Dart begins his letter by recalling that one year ago today he was emerging from the fog of surgery with a “gay nineties bustle tacked on his caboose.”

Today, he began his per-embarkation processing:  a slightly more thorough version of the standard Navy physical, typhoid shot, films on malaria and social diseases and lectures on war bonds, insurance, pay, etc. Dart has decided to increase his war bond allotment to one per month. He’ll receive just under $80.00 a month as pay, so he’ll put $30 into savings and have plenty for all his other needs. My question is, where does one spend money while onboard a warship for months on end?

He calls the physical a farce. Unless a major defect shows up, everyone passes. Everyone lines up, strips to his dog tags and waits in line for a series of cursory checks. Heart rates are checked after a “run” of 3-4 steps. Dart mentioned his back issues and was told he’ll have a more complete exam before being assigned to a ship.

At evening mail call, Dart was surprised and delighted to get the letter Dot mailed last Saturday from Cleveland. He’d been told it could take several weeks for mail to find him.

The weather at Shoemaker is too cold to wear “whites,” so pea coats are a must before noon and after sundown. Everyone was happy about a second day of sunshine, but the mud prevails.

He was glad to hear she got to see a Shaw High School football game. He once dated a girl during football season because her house was very close to the stadium so he could park his car in her yard.

He’s not surprised that everyone at Andrews was happy to see her. Why wouldn’t anybody be? He suspects she’s been exaggerating his virtues for him to have received such positive reactions. He assures her she’ll have no trouble “hanging on” to him, because the feelings are mutual. He has convinced the fellows in the class that there is no better girl in the world. “Some take issue (gallantly) and stand up for their wives, but I know.”

He likes her brother’s philosophy of remembering the past, looking forward to and planning for the future,  and ignoring the present. He finds the present difficult to ignore at times, but it can be accomplished by attending to the other two. He says Gordon sounds like a guy Dart would like to have as a friend (or a brother-in-law). He hopes they get to meet while in the Pacific – if they both have to be there.

His last paragraph brings the war a little closer than usual. “Any day now, Dot, I may be put on draft for some far corner of the world, and then the cloak of security must be placed on my movements. My letters may not be as regular as they have been. You know the story from having a brother in the Pacific. You’ll be having a sweetheart there soon, Dearest, and that sweetheart will be remembering you constantly, looking for every letter, and planning for the day we can be together forever. Dot, I’ll not lose faith as long as I have you.”

In his P. S. he begs for more news on her health because he worries.

Dot’s a little sad because this is the first day since she’s been home that there is no letter from Dart. She’s hoping this afternoon’s delivery brings one.

She writes “A week ago at this time we were eating that delicious turkey with all the trimmings. Could you go for some of that right now? Even more to my liking, though, would be a drive through Euclid Creek Metropolitan Park in a Ford V8, with the best doggone sailor in the world. My heart was pounding so hard that I couldn’t have talked even if I’d known what to say.”

She continues the letter a little after midnight with the announcement that there was no letter from him this afternoon. Again she recalls what they were doing at this time a week ago. “It was raining, just as it is here tonight, and we were driving in it. I can almost feel your arm around me and hear the purr of the motor. Gee, but I love you!!!”

She wonders if he was aware that she was looking at him while he drove. She finds it hard to look at him when he’s looking directly at her because she just melts, but she loves looking at him when he’s unaware of it. He’s so cute when he’s intent on something he cares about.

Her sister-in-law got two letters from Gordon. She had written him a couple of weeks ago about her session with a Ouija board during which she asked where Gordon was. It said he had been in Tahiti, but had just returned to New Caladonia. Well, Gordon confirmed that the board had been correct. He’d been to both of those places recently!

She’s eager to hear how he likes Shoemaker, but she’d prefer to hear that he was being sent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Such a dreamer, our girl.

She bids him goodnight, wishing they could say it like they had 168 hours ago.