A letter to Dad regarding coming home from WW2

Dear Dad:

Just a line to let you know where I stand on the dicharge calendar. Things are pretty indefinate out here about getting transportation home. Maybe it will get better from here on. I surely hope so anyway.

On the 24th of this month I will have the required 44 Points. Most of the Navy rate classifications have to be lowered to 41, but I am a Storekeeper and they are still 44. They say they need the SK's to help process the other dischargees at the seperation centers so it looks as if I may have to work for 9 days in Minneapolis after I get there. Minneapolis is my separation center and that is where I will be sent from the West coast. My orders will go to the base receiving station in a few days I think, and then comes the wait for a ship to go home on. That may be anywhere from a week to six weeks. Up to now all the SK rates have been given priority on transporation so they could get them back to the seperation centers in a hurry. I probably will get a ship out of there sometime this month, and depending on the type of ship, it will be anywhere from 14 days to 34 days getting to the west coast.

This transporation has really been fouled up out here. I surely hope there is an investigation into the setup before long. Someone would really be on the spot. With the hundreds and hundreds of ships that the Navy has it seems a shame to make all these guys who have been over here from one to three years wait three months for a ship after they have enough points to get out.

The warehouse activity is almost all closed up now. I ahven't had a thing to do for three months now but sit around here and wait for something to happen. Cur unit, CBD-1050 is being de-commisioned on the first of December and all the personnel who don't have enough points to go home are being transferred to the 140th Construction Battalion. the 140th has been here about the same length of time that we have. We ahve been overseas 18 months in a few more days. That is a long time to be stuck here in the tropics.

Well that is about all the news for this time. Let me hear from you if you have time to write. Everyone must think I am on the way home because the letters haven't been coming through very good lately. See you soon I hope.

Yours, JED.