Person:Walter Austin (5)

    Sgt. Walter H. Austin sends letter home to his mother during WWII which was published in a Fort Kent newspaper under the heading, "COMING ALONG FINE."

Dearest Mother, (Mrs. Delia Austin, Port Jefferson, N. Y., formerly Fort Kent)

    I've just received your letter saying you'd received word I had been wounded.  I had hoped they wouldn't     notify you, that is why I hadn't mentioned it in any of my letters.  I've been in the hospital over a month.  My leg is coming along fine, and I expect to return to duty in about three weeks.
    I felt neither pain, shook nor excitement when I realized I'd been hit. I pulled off my trouser leg and stopped the flow of blood with pressure above the wound with my thumbs and fingers. Then I sat there and directed some of the boys how to take care of two other boys who were hit.  We were at a mobile hospital in 15 minutes and later to a stationary hospital.
    I've been awarded the Purple Heart.  I'll mail it to you when I get a chance.
    I'll take my hat off to the Army nurses, working under jungle conditions and bombing.  It's bad enough for a man.
    We've been giving Tojo a hot time and you can't expect something for nothing.
                                                                                    Love,
                                                                                                 Walter