This sailor admits that his morale is at a low, low ebb. The Navy has just announced that as of November 1, 41 points is the magic number for discharge. He never mentions how many points he has, but it must be far below that number. I suspect Dot keeps as close an eye on his “score” as he does, because the sooner he’s released from duty, the sooner he can return to school, find a job and marry her.
He, Martin and Cotton just returned from a liberty to Camp Peary, near Williamsburg, Virginia. There, they located Hal’s friend that they’d missed before. He and a buddy of his joined them for dinner and the 52 mile drive to Richmond.
“Williamsburg is famous for being an accurate reproduction of an early American town. All the buildings; stores, houses, inns, etc. are patterned after their counterpart at the time of the American Revolution. It gives the city a quaint and quite picturesque appearance. Even the A&P supermarket is in an old style building and has an old fashioned sign out front.”
After exploring the area and getting a little lost, the boys refreshed themselves with burgers and orange Crush before heading back to Camp Peary and Norfolk.
“Notice how much we eat on our liberties. With all the candy and sweets I’ve eaten in the past two days, my face should be one huge pimple by the end of the week. Perhaps the craving for food and candy is a hold-over of the habit of eating good food at home, and of the sweetenes of our leave with family, friends, and sweethearts.”
Arriving at the navy yard just before midnight, they discovered they were hungry again. “There’s a store near the gate that sets up regulation, prewar banana splits, so we each had a banana split and a milkshake. All this with the weather outside being cold enough to freeze the ears off a brass monkey.” (Apparently his low morale has not dampened his apetite, nor his gift for writing humorous lines.)
They boarded the ship shortly after their midnight snack, but now, at 3:30 AM, the drunks still have not stopped coming aboard and awkening Dart. He mentions a 7-letter word (without actually writing that word) that is used to describe these “inconsiderate bums.”
Recently, Dart and Hal went into town for dinner and some movies. They saw “State Fair,” and “The Enchanted Cottage,” both of which Dart says were good films, but neither of which did a thing to improve the morale of “two dispirited sailors.” He had high praise for Spring Byington’s acting – able to create such a universally unlikeable character.
“But as good as both pictures were, they made me think more than is healthy of you. Each time I saw the girl touch the arm of the person she loved, I felt that it was you touching me. Each time there was an embrace or a tender love scene, I remembered the times when we’d been in the same mood, saying and doing what amounted to the same things. … Oh, Dot, how I miss you! The days now are, and will be until I’m with you permanently, worthless, useless, boring and merciless.”
He tells her that he had intended to write a long dissertation on his loathing of the Navy, sounding just like Fred when he lashes out at the Army. Instead, he simply says “I detest the tyranny and arbitrary, unthinking rule of human beings, whether the tyrant be an educated person with great influence, or an untutored bumpkin with the total brain power of a bantum rooster.”
He begs for her indulgence and patience as he works through this mood.
Dot begins her letter on the 16th but finishes it the following day, due to some after-dinner activities. “There was a house presidents’ meeting scheduled for 7:00 over at Kent Hall. After we’d sat there for 45 minutes, someone got the brilliant idea of calling the dean who told us the meeting had been postponed for two weeks. Sounds a bit like the Navy, doesn’t it?”
She’s overwhelmed with school work, especially English. She worked on that one class diligently for over three hours tonight and is still not finished with her homework. “Sure I want to learn my English, and learn it well, but I didn’t ask to learn it all in three weeks!”
She admits that she shouldn’t gripe about classes when he would give anything to be back in college. She says it isn’t too bad, except that she worries about her English grade. Her mother would be terribly disapponted if her college grade in that subject should drop below a B.
She’s not too happy about the prospect that he’ll be sent back to sea. Although her family reminds her that with the war over, his absence won’t be as hard to bear, she’s still not happy with the idea. Why can’t they send someone who hasn’t already risked his life hundreds of times for his country?
With a class to get to and homework to complete, she must sign off. She sends her regards to Hal Martin and thanks him for letting Dart get such good use out of his car. She suggests that if they’re able to drive that car back to Hal’s home in Boston, he should stop by Greenwich to see her family. They’d love to have more time with him.
She’ll tell him more tomorrow, including the answer to his question that, indeed, made her blush in fron of her roommates.
