Today Dart writes a more detailed letter of his Thanksgiving Day activities. He was granted liberty at 10:00 but stayed aboard ship for the noon meal. I felt a little twinge of sadness at his comment that the men ate their “feast” in virtual silence – not one of the sailors on board was where he wanted to be that day.

Then he and a like-minded pal left for a trip to town. They walked and walked and walked, trying to stay out of the wind and in the sun to where it was a little warmer. They checked the USO but found there was a formal dance there that night and they weren’t dressed for it. Wandering some more, they stumbled across a movie theater and spent 26 cents on a movie that at least kept them out of the cold wind for a couple of hours. Again, they began walking – this time looking for a restaurant. All Dart says about that was that they were not lucky in their choice. The bowled three lines, with Dart winning two of them and then tracked down a skating rink they’d heard of. Although Dart didn’t like to skate, he was willing to try, if for no other reason than to have something to do on his next few liberties. But Jack Bevins, his buddy, took one look at the rink and deemed it no good. They hoofed it all the way back to the ship. Now all Dart has to look forward to is going to bed in a bunk with no mattress and insufficient blankets to keep him warm.

He’d rather sit alone with Dot, in front of a cozy fireplace in a sweet little house. Ah, but that must wait.

There’s a rumor that the Craig will now be sent to the north Atlantic this winter instead of the Pacific. Maybe Dart will never get warm!

His camera arrived today with a few rolls of film. By storing things inside his dress shoes and squeezing his locker contents a little tighter, he was able to find the space for his new bounty.

After finding no work to do on the ship, he turns his attentions to answering some of Dot’s recent letters. He’s glad she got an A in archery. The only A he ever got in phys ed was for the ballroom dance section. Anyone who showed up for every class got an A.

He’s surprised to hear that she’s considering Hiram College. It seems too small to have a full curriculum, but his parents tell him it has a lovely campus. Has she mentioned her dissatisfaction with Kent to her parents? Can she put her finger on what displeases her about this school?

He feels silly saying goodnight so early, but there’s nothing to do but sleep. Besides, she’ll be reading the letter in daylight, so “goodnight” will sound silly anyway. He loves her and he misses her.

Before Dot describes her wonderful Thanksgiving Day, she makes a bold and mature move. She reminds Dart that a few months ago, he wrote to her that he thought it was wrong of Fred to write such discouraging letters to his folks, filled with venom against the Marines. Now, Dart’s writing that same kind of letter about the Navy to his folks. She asks him to save his griping and grousing for her letters only, and then, having purged himself of his mood, maybe he could write something more positive to his parents. She knows he had no idea how much those letters worry his parents or he would never have written them, but she feels he’d want to know and she’s the only one who could tell him.

Then she talks about her holiday. She had a wonderful and delicious meal with his folks and a great phone call to her family. Everyone at home told her how much they missed having her and Dart around the table. She’s thrilled they took the time to write a Round Robin to him. Now, she’s counting the days until she’s home for Christmas with her beloved family. If only he could be there…

“Your mom, dad and I went downtown this afternoon to see “Weekend at the Waldorf.” It was every bit as good as you’d said it would be, and I did manage to untangle the plot you so nicely knotted up for me.”

Like Dart, she talks about how cold it is outside, except his low temperature is in the high 30s and hers in in the low 20s.

“Your description of Charleston was, as all your description is, magnificent. Please tell me how you do it so that the next time I spend a week at a beautiful spot I’ll be able to write more than a sentence about it.”

She loves him and she doesn’t know how she’ll pass the time until she can see him again. She hopes he’s not too angry about the little scolding at the beginning of this letter.