Rough War by Walt Shiel

On 28 Feb 1944, Paul wrote to his wife that he’d received a package from his sister Lorrayne that, among other items, included some unpopped corn, popcorn being on of his favorite snacks. He told Bunny, “I’m waiting for just the right evening when I can get all cozy and just settle down and read and eat warm pop-corn.”

A week later, he and some of his squadron mates decided to pop some corn:

The only way we could manage it was with a blow torch and mess kit, but we finally did get it popped — and it tasted really ‘stateside.’ The mosquitoes descend upon us in clouds after dark, but we hardly bother to shoo them away now, for there are so damn many and we have resigned our fate to them — malaria or not. I got clumsy during the popping process, and burned hell out of my fingers, so this writing is rather slow and painful. I have two lovely large blisters to show for my efforts, and they just clear my pen, so guess I will manage OK.

Well, as Paul wrote often in both his diary and his letters home, it was a Rough War!