Al-ba-ker-kee

Mike tells them that he is finally in New Mexico now, and that they left Ellington Field Friday Morning and arrived on Saturday about 11:30AM.  "This Albuquerque Air Base is quite a place being 5,000 feet above sea level." Mike tells them.Mike describes the climate as hot and dry with mountains all around the base.  From his window he can see mountains that look very close, but are actually 5 or 6 miles distant.  The country is quite beautiful and the mountains sure look nice especially in the morning at sunrise.

Mike would send them some post cards as soon as he got into the town of Albuquerque which is about 2 miles below the Air Base which is located on a plateau above the town.

The University of New Mexico is located in Albuquerque, a city of about 60,000 people.

Then Mike says, "I bet you are wondering how this Albuquerque is pronounced.  Here is the way it sounds:  al-ba-ker-kee.

My address is:

A/C M. Halaiko

Class W.C. 42-14

Aviation Cadet Detachment

Albuquerque Air Base,

New Mexico

How's Jerome?  Tell him Uncle Mike says, 'Hello'.  Your brother  Mike."

Mike wrote to Mary and Mickey again on August 7, 1942.  He lets them know that he received two letters from them today, and he expressed concern that he thought for awhile that they had not received the letter he had sent them.

It is about 9:30PM in Albuquerque, and Mike explains that it is probably about 11:30PM in Akron.  Mike further explains that, in Albuquerque, they are in "Mountain War Time", and back in Texas (at Ellington and Brooks Fields), they were on Central War Time.

Mike says he had a fairly good day on this day, and so far he has been averaging about 10 hours of classes a day.  They really have a lot to do.

The past weekend he went down into the town of Albuquerque.  He describes the town as being surrounded by mountains and plateaus and being very beautiful with mountains rising even further in the distance.  From the plateau that the air base is on, you can look way down into the town about 300 feet lower than the air bases elevation.  You can see clouds forming over the distant mountains, and dust storms blow up regularly.

Mike is glad to hear that Jerome is well and that everything is fine with dad.

He asks that they tell him things like when father was ill.  Mike feels he wants to know when anything is not right and asks them not to hold back.

Mike says so-long for now and thanks them for the clippings.  He asks if they liked the Army War Show and to write soon.  "Your brother  Michael"

Mike asks how little David is doing and their new little daughter, "Kathryn?".  Mike tells Andy and Esther that they sure must feel quite proud with two nice children. "I feel plenty proud to be an uncle to those kids and I can't wait until I see them." he adds.

Mike says that everything is good there and that father wrote him a letter which included a clipping from The Courier Tribune about Mike being in bombardier training.

To clarify what the bombardier training is all about, Mike tells them that his whole class (15-14) all graduated from Ellington as Navigators.  They were told that they were to be given furloughs because the Navigation Schools were not ready yet.  Instead of giving them furloughs, however, they were all sent to bombardier training as "Bombardier-Navigators".  "As a result,"  Mike says, "I have been working with the famous 'Norden Bombsight', the government's most precious military secret.  This is really interesting and the sight is the most wonderful instrument I have seen.  That is all I can tell you."

Mike begins, "Well, I had my first close shave today. We were up to 10,000 feet and on the way down to land, when we got to about 1,000 feet, the wheels would not come down.  We were circling around for quite awhile.  Finally, by some lucky chance, the wheels moved down slowly, and we landed safely."Mike goes on to tell them that that was the first time that he had flown at 10,000 feet, and he had to wear an oxygen mask and a wool suit.

He says that flying is really a lot of fun, and when he graduates from there, he will be rated a bombardier-navigator with some pilot experience.  He believes he will be on a B-17E (Flying Fortress) Bombing Crew.  Mike says that so far he has dropped 43 [concrete] bombs from various altitudes.  He has a circular error of 232 feet which is considered good, Mike tells them.  The altitudes are 1,000 feet to 10,000 feet.  Mike's ground school grades are an average of 88.

He says that, if all goes well, in about six more weeks he will be commissioned a 2nd. Lieutenant.

And then he lets them know that he has been telling mother & father about flying, but he has not told them about those wheels not coming down.  Mike asks that they not mention this incident to them.  The reason he told Andy and Esther, he says, was so they would know some of the thrills he gets from flying.  "Of course, we had parachutes."  He adds.

Mike tells them that they ought to see how it looks from 10,000 feet.  "Everything is so small below, and is it cold up there."  He says further that it is about 2 miles, but actually they are up about 15,000 feet, because the elevation above sea level there is about 5,300 feet.

"This is about all I have to write for now.  So-long, Mike".  And then, "P. S.  Only the laundry man will know how I felt about those wheels not coming down."

On September 6, 1942, Mike wrote Mary and Mickey

He stated that he hadn't heard from them for awhile and speculated that it was because he had not written them.  Mike further explained that he had been flying every day for at least 4 hours a day.  Again he emphasizes how interesting he finds this work.  The previous week they had flown at 11,000 feet.  Mike relates that The Rio Grande River looks like a little piece of string from that height, and it is really cold.  The day before, the temperature at that height had been -3 degrees Centigrade, and they wore flying jackets and oxygen masks.

This day was a Sunday, and a beautiful day for flying.  The next day would be Labor Day and a day off for Mike.  Mike thought he would go down into Albuquerque  for Labor Day.

The Sunday before, Mike had visited the Albuquerque Zoo.  Mike mentions what a nice Zoo Albuquerque has, and how much he enjoyed the experience.  He had not been to a Zoo since he was a little kid.  And Mike told them that they had everything there even a couple of Lions.

Mike closes by asking how Jerome is doing, and asking if Jerome is getting to be a big boy.  He asks them to tell Jerome that he said , "Hello", and to tell him that Uncle Mike would  like to see him.

Mike asks that they not cut off writing too long, and that he would be waiting to hear from them.

"Your brother, Mike."

Six days later on September 12, 1942, Mike wrote Mary and Mickey again.  Mike thanked them for their letter that had arrived the day before and told them how happy he was to hear from them.

Mike tells them that everything is going along just fine for him.  He has been flying quite regularly, but the last two nights they were grounded due to bad weather.

This day was a Saturday, and Mike explained that they had classes in the morning, and then they were free until Sunday at 5:00PM when they had to start flying again.  They really kept them going there.  Mike states again that he only has 5 weeks until he is commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant.  "Boy!" Mike states.  "All the work and everything that I went through so far, I often wonder how I did it."

Mike was glad to hear that Mary, Mickey, and Jerome were out to visit mother and father.  Mike bets that the farm is really nice at this time of year, and states, "The fall is usually the best time of year." 

Mike then refers to Mary telling him that Rosemary and Betty are not visiting her.  He says that since they have started working they seldom write.  He guesses that they are pretty busy.  Mike offers consolation with "Don't feel bad about it, Mary, they are all right. They are just busy, that's all."

Mike also hopes that Mickey's brother, Cyril, does not have to go [into the service].  Mike says, "It's too bad that married men have to go.  There are several married men here in my outfit."

Mike closes with "I hope to hear from you soon.  Your brother, Mike  P. S. Tell Jerome that I said 'hello'".