Dart writes from San Francisco where he went expressly to see Bob Hope in The Princess and the Pirate which he describes as a hilarious mellow drama. He won’t give away the surprise ending but urges Dot to see it for herself.
Last night he went to meet with a guy in the personnel office who grew up in Cleveland and went to Shaw. The guy asked Dart what kind of ship he’d like to be on and Dart answered either a big battleship or an aircraft carrier. The man put it into Dart’s record and Dart considers it a done deal. If a big ship comes up soon, he’ll depart Shoemaker before some of the guys he’s with. He may have to chase the ship half way around the world before boarding her, but he’s excited by the prospect of serving on one of these monster ships, if he must go to sea (which he must). Can the Navy be counted on to follow its own directions about placing him where he wants to be? Stay tuned!
That’s all for tonight.
This is a rare letter from Dot – one in which she expresses hurt and frustration. It reveals that while she habitually looks on the bright side of things, she’s not always so happy.
El’s fiance Don is about to graduate. From there, the Army will decide whether to ship him overseas as a medic or send him to medical school on their nickel. El is eaten up by anxiety, crying at the drop of a hat. The other day, Dot made the mistake of suggesting that since the outcome she dreads is not yet reality, she’d feel better if she stayed positive and hopeful until there was actual reason to be sad and disappointed. Her words sent El into a screaming fit, with Betty taking El’s side. “How would you feel if your fiance was being shipped overseas?,” asked Betty. Dot replied that someone she cares just as much about is being shipped out. Just because Don and El have announced to the world that they plan to marry doesn’t mean they love each other any more than Dot and Dart. Her mother told her she was being selfish. Dot says there isn’t a person in the world who wants Don and El to get married more than she does!
Dot pleads with Dart to wake up to her faults now so that he won’t be shocked when he learns her family’s opinion of her. She hopes that facing reality won’t turn him against her; in fact, she’d love it if he could acknowledge her faults and love her in spite of them.
She feels she should just learn to keep her thoughts to herself, but wonders what the world would be like if folks with different points of view were not permitted to express them.
I find it harsh that her family seems to come down so hard on Dot. It seems as though all signs point to her being highly agreeable, hard-working, modest to a fault, thoughtful, and funny. What more could a family want? Still, they do seem to expect a great deal more from her.
She apologizes for writing such a horrid letter and promises a cheerful one tomorrow.
