Walter Dec HOPEDALE, June 18 [1942] – “Australia is a wonderful country and the Auzzies are fine people and have treated us royally. Some day I hope to go back there in peace times and take my parents with me for a visit.” So stated Gunner Walter Dec, U.S. Navy, home on a 15-day furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Dec, after nine months service. It is his first visit home since December and he said that home and a sleep in his own bed made him very happy. Dec sleeps beside his gun while on duty. He passed two months’ training at Little Creek Gunnery school after his enlistment. He is loud in his praises of the service and the treatment accorded him by his superior officers, all of whom, he stated, are young men. As for the welcome extended to the Americans by the people of Australia, he said that it was wholehearted. Every courtesy was given them. He passed several weeks in Melbourne and Sydney, both beautiful cities. During his service, he has crossed the equator and has traveled farther south, where icebergs were sighted. Dec hopes to see his brother Zyny, private first class, U.S. Army, at present in Maine. Another brother, Alfons A., is also in the Navy. At present it is winter in Australia and he said the thermometer registers about 65 degrees. Previous to the arrival of U.S. troops there, the country was suffering from extensive drought and shortly after the troops landed rain fell for two weeks. The Australians looked upon this as a propitious omen. Milford Daily News