Does Dart finally have an assigned sleeping spot? Maybe so. He reports that after a month on board, he is happily ensconced in a nice little hangout with three other fire control men. All of them except for one bitter guy have their girl’s picture in front of them as they write. He’s so thrilled to have those pictures! He says if she’s received 400 letters from him, he must have received about that many from her, and each one still thrills him as much as that first one that came to him in the V-12 barracks at Case.
Another mail call today brought four letters from Dot and two from his parents. He lived every word of her letters over and over again. He tells her that a letter or a visit from her does his parents a world of good, and that clearly comes through in their letters to him. His mother says that Dot gets prettier every time they see her, although he doesn’t know how that’s possible because she was already so pretty the first time he laid eyes on her. How nice that his parents like Dot almost as much as he does. Nice for Dot, too.
He confesses that his mom told him “off the record” that Dot looks cute in curlers. He’d like to see that. In fact, he’s decided to grant her wish of surprising her when the Navy tells him he’s done, and he’ll show up unannounced. It would serve her right, he says, if he caught her with curlers, cold cream and dressed in overalls! “That’ll cure you of wanting me to surprise you!”
After mail call, Dart had another treat in store. He put his feet on solid land for the first time in a month. His liberty section got their turn at experiencing a little relaxation on the beach of a tiny island. “The recreation island is a tiny, very tropical place, covered with coconut palms, dense undergrowth and an occasional breadfruit tree. Also present are flies, sailors and innumerable beer cans.” The island is surrounded by white coral-sand beaches and clear blue-green water.
In explaining the beer cans, Dart tells her that the Navy carries large quantities of the stuff for use by recreation parties on shore. Because of the tropical heat, the beer has a more powerful affect on the sailors than it ever would in the States. Consequently, every sailor gets a beer ration. Teetotalers like Dart can become very popular fellows during shore liberty as guys buddy up to them in an attempt to get more beer. Dart prefers to hand his out to his real buddies, rather than the pseudo-buddies who are only interested in his beer and try to play him for a sucker.
Risking the censor’s blade, he talks a bit more about the island. He describes the small marine life he saw, including colorful fish and harmless little sand sharks, red coral and salamanders, crabs and other shell fish. The swimming beach is wide and white, with shallow water and a flat bottom. The guys go “natural” because there isn’t a woman to be found within a million miles.
He wraps up with “Gee, I wish you could come adventuring with me! Better still, I’d like to come there to see you, and skip this whole world-traveling mess.”
