MilColl_WWII_76_McLeod_Randall_A_Papers_B3F2_Corr_August_1945

Chicago Service Men Centers 79

Sunday, August 5, 1945

Dear Mother,

The ride from Washington was very comfortable. I was lucky enough to get a last minute reservation, and slept much of the way. On this, my first time to inspect Chicago, I must confess to making a constant comparison to Washington - in favor of Washington. I haven't gone very far out of the downtown "loop" area, but I must say that this part of Chicago, at least, is certainly dirty and not very attractively developed in comparison to

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Chicago Service Men Centers 79

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Washington. And another thing: the story that this place is so wonderful and inexpensive for service men is thus far a myth so far as I'm concerned. In many ways prices are higher and I have not even seen as many "concessions" to service people here as in Washington, where we have often felt there were not enough benefits in favor of the uniform. But despite differences and the fact that I have spent more money on this weekend here than in a very long time in Washington, I have thoroughly enjoyed th stay-over.

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Chicago Service Men Centers [Logo with 79]

With plenty of rest last night, I am all set to leave for the West coast tonight at about eight o'clock - That will put me in California in time to report in Wednesday afternoon - or Thursday morning.

Although I wasted quite a bit of time trying to put something through on the 3188th, nothing developed. All procedures will now have to go through Beale and there is little certainty of getting into that unit.

I phoned Mrs Warden to say "hello"

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Chicago Service Men Centers [Logo with 79]

and greetings from you. She will be away from Washington until September 10 but extended a very cordial invitation to Lucy Worth to come to see them a few days after that if Mack is still there and she would want to go.

On Friday, I spent a few hours just "reminiscing" about Washington. Some of the many interesting experiences and events I have watched seemed to pass in reviews as a kind of 'farewell' for a while. It was in Washington in October and November of 1941 that the Japanese Ambassador

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Nomura told me plainly enough that Japan wanted peace as much as we but that certain of her objectives must be fulfilled - whether peaceably or not; and the German Minister Hans Thompsen felt it "unwise" to visit Chapel Hill just then because of international tension and "possible misunderstandings"; and the then Assistant Secretaries of ^(the) State Department, Mr Berle and Mr Breckenridge Long, both commented on impending war that would almost certainly come soon. Mr Long, I remember, made some painted and interesting conjectures on

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