Here’s a wonderful, newsy letter from Dart, full of many details that Dot will hungrily devour, but scant information on where he is or where he’s going.
He’s hoping to get the hang of writing under the watchful eye of the censors. “We can say less while we’re on the move than from a more permanent assignment, which is why my last letter was so brief and newsless.”
Before getting into port on their first stop, they were given the uncommon treat of being allowed to mail two letters from the ship, thanks to an impromptu panel of officer censors. There’s no news when they’ll have another chance to mail anything home, but Dart will keep writing whenever he can.
He describes the transport he’s on as brand new – in fact, she’s on her maiden voyage. She’s sleek and clean and still smells of fresh paint. They have fresh water for showers and laundry – an unheard of luxury. Dart says he can see that this ship was designed for easy conversion to a private passenger vessel after the war.
The first part of this journey was made alone, but now they are in the company of ____________________. (The censors have excised two lines of detail here, so we’ll never know who travels with them.) He apologizes that he was unable to get off the ship at their first stop to buy Dot the gift he’d promised. Reading between the lines, I think we can assume that the port was Pearl Harbor and the gift was the grass skirt.
Dart confesses that he was not a very good sailor during the first day and a half at sea, laid flat by sea sickness. After a day of calm waters, a full stomach and a lemon to suck on, he has recovered completely and can hold his own. Mostly the ship rocks from side to side, occasionally hard enough to send unsecured items scuttling across the deck. Sometimes, however, they have a deep fore-to-aft roll that reminds him of Euclid Beach (roller coaster?).
He confirms that he’ll not be at Dot’s graduation from Andrews in February, but hopes his folks will be there in his stead. He also hopes his parents and Ruth Chamberlain will have a chance to meet while she’s in Ohio for the occasion. He wants Dot to remind him to give her a big kiss of congratulations when they see each other next – one of many kisses they’ll have to catch up on.
Dart’s description of the great Pacific ocean reveals his new found love of the sea. “Ever since I first saw the beautiful blue of the Pacific, I’ve been trying to find words to describe it or something to compare it with. Maybe you remember the deep blue of the world globe in the living room at home…The Pacific is about the color of that globe, only more pure and transparent looking, with dimpled swells and fresh whitecaps stretching without end on all sides.”
“A curl of white foam breaks from the plunging, racing bow, and a wide, effervescent wake like a king-sized lime phosphate trails behind us. Beautiful and thrilling sights.”
He supposes that when she steps outside into the Connecticut winter, she envies him his tropical one. As he sits, bathed in perspiration on the searing hot deck, he envies her. He adds dryly, “The scenery on the east side of the Golden Gate is more varied and interesting that on the west side.”
Except for the lack of waiters, deck chairs and female companions, this feels to Dart more like a pleasure cruise. He and his fellow sailors hang out on deck watching the flying fish glistening in the sunlight and the array of sea birds following the ship for hours without moving a muscle. Perhaps they, like Dart, are watching the other ships in the convoy practice their maneuvers.
In a paragraph about the leisure activities on board, the censors take another bite out of the page. Dart talks about radio programs and recorded music playing over the loud speakers on the deck. Then, as he describes the games of checkers, cribbage and the like, about three lines of text are carved out. Hmm.
The “boys” must wear their lifebelts at all times and they’re grateful not to be using the old “Mae West” style of hot, bulky flotation devices.
In the time he’s not been dreaming of their past and future, he has been making a few more sketches of their house, which he’ll send her as soon as the opportunity arises. He misses her daily letters, but looks forward to receiving a big stack of them in the future.
No mail on the 13th, but Dot will be back on the 14th. See you then.
