Thu, Jul 13, 1944: eyes

"My old roommate, Clarence Brewster, lives around the corner from me in Lyons Hall, but he's afraid of leaving soon, because of failing the ear test.  It seems that two years in the noisy Boeing factory didn't do his hearing any good.  Since last writing, I've gone through another physical - a check up on the eyes - and passed easily.  Of course, if the Navy ever prints up another set of eye charts, I might not do so well with the left eye, but after seven or eight physicals I know the seven lines of that old AELTYPHEALT chart backward and forward.  Be sure to take good care of your eyes, Stanley, because unless one has normal vision, he's not good for much but deck scrubbing, in this Navy.  Maybe you'll be lucky and never be a soldier or sailor, though probably a tough Marine."
-- Letter from my father, Notre Dame, Ind., to his younger brother, Bloomington, Kans., Thursday, July 13, 1944.