Dart admits he’s slacked off in the letter department, writing to neither his parents nor his sweetie for several days. He did, however finally get two airmails from the lovely lady in Greenwich, mailed two weeks apart but arriving on the same day.
The big news is that he has made reservations on a train for November 4, arriving in Cleveland late on the 7th. Depending on return transportation and when/where he is to report, he’ll have between 36 and 60 hours at home. (That’s if he actually gets a 9-day leave.)
He gives Dot the most complete instructions he can as to what train she should take from New York in order to arrive in Cleveland the same time he does. Unfortunately, he may not know until a couple of hours before his train is due to leave San Francisco whether or not he’ll be allowed to make the trip. Geesh! What a way to run a war – not even letting a fellow know in advance if he gets to go home before heading into battle!
Dart and four buddies attended a dance on Treasure Island this week. He mostly went for the food and the music, although he danced half a dance just to prove to the boys that he could. With great glee, he recited the long list of food he consumed that evening, making me wonder where he stores it all on that skinny frame.
He discussed his progress in winning the “battle of the bottle.” It’s not what you may think! The guys have finally accepted that he doesn’t drink and they mostly leave him alone about it now. Having established his reputation as a “weird character,” he can now happily accompany the group when they go to bars. However, he finds it easy to escape on his own when the gang stays longer than a couple of drinks. The way he sees it, his liberty is his time to have fun and he’s not yet found anything fun about parking his can on a bar stool and making a fool of himself.
He had two more tests this week. He knows he did well on one of them, based on a comment by the instructor, but he’s pretty sure he blew the second one. The equipment he’s studying is absurdly complex and he and the rest of the class are horribly confused by it all. They really feel the pressure of having to know it backwards and upside down when they are pressed into real service aboard ship in the midst of a battle.
He was very pleased with the romantic letter she wrote for that long-lost airmail. He tells Dot her technique is improving, writing that mushy stuff. In answer to a more recent letter, he has no idea what Dot should send Gordon for Christmas, because he’s not been out to sea yet and has no inkling what kinds of things the guys out there could use.
Commenting on the fireplace in Dot’s apartment at the Miller’s house, he says he’s always liked to sit in front of a fire, dreaming of a pretty girl’s head resting on his shoulder (and the owner of that head being wrapped in his arms!) His dream house would not be complete without a fireplace, he says. Flash forward 17 years, and the modest home Mom and Dad had built when I was a child did, indeed, have a lovely fireplace that they both enjoyed for many years.
Like Dot, he had a trip to the dentist recently. Also following her lead, he went to see “Going My Way” by himself and had a similar religious experience to hers.
Before signing off, he asks her what she meant when she said he wouldn’t recognize her when he saw her again. Good question, Dart. I’d like to know that, too.
In a bit of a coincidence, Dot also received two letters from her sweetie today. She’s so proud of his accomplishments in his classes. She can’t understand why he would gripe about a 92% (out of 95), but she supposes that he’s just used to doing well in school.
Responding to his question about whether her parents approve of their romance, Dot eagerly affirms that they most certainly do. Her father thinks Dart is just plain stupid to want Roosevelt for another four years, but the rest of his credentials are perfect, so Arthur has no other complaints.
Dot chastises Dart for being such a pessimist about his prospects in the war. “Why must you sound so morbid? I won’t allow myself to think you won’t come back, and I wish you’d do the same.”
Then, she makes a questionable choice in topics. She tells Dart about two women she works with who have received terrible news from the war office. The brother of one was killed in action and the husband of the other is a prisoner in Germany. Dot’s heart ached so much at their news that one would have thought she knew the men in question, but she’d never met them. She doesn’t know how either woman will go on.
Dot comments that it must have been wonderful for Dart to hear his parents’ voices when he called them recently. She’s sure they’ll want to see him before he leaves the country, no matter how short the visit might be. Dot offers a fervent prayer that the Navy will grant him a leave – especially one long enough to get home for a few days. It looks likes Dart’s potential leave will be a common subject in their letters for the next few weeks.
