Here’s a quick but newsy note from Dart. He was posted to the crew that scrubs the floors, but later transferred to galley crew to help serve meals and snacks. The latter job seems far more appropriate for someone who is still recuperating and may need additional surgery.

He describes the scrawny little Red Cross tree the patients have decorated with items found on hospital wards. It sounds like it may have been the inspiration for Charlie Brown’s notorious Christmas tree.

The least popular Wave has be reassigned, leaving the bright one on Dart’s ward.

He hopes the Railroad Brotherhood does not strike over the holidays, or it will be impossible to get the mail through between Chicago and Connecticut. Dart closes by wishing Dot a merry Christmas and sending her his love.

Dart observed his lonely Christmas by writing a long letter to Dot.

The letter is full of news about how he has spent his days recently. Today he is spiffed up in his dress uniform so he can attend a church service at 9:30 in the morning.  He tells of carols playing on the radio and the “up-patients” either helping the guys who are in bed, or just resting quietly. Their ward is barren of decorations except for the scrawny tree he has mentioned before. The next ward over has bows and wreaths all over the place.

He talks about the guys spending the day reflecting on how well they have fared this year, in spite of being in the hospital. I guess by this time, the war has gone on long enough that they know there are worse places to be spending the holidays than a hospital in Chicago, USA. Most of the patients in his ward are searching for boxes so they can ship extra belongings home when they return to active duty soon.

He describes his work on the small galley crew, helping to serve meals to the guys in the beds. The small, well-equipped galley is also a quiet place to eat and write letters.

Thursday evening, Dart attended a fabulous Christmas party at the hospital. There were several acts, including some Chicago radio personalities, magicians, piano players, etc. I love that radio personalities were such big deals then, before television emerged. Anyway, there was a huge feast for all, and Santa paid a visit.

Several weeks before, the Chicago Tribune had run a special campaign to find gifts for the military men in the hospital. Dart had received a letter asking what he wanted for Christmas. He’d asked for a particular model railroad car construction kit that was no longer on the market. The one he received was not exactly what he requested, but gratifying nonetheless, and he had already put it half together. He ran through a list of the other gifts he had received, including his favorite – a leather wallet from his folks containing  photos of his mom and dad.

He tells Dot he had put three hours aside on Friday to write to her, but instead spent the whole night trying to comfort a fellow patient who was in great pain. Eventually, that man was transferred to surgery to stop some horrible internal bleeding. Dart would much rather he’d spent the time in a “meager substitute for conversation with my family and with you.”

He envisions Dot having a wonderful holiday, surrounded by her entire family. He mentions that one of the Waves who comes to his ward is from Greenwich and went to school with Dot’s brother. Small world!

The letter has taken him all day to complete, in part because he was on escort duty taking visitors up to the wards. He also received a visitor of his own when a guy from Cleveland who was in Dart’s Navy company came to see him. While Dart has been in the hospital, his company has completed basic training and are headed home on leave. Dart is no closer to a leave than when he first arrived.

Dart has been in the hospital for 44 days and still, no one knows when he’ll be released. He sounds very positive, though, assuring Dot that he feels better than he has for a long, long time. He sheds a little light on the need for his surgery when he explains that prior to it, his knees were getting stiff from the pressure of the cyst. Now his joints are flexible and pain-free.

He has received his first letter from his brother, Burke, who tells him Cleveland is having a white Christmas. He seems impressed that Burke went the extra mile of sending his letter airmail. (Remember airmail?)

He launches into a humorous little bit about his recent lack of mail, concluding that “My friends have forsaken me for more worldly pleasures, such as eating and sleeping. Acquaintances look the other way. Mongrels scorn my very presence…Oh, what have I done to deserve all this?”

Immediately, he chastises himself for the complaints, admitting that he’s had a great pile of letters and small gifts to entertain him up to this point.

He tells Dot of the big song fest they had on the ward last night, with several former choir members (Dart included) joining forces on some old favorites.  He also relates that he was on escort duty again.

He tells that several letters to him have been lost in the mail. (Not sure how he knows this.) He wonders if that might be the case with a couple of Dot’s letters to him, since he hasn’t heard from her in quite a while.

He closes with “I’ve run out of room and things to say simultaneously. I could extol your virtues, but I don’t think you’d believe me.”

This is a short, sad little note from Dart. He’s getting desperate to hear from Dot, even while acknowledging how hard it must be for her to write while on vacation. He sounds despondent in the third and final paragraph when de discloses that his incision burst open and his wound begain to drain. No one knows how long he’ll be in the hospital.

Dart’s offering today is quick and upbeat. He will “stooge” for the Red Cross New Year’s Eve party tonight. There is a new case like his on the ward. Dot’s photo has brought plenty of favorable comments. And he tells a humorous story about a couple of corpsmen on his unit.

This long letter from Dot straddles midnight and ends up in the new year. She tries to match the silliness of Dart’s nonsensical letter as she attempts to fill 10 pages. She describes another of her detailed dreams in which Dart shows up at her house in Greenwich and immediately falls for her married sister, Harriet.

She tells Dart what each of her family members is doing while she babysits and listens to the hit songs on the radio. Each song reminds her of either herself or Dart. Funny how that happens whe you’re in love. She begins to daydream that she’s dancing with Dart to the tune of “Blue Danube.” She reminds him that he better be careful because 1944 is Leap Year and when she sees him in person, she’ll “take advantage of it.” I assume that refers to the old tradition that a woman could ask a man to marry her during Leap Year. She’s getting pretty bold…on paper, anyway!

With more than a sprinkling of sarcasm, she pauses to await midnight, where she imagines kissing the boy of her dreams. Instead, she admits that she’ll call her folks to wish them Happy New Year, and in hanging up the phone, her festivities will be over.

She goes back over the letters she’s received from Dart to make sure she’s answered all his questions. She again wishes him a speedy recovery (Seriously, isn’t it already too late for “speedy?”) I like it when she tells him there are certain passages in his letters that give her a special thrill because she can hear him saying the words.

I am especially moved by her wishes for a victorious New Year. That must have been a prayer on the lips of millions around the world that night. If only it might have happened that soon!