Friday 27 July 1945 - Final Letter

Dearest Kitten:

I love you very much and wish that I were home right this minute. This army has been getting me down. I am fed up but just have to keep plugging along at it hoping that things will soon change for the better.

From your letters, I see that Bobby is rapidly learning self reliance. It is always a good thing to teach a youngster how to take care of himself. You seem to be doing a very good job of raising our children, without my help.

You asked if there was anything I needed, well, yes there is. Please send me my Army discharge if you can manage it. That is the only thing that I need to make me the richest man in the world. A man is indeed a rich man who has a loving Faithful wife such as I am fortunate enough to have.

About four days ago one of the men came into the orderly room with a monkey. It was given to him by a soldier that was going to the States. He tried to take the monkey with him but the officials would not allow it. He gave my man the name and outfit of the man he wanted to give it to. I phoned and left a message where he could pick up the monkey. This morning he came after him. We had a great deal of fun with him and had gotten attached to the little tike. We hated to let  him go.

No you had not told me about André and Estelle were not going to move near her sisters. It must be a very nice place. Sounds nice anyhow.

Can you imagine my surprise when Lt. Donohoe walked into the Orderly Room two days ago. One of our men took him to shore from a transport and informed him where to find us. He left yesterday after staying overnight.

I can understand why you got disgusted the way some of the Servicemen act when they are away from home. They think that it is necessary to act fresh simply because they are in uniform.

There is a Novena going on for Service personnel that I would like to attend but I have a meeting every night with my platoon sergeants and it usually lasts until it is too late to get to the chapel.

There are rumours that Japan is getting ready to holler quits. I only hope that it is so. It can not come too soon to suit me.

The news is very encouraging anyhow. The Navy certainly are pounding the hell out of Japan. Wish that I could be there to see them do it.

Sweetheart, I had a beautiful dream about you this morning just before I woke up. Was I mad when I woke up to find that it was only a dream. Boy was I loving you, wow.

Give my regards to all the folks and kiss the babies for me. I love you, My Darling wife.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Thursday 26 July 1945

Dearest Kitten:

The evening breeze is wonderful tonight and it seems to be cooling my fevered body as well as brush away many of my indecisions. There are times when I do not know what to do and it is a no good feeling and keeps me on edge.

My bright spots are when I receive your letters and can lose myself for a few short minutes while I read it. How I appreciate your kindness in being so faithful to me.

So you changed your mind about the pots & pans. As for moving if you find a more satisfying place, go right ahead. When I return there are going to be some changes made anyhow. In the meantime you may as well satisfy yourself as best you can.

How I love you Sweetheart! If I could only take you in my arms and show you how much that I love you. How happy I will be to return home to you and my children. You will find that I will be very nervous at first but I hope that it will not take me too long to quiet down.

I have been getting nervous and have been concentrating on slowing down and keeping myself from getting overheated.

Gosh Sweetheart but all I seem to want to tell you is how much that I love you.

Goodnight Sweetheart. This is all for now.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

20 July 1945 (Friday)

Dearest Kitten:

I love you. Enclosed you will find a piece of Mother of Pearl. Have a set of earrings made and have the diamond shaped one mounted on a ring. The dark one is for myself. I want to have it made into a ring.

Have a good job done on the earrings. Am busy so I must make this short. Give my regards to everyone and kiss the babies for me.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Saturday July 14, 1945 - Dad to Bobby

Dearest Son:

I hardly know how to start as writing to you is like writing to a stranger and I do not know whether you will understand what I am writing or not.

Son, it is not clear in your mind what is going on and why your Daddy has to be so far away, but maybe some day you will grow old enough so that many things will become understandable to you.

Your father is away from you now so that you will not have to go around begging for food like many youngsters all over this world are doing right this minute. Man being the greedy creature that he is, is forever trying to get more than what he has, and to do that he must take it away from some one else.

There are a number of ways of doing this. The honorable way is by purchasing it in a legal and honest way. Then there is the way of taking it by force. The second way of obtaining anything is one of the main causes for all the troubles of the world. For these reasons your father is miles away and very lonesome for you.

I know that while I am away that you will be a good boy and will always mind your loving Mother. In my absence you must take you Daddy’s place as the man of the house. It means a lot of responsibility and you must show that you are worthy of it.

Daddy loves you and Barby very much and prays every night that he will be home with you very soon.

While I am away, Daddy is depending on you to take care of Mother & Barby.

Give Mother and Barby a big kiss for your Daddy.

Your Loving Father

Saturday July 14, 1945

Dearest Kitten:

I have a bit of excitement to tell you about. We had quite a fire just a few minutes ago. A gasoline tank with a hundred and twenty five gallons in it caught fire. After burning for about ten minutes it blew up. The flames shot about five hundred feet into the air. A lot of men are suffering from burn just from the heat.

Quite a few men went to the hospital for burns and a few from broken bones when everyone panicked. One of my men went to the hospital with a broken collar bone.

I was standing about a hundred feet from the tank when it blew up. I took off like everyone else because like everyone else I was scared and afraid that the gasoline would fall on me. I have been scared but this took the cake.

Today I received your letters of July 3rd & fourth. You seemed very agitated and humble because you have not been writing every day. You seem to think that I have been going through quite a bit of danger. Well tonight was as close to danger as I have been in.

The two bronze stars on my service ribbon was really earned by our second Battalion. The regiment was given credit because our work in Brisbane was as helpful as our being on the spot, and we did do a good job.

Right now we are working hard and it is taking a lot out of us. The heat has slowed us down a lot and we will slow down more as we get acclimated.

You said that you were going to write more often and send more boxes. As for the writing that is O.K. but unless it is something special. We have a very nice variety at our PX which opened yesterday. So unless I ask for something special, do not waste your energy and money.

I am happy that you like your jewel box. I had it made special for you. As for the wallets they were hand made by one of my cooks. As for the price, nothing is too good for my one and only. Just tokens of my great love for you.

You know that I do love you Sweetheart and would do anything for you. How I miss you and the babies. I only wish that I could explain my feelings, but I seem to be unable to properly express my feelings. My only regret is my inability to tell you how much I love you.

The city of Lowell used good sense in not getting fireworks that go off with a bang. Remember there are a lot of discharged veterans whose nerves are not what they should be.

I appreciated the picture of Mr. & Mrs. Gagnon. How happy they must be, and how jealous I am of their happiness.

Well Sweetheart this will be all for now. Give my regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me.

I close with all my love.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Friday July 6, 1945

Dearest Kitten:

Does my favorite wife still love me? I hope so because I love her. The lack of proof in the number of letters that I send her will have to be overlooked and I must be forgiven because I lack the time to do better.

Your letter of Sunday June 24th came today and I was glad to get it.

So all the family has a tan now even if half of mine is yellow from atabrine tablets. We started taking atabrine a week before we left Brisbane. It is great tasting stuff. The taste remains in your mouth all day long if you happen to keep it in your mouth too long before swallowing. Very appetizing.

Sweetheart forgive me but I am too tired to continue this letter. You know that I love you with all my heart.

Saw Sgt. St Jean today. He left the Company back in Gordon Johnston. He is a 1st/Sgt. now.

Good night Beautiful. Give my regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me. I love you.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Saturday June 30, 1945

Dearest Kitten:

I love you with all my heart & miss you so much that at times I wonder how I can stand anymore. I thank God that I am so busy that it is impossible for me to have much time to feel sorry for myself.

You deserve the vacation that must be nearing its end as I write this letter. I received your first letter that you wrote from Hampton Beach. It certainly would be heaven to be there with you. Oh well! I guess that I will have to be patient and wait a while longer.

Things are exceptionally quie tonight and I do not like it. Things will probably start popping tomorrow and the chances are that I will be right in the middle of it.

Setting up a camp such as we need is no small matter and the two men that catch the most hell is the company commanders and the 1st/Sgt.

Since my last letter I have seen a little of the City and quite a bit of the people. It is pityful to see these people and what they have to put up with. We have quite a few civilians and the way that are dressed is pityful. The popular dress is burlap. They will work just for something to eat. It is impossible to describe what these people are going through.

They told me that the heat here was intense so to keep cool I stay out of tents. Due to the heat I am beginning to slow down to a gallop. The first three days here were pips. I got about a few hours sleep. The fourth morning I had gotten things going and at nine in the morning I sat down on a cot that we had in the orderly room for my clerk to sleep in and the Capt. was talking to me about everything in general. To be more comfortable I stretched out on the cot, the next thing I knew it was 11:45. I had fallen asleep on the Capt. and one of my sergeants stayed in the orderly and took care of things until I woke up. I had gone about as far as anyone could without sleep.

One of my men asked me when I ever got some sleep. So you can see for yourself. I do not have much time to myself. When I do get some time I am too dead to do anything but sleep.

It os now eight in the evening and it is getting dark. All I am doing is writing and I am perspiring all over the place. You may notice that the bottom of this sheet is or rather has been wet. It is caused from the sweat on my arm.

We are able to purchase a ration of beer. Twenty four bottles a month. It is 3.2 and we are able to keep it anywhere and drink it in the mess hall with our supper. We are allowed to drink it when we are off duty. I usually drink a bottle in the evening. We have an ice making machine but do not have it in operation as yet. As soon as we do get it operating we will be able to chill our beer and make it a little more palatable.

I received a letter from your mother today and if I get the chance I will write to her tonight. I must answer my mother also.

Well Sweetheart I love you very much and am praying every night that the day of our reunion is not too far distant.

The children must be enjoying themselves immensely at the beach.

So Barby is a bigger tease than Bobby. She must be a cute little devil. How I miss the lovable little pests. How I would love to be pestered by them right now. Oh well if I do not quit, I will begin to feel sorry for myself.

The thermometer was up to only 120 today. A fairly cool day. No need for a stove to keep warm over here.

Well Sweetheart I will close for now with all my love for you have it all.

Give my regards to everyone and kiss the babies for me.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Manila June 24, 1945 (Sunday)

Dearest Kitten:

I love you with all my heart and soul. How

Monday 25 June 1045

That was a fairly good start! It’s 7:10 a.m. right now so if things go per usual, I many reach the bottom of this page before evening.

We are now in Manila camped on Dewey Boulevard just a short way from the center of town, which I have not seen as yet.

Our camp used to be a residential section. Our tents are sitting on the cemented ground floors of a group of completely burned down homes. The buildings, that is the few that are standing, are all gutted. The only thing that is standing is cement buildings or rather their walls are standing. It is umpossible to describe in mere words the complete destruction of this once beautiful city.

The harbor is littered with sunken jap vessels. Some with their super structure sticking out of the water and some completely submerged.

During the day it gets quite warm but it cools off enough in the evening so that you can put on a shirt without too much discomfort. Due to the heat I have lost quite a bit of weight from sweating. All our water is chlorinated and is quite palatable when cooled below boiling point.

We are thankful that it is the dry season. It only rains all night every night. During the wet season it rains all day and all night. So you can see how fortunate we are.

It is not too muddy. The ground is usually dry from supper time until it starts to rain right after supper. Around our tent area we have a submerged net to catch any equipment that starts floating off.

Our camp is guarded by Filipino guerrillas. After dark they start challenging everyone. I like the way they do it. They cock the rifle first and then holler halt. The hollering is superfluous as at the sound of the rifle being cocked is enough to freeze you in your tracks. It is only recently that they have been using this method. Before they used to shoot first then go out and inspect the body. If it was an American they would call the medics to patch him up, if a jap they just rolled him into the gutter.

Our latrine is a very private affair. There is only one thing wrong. There is no sides, roof or anything. At first we were rather startled at having a passing woman come over and sit down next to you. The first time it is kind of embarrassing but you get used to it.

Everything is measured in pesos, approximately fifty cents, anything smaller is frowned on as too small to be bothered with.

Tuesday 26 June 1945

Good morning Sweetheart. Here it is the start of another day and I have hopes that I may get this letter off sometime today. Last night I got six whole hours of sleep and I feel fairly good. Since our arrival here I have been busier than a one armed paper hanger with the crabs.

You can not imagine the job it has been to get packed, moved and unloaded. We were two months getting everything packed ready to move and that is the main reason that I have not been able to write as often as I would have liked to. I could not tell you before that we were preparing to move. I wanted to so that you would not worry too much because of my not being able to write to you.

I love you Sweetheart. Always remember that. Every part of me aches from longing for you. Let us hope and pray that it may not be too long now before I will be home again for good.

If at anytime I seem to be neglecting you, it will be for a very good reason.

Well Beautiful, I have a meeting to attend so I must close. You have all my love.

Give my regards to everyone and kiss the babies for me. I love you Sweetheart.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

P.S. Disregard the return address. I had to borrow an envelope that was already stamped. Enclosed is a jap 1000 peso note.

Sunday June 10, 1945

Dearest Kitten:

Forgive me for neglecting you so and for forgetting your birthday. It was not because you were not in my thoughts at all times.

As I write this I am sitting on the promenade deck of our ship that is taking us to an unknown destination. The wind is blowing very hard but I am sheltered by a boat that sits on deck. It is not too uncomfortable.

Below deck it is very hot & stuffy. Of course I am fortunate in having a private stateroom with a few hundred other men. We have perfected a system whereby we have enough room. Half the men inhale while the other half exhale. In that way no one is too cramped for room.

I have just returned from Rosary Services that was held on deck. The chaplain is Protestant and that is the reason for only Rosary Services.

My mess sergeant is in charge of feeding all troops aboard. My first day aboard was a nightmare that I hope I never have to go through again. I was chasing down KPs from all the units as naturally the mess sgt. came to me to help him out. I finally got him straightened out with the K.P.’s and went to bed at ten. Up until two in the morning I was awakened every ten minutes or so by someone wanting something.

I am well hidden at present and am not being asked the same questions over and over again by everyone that goes by. Was I bragging just now. Two men from the company just came up for some instructions on what they were to do on the detail I assigned them to.

Pardon my writing as it is quite difficult to write on my knee with the boat rocking and the wind blowing.

The ship we are on has seven jap planes to its credit. Of course they have shot down more but if more than one ship is firing at a plane and it is knocked down neither ship is given credit. Before a ship is credited with a plane, there must be no doubt about who shot it down.

By the way and before I forget it, add ten more points to my credit. I am now entitled to wear two bronze campaign stars on my South West Pacific ribbon. Do not be fooled by the point system because essential men are not released. A great many men with over a hundred points are still being held by the Army because they are essential and the Army will not discharge them until they can be replaced.

So far I have not been seasick and I doubt if I will. The first night underway it got quite rough and a lot of men were leaning over the rail. They were not fishing either. Except for a few, most of my men were O.K.

There are about six dogs aboard. Two of them do not get along and every time they meet there is a scrap. The men keep them separated pretty well but occasionally they get together.

C Company’s band played for us when we were boarding the ship and is going to play this afternoon on the forward deck. They do very well for the type of musicians some of them are. The two trumpeters are kind of sour and spoil the rest of the band. If they had one or two good trumpeters, they would be real good.

Well Sweetheart I must leave you but not before I tell you that I miss you very much. I have been too busy lately to be too lonesome but it is hell to be so far away from my darling wife, who I love with all my heart. I love you so much that I ache all over for the love of you.

Give my regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me. I love you Sweetheart.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Monday 4 June 1945

Dearest Kitten:

How deep is the Ocean? How high is the sky? How much do I love you?

That is a hard question to answer. Never-the-less I will try to tell you. My love for you is as deep as the ocean and has high as the sky.

How far would I travel to be where you are? The answer to that is half-way round the world right now. If I could only be allowed to travel it, I could think of nothing better that I would rather do.

I love you so much, Sweetheart. How can I possibly tell you of the great love that I feel for you? Words are inadequate to tell you how much you mean to me. The day will come when I will be permitted to show how greatly I love you and how much that I appreciate your love for me.

You certainly have been going through some interesting experiences lately, and you need not worry on my account over your Boston episode. I sure broke up the monotony anyhow.

In one of your latest letters you sounded so lonesome and lost Sweetheart. I know how you feel and wish that I were there so that I could lavish all the attention that you crave on you. Just be patient and your husband who misses you very much will be home and he will be as savage as a meat axe. The Amphibians will have landed and there will be no doubt in your mind. You will need a body guard to keep from getting smothered with attention.

Do me a favor Sweetheart. My brother Roland’s birthday is the, or rather was the ninth of June and tell him that I wish him all the best of luck. I will write to him later when I have more time. Right now I am a mite cramped for time and I am stealing this time off to write to you.

Despite the fact that you did not want to let Bobby go to the circus, I bet he had a great time. He must think that he is quite a big boy now. I can picture how excited he was over the whole affair.

From your description of Barby, she must be a beautiful young lady. I miss the both of them very much but not nearly as much as I do you. So you see that although I love them dearly, I love and miss you more.

I kind of wish that Mother was not going to Ogunquit for the summer. She will only wear herself out and have nothing to show for it. Oh well it is her own life and she must do as she sees fit. I only hope that she is not sorry for going.

I am very envious of Andy. The lucky stiff. To him the war is more or less over. He is a civilian and must suffer the hardships of rationing and all that sort of thing. Poor guy I pity him on that count. Of course he has the advantage of a certain amount of freedom and does not have to do things just because somebody ordered it to be done.

Well Sweetheart, I must close as it is getting late and I must get some sleep.

Give my regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me.

Tell Connie that Sgt. Nicholson has not forgotten her but he has been so busy that he has not had the time to write. He will write the first chance that he gets.

I love you Sweetheart and wish that I was on my way across the Moody St. bridge with you on my arm.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Wednesday 30 May 1945

Dearest Kitten:

You are perhaps feeling like a very neglected wife right now, but believe me it is not because you are not always with me in my thoughts. I love you and miss you so much that I can not express my feelings. Wherever I go or am, there will always be a part of you with me. I have you in my heart at all times, so even though I am miles away from you, you are always there with me.

With the passing of each day my longing and yearning for you continues without diminishing in any way. Yes, I am a very tired & lonesome man right now, who wishes to hell he were home.

I am rapidly running out of patience. All I seem to be doing is waiting for the day when I will be permitted to take you into my arms and tell you that our period of separation is over. When that day finally does arrive, we will be as happy as a couple of kids.

Now to answer your letters #274-5-6-7&8.

All my little surprises for you have been unsuccessful lately. At least I tried and I know that you were just as thrilled as if they had really worked.

Yes, I am still planning on having a couple youngsters. Of course only time will tell, but if I have my way we will have a couple more.

Bobby and Mother certainly get around. I bet Bobby enjoyed the long ride to Ogunquit. I can imagine all the questions that he could ask on a ride like that.

It is odd to read some news about some of my old acquaintances. I hope that we may get the opportunity to go to Ogunquit for a week or so when I return.

You seem to be bumping into Ray & Ce quite often.

So you stopped the children from going to the store. That must hurt them a great deal. A youngsters feel quite big and grown up when they have a penny to buy some candy with it.

Our children must be getting quite big and I miss them very much. I took care of them so much that I miss getting them ready to go out or ready for bed. When I get home, I will have to start all over to get to know them the way that I want to.

You certainly are getting ambitious with your sewing. Pauline is lucky to have a sister that is willing to do some sewing for her. But I bet that she hardly ever wears the coat after you finish it.

But I bet that she hardly ever wears the coat after you finish it.

So Charlie finally made it. Wish him luck for me and that I hope he gets an easy going 1st/Sgt.

If Norman received the Silver Star, he had to be in action. The Silver Star is given for Gallantry in action. He must have done something out of the ordinary.

I am afraid that your prayers are not to be answered.

It was nice of Arthur to write to you and I was happy to know that he asked about me. I always liked Arthur and hope that we may be able to go out together after this is all over.

So the youngsters are getting fresh are they? Too bad I am not there to handle the worse things that they do. I only hope that I may have the ability that my Dad had in handling children.

Lorraine & Ray have had a lot of bad breaks since they got married. I bet they will make up for it though when he gets home.

Food so far has been very good with our outfit. Of course there is always a possibility of a change. We have been very fortunate so far but with all the people of Europe to feed now it may make a difference.

So Mother is going to Ogunquit for the summer? Ogunquit is in her blood you know. She can not keep away from the place. Oh well if it will keep her busy and happy, I guess that it is best for her to do as she likes. She has had to do so many things that she did not want to and pass up so many things that I do not blame her for doing the things that she wants.

I received a letter from Leo today post-marked 8th of April. He sent it regular mail. I also received a letter from Mother and one from Estelle.

In Estelle’s letter she claimed that Andrew was getting his discharge within a week. He is probably a discharged veteran by this time. Estelle is planning to continue work for a while until Andrew has settled in a job that he wants.

Gosh but I love you Sweetheart. It seems like ages since I have taken you in my arms to tell you just how much that I love do you. Just be patient and the day will arrive when I will be back home with my family and everything will be so right.

Well Beautiful I must and say good night to you. Pleasant dreams Sweetheart. I love you.

Regards to everyone and kiss the babies for me.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

30 May {April} 1945

Dearest Kitten:

Am rather tired tonight because I have been doing some manual labor for a change. This afternoon I took a shovel and helped mix cement for our basketball court. It is almost completed. With luck we should have all the cement poured by Wednesday. It will be an outside court.

We already have a volleyball court set up with lights so that the men can play at night, and a horse-shoe pitching area. Unfortunately it gets dark quite early and it will be necessary to install lights to get much benefit out of our athletic grounds.

In a couple of days I will be sending another box to you. So in a couple of months you can be in the lookout for it. I know that you will like what I am sending.

Letter # 260 came today and my C.O. asked me if you could find out full particulars on how the pictures were put on your stationery. Photography is his hobby and he has been wondering how they put the pictures on the paper. If you can find out for him, he would appreciate it very much.

A funny thing happened to me Sunday morning. I am so used to getting up at 5:30 a.m. that Sunday morning I woke up and looked at my watch. It was 5:45 and I jumped out of bed and did not hear any sounds and I rushed up to the Orderly room to see if the charge of quarters was awake, in my pajamas. He was sleeping soundly, so I woke him up and grabbed the whistle and rushed over to the mess hall to have one of the KP’s wake the company up. There were only a couple of cooks in the kitchen and they looked at me rather queerly. Then it dawned on me that it was Sunday. Now, you can imagine my relief. I thought that the night fireman had fallen asleep and that everything would be late. I was so mad at myself that I climbed right back into my bunk and did not get up until 7:00 A.M.

Tell Lorraine for me that Ray will have to load with something better than blanks to even get one much less than triplets. Tell her that I will give her six lessons free but after that there will be a slight charge.

A guarantee does not mean that you can use your fountain pen for a hammer, crowbar, and dart. You undoubtedly will have to pay for a new pen point which is only fair.

Tuesday morning 1 May 1945

Have a few minutes to myself and I will try to finish this letter. I wanted it to go out this morning but maybe it will get out this noon if I hurry.

Enclosed you will find a money order for $10.00 and I want you to use it for Mother’s Day. Get something for both mothers and enclosed is a little note to each of them.

I sure wish that I could obey your last order that you closed your letter with. Do you remember? It was, Come home soon. Nothing would make me as happy as the day that I do reach home for good.

Saturday afternoon I was talking to a sergeant who has been overseas for thirty six months and has just returned from a thirty day furlough home. Despite the fact that he enjoyed every minute that he was home, he wishes that he had not gone. His reasons were very good, the main one being that it was like leaving home for the first time all over and he figures that it will take a good six months to straighten out, he is that lonesome.

Well Sweetheart I must close but not before I tell you that you are my life and my all. I love you so much that it hurts. Give my regards to all the folks & kiss the babies for me. I love you, my Darling Wife.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Sunday 13 May 1945

Dearest Kitten:

I love you with all my heart and am only waiting for the day when we will be together again for always & always. Gosh! But I miss you Sweetheart. It is hell to want to be with someone as much as I want to be with you, and to be unable to talk to you on the phone. While I am away & working you are sleeping and vice versa. We can not even share the same nights.

Never mind Sweetheart, I figured out my points and if everything works out O.K., I only have ten more years to go and then I will be ready for a discharge. So far I have 63 points.

Thursday morning I went to Mass and then that night our restriction was off so Sgt’s Nicholson, Pawliski, Litchfield and myself went in and celebrated. What a head I had Friday morning. We hit pub call and after that we went out to a boot leggers and got some wine. After getting the wine we went to a restaurant and had steak & eggs with our drink.

We all got pretty high and had a good time among ourselves. The wise cracks were flying thick and fast and we had quite an audience listening to us. The manager hated to see us go because we attracted quite a bit of trade.

Thursday I wrote to Roland & Marion and John & Ce. It was about time that I did too.

How can I ever forget our first night as Mr. & Mrs.? We certainly had a time of it that night. What with the wind, rain, and your family taking us into Boston. What a night that was huh?

Our basketball court is all finished with lights and all. Sgt. Pawliski & Litchfield are now putting up a big flag pole. It will be about seventy feet in the air when we finally get it up. The pole is in two sections and is very heavy to handle.

Can’t remember where I was the 14th. Probably out with my blonde. Have to give Nick hell about giving my secrets away. Boy, how I would love to have you down here watching over me. Nothing would please me more than to have you around henpecking me.

Buying back the old homestead would be nice, but Mother would be putting a big expense on her shoulders and I can not see how she can do it. It would make a nice place for us to go to in the summer but yet I do not want to get tied down with anything until I find out just what I am going to do after I return home.

Sorry, but I do not play tennis. There are a few boys in the Company that do and for that reason we fixed the court up so that they can play basketball or tennis. Friday night I play basketball for about twenty minutes. Twenty minutes was all that I could stand. Boy was I beat-up.

Holy smokes! What has gotten into Bobby? He certainly is getting into all kinds of trouble lately. He had better straighten up or he will be a sorry lad when I get home.

Careful how you make rash promises. I am apt to hold you to them when I get home and there are times when it is impossible to keep a promise.

How can the young woman upstairs keep from going bugs? She must be funny if she has no other interests other than her home.

Your poor father has taken a beating now for quite a long time. He must suffer a great deal, but he is the type of man that keeps it to himself.

I do not remember of ever meeting Marion’s brother-in-law. Have heard a great deal about him, but I would not recognize him from Adam. Come to think of it I do not know Adam either.

Am waiting to hear from Mother as I am curious to know all the news from Ogunquit. Most of my old friends are probably in the services.

Well Beautiful, I have run down so I will close. I love you so much Sweetheart that it is not funny. It seems like years since I saw you last and I can not get used to not having you around. I seem to be lacking something all the time, and that something is you.

Give my regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me. I love you, my darling wife.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

8 May 1945 (Tuesday)

Dearest Kitten:

The news was very gratifying this morning. Everything is all over in Europe, so now they can concentrate on the Japs. If we do not watch out, I will be home before you know it, I hope.

Today being VE day we went under a forty eight hour restriction to camp. The authorities were afraid that the soldiers & sailors would go wild and wreck the city, so they are keeping us out of the city until the excitement dies down. In some ways it is a good idea but the men are pretty sore over it. This was one day that the men wanted to celebrate.

Received letters #262-3 & 4 so I will attempt to answer them before telling you how much I love you. Today I also sent a box home. Be careful when you open it so that you do not scratch the contents. There are two leather wallets inside that I plan to keep for myself providing you do not confiscate them.

You are fortunate that Barby likes Lorraine so much. She may be able to keep her some time when we want to go somewhere during the day without the children, which will not be too often.

I bet that you were happy when the dentist told you that your teeth were O.K. It is best not to let them go too long. Then if anything goes wrong, you can have it taken care of right away.

Despite the fact that I was slightly high, I did not fall once while roller skating. I was quite surprised at myself. My ability to ice skate certainly helped out, but I could not do the things on roller skates that I used to on ice skates.

Letter #261 was a pip. I am afraid that I can not do as well. You are fortunate in that you can write about our youngsters. I have a lot of youngsters but I can not write about them.

I wish that you could get your hands on me even if it were to beat me up. There would be some consolation in being near you at least.

Barby is certainly a hard luck youngster. It seems that in every other letter you are telling me how she has hurt herself. Poor kid, I wish that I were home so that I could rock her occasionally. My time will come and I hope that things turn out the way that I want them to. You are going to have a lot of patience with me as I am going to do a lot of studying to educate myself so that you and the youngsters may always be proud of me. I have a fair amount of intelligence but I need a lot of mental training.

Ce. & John certainly have their troubles. Give them my regards and tell them that I will write at the first opportunity that I get.

Did I ever tell you how much that I loved you? You have, I know, thousands of times but I can not help but tell you over & over again. For it is the truth, I love you very much Sweetheart and am only waiting for the day, when I may take you in my arms again. What a day that will be Darling, and let’s hope that it may not be too far distant.

Well Sweetheart, I must close and go to bed so that I may dream of you. You are always in my dreams as well as my thoughts.

Give my regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me Sweetheart. I love you.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Thursday 3 May 1945

Dearest Kitten:

Here is your husband again, trying, not very successfully, to put in writing how I feel toward you. Putting it down on paper is so cold & impersonal.

I love you so much Sweetheart that plain words can not explain my true feelings for you. It needs the personal touch for me to do justice to my love for you. Today is a very lonesome day for me for some reason. I miss you very much.

So Mother spoiled my little surprise. Oh well, you seem to be just as happy over the whole thing and as long as you know that upon rare occasions I think of you and home.

Mr. & Mrs. Gagnon must be very happy to have Fred back home again. He looks good and healthy anyway. For his sake, I hope that they do not send him back over.

Wow! Letter #261 is a beaut. Thirteen pages is more like a manuscript than a letter, but did I enjoy reading it.

How do you like that? He is my son when he does something naughty, huh? How do you get that way? Bobby needs his pappy to straighten him out, I know. Nothing would please me more than to be able to train him and start laying the floor work of his character. It is at his age that children start to mould their character.

Most youngsters have very good memories. It is only after a number of years when there is so much to remember that a person really shows a talent for a good memory.

You do not have to tell me that you will do your best as I know that you will. Just try to be patient until I can return and take over some of the responsibility of raising a family.

Julie was very fortunate to receive so many nice gifts. She deserves it any way, after all that she has to put up with. Tell her that I hope it is triplets.

Mother deserves a vacation, but I bet she wishes it could have waited for warm weather.

What has gotten into Eva? By all means take her up on it. Not only will it be good for you, but the children will enjoy it also. I hope that you have a good time.

Uncle Sam must be scrapping the bottom of the barrel if he is getting ready to take Nibbs & John in to the service. It is no worse for them than anyone else.

As much as I wish that I could write some more, I must close. Regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me. I love you, my Darling Wife.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Friday 27 April 1945

Dearest Kitten:

Here it is an anniversary of ours and we are separated by many, many miles. Despite the distance our love still reaches out to each other and keeps us joined as one.

Tonight I plan to go out and celebrate with Sgt. Nicholson. First we will go to the pub and have a few beers and then go to the National Hotel for supper and then to a show. There will be only one thing lacking, and that is you.

You could not have done better if you had tried with letter #257. Ir came today reminding me that this is our anniversary. How could I forget the day that I lost all my freedom. The day of my down fall. The day that I shackled myself forever to one woman. Woe is me, but for some reason, I am happy about the whole thing.

Gosh but I love you Sweetheart. All I can think of to write is how much that I love you. Nothing else seems to be important enough to write about.

Was glad that you enjoyed yourself on your weekend trip to Haverhill. It must have been a lot of fun. Did you feel like a single gal again?

When I return home, you will have to be patient with me as I will have to do a lot of work and buzzing around to do all the things that I have planned and also to get you all the things that I want to for you.

My back is much better than it has been for quite some time. I’ve been giving it a heat treatment of my own. Very simple, I just keep a lot of clothes on and keep nice and cozy, even to the extent of getting overheated. It seems to have done my back a lot of good.

Tonight I must be in good form if I expect to make pub call. It takes as much out of you to make a pub call as it does to play a game of football. So you can see for yourself that I have to be in good shape. We haven’t decided on what show to go to as yet but I think it will be “Going My Way” with Bing Crosby.

Received letters from Roland & Marion and Mother today. Everything seems to be going along very nicely with everyone at home.

This will be all for now as I must get prepared to celebrate.

Regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me. I love you Darling Wife.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Thursday 26 April 1945

Dearest Kitten:

How can I put into writing, the feelings that I have for you? It is impossible to transmit to a sheet of cold white paper, my great love and affection for you. I love you Sweetheart, is the simplest and most sincere words that I can put down.

Your husband is in a very mood, Darling. Do you know what I would like to be able to do? It is to be able to rush home at 5:00 P.M. slap you on the can, kiss you and the babies, put my slippers on and after supper settle down in the parlor with the evening paper until you are through with the dishes. then we would put the youngsters to bed and sit quietly in the parlor listening to the radio and just enjoying each other’s company. How I miss those evenings at home with my loving wife. Those days will return again and soon, I hope.

Letter #258 came today. Why don’t you start with number one again and go as far as one hundred and start over again. Maybe you want to be able to nag me about how many letters you wrote to me while holding up the handful that I sent home to you. Is that it?

If you keep it up you will be a regular seamstress by the time I return home. I am glad that yo ulike it and are doing so well at it. It is always handy to know how to make clothes. Especially feminine attire. With two females in the family, it will be easier for you to keep yourself and Barbara in pretty clothes.

Give Bobby & Barby enough time with the little girl upstairs and I bet that they have her acting like a little Indian too. They must really act up at times. I am glad that they are active anyway.

Lorraine must have been embarrassed when Bobby wanted to go riding with his Daddy. I suppose everyone in a soldier’s uniform is his Daddy as far as he is concerned.

Yes I remember the feather clip you used to wear. I always did like your hair that way. If I could only see you with or without, just so long as I could see you I would be a very happy guy.

I have been having a little trouble with my back. I guess that I must have caught cold in the muscles. No, I am afraid that there is nothing serious enough for them to send me home. Last night it bothered me quite a bit but it is much better today.

Received a letter from Aunty Emma today also and things seem to be going O.K. with them. She certainly has her hands full with old uncle Charlie. How she even puts up with him is more than I can understand. Norman seems to be doing alright for himself.

I sent a bunch of the latest Beachcombers and a tourist guide to Queensland a couple of days ago so be on the lookout for them.

Have you kept all the Beachcombers and stuff that I have sent home? Someday, I may want to make up a scrapbook with them in it. It will be a nice souvenir for Bobby to brag about when he gets older.

We are in the rainy season down here now and there is hardly a day goees by but that it does not rain. Usually in the hours of darkness the days are nice but as soon as the sun goes down it gets cloudy and cool and rains before sunrise. The damp weather is what is bothering my back I think.

Well Beautiful I must close. Give my regards to everyone and kiss the babies for me, I love you Darling Wife, now and forever.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Sunday 22 April 1945

Dearest Kitten:

Have been a busy beaver today. This morning I had to go to the memorial services at the city hall. Enclosed is the program for the services. You might be interested to know what went on. The hall was loaded with Yanks. We got back to camp at noon by convoy.

Lets #254-5 & 6 plus your two anniversary cards. The 27th is rapidly approaching and I am more then ever aware of the promise that I once made you, remember? A war is responsible for the breaking of that promise but I am in hopes of making it up to you at the earliest possible moment.

So you are chastising your husband for his not writing as often as you think that he should by slowing down on your own letters huh? Two wrongs do not make a right you know. Beside, see what happens to you when you get mean with me, your face swells up. I was sorry to read about it Sweetheart honestly. It serves you right for putting off going to the dentist so long.

Won’t it be a relief when we can move where there is a nice bathroom? It will be so much easier for you to give the children their baths etc. I miss taking a bath in the bath tub. When I get home I am going to stretch out and soak for a couple of hours.

Thanks for the pictures. Andrew looks good, the lucky stiff, but the smudge under his nose would look better on someone else.

You are looking good Sweetheart. As for Barbara she has a sour puss in one picture that reminds me of my first wife when I first married her. She used to get a puss like that on her once in awhile. She got over it though. Yes she got so that she was quite civilized toward me, but I had to leave. Don’t think that she will have changed much by the time I return.

Your Mother & Father are not getting any younger and the sooner your sisters realize that, the better off your parents will be. They take your Mother and Father for granted. It is partly your Mother’s fault for babying them so much. Oh well, I better keep my big nose out of things that do not concern me.

Things are certainly happening to the people that I know back home. Was very happy about Fred Gagnon. His folks must be relieved over him, now that they know that he is safe.

It was kind of you to give the bathinette to the young woman from the upstairs apartment. Poor kid, from what you write of her, I would say that she needed a friend. Do what you can for her Sweetheart.

Is Barbara going to take after you? She seems to be falling down all the time like you used to do.

Received a letter from Estelle today and plan to answer her in a couple of days.

By the way, thanks for your cards, they are very nice. Only a woman in love could be so nice and thoughtful. Especially when she knows that her love is returned. I do love you even if you do get mean now and then. It only goes to prove that you love me when you get mad at me for my so-called neglect in my correspondence.

Give my regards to everyone and kiss the babies for me Darling. I love you from the bottom of my heart.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob