Letter from dad to Aunt Clara written in Panama in 1945

My father, Lennart Glover Pearson, was a sailor during the Second World War.  He had graduated from the University of Idaho student in chemistry and had recently married my mom.  He worked at the Sunshine Mine in Wallace, ID, as a chemist immediately after college. This mine, I believe, produced lead as well as the silver for which it was famous.  The lead could be made into bullets for the war.  Perhaps the need for lead waned and Dad lost his draft exemption. Anyway, he knew he was about to get drafted, so he joined the Navy.  He ultimately ended up in Panama, but not until just after the war had ended.  What he did there can been ascertained by the following letter, dated September 2, 1945, to his sister Clara.

"Your letter came a few days ago.  Since you have written several of them I shall attempt to get an answer off today.  The Post Register and Coronet magazine also got here.  Thanks for them.

"I believe I told you that I am working in a plating shop at the Naval Air Station.  It's a pretty good deal.  We started on a 40 hour week.  We have liberty every third day so I'll have one day off nearly every weekend.  We have a large shop and do nearly all kinds of plating.  The work is done by Panamanian civilians and there are only five sailors there.  We are to keep all the tanks at the right concentrations and see that everything is going all right but the actual work is done by the civilians.  Labor is cheap here and there are hundreds of Panamanians working on the base.  They get about $20 a week and seem to have plenty of money to live on or buy lottery with or bet on the horse races.  They all seem to buy lottery tickets and expect to win on them.  The lottery is sponsored by the government and approved by the church (Catholic).  The newspaper even quotes scripture on why the people should buy lottery tickets. The horse races are held in Panama City every week end but even the natives complain about how crooked they are.

"The people are Indian, Spanish, Puerto Rican, Jamican, Negro, and Chinese.  The Chinese and Negroes were imported to work on the Canal while it was being built and are still here.  The Indians are very small and nothing like the Indians in the States.

"About 60% of the people in the Republic live in the cities and those who don't live there now want to move in.  As a result the towns are dirty and crowded.  Outside of a few small towns along the Canal the only cities are on either entrance of the canal.  On the Atlantic side is Colon and Christobal.  Christobal is on government soil and is under U.S. jurisdiction.  The government embassies, office buildings, and homes for civilian employees are there.  Colon is in the Republic of Panama and all the natives are out to get all the money they can from the service men.  Christobal is Spanish for Christopher and Colon means Columbus and the two towns are built right together.  On the Pacific side is Balboa and Panama City.  Balboa belongs to the U.S. and nearly all the persons there white while Panama City is like Colon.

"The temperature varies but little and the extremities are between 68 and 97.  I have found the climate very enjoyable.  The humidity is often 90%.  Sometimes in the forenoon it gets so high it is uncomfortable but then by afternoon it rains and the humidity goes down.  The rainfall is about 130 inches a year and about 100 of that falls during the wet season.  As much as 10 inches has fallen in a day and once in Balboa it rained five inches in about an hour.  The wet and dry seasons have no definite starting date.  One year the wet season will start one month and the next year it might be a month or two earlier or later.  The wet season is roughly from July to December.  This is really their winter but I believe the sun's rays are hitting more directly this time of year than at any other.  There are local breezes and enough rain to keep it cool.  During the dry season there is lot of sunshine and clear weather instead of being cloudy nearly all the time.  I hear some nights are cool enough to use a blanket on our bunks.

"The vegetation is very green and very dense.  There are all kinds of palm trees.  Between here an the other coast are some quite high mountains.  Last Sunday we went to an experimental garden and saw all kinds of tropical trees, rubber trees, banana trees, cocoa trees and bamboo.  Then we went into Panama City and took a bus back here.

"As you know the canal gets water from Gatun Laker formed by damming the Chagnes River.  That is really a  big lake and about 4/5 of the lenth of the canal is through it.  I've seen Culebra and Gulliard cuts a couple of times where the whole mountains were cut through.  At a distance it looks just like an overgrown irrigation ditch.  The ships are raised 85 feet by a series of locks by the time they get to the lake and then are lowered by more locks on the other side. Right now there are many ships at the entrance waiting to go through.

"I've heard this is one of the best fortified places in the world.  I imagine it is too.  There are dozens of air fields and army posts along the coast and through the jungle.  There are anti-aircraft and artillary guns everywhere.

"Now that the war is over all I'm interested in is getting home.  I'm trying to keep busy enough and get enough interest in something around here to keep from going crazy before then. I've been trying to learn some Spanish and I'm going to start playing golf whenever I have a day off.

"I'm out of stationery so I'll have to quit.   Love, Bill."