HLS Letters
First edition of a general newsletter called the "French Morocco 'Fireball'" describing Henry's life in the service:
[after more mundane details. . .] "That's about all there is to my job, except getting rid of all the extra personnel. All the guys at other bases in Africa have heard how nice it is here, so they come here on their furloughs and passes. I have to run them back to their stations when their time is up. How they hate to leave, too.
"As to life in North Africa – here it is concerned with tennis, poker (the Navy knows less about the game than I do), surf-swimming, sunbathing, ping pong, reading, eating (good Navy food), sleeping, and other strenuous sports. Last week Sgt Drew, NCO in charge, went home to the States. He had been in Africa 26 months and at this station for 13 months. He didn't want to go home. We had to capture him and take him down to Casa in a truck to get him to leave. Oh, I forgot to mention learning French among the pastimes of this paradise. To do this you introduce yourself to some beautiful French girl and persuade her to instruct you. It doesn't take much persuading, especially if you have a spare candy bar. The only trouble is that when she finds out that you give candy away, she is anxious to do other favors for you to keep you around. In fact, some of these girls are pretty hard to shake, without transferring to another station.”
