Dart begins this long letter with “I love you,” even though he’s been taught one should never begin a letter with “the vertical pronoun.” He says it’s the upper most thought on his mind, so why shouldn’t he put it right out there on top?
Finally the mail service has become unplugged and he received a whole stack of letters today. As he feared, his folks are not too keen on the idea of them getting married sooner than planned. They suggest the kids wait until he gets home for good before discussing it any further. He’s disappointed that they were reluctant to talk about it. It might be wise to wait until he’s home, but he feels like he does his best thinking with a pen. (I guess I must have inherited that trait from him!)
Last night he met up with a couple of guys for liberty. They had $1.00 steak dinners and then went to see a movie. It was Ernie Pyle’s “Story of GI Joe.” Dart was very moved by the story, but warned Dot to stay clear of it. It was so sad, and she’d cry for a week.
“The Navy didn’t fight a war. Those guys Ernie wrote about are the ones who fought. We and the Air Corps boys rode our machines into battle, and the machines did the fighting. We were clean, and in comparison to the infantry, we were comfortable. We had mattresses and clean sheets and hot food. We didn’t have to dig our bed out of solid mud. We didn’t have to fight with bayonets or cover each other with rifle fire as we sneaked forward from one pile of rubble to another. Those boys fought a WAR! The war we fought was a vacation in Florida compared to theirs.”
Well, his physical is over, and it turned out better than he’d expected, although not as good as he’d hoped. He’s a bit undernourished, but no longer worried about his sanity.
The ship has a full crew now of 330 men. Several of the new guys on board have been released from the brig and are now serving probation aboard the Craig. If they mess up, they’ll finish their time in the brig and then get dishonorable discharges. Most of the new crew are regular Navy or low-point men. Maybe that’ll work in Dart’s favor for an earlier discharge as he becomes one of the most senior men on board, points-wise.
His letter from Ira Cotton gives the news that Ira was discharged in time for Christmas. He’s back in his home town of San Diego now, planning to start back to college in February. Dart hopes to visit him if the ship spends any time in San Diego on this cruise.
He does an amusing little riff about the difference in their ages. He’ll be 22 in a few days and she’s 19, so that looks like a three-year gap. But in June when she turns 20, it’ll only be two years. Since he’s really only barely 22, that’s like being 21 and she’s almost 20, so that’s a one-year difference. Either way, the difference in their ages doesn’t seem relevant to him because they’re both old enough to know they love each other.
Last night an ambulance pulled up on the dock to remove someone from a neighboring ship on a stretcher. As the doctor was walking back to the ambulance, a bunch of guys on the Craig lined up at the rail and began to pretend like they were crazy. They sucked their thumbs and rolled their heads. They twitched and jerked and swooned. The doctor was very upset by their antics. One guy started to sway and walk in mincing little steps, patting his imaginary curls into place and said in an effeminate voice, “Oh, you’re just jealous because you’re not pretty like the rest of us girls.” With that, the sailors all burst out laughing while the doctor cursed them all and drove away in a huff. Dart says it was lots more fun than they’d expected.
He’s sorry she’s disappointed in her grades, but reminds her they are above average. Just like him, she seems to be drawn away from school work occasionally, toward congenial gabfests in her house. He believes those talks are as much a part of her education as the regular classes she takes. He thinks she may actually enjoy studying mechanics in physical science this semester.
There’s no steam on the ship today, so the blowers send cold air throughout the ship. That also means cold showers. Brrrrrr.
It’s too bad that fella of hers can’t take her to the dance. Has anyone found a date for Ellie yet? Can’t someone with a local boyfriend dig up one of his friends for the task?
He feels about written out now. All he can think to say is the million ways he loves her, but he’s written that before and she may be tired of hearing it. She should let him know if these long letters take too much of her time to read. (That’ll be the day!)