Friday May 5, 1933

Arrived at base with a toothache, saw the M.D., fixed my tooth, gave me some pills. Went and laid down and felt much better. Later went down and did some exercises which were very good.. Listened to Captain warn us about dangers in Woods. Later got a special delivery letter from Jim saying everything was OK and he was going to be sent here  unless something happened. Went home, had supper, got a phone call from Pauline. Made a date for Saturday. Later I got a call from Terry saying she might see me Sunday. Then Mary Ad. called me up to find out if Jim had wrote me. Later went for a walk. When I got back, I heard I got a call from Jim but I don't know what about. Hung around for a while, then went home to bed. End of another day.

Thursday May 4, 1933

Got up early, had breakfast, and was off to Army base. Worked around for a while, did some exercise, took a nice nap in the sun. Went home, met Sam Stone at home, and also some nice kid was at the house. Later spoke to Anna about Terry. Then I took a walk, met Susie and Girls at City Line. I did a little shopping, then I went home found Mary Ad. there. Walked her home then came back and went to bed about 3 a.m. I got one of the worst toothaches I ever had in my life. I thought I'd go crazy. I didn't sleep any more that morning until I got to the base and saw M.D.

Wednesday May 3, 1933

Got up 1 hour late, arrived late for first time, found someone slept in my bed at Base. Spoke to Captain Hawley, then he wrote to Fort Hancock trying to get Jim sent here. Got my first salary today. Got my tooth pulled out. Didn't hurt much but I was spitting blood all day and that night. Met Anna that night. She gave me a note from terry about some dance which I hope I could go. Went to bed about 10:30, my gums hurting

Tuesday May 2, 1933

Arrived at Base at 6:40. Had some trouble in Mess hall with a tough sergeant. Had to stay in there and help. Later went down for roll call, later worked in supply room then was called to sign roll call. Later got pass to go home, played ball with boys on the corner. had some laughs, then got call from Terry and was surprised and glad. She said she would come around and see me soon. I got Info about transferring Jim here at Army Base. Called up Cala's, spoke to Sue. Got Jimmy C's no. Later took a walk with Butch, met Jimmy's girl Mary & Grace. Got home at 10:30, went to bed with a terrific toothache. Couldn't sleep all night.

Monday May 1

Up early and at the Base. The boys got paid. I was the only one not to get paid and was I disappointed. Our squad got changed to different quarters much better than where we were. Worked in Supply room. Later went down to laundry, worked until 4 than got pass. Went home, hung around, went riding, saw Pauline, but did not talk to her. Later went for a walk with the boys, made an appointment this day with the dentist.

Sunday April 30, 1933

Got up late, pressed my clothes, painted my trunk. Took a walk, had dinner. After dinner Jim Cala came around with Mary. Stayed for a while. Went down to the club with the boys and some girls. Later went for Ice Cream in Shapiro's. Later I went to a show & I seen two pictures I always wanted to see. May West in "She Done Him Wrong" & James Cagney in "Hard to Handle." Later I went to a Wedding of a friend. Stayed a while, went home, and so to bed.

Saturday April 29, 1933

Back at Base early. Stayed until 12 then got pass to go home. Went downtown, had dinner at Tony Brown's. Home later, went to Aunt's house. Stayed there for a while. Went home about 4. Changed off to shower. That day met boys on corner, went to dance that night at the Hi Steppers. Had a nice time. Met a lot of nice girls. Went home about 1 & to bed.

Friday April 28, 1933

Met boys on Linwood St. Got to Base at 6:35. Missed breakfast by inches and was I dissa [?]. Cleaned up our quarter and lay around. Went to laundry. Tony Brown came down to see me at the Base. Went home at 4:00 PM. Had company at home. Stayed home that night.

Thursday April 27, 1933

Got up at 11:00 for first time in weeks and felt lazy all day. Went down to Child Sc. in the afternoon about Samie. Couldn't see him but found out [ ] was over since Tuesday and he was found guilty and the verdict (sic) was set for next Tues. Got home and called Mr. Amato to see if he could do anything about it. Said he would come over on the morrow to talk it over. Not much doing that night so I signed over for the night.

another explanation

My father's younger brother is Salvatore but is usually called Sam. He mentions something about Samie being in children's court on 4/25, but I have no idea what that means. Uncle Sam is still alive, but I doubt if I can find out what he refers to. Grace was his sister and she was married to Angelo DelVecchio. They were divorced before I was born.

Wednesday April 26, 1933

Got up early, arrived at base at 6:45. Listened to another lecture at morning exercise. Cleaned up supply room, shaved, took a bath & shower. Later wrote a letter to T. Rom. Got pass from Captain to stay out for Thursday if I wanted to. Was home for supper. Grace and Ang. came over for the night. Met John C. Went for ride, got home early, went to bed.

Tuesday April 25, 1933

Got up and felt lousy. Wanted to stay home but changed my mind and came to work. Did a little work in supply room. Had lunch, went home at four. Got some bad news about Samie (sic). They kept him at the children's court. Tony Brown came over, stayed at the house for the night. Not much excitement for one night so I went to bed at 11:00.

Monday April 24, 1933

Met boys at station. Arrived at army base as usual. Got our last injection which was another honey. Later started working in supply giving out sheets. Then went to laundry, worked pretty hard. Felt very bad--had a toothache all that night. Talked to Chris and found out it was no dice. John C. came around with car. Rode around, had some fun with the boys. Went to bed at ten.

Sunday April 23, 1933

Got up at 9:00, went over to John Pas. home. Finished up the trunk which was starting to look good. In the afternoon we took a ride to Cala's house. Met Jim & Mary who went to show. Saw John. Went riding in his car. Later picked up Jim. Went calling on my friends. Later drove downtown to see Jim off to the bus at 12:30. Came home at 1:00 and signed off.

Saturday April 22, 1933

Got up as usual, felt much better than day before. Went to work, told that I would be deducted a dollar from my pay. After speaking to my Captain, he said he would try to fix it up. Got a job at the Supply Room which isn't so bad. Went home at 12:00. Spoke to John Pas. Said he would make a trunk for me. We started and worked all afternoon. Went to a party that night. Had a nice time. Met a pretty girl. Her name was Terry. She was nice and sociable. Walked her home, then went home and signed off for the night.

P.S. James C. came home from Fort Hancock. Said he liked it there and was going back next day.

Friday April 21, 1933

Was very sick in the morning. Did not get up to go to Army Base. Got up at 1:00, was out in the sun for the afternoon. Felt much better. Spoke to Pauline that night, Later went to the club, had some fun, went home about 10:30. Went to bed for the night.

a brief interlude

My father has yet to mention anyone from his family. He had two brothers and two sisters as well as his parents--all living at home. This strikes me as odd. I didn't expect him to mention my mother (she and her family lived a block away) and I can only assume that they weren't an item at this point. I haven't carefully read any further in the log than you (my faithful readers) have, so he may get around to mentioning them later. In skimming over this book, once he gets on the road and off to Yellowstone, it gets more interesting, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, if you want to know more about the CCCs, go here or here . What I discovered her was that the program was voted in by Congress on March 31, 1933, and the first enrollee was accepted on April 7. Three days later, my father joined the program.

Here's a blurb from Wikipedia:

The typical enrollee was a U.S. citizen, unmarried, unemployed male, 18–20 years of age. Normally the family was on local relief. Each enrollee volunteered, and upon passing a physical exam and/or a period of conditioning, was required to serve a minimum six month period with the option to serve as many as four periods, or up to two years if employment outside the Corps was not possible. Enrollees worked 40 hours a week over five days, sometimes including Saturdays if poor weather dictated. In return he received $30 a month with a compulsory allotment $22–25 sent to a family dependent, as well as food, clothing and medical care

Thursday April 20, 1933

Got up with a cold, felt rotten all day long. Went to doctor, gave me some pills to take. Didn't do me any good. Worked around the place fro a few hours then laid down while other boys went down to drill. I felt terrible. About 4 o'clock got a pass to go home. Went home, had supper. Tony Brown was over the house. We went to the show later and saw two good pictures. Got home at 11:30. My cold was worse. Took a rub down and went to bed.

Wednesday April 19, 1933

Came in as usual, felt much better. Worked around a little, was changed into another squad after a few arguments but finally consented. Soldiers were giving uniforms away. I got a shirt and 2 coats, 2 pair of breeches. Went home at 4:00, shaved, cleaned, went out to club, met the boys and girls. Had some fun, was taken back to army base by Tony Y. with the girls in the car. Arrived at Base at 12:30. Was very cold that night.

Tuesday April 18, 1933

Got up and felt very bad. Arrived at army base, felt worse. Took a physic then went to Doctor. He painted my throat with medicine. Felt better after dinner. An army transport arrived at the base with about 500 soldiers which made it uncomfortable for us for a while. Got pass to go home. Met Tony De at the house. Went out. Spoke to Louise P. Promised to write to her when I left. Went down to the club, fooled around until 11 o'clock. Went home and got to bed.

Monday April 17, 1933

Got up, met the boys at Linwood St. Station at 5:30, came to Base at 6:45. Cleaned up and got lined up and got another injection in my right arm which was a honey. Got a letter from M.A. with sad news for me but it didn't bother me much. It was something that could be expected. Answered M.A. letter thanking her. Listened to lecture from Medical Surfgeon about health and how to keep fit. Felt sick all afternoon on account of injections. Went home, spoke to Pauline, went home and got to bed at 9:15.

another explanation

In writing this blog, I've taken a few liberties. My father was only 20 when he wrote this and as far as I recall, never finished high school. The emendations I'm making mostly concern punctuation. I've added lots of commas to break up some sentences, and I've even added periods and started new sentences once in a while.

What strikes me throughout, however, was his spelling. It seems impeccable so far. Whatever they did in those Brooklyn Public Schools in the 1920s must have worked.

On a personal note, one of the things that this process is doing is getting me in touch with him. When he died, I was his age when he wrote this, and we never had much chance to discuss these events. I do recall that he was very proud of his service in the CCCs.

Sunday Easter April 16, 1933

Got up that morning, dressed up, went to Church with Angelo. There I met Pauline D. Went home, had a great dinner. The De Stephano's had dinner with us. After dinner, went out, talked to Chris D. for a few hours. Later went to Pete's house, stayed for an hour or so. Later went to Club, then to beer Garden and drank some beer. Then went riding with the boys. Went to bed about 1 o'clock. That was the end of a perfect day.

Saturday April 15, 1933

Got up as usual, had breakfast, after that we were made to line up and our arms were inspected. Later we had to clean up the place. We later were given passes. At 12 o'clock we wenbt home to come back monday. That day I went out, had a nice time, got to bed about 11 o'clock. Found that Jim had left for Fort Hancock the day before.

Friday April 14, 1933

Came in as usual, done my last morning K.P. Wrote some Post Cards, had lunch. After that we were taken to courtyard and got a good workout what I mean, came up played cards and got a special pass to go home that night. I met John Cala. We stayed down the club then about 10 o'clock John and some of the boys drove me to the Army Post and we had some sport coming down. The boys couldn't come up to the building but we walked down to the dock and saw the S.S. Bremen, one of the prettiest boats on the Ocean.

The boys went home and I went to bed. P.S. I met my ex sweetheart that night on the train and talked to her for an hour. She told me I was crazy to join up with the Corps. I made an appointment for Sunday.

Thursday April 13, 1933

Got up at the same time, went to the A. Base that morning. I was signed to K.P. at 10:00 for first time, and it was awful. That day we got our uniforms and undergarments. Later on we were all brought down to the courtyard and we all were sworn in. That night I met James Cala. We went to Borough Hall to look for C.C. Office but was closed. Went home and went to bed.

Wednesday April 12, 1933

Got up at five o'clock for second time that week, went back to Army Base at 7:00, cleaned up a little, listened to some of the boys play guitars and a mandolin. Passed a quiet day, went home again that night, found out Jimmy signed up with the C.C.Corps. Went down to the club, danced with some of the Girls, went home at 11:30 and went right to bed.

Tuesday April 11, 1933

Got up at 5:30 a.m. and it was pretty tough because I wasn't used to getting up so early, had breakfast which wasn't so hot, then went to gymnasium had a little workout, came down wrote a few letters to some friends, played cards, lay around for the rest of the day. That night we all we got passes to go home. I went to Cala's home, stayed a while, later went to the club, came home about 12:00, went to bed.

Monday April 10, 1933

After being examined at the Army Bldg. in N.Y.C. I was sent to the Army Base. We were assigned to our bunks, then we had lunch. After lunch we had to get stripped for another examination which was worse than the first. I couldn't get to sleep that night on account of the noise in the dormitory. Every time a sergeant came along someone razzed him and my arm pained me from the injections they gave me in the afternoon. I fell asleep at 1:00 that night.

Prologue: An Introduction and Explanation

My Father's CCC (B)log)

In April 1933, my father, Michael Charles LoMonico, entered the Civilian Conservation Corps of America. Over the next few months, I will be posting his entries which describe his experiences.