Wow! What a letter from Dart! This is one that defines for others who he knows himself to be. The best way to tell about it is with his own words, so I will excerpt some. Still, it is worth a full read in his own hand.

“Once in a while, when I am particularly homesick, my ideas and ideals become vulnerable to attack from within my own mind and from others. But then, all it takes is a little urging from ‘the boys’ and my defenses go up again.”

He goes on to say that his mates were pulling the “Grandpa Peterson” gag again and calling him the “old maid.” They say I haven’t the guts to make a pick-up, to go the limits with some slut from the sidewalk, but I maintain it takes more strength, more moral courage to stay the straight, unlighted path than to go berserk among the lurid, fallen human beings. People are inclined to take the easiest path, so perhaps the fact that I can find so few people like myself points to the fact that perhaps I’m much stronger than they are.”

“Yes, Dot, I think it is worth it all. Having yielded to earthly temptations, I could never again feel worthy of the love of a girl like you. …If you’ll wait, so can I. We’re still young, and there are many formative years ahead of us in which to make momentous decisions. My only hope is that we don’t burn out our love before we can do great things with it.”

What can you say to that? My mother once told me that throughout their long separation, many people tried to convince her that she was a fool to trust Dad’s fidelity. They told her that men always cheat. They told her he’d surely be picking up girls in every port. They said she was naïve. But she always knew he was being true to her while he was away, and that he would remain true throughout his life.

Dot writes this letter early on a Sunday morning while still lying in bed, listening to “Tales of a Vienna Wood.” She’s disappointed at how long it takes for Dart’s letters to get to her from the west coast.

Referring to his hearty endorsement of Fitch’s soap for getting the yellow out of his white stripes, she asks if he receives a commission on his “sales.” She tells him that the Chamberlain family is angry at Fitch’s because a couple of years ago they had a jingle contest with the prize of a 17-jewel watch. Her mother, the family poet entered a delightful little ditty. The contest required that the jingle tell, in four lines, set to the tune of the Fitch’s jingle, why the writer needed a new watch. Ruth had recently lost her mother’s watch in a canoeing mishap, and so she wrote:

Summer time; a girl, a watch,

A lake, a tipped canoe.

The girl was saved, but for the watch

Looks hopefully to you.

Her only prize was a bottle of shampoo, so the family is holding a grudge.

Dot again admires Dart’s gift for description, saying that San Francisco sounds like quite a city. “No chance to get bored but plenty of chance to get drunk. Next time you go sightseeing, better you should take a body guard along.”

She reports that El is spending the weekend at State College to visit Don. While they might be having a rip snortin’ good time, nothing can compare to Dot and Dart’s weekend of just three weeks ago. In fact, Dot believes that may prove to be the best time either of them have for a long time to come.

She tells Dart she has accepted a regular summer job every Sunday, caring for two little boys, aged two years and two months. She says that every time she says yes to one of these babysitting jobs, she immediately wishes she had said no. Nothing to do now but do it. “It’ll keep me out of mischief and maybe earn me a few extra dollars.”

Before closing the letter, she reminds Dart to work hard, have fun and come home as soon as possible. She reminds him of the senior graduation prom in February.

Here’s a short but entertaining letter from Dart. He begins by saying there was no news and proceeds to tell Dot all his news.

He received a note from Fred today saying he had boarded a train on Saturday headed for San Francisco! Dart figures he’ll be in town by tomorrow. He’s also learned that his buddy Angel is permanently stationed in the city at an Army Air base. I hope he gets to see his friends while he is there. Wouldn’t that be a nice perk, being so far from home.

He had telephone watch recently. He reports that it’s a nice job, and like many of the nice jobs at the base, it is often assigned to Fire Control students. He looks forward to working it again.

Then he tells Dot a rather alarming story. The other day he was in class, hunched over his desk when a guy who was working on the framework of his building fell through the ceiling directly over Dart’s desk! “If the man hadn’t swung on the rafters as he passed through the ceiling he would have landed right on my hunched form. As it was, I got a bruised elbow and plaster in my hair and all over my blues. He was only shaken up and as we helped him out of the room, we asked him to ‘drop’ in on us again sometime.”

He ends his letter with a P. S. “There was news after all!”

Here’s a hurried note from Dot.

There’s just a one-pager from Dart’s part of the world today.

He has only minutes to touch bases with Dot and get a note off to his mother before going out on liberty. His main task tonight is to try and find out where Fred is in San Francisco.

Last night he helped a few of the boys study for a test so there was no time to write then either. He assures her that this letter may be brief but his love for her is anything but.

Here’s a longer letter from Dot.

Her mailman arrived today bearing two letters from Dart and a big smile. “I guess he didn’t forget you after all,” he said.

She says she was so happy to receive them, but now she is worried. She asks him what the terrible dream was about. If she doesn’t know, how can she prevent it?

She says that his classmate’s name may be Peterson and he may be married to a Dot, but that’s where the comparison must end. The Peterson she knows is the best of the best, so there’s no pint in comparing them.

She discusses why the guys may tease Dart by calling him Grandpa.  She believes they may be jealous because they don’t have the moral fiber to live up to his ideals. She says she could name 100s of people who think Dart is perfect just the way he is. There are probably 1000s but Dot hasn’t met them yet.

On the subject of worthiness, Dot must insist it is she that is not worthy of him. “You’ll have to face it sometime, I haven’t 1/4 the brain you have, and what I do have I don’t use. I’m lazy and foolish and a million other wrong things and up to two weeks ago, I bit my finger nails. So there, your ‘golden illusion about me has burst.” I cannot attest to the nail-biting, but I can assure you she was neither dumb, lazy or foolish ever!

She goes on to say that it’s up to him how long their love lasts. She knows that for her it will last forever. She asks him to be honest with her if he ever finds he feels differently. In fact, she thinks there is never a reason they should not be honest with each other.

This letter has become more serious than she had intended, she says. She prefers the more carefree, happy variety, but she believes these serious ones are good every once in awhile.

With full intentions of putting her half day off to good use, she must go clean her room. Before doing so, she tells him she has bought the white shoes needed for graduation still six months away. Speaking of which, she hopes he’ll be able to attend. (I suspect the US Navy may have other plans for him.)

Writing to his “Dearest Sweetheart,” Dart jots another hasty note. Although he has six unanswered letters from Dot, he only has six minutes to write.

He has learned that Fred is on Treasure Island, but Dart has walked all over the place and can find no trace of him. He may be out on liberty and could ship out before Dart finds him.

On his walk, he reports seeing several interesting sights, including huge flying boats and some Pan American Clippers.

That’s all he has time to write, except to say he loves her, of course.

Dot’s letter is slightly less brief, but it’s just the kind of letter that surely warmed Dart’s heart.

The opening paragraph is her sassy attempt at a pick-up line. “Hello, tall, dark and handsome. How are you this evening? Like to sit down and have a chat?” In case he thinks she’s trying to pick him up, she assures him that’s exactly what she’d like to do – pick him up and put him out of reach for all others!

She tells him her date with her old friend was cancelled due to the friend’s illness, but she and Janie went to see Pin-up Girl starring Betty Grable. Now she sees what Dart meant so long ago when he expressed the opinion that Betty G. came off as being rather “cheap.”

Dot babysat again for Eric and Chris, but this time they were little angels and left her with nothing to complain about.

She tells Dart is seems more like four years than four weeks since he was in her house.  She says it’s terrible to live on memories, but those memories are so precious, she can’t just toss them aside. “If I had nothing else to live for, those memories alone would keep me happy for a great many years.”

She reminds Dart that in less than two months, they will pass the first anniversary of their meeting. She proclaims that it seems she has known him much longer. In fact, she avers that she has known him a very long time, but it just took awhile to find him.

She announces she’s homesick for San Francisco and a certain sailor. She begs forgiveness for letting this letter get a bit “mushy” (as though that would bother Dart!), but “…doggone, it! If I can’t tell you in person I just have to get it across to you by letter that I’m crazy about you. In fact, I’d go so far as to say I love you.” No kidding!

This is a fun answer to Dot’s recent letters, with a surprisingly intimate section at the end.

He praised the “theatrical quality” of that bit in Dot’s letter about dinner with an old friend. It had him feeling a little green and clammy when he read it. Because all his barracks mates know how he feels about her, he decided to read that section of her letter out loud. It had the same effect on them as it did on Dart.

They now have math classes (logarithms) for 4 1/2 hours every afternoon, which to Dart’s mind resembles torment.

He tells Dot she can expect her copies of the photos he had made from his visit in a week or so. They will be finished in Cleveland and then mailed to Treasure Island for distribution. He says he feels embarrassed whenever he looks at them, and cryptically says he may tell her why some day.

Speaking of cryptic, he mentions a little diagram for sorts that Dot included on the back of one letter. It looked something like this:

(.) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________,

___________________,

Ohio

He replies, “Sounds like a very big hint, subtle like an avalanche. There’s a lot  I could say here, but all I will say is please wait awhile, dear. There’s a big question on my mind. (Not in it, but on it), and I’d like to say the words instead of writing them. Yes, Dot, I know what you’re thinking and I’ve been having the same thoughts, too. But let’s be patient until things are more secure and we know whether I’m coming back from the Blue Pacific.”

That’s quite a thought to leave her with.

Today is another rushed job from Dot. She writes how happy she is that he escaped the guy “dropping in” with no worse than a bruised elbow, but hopes he’ll fall on someone else the next time and leave Dart completely out of it.

She’s so glad he finally received the backlog of letters form home. She tells him not to worry too much about answering each one of hers individually, because she doesn’t even remember what she wrote most of the time. The news is all pretty stale now, anyway.

She reports that El’s fiance Don is having a rough time at State College. All the Navy pre-med students still have to study and pass tests, even though they are expecting their shipping orders any day. El said Don looked old and haggard on her last visit to campus.

Before signing off, she’d like Dart to let her know of any books or anything else he’d like to have her send. “Please tell me because it gives me so much joy to be able to do something for you once in a while. In fact, there’s nothing that would make me happier than spending the rest of my life doing things to please you.”