean beach to swim at. Looking around one would never think that fierce battles were once fought here.
Am taking an Armed Force Institute course as I said I would. I am studying Elementary French thru the Extension division of the University of California at Berkely. The Institute pays half of the fee and I pay the other half. Books are included.
Professor Meylan one of the co-writers of the text is
[Page 2]
the professor in charge of the course. Thus far I've found it rather easy & very interesting. Upon completion of French one I plan to take either French two or Psychology one. It is really a wonderful opportunity to "G.I. Joe" It is too bad that more young men do not take advantage of this opportunity. Men can take the regular $2.00 A.F.I. Course or the University Extension Courses. I chose the Univ. of Cal. as I thought it was a very good Univ & also that I could correspond the rapidest with them.
I am wondering what is going on at Wagner. I imagine most of my fellow students have either received their degrees or have left for the Armed Forces.
How is Mrs. Stoughton? Often I think of her & those
[Page 3]
wonderful lectures on "Living with others" she gives to incoming freshmen. I found in my first year of Army Life that many grown men & growing men are in need of a complete course on "Living with others."
I have a buddy, a Sgt Busch of St. Louis who goes to Chapel with me every Sunday we have the opportunity to. Last Sunday we hitch hiked about 4 or 5 miles to attend Protestant Services. We did not mind that as we felt it our duty to go.
There I noticed two native boys attending Services. I thought it wonderful to see them there. All they wore was a dirty cloth tied around their waist. It just proved that no matter your color, creed or standing in life we can all & should all
[Page 4]
worship God in our own humble way. I am sitting in the Red Cross "Huba Huba Hut" as the Red Cross writing and game building is called. "Huba-Huba" is G.I. for "hurry-hurry." In my last station the called the Red Cross Club the "Kunai Korner," Kunai for the "Kunai Grass" found in this area. It is a very tall grass, sometimes as high as 8 to 9 ft tall.
At 8 P.M. on Monday nights the Red Cross girls serve Hot Coffee & doughnuts. Other evenings at 8 P.M. they serve ice-cold coke.
It is about time for Coffee so I'll end this short letter hoping that we will soon have peace.
[Page 5]
My new address is & will be for quite some time:
Pvt. Caspar A. Scheiper
42127945 12 Repl. Bn.
APO 70 c/o Postmaster
San Francisco California
Sincererly yours
Caspar Scheiper
March 12, 1945
Dear "Doc" Stoughton,
I'm still on New Guinea but am now in a different part. This place is sort of a "Soldiers Tropical Dream." We work one week & are off the next. The week we work, we only work every other day & for only 4 to 6 hrs. per day. We are right on the shore & have a beautiful clean beach to swim at. Looking around one would never think that fierce battles were once fought here.
Am taking an Armed Force Institute course as I said I would. I am studying Elementary French thru the Extension division of the University of California at Berkely. The Institute pays half of the fee and I pay the other half. Books are included.
Professor Meylan one of the co-writers of the text is
[Page 2]
the professor in charge of the course. Thus far I've found it rather easy & very interesting. Upon completion of French one I plan to take either French two or Psychology one. It is really a wonderful opportunity to "G.I. Joe" It is too bad that more young men do not take advantage of this opportunity. Men can take the regular $2.00 A.F.I. Course or the University Extension Courses. I chose the Univ. of Cal. as I thought it was a very good Univ & also that I could correspond the rapidest with them.
I am wondering what is going on at Wagner. I imagine most of my fellow students have either received their degrees or have left for the Armed Forces.
How is Mrs. Stoughton? Often I think of her & those
[Page 3]
wonderful lectures on "Living with others" she gives to incoming freshmen. I found in my first year of Army Life that many grown men & growing men are in need of a complete course on "Living with others."
I have a buddy, a Sgt Busch of St. Louis who goes to Chapel with me every Sunday we have the opportunity to. Last Sunday we hitch hiked about 4 or 5 miles to attend Protestant Services. We did not mind that as we felt it our duty to go.
There I noticed two native boys attending Services. I thought it wonderful to see them there. All they wore was a dirty cloth tied around their waist. It just proved that no matter your color, creed or standing in life we can all & should all
[Page 4]
worship God in our own humble way. I am sitting in the Red Cross "Huba Huba Hut" as the Red Cross writing and game building is called. "Huba-Huba" is G.I. for "hurry-hurry." In my last station the called the Red Cross Club the "Kunai Korner," Kunai for the "Kunai Grass" found in this area. It is a very tall grass, sometimes as high as 8 to 9 ft tall.
At 8 P.M. on Monday nights the Red Cross girls serve Hot Coffee & doughnuts. Other evenings at 8 P.M. they serve ice-cold coke.
It is about time for Coffee so I'll end this short letter hoping that we will soon have peace.
[Page 5]
My new address is & will be for quite some time:
Pvt. Caspar A. Scheiper
42127945 12 Repl. Bn.
APO 70 c/o Postmaster
San Francisco California
Sincererly yours
Caspar Scheiper
Original Format
http://library.wagner.edu/wagnerarchive/StoughtonPDF/Scheiper4.pdf
Date Digital
2014
Citation
Scheiper, Caspar Alfred, “[Letter] 1945 March 12, New Guinea [to] "Doc" Stoughton,” Wagner College Archives and Special Collections, accessed April 19, 2024, https://wagnercollections.omeka.net/items/show/16358.