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Preface to the Second Edition Let’s Have Some News of Orange “Of course he is sadly missed by all of us who knew him so well. I cannot believe that his death is meaningless. Every man with whom he came in contact respected him and respects his memory I know. It is not possible for a man to know Grant without being a better man himself. His memory will continue with us, a treasured possession as long as we shall live. “Grant is not lost. He lives with all of us in our hearts and he shall continue to live with us as long as life lasts. Years and years from now, God willing, we shall think of him, still young, and fresh, and healthy and full of the energy and enthusiasm of life’s best days, unchanged and unchanging.” Robert T. Phillips, Captain, Medical Corps Stationed with the 17th Pursuit Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Forces in the Philippines, Lieutenant Grant Manley of Orange, Texas, wrote a number of letters to his family between September 2 and November 11, 1941. The letters speak to a youthful confidence and maturity. In addition to references to family and friends, investments and money matters are mentioned.They will be reassured to know that the happy-go-lucky bunch of guys with whom he serves is as fine a lot as can be found anywhere. There is the rain. Twenty-five inches in three days. Thirty inches in four days. The 1931 Chrysler he and four buddies bought for $100. makes it easier to get around in these typhoons. Christmas is in his thoughts. He has, in fact, already started addressing cards. “Have some nice ones this year. They are in color and portray Philippine rural scenes.” Hopefully, those back home can help him out by purchasing his gifts for him. He misses playing bridge (there are too few players) so he has to settle for poker. Red they called it the war effort xiv Shepherd has taught him how to play squash, and he’s coaching some of the fellows in Spanish. Moms, a devout Catholic, would appreciate the Sunday mass conducted on what he thought had to be the most unusual altar ever, the wing of an airplane. The Philippine sunsets, “the most beautiful things imaginable,” take him back to the sunsets he witnessed on Lake Pontchartrain as a four-year-old. The sunsets make him homesick. Manley and his Chrysler pals are comfortable in a five-room house in Manila, attended by a cook, houseboy, and two washwomen. Leo, the cook, makes biscuits that “melt in your mouth.” Hose, the houseboy, is spoiling them. Every evening he grabs their clothes almost before they can get them off, and into the hamper they go. He shines their shoes after taking them off their feet. “I’ll be a no count son of a gun when and if we get back to the states.” They subscribe to a number of magazines, and nearby Nichols Field library is shelved with current releases. The men are looking forward to seeing Bette Davis in The Little Foxes, opening November 11. Manley recalls the “spiffy” club in Manila and the squadron party and dance when they all dressed up in their service dress white uniforms. “Saturday night always calls for a party of some description and we do it up brown as long as there’s any money in the exchecquer [sic].” But they also have a swell time just sitting around in the evenings reading, listening to the radio, or simply talking. Squadron responsibilities are demanding and physically taxing. The rigors of flying make for “a pretty quiet bunch of fellows on week days.” He’s rather pleased with the mustache he has been recently sporting, “it’s so trim and neat.” But maybe Pops should tell Moms that he would probably keep it only “until” he comes home. “People are used to me now and would miss it if I shaved it.” Flight training, base and squadron activities are recurring topics. The pilots are “cracking up planes aplenty.” Were the Japanese to attack, they might well find that the Americans have already done their mischief for them, having wiped out most of their own air corps. He leaves it to Pops’s judgment whether Moms should be told about one serious Clark Field take-off accident in which he was involved. “We were quite lucky.” There is the thrill of simulated...

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