--- audio_path: --- # Letter — 4 Sept 1943, to Anna **Sender**: Pvt. Arthur M. Yena — 62nd Bomb. Sq. (H), 39th Bomb. Gp., Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona **Recipient**: Miss Anna L. Yena, Quaker Lane, West Warwick, Rhode Island **Date written**: 4 September 1943 **Postmark**: Tucson, Arizona, Sep. 5, 1943, 11:30 AM **Stationery**: Plain — no letterhead noted **Type**: Handwritten **Scan location**: `scans/processed/1943-09-04_to-anna/` *(scan-mapping pending)* **Transcription source**: Gemini/ChatGPT vision pass 2026-06-06, 2-pass QC 2026-06-07 **Confidence**: clean (~93%) **Note**: ⭐⭐ **THE FIRST TUCSON / DAVIS-MONTHAN LETTER IN THE CORPUS** and ⭐⭐ **THE FIRST CRYPTOGRAPHY / CODE CONTENT** — Pops is "on 6 words a minute" of code. This is the seed of the cryptographer arc that defines his eventual overseas role (783rd BS / 465th BG). Sits ~6 weeks after the last Sawtelle/Salt Lake letters (late July 1943) and just after a home furlough ("the old berg"). Assigned to the 62nd BS / 39th BG. One [Ted?] read flagged. --- ## Transcript > Davis-Monthan Field > Tucson, Arizona > > Pvt. Arthur M. Yena > Sept. 4, 1943. > > Dear Anna, > > Well, well here I am writing again. I've gotten 3 letters of yours and so now I'm going to answer all of them at once. I'm just gotten to the position where I can write in ease now and so will most likely be able to answer more often. I'm feeling fine and hope Mom and Pap and everybody else is as good. > > At long last I got you what I promised. I was looking in a curio shop here and found that you can buy the bracelets separate from the charms. So I bought just the plain bracelet and a few charms which I attached. You can shuffle them around the way you like by opening the round hooks on the charms with a pair of pliers; when I get another chance I'll send down some more charms. I hope it gets to you though. I sent down Ma a pin today and last week I sent down a box of assorted cactus to Karl and Lucille again. This time I hope it gets there, but if it doesn't for some reason I have it insured any way. > > I've been spending a nickel or two lately, but then I sent $30 home to Pap last week because I got paid twice in two weeks. Besides next month I'm due 2 months pay. Oh yes and I don't think I mentioned it before, but I was put in for Pfc. [Private First Class] and today I hear the ratings went through but I'm not sure yet so it isn't posted yet, so I won't address my mail yet. I'll let you know. > > I'm still taking up that code and so far am on 6 words a minute. It's supposed to be good for a beginner, but I'm glad this is just for a spare subject because I'd go nuts if I had to do this all the time. I'm definitely in the groove again though. It seems almost as if I hadn't had a furlough, now it's gone by so quick and I'm in the old habits again. Still it was nice to see the old berg again. In 6 months it'll be February which is the next time I'll be eligible for a furlough and by that time I can't be across. It's a good thing I took my furlough when I did because now they are only giving 10 days straight without any traveling time. I thought that would mean 3 days at home imagine. > > I got 3 letters from Connie in 4 days, not bad, eh? I wrote to her that I heard from [Ted?], they would be married after the war so I wished them a lot of luck. Then in one of the letters she wrote back that as yet she was undecided. She claimed he was very nice but she wasn't sure yet, because since he's been in the Army he changed. Oh yeah, I wrote her that the farewell kiss must have been powerful as I soon fell asleep afterwards. So she said she would kiss me real good sometime and wonders what would happen to me then. What man, "life is sweet when you do keep well." > > Sorry to hear you had such tough luck in Boston, but cheer up. When I get back I'll drive you down in my new Cadillac. Oh yeah! > > You have more anonymous callers and calls than anybody I've seen. > > I got your picture's, or rather, mine and sent some down to Connie. Naturally I didn't send the one of the little Mormon Gal. That happens to be Steven's gal from Salt Lake City. I let him use my camera. I showed it to him and he certainly was tickled. He has another female in town here again. On the other hand I think I would like the negatives when you get a chance as I want to send them to Al. I'll also be waiting for the others. I managed by extreme luck to get a film so when I get them I'll send em down. > > The keys that I left you may keep for me till after the duration. The Cad shots are Al's so should he come over sometime give it to him, if you please. > > Oh yes, last Sunday I went to church with some fellows and by a mistake which I can't account for I came in on a Catholic hour. I made out all right as I did everything they did, but I must say give me the Congregational any day. My knees were sore as hell. Maybe it's because I didn't understand the whole of it, but it sure seemed a lot of nuisance to me. > > Thanks for sending me that paper from the license. I'll send my license down in this letter to you so you can send it to the state house O.K? > > I had my uniform cleaned and the spots from the medicine are now eradicated. They really did a swell job on them. > > Your job is a lot like the Army, always changing. > > Tell Ma I gained 4 lbs since I came back and I think I mentioned it that I'm eating like a horse lately. > > Well I guess this winds up the letter except that I'm to meet Leon Moberg from Rocky Hill who is down here for his health, since being discharged from the Army 9 months ago. > > Well it's almost time for school again then I have a 24 hour pass so I'll sign off with love and lots of luck and health to Pap, Mom, Johnny, Kathleen and little Johnny and Kathleen and "yours" too. > > Love, > Arthur > > P.S. I guess I'm like you towards the end I start writing fancy. --- ## Major content / narrative significance - ⭐⭐ **THE FIRST TUCSON / DAVIS-MONTHAN LETTER IN THE CORPUS.** This is the single document that opens the Tucson chapter — Pvt. Arthur M. Yena, **62nd Bomb Sq. (H), 39th Bomb Gp., Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona**, postmarked Tucson Sep 5 1943. The corpus previously ran out at the Sawtelle/Salt Lake summer letters (late July 1943) and had *nothing* placing him at Davis-Monthan. This letter is the anchor for the whole Tucson/Davis-Monthan posting that ultimately routes him to a heavy-bomber group and overseas. - ⭐⭐ **THE FIRST CRYPTOGRAPHY / CODE CONTENT — THE SEED OF THE CRYPTOGRAPHER ARC.** *"I'm still taking up that code and so far am on 6 words a minute. It's supposed to be good for a beginner, but I'm glad this is just for a spare subject because I'd go nuts if I had to do this all the time."* This is the **earliest mention of code work anywhere in the corpus** — the literal origin point of the skill that becomes his wartime identity. The irony is the keystone of the chapter: he calls code a "spare subject" he'd "go nuts" doing full-time, yet within a year he is a full-time **cryptographer with the 783rd BS / 465th BG in Italy**. The "6 words a minute" detail is a measurable starting line we can track forward against the Mar 17 1945 night-shift cryptography letter. **Lead artifact for the cryptographer chapter.** - ⭐ **JUST BACK FROM A HOME FURLOUGH — "the old berg."** *"It seems almost as if I hadn't had a furlough, now it's gone by so quick... Still it was nice to see the old berg again."* Pops took a furlough to West Warwick (the "old berg") shortly before this letter — explaining the corpus quiet between late July and early September 1943. The furlough is referenced but not itself documented; any letters or photos from that home visit would be a separate find. - ⭐ **FURLOUGH POLICY TIGHTENING + "I can't be across by February."** *"In 6 months it'll be February which is the next time I'll be eligible for a furlough and by that time I can't be across."* He reasons that he won't ship overseas before February 1944 — and he times his furlough deliberately because the Army has cut leave to "10 days straight without any traveling time" ("3 days at home imagine"). A datable read on troop-movement expectations: he expects to still be stateside into early 1944, which tracks with the historical arc (overseas mid-1944). - ⭐ **PUT IN FOR PFC.** *"I was put in for Pfc... today I hear the ratings went through but I'm not sure yet so it isn't posted yet, so I won't address my mail yet."* He's still a Pvt. on the return address but a promotion to Private First Class is pending. Cross-references the broader Pvt→Pfc progression noted in the corpus (Pfc by late May '43 per memory) — suggesting either a rating reset on reassignment to the 62nd BS or a continued/re-confirmed Pfc. **Open flag: reconcile his rank timeline across the summer.** - ⭐ **GIFTS HOME FROM THE SOUTHWEST — curio-shop souvenirs.** Three gifts in this letter: a **charm bracelet + charms for Anna** (bought separate at a curio shop, hooks openable with pliers — "at long last I got you what I promised"), a **pin for Ma**, and **a box of assorted cactus to Karl and Lucille** (insured, second attempt — "this time I hope it gets there"). These are tangible attic candidates; the charm bracelet especially is the kind of object that may survive. **Mom-interview / attic item.** - ⭐ **MONEY HOME + Army pay rhythm.** Sent **$30 home to Pap** after being "paid twice in two weeks," and is "due 2 months pay" next month. Documents the steady remittance pattern home and the Army's irregular pay cadence. - **CONNIE — 3 letters in 4 days, and her romance is unsettled.** *"I got 3 letters from Connie in 4 days, not bad, eh?"* Connie is corresponding intensely. He wished her and [Ted?] luck on a post-war marriage, but she wrote back that she's **"as yet undecided... he changed since he's been in the Army."** The playful exchange about the "farewell kiss" ("I soon fell asleep afterwards" / she'd "kiss me real good sometime") complicates the Connie-as-girlfriend thread: she's a serious correspondent with her own romantic ambiguity, not cleanly a girlfriend. **Connie + Ted/Tel triangle for the family-tree.** - **THE CAMERA THREAD + "the little Mormon Gal" photo.** Pops has his camera at Davis-Monthan and is circulating photos: he sent some to Connie, but *not* the one of **"the little Mormon Gal... Steven's gal from Salt Lake City"** — he lent Steven his camera. Ties Tucson back to the Salt Lake posting (Steven is a Salt Lake connection) and shows the camera survived the moves. He wants the negatives back to send to Al. - **AL ARC CONTINUES — "the Cad shots are Al's."** Al is still active in the correspondence: Pops wants negatives "to send to Al," is holding keys "till after the duration," and notes "the Cad shots are Al's so should he come over sometime give it to him." Al is a trusted friend managing some of Pops's affairs back home. - **RELIGION — wandered into a Catholic service by mistake.** *"By a mistake which I can't account for I came in on a Catholic hour... give me the Congregational any day. My knees were sore as hell."* A vivid, characteristically wry detail confirming Pops as **Congregational** — useful for the family's denominational background and his West Warwick church ties. - **DRIVER'S LICENSE logistics.** He's mailing his license home so Anna can "send it to the state house" — a small wartime-administration detail (keeping a license valid while away). - **HEALTH — gained 4 lbs, "eating like a horse," uniform medicine spots eradicated.** *"Tell Ma I gained 4 lbs since I came back."* The weight thread (157→139→149 per memory) continues; he's putting weight back on at Tucson. The "spots from the medicine" cleaned off his uniform likely trail back to the **Sawtelle bronchitis** treatment of the summer — a nice continuity thread from the hospital chapter. - **LEON MOBERG of Rocky Hill** — new name. Discharged from the Army 9 months ago, now in Tucson "for his health"; Pops is to meet him. A Rhode Island connection (Rocky Hill, RI) surfacing in Arizona. - **Affectionate sign-off roll-call** — "Pap, Mom, Johnny, Kathleen and little Johnny and Kathleen and 'yours' too" — lists the household and the little ones (little Johnny, little Kathleen), plus a coy "yours" (likely Connie). The self-aware P.S. ("I guess I'm like you towards the end I start writing fancy") is pure Pops voice. ## Family-tree refresh from this letter - **Connie** — girlfriend-correspondent; wrote 3 letters in 4 days; romantically **undecided** about [Ted?] (whom she might marry after the war), saying he "changed since he's been in the Army." Playful "farewell kiss" banter with Pops. Status genuinely ambiguous here. - **[Ted?]** — the man Connie might marry after the war; now in the Army and "changed." Cross-ref Ted/Tel in the roster. **Read flagged [Ted?].** - **Karl & Lucille** — Pops's brother Karl and wife Lucille; received "a box of assorted cactus" (insured, second attempt). Same couple who write the Aug 1945 V-J letter. - **Steven** — fellow soldier with Pops at Tucson; has a "gal from Salt Lake City" (the "little Mormon Gal" photo) and "another female in town here again." A Salt Lake → Tucson carry-over connection; Pops lent him his camera. - **Al** — trusted friend back home; Pops holds his keys "till after the duration," the "Cad shots" are Al's, and Pops wants negatives to send Al. Active steward of Pops's affairs. - **Leon Moberg** — *new name.* From Rocky Hill (RI); discharged from the Army 9 months ago; in Tucson for his health. Pops is to meet him. - **Ma / Pap / Mom** — parents; Ma gets a pin; Pap got $30; reassured about Pops's weight gain. - **Johnny, Kathleen, little Johnny, little Kathleen, "yours"** — household + little ones named in the sign-off; "yours" is a coy nod (likely Connie). ## Open questions - ⭐⭐ **Is this where the cryptographer training formally begins?** "That code... 6 words a minute" at Davis-Monthan with the 62nd BS / 39th BG (Sept 1943) is the earliest code reference. Was this radio/Morse code (wpm fits Morse) that later channeled him into cryptographic work, or cryptography proper from the start? **Worth an AFHRA / 39th BG records check** on what code training the 62nd BS ran at Davis-Monthan in fall 1943. - ⭐ **The pre-Sept 1943 home furlough** — when exactly was "the old berg" visit, and are there any photos/letters from it? It explains the late-July → early-Sept corpus quiet. **Mom-interview item.** - ⭐ **Rank timeline** — he's "put in for Pfc" here (pending, not posted) while memory has him Pfc by late May '43. Did a reassignment reset his rating, or is this a re-confirmation? Reconcile against the May–July letters. - ⭐ **Attic candidates from this letter** — the **charm bracelet + charms** (for Anna), **Ma's pin**, the **cactus to Karl & Lucille**, and the **camera/negatives/photos** ("the little Mormon Gal," the "Cad shots"). The charm bracelet is the strongest physical survivor. **Mom-interview / attic soft-watch.** - **[Ted?]** read flag — confirm Ted vs. Tel against the roster; he's the man Connie may marry. - **Leon Moberg of Rocky Hill** — discharged after only a few months' service ("discharged... 9 months ago," "for his health") — medical discharge? Any West Warwick / Rocky Hill records to place him? - **"Steven"** — full name? Is he the same Salt Lake crypto-class connection, or a new Tucson fellow? Why is his Salt Lake gal photographed and circulating? ## Themes tucson-davis-monthan · FIRST-TUCSON-LETTER · 62nd-BS-39th-BG · ⭐CRYPTOGRAPHER-ARC-SEED · CODE-6-WORDS-A-MINUTE · code-as-spare-subject · post-furlough-the-old-berg · furlough-policy-tightened · cant-be-across-by-february · put-in-for-pfc · charm-bracelet-for-anna · pin-for-ma · cactus-to-karl-and-lucille · 30-dollars-home-to-pap · connie-3-letters-in-4-days · connie-undecided-about-ted · camera-and-negatives · little-mormon-gal-photo · stevens-salt-lake-gal · al-keys-and-cad-shots · congregational-not-catholic · drivers-license-to-statehouse · gained-4-lbs · sawtelle-medicine-spots-eradicated · leon-moberg-rocky-hill · NEW-NAME-LEON-MOBERG