December 1943: American painter Jackson Pollock completed his masterpiece “Mural” for art patron Peggy Guggenheim. Pollock was born in 1912 and, after developing his early painting skills, had been employed by the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration–one of the programs Roosevelt had instituted to combat the unemployment of the Great Depression. After leaving the WPA he was commissioned to paint the Mural. The Mural was designed for Guggenheim’s entry way to her house, but was painted on a 20’x8′ canvas so that it could be portable. From 1947-1950, Pollock produced the paintings he is most well known for in his “drip” painting period.
12/18/43 V-mail, Italy
Miss Martha:
I’m homesick. I’ll talk to you for a while. We just finished off Bing, and now we’re having the Hit Parade, mostly Sinatra. He hasn’t made much of a hit over here. 
[Click here for Bing Crosby’s “Sunday, Monday or Always” from 1943:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5KZfKWheTg
Click here for Frank Sinatra’s “Stardust” from 1943:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8RR48Rkra4
My tummy feels pretty good now. Next time you hear someone griping about food, think about this. I haven’t actually had a real steak for 11 months/ 2 exceptions in Tunis. We haven’t seen iceberg lettuce, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, tomatoes which taste like same, any food not cooked in grease, or fresh yeast bread. There has been no crisp toast, no milk and fresh butter on only five occasions. Real whiskey has been available on possibly 10 isolated instances. I was able to buy beer three times in Tunis and could get warm beer over in Malta.
Add to the above, living in a tent without running water, toilets, or a floor, coupled with active combat, and you can see why we think so little of the complaints we hear of living conditions back there.
All in all, it isn’t a bad life, but it sure makes us wonder when we read the newspapers. Regardless, I love you and wish I could be with you, even if for only a short few weeks somehow.
Your own Cy.