Langley Field, Virginia

On April 12, 1944, Mike wrote to Mary and Mickey, "Happy Easter!  Langley Field isn't bad at all.  I've been here a whole week now since I came back from leave, and I haven't done a darn thing."

Mike explains that they were supposed to start school the previous Monday, but all they did was take a stiff physical exam.  Mike also received a new series of shots.  It turned out that he hadn't had some of them since his G.I. Days, so, he set a new hospital record by getting five in one day.  The shots were for Yellow Fever, Small Pox, Typhus, Typhoid, and Cholera.  Mike brushes this episode off with, "They weren't too bad."

[Mike had a circular scar on his upper left arm the size of a quarter from these inoculations.]

Mike apparently had a furlough between being at Boca Raton and then being stationed at Langley Field which is located adjacent to Hampton and Newport News, Virginia.

Mike says that the trip back from home was interesting.  He got on the train at Akron at 5:15AM and sat with a couple of lady marines for the trip to Washington, D.C..  Mike says a pleasant time was had by all.  Mike then took a bus from Washington, D.C. to Richmond, and then took the car from there to Langley Field.  Mike arrived at Langley Field about midnight on April 4th., and all went well.

Mike tells them they have brand new flying fortresses.  They are the latest Model B17Gs, and only have 24 hours of flying on them, so they are very new.

Mike says they have been getting quite a bit of rain lately, and he has been getting plenty of rest.   He  says he feels fine.  He did have a tooth filled from that physical check that they gave them.  Mike tells them that he is in tip-top shape even if he doesn't look it.

Mike asks if they have gone to see Esther lately, and asks them to say hello to Jerome, and tell him that he wishes Jerome were there to fly with him.

"Love, Mike"

The return address in the upper left corner of the above letter summary is

1st Search Group

4th SAS Shellbank Area

Langley Field, Hampton Va

Some preliminary research about Langley Field from Wikipedia states:

"At the outbreak of World War II Langley took on a new mission, to develop special detector equipment used in antisubmarine warfare. Langley units played a vital role in the sinking of enemy submarines off the United States coast during the war."