Dart bemoans another letterless day – one of several since he’s been back from leave.

He was kept quite busy on his early morning messenger watch, which he had to stand outside in a cold rain. Now the rain has stopped and the sun is beginning to break through the mist, promising another nice day in Charleston. Yesterday, the men were working with their shirt sleeves rolled up.

Last night he took a roll of film into town for developing. While there, he bought a couple of magazines to read at the USO. Finding it hard to read on an empty stomach, he downed a Coke and a hot fudge sundae before returning to the ship.

His two buddies, Foecking and Tupa, and their wives came aboard ship today for a meal. Scotty and Pat are now playing cards with the Captain, and Bob and Shirley just stopped by Dart’s little “office” for a chat. How nice that he’s made friends with these two young couples. The only thing missing is a girl for Dart!

His “office” is a tiny room beneath a large gun. It’s actually the power room for the gun, filled with Buck Rogers-type switches and radar stuff. It’s the same little room that he and Blevins were ordered to paint last week, even though it didn’t need painting. Several technicians walked all over the fresh paint, so the little room looks pretty bad. Dart just hopes no one pops his head in and gets an idea about repainting it.

Turning his attention to Dot’s letter from Dec. 31, he remarks about El’s ginger ale having a little something extra in it. It makes him wonder what kind of hosts he and Dot will be since neither of them drinks. It seems that nearly everyone he knows imbibes in some sort of alcohol, so he fears no one will come to their house twice.

Today while he was on watch, he noticed a familiar face on the neighboring ship and called over to Puckett. He was the fellow from the Haggard that was in an accident while on leave and broke numerous bones – breaks that went undetected for several weeks. Puckett came right over to the Craig so he and Dart could catch up. He spent quite a while in a hospital, wired back together, but has no scars to prove it. While he was confined to bed, Hal Martin paid him a visit before being shipped away for discharge. It was nice to reconnect with a pal he’d spent so many happy hours with in Norfolk.

Naturally, he’s been giving lots of thought to the possibility that they could be married as early as June 1947. He has some lingering misgivings about her working to support them while he was in college, but he’s not sure why. If she’s not in school, what else would she do with her time? He doesn’t want her to leave school on his account, but it doesn’t sound to him like she’s particularly fond of college anyway. He’s eager for her to write her thoughts and suggestions.

He’d be most curious to know how the songs “Hubba, Hubba, Hubba” and “Granny Wore Tights” were acted out during the family game of Charades. He’ll take her recommendation and go see “The Bells of St. Mary’s” as soon as it comes to town, if he’s still around when that happens.

He’s going to tell his mother what Dot wrote about how she would have blushed if she’d known that his mother was aware of how late they went to bed that one night. He assumes they’ll find reasons to go to bed earlier once they’re married. In fact, he thinks he’ll suggest to his mother that she and Pop go to bed earlier the next time Dot is in town! Gee, won’t that thought make Dot blush!

He has “ten million and six letters of various sizes and styles” to write tonight, so he must end this one soon. Not, however, before he writes how much he loves her. He’ll never be able to write, nor speak the degree of love he feels, but, in time, he hopes he’ll find a way to show her just how much he does.

#     #     #

Dot begs Dart’s forgiveness for not writing last night, but she was having fun with her roommates until after 1:00 and wanted to get to bed after that because she had plans to go to church this morning. She did go to church, and is happy she did, because she feels much better now. She’s resolved to go every Sunday of 1946.

Yesterday she and the girls went downtown to play records. He favorite was the one Dart recorded for her, which she has now nearly worn out from playing so often. There’s nothing like hearing a loved one’s voice to make them feel closer.

Today was spent cleaning her room, doing laundry, writing letters and washing Joyce’s hair. (She’s not supposed to stretch since her recent appendectomy.) She and Joyce have plans to go to Akron next week to stay at Bill’s house. He won’t be home, but Joyce wants Dot to meet his parents, and for some reason, they want to meet her.

Although she’s never heard of Foecking before Dart’s recent letter, she sends her greetings to him. She wants Dart to tell him she hopes his marriage is as long and happy as theirs is going to be someday. Golly, she wishes it were now.

Based on his recent reviews, she’s decided not to see “Yolanda and the Thief.” If a film doesn’t have an A+++ rating, her budget won’t accommodate it.

She’s itching to get her grades from her mother. The school sent them out right after Christmas, but the only one she know of is English. She’s terribly disappointed to have received a B when she was really trying for an A. There were only two As given in her class, but she’s sorry she didn’t get one of them. Now she’s nervous to see what her Physical Science and Biology grades were.

“I  miss you more and more as the length of our separation increases. Two weeks can be such a long time. It seems like two months since I last saw you and kissed you goodbye at the station. God grant that that was the last parting we’ll have while you are in the Navy and that any we may have after that will be few and far between.”