Dearest darling, Sweetie, Sweetheart, adorable wife,
See, I’m right on the ball. I am starting this letter earlier than yesterday’s. Thought I’d tell you how I feel this fine morning. I am well but dread the thought of marching to school. It is still snowing out, and boy what a cold wind. During the night I thought the barracks was going to tumble over. It started snowing yesterday afternoon as I have told you and hasn’t stopped.
I had a nice dream last night. The dream that will come true soon. I am on my way home and you meet me with a great big hug, kiss & squeeze. A hug & squeeze that I have never felt before and boy does that make me feel good. Then you & I go home to see Patty and in my dream she recognizes me and hollers Da Da. She runs right into my arms. (Does that make me feel good!) I bet I slept all night with a big smile on my face & a tear. I like to come home like that but it is the going away again that gets me. I will promise you that it won’t be so now because I know I will see you both again, soon.
Just got your letter of Jan 31, 1944. I have looked at the pictures and they are nice. By the way, you have never commented on them. Don’t you like them? I think the one that I took in my white hat came out good. That is the one I kept. I have it pinned next to you & Patty on my locker door. Just send the pictures like you have so I can see them & I will send them right back.
You say my mother went to the hospital Sunday and that by the time I get this letter she should have her baby. Why didn’t you call or send me a telegram? I am just on edge here as to whether she is alright and the baby. I gave you the telephone number. I thought by giving you the phone number you could use it in a case like that. If it’s the money part, reverse the charges. I will pay for the call. Don’t let it happen again.
If you can get to see Jimmy DeMercurio before I come home, do so. Then you could tell me everything. I don’t think we will have time to see him.
Never mind the folders. I don’t need them. I have just one picture left. I have finally found a good person to send it, too. Someone who will appreciate it. That person is Kurt Hupfer. You remember Kurt. He is the foreman of the inspection dept. The one that was nice to me all the time. He even came to my hot dog roast because he knew it would make me happy. He wrote me a nice letter & also enclosed a photo of himself. I am forwarding the letter & picture for your approval. You can put the letter with the rest of my mail but send the picture back. O.K. He came out nice. I have written to the gang when I first started school & he is the only one that answered me. Not even Johnny. I guess he’s getting too important to write. It doesn’t bother me at all. When this thing is all over and I hope I will be home, the gov’t is going to employ thousands for various positions. You know all the matters that have to be taken care of after this war. Hospitalization, supplies, etc., accounting. That’s the first thing I will run for after this is over, a steady gov’t job. Then we could go on those 2 to 4 weeks vacation with pay every summer. Then retire with a pension. So let’s hope that everything comes out good. I’m not licked yet and I don’t intend to be. How does that sound? You know, well, too, that I never give up. When I took Civil Service tests before, I was licked before I started. What did I know about the gov’t functions & regulations? I wasn’t even a veteran of any war. Now I am making it my business to study everything the gov’t has to offer as to their accounting & bookkeeping. I’m even making myself a war veteran, as I can qualify for a job. How’s that?
I am awfully sorry about you not being able to meet me in Albany. I have explained that in a letter to you. If we get a liberty we can’t go further than 75 miles from the base. You would have to travel 350 in order to meet me and that is too much traveling for so short a time. It wouldn’t be fair to you. Don’t worry about the liberties, we won’t get any. Just figger [sic] on my four week-ends home. That’s all I’ll get. It will be the only time that I will be able to leave this place and smell fresh air. All my time is spent in school, studying, sleep, & writing letters.
You took me wrong when I said to have a good time. You go to my mother’s or to a show, or walk with Patty & meet people to relieve your mind, but what the heck can I do here to relieve mine. I want you to see movies, my mother, or go walking with Patty because I know how it feels to be blue. Now do you understand? I hope so, because I don’t want you to take me wrong. It would hurt me terribly if I knew I hurt you. Please forgive me if I made you feel that way.
Now coming to the part about you meeting me when I come home. Listen darling, it will be just as you mentioned. I have learned it by heart and when I meet you, prepare yourself for all of them. I may have a few ideas of my own before the night is over. Right!!!!! Also, you can pick your own gift. If the stores are closed by that time, you can pick it out and I will give you the money to get it later. O.K. All our weekends will be spent together. Just you & I. Then our Sunday afternoon before I leave, I can visit my mother, Zi-Zi, etc. O.K….
…darling, because this is what makes me feel better. At home I used to show my love for you in a million other different ways. If I was just to sit here and think of all this it would put me back in that awful black stage. So please forgive me for talking like this.
I remember you telling me what I saw in you that made me so crazy about you. Well, just picture you as being me. Now you know how grand you have been to me. You always got me those little things that meant so much to me. Things that I wanted when I was small. Stampbook, tinker toy, etc. Do you think I forgot all these things? Never!!!! Now don’t it make you feel good to know how I felt? You know how nice you have been to me. I have had time to put all these things together and let me tell you I have a lot to go to make it up to you. I only hoped that you could say the same for me. I guess I was a bad boy by being stubborn, thick and a hard puddin’ head. I promise to be good. Forever. Ida, I want you to believe me that now that I am away from you, don’t think that I will go out and do anything that I wouldn’t want you to do. I would have to be even crazier than you would be if you did. Let’s always & always keep each other for each other. It has been that way ever since I have been born. I guess that’s why I love you so much and I know that you have been a grand girl all your life. You always said when you were a little girl that you weren’t going to get married. I bet I made you feel that now you are the happiest girl in the world. Even if I am far away from you. I am always by your side, as you are beside me.
Now I will tell you something about what we are learning this week. We are learning how to order material. What forms we have to fill out. Where the forms are sent and what to do when material is received. This part of it is interesting. Just like bookkeeping. Do you remember in school during the vocational course? We were given a pad with all sorts of forms & ledgers. Then we had problems & we would fill in the forms with figures & names in the right places. Well, that is what we have been doing all week.
For example:
The storekeeper (that’s me) finds out that he is running out of a particular item. (Let’s say brooms.) The first thing he does is make out a “Storemans Request for Material” form. This form is made in duplicate so that he will have a record that he ordered the material in case he doesn’t receive it when his supply runs out. The form (original) is sent to the “supply office.” They look it over and see if they have brooms in the main supply room. If they don’t they make out a “Requisition & Invoice” form. That is sent to the Navy Yard. The material is sent to the Storekeeper who puts the item in stock and sends the invoice to the supply dept. acknowledging the receipt of the item. It sounds interesting and is fun. i like it. Reminds me an awful lot of school.
You see we are taught all the different jobs that a storekeeper is apt to get. That’s why this course is so hard. We probably learned 15 different types of jobs and probably only do one. They don’t know which one we are going to get. That’s why we have to learn them all. If they knew which job we were going to get they could turn out Storekeepers by the week. Besides, Storekeeping is more interesting when you are working at the job.
It started to snow again this afternoon and is still snowing. I’m glad because it will break up this cold snap that we have.
Last night I waited until everyone was asleep and I closed the windows. I guess they were glad in the morning, because it was cold, and you could just imagine how it would of been if the windows were open.
I thought of a swell idea the other night and thought you’d like to know. Our bunks have to be fixed so that we don’t sleep face to face. Well, my head comes on the outside where the windows are. This is what I do in the daytime. I will draw a picture, you can see what I mean.
What I mean by daytime is for inspection. At night no one cares how you sleep. None of the inspectors come around at night anyway.
Gosh, it’s getting late.
Goodnite Sweetheart
See you in my dreams
Daddy
I love you
I love to scratch your back
xxxxxxxxxxx
