Here’s another letter started in class. (You can tell by the pencil and lined notebook paper.) Some of the guys are having an argument over some inane trivia having to do with electricity. He had to pause when the instructor started the film on synchronous systems. I know, this is pretty gripping stuff.
He resumes later, after mail call when he received two letters from Dot, plus five others. There’s a detailed discussion about how much information she needs to include in his address. His serial number is not necessary because there are no longer two D. G. Petersons in his unit.
He is most enthusiastic about the care package she sent him. That leads me to wonder if they were called “care” packages then. I think I recall first hearing that term in the 1960s when there was some international relief organization with the acronym C.A.R.E. that sent packages to underdeveloped communities overseas. Anyway, he was delighted with the candy, the book and the nice stationery she sent him because shopping in his base store is difficult due to his schedule.
Dart says he’s falling way behind on his correspondence. He can count at least 10 letters that he owes people today. He told Dot of mailing a letter for his classmate today that was addressed to Mrs. Dorothy Peterson and he was caught up a little short. “Forgot for a minute that it’s his wife and not my cousin’s (or my dream).” Looks like Mrs. Dorothy Peterson was becoming a very common name.
He closes with the suggestion that she find a NYC telephone directory. If she imagines that every listing said “I love you” instead of a name, that would give some indication about how much he does (love her).
His P.S. said “It’s morale that you’re good for.” I’ve noticed that he has a habit of gently correcting Dot’s spelling errors by using the same word in his letters and underlining the correction. I guess that was an early warning sign that he would someday be a professional editor. I’d hate to see what he’d say about these hastily proofed posts of mine!
Dot writes this at the end of her three-day “vacation,” during which she worked her tail off. She tells Dart she received three letters from him yesterday. “It’s a mighty good thing you couldn’t see the color of my face when I read the first one. It’s plain that we did not have the same thing in mind. I’m afraid I know what you thought I meant, but you’re wrong. That’s what I get for cutting in on other people’s wit. Better we should drop the subject before either of us interprets anything the wrong way.”
What?! Could this refer to that little diagram she drew that he might have assumed hinted at Dot dreaming about her name being “Peterson” and living in Ohio? I’m as confused as Dart must have been when he read this letter. I hope Mom will be able to shed a little light on all this, if she recalls the details after so long a time.
She appreciates the sketch Dart drew of the San Francisco streets to show how steep they are. She also assures him that if he needs to postpone writing to her in order to study, she’ll understand that he needs to keep his test average up.
She tells him that her brother also had to borrow money to pay for his technical school, only it was a much higher sum than Dart’s loan. After school, Gordon joined the Navy and got married and now he’s begun the process of paying back the loan.
She announces that today she must finish a dress she started in March for one of those leaves of Dart’s that never happened. She reports that her cold is better but her “taster” is on the blink.
Because neither Dot nor Dart wrote on August 9, 1944, I’ll pick up their story on the 10th.
And here’s a little note she inserted in the package Dart mentioned in today’s letter.
