Saturday, Oct. 28, 1944

Dearest Kitten:

Did you know that I loved you? Honest I do. When I think of you, I get poetic, but unfortunately my abilities are such that it’s impossible for me to compose the poetry that would do you justice. The following is an example.

Roses are red, Violets are blue, I’m damn lonesome, How the hell are you?

See what I mean? The feeling is there but the words aren’t. So Beautiful you will have to be content with a man that is just an ordinary guy. Of course to you I am the greatest guy that ever lived. If you do not think so, then you do not truly love me. I am not worrying because I know how you feel.

To me you are the greatest little Sheela, Babe to you, that ever lived.

Tell Pauline for me that she had better forget about the sergeant in the picture. His name is Betcher and he is very much in love with his wife. Just like your husband.

I received my first Xmas card from Ray & Cle. They certainly mailed it early enough. This will be my second Xmas away from home. I plan to get stinko too. Last Xmas I stayed cold sober but not this Xmas. Last year I was about the only sober man in my company. I do not plan to make the same mistake again. Of course I will have to stay under cover away from the rest of the company as it is bad business for any sergeant to be seen by his men in that condition.

It is nice and warm today and it makes me feel like going in for a swim. Too bad but a cold shower will have to suffice. Tomorrow I may get a chance to go in for a swim.

I have a confession to make. I had planned to write a letter to both Barby and Bobby on their birthdays and I never got around to Barby and here it is Bobby’s birthday and I do not feel up to writing to him. So do me a favor and give them both an extra big hug & kiss for me. I know that you probably already have taken care of it, but given’em a go again.

The men in my Company have hung up a record in a certain type of work that will stand for some time to come. Now they are after a different record that will also stand for a long time. The work is in the construction of the barges. Sorry but that is all that I can tell you about it. Some day I may be able to tell you all about it and draw pictures and maps. In a couple of years maybe.

Well, Sweetheart, last night I was feeling down in the dumps and Sgt. Ryan & Donohoe took me over to the club and wanted to get me plastered and feeling the way that I was, I decided to go to a show and then to bed. They did their best to get me to take a drink but the only thing that I had was a coke. This morning I was feeling good and was just as happy that I did not take anything to drink. The beer over here is like a weak whisky and it does not take much to get high on.

I can not get over the last pictures that you sent me. Every time I look at them I feel so proud to have such a nice family.

Afraid that I am all unwound so until later I love you Beautiful. Give my regards to all the folks and kiss the babies for me.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Thusday 26 Oct. 1944

Dearest Kitten:

There is never a day that goes by but that my thoughts turn to you and home a thousand times in the course of a day. At times it aggravates me, not because I do not like to dream of you and home, but because it takes me that much longer to complete whatever I am doing. Sounds funny I know but it is hard to concentrate on work when your mind is thousands of miles away. Know what I mean?

The men in my company are going after the record for constructing a barge and it looks like they are going to set a record that no one will beat. Despite the fact that we have the fewest men working on a barge per day. A man has to be an awful heel not to feel a great deal of pride in his men when they show up so well against the other companies.

Letter #125 & two V-mails came today. I am happy to hear that Andrew is doing well. So far he is the real veteran of the bunch. Stop being so optimistic about by getting home in two or three years. Please stop shattering my dreams. I can at least keep the hope in my breast that it will only be a few more months. In that way time flies and before you know it, years have passed.

Listen Sweetheart, you had better stick to your diet so that you will be able to hold me when I return home. You treat me right and I will treat you right. Remember that story?

You sure are getting company these days. Seems like everybody that you know has been up to see you the last few days.

How would you like to have me paint the rooms? I sure would be only glad to help you if I could.

So Bobby has pulled a fast one huh? He must have looked funny when he came into the house sucking on the fudgsicle.

I got a boot out of Andrew’s letters. He reminds me of my own shortcoming, inability to write a letter. Already I have been an hour on this letter. See what I mean when I say that I lack the time to write. It takes me so long that I actually dread writing a letter to anyone, even you. When I finally finish this letter I will tell you how long that it took me and perhaps you can understand why I am unable to write once a day or oftener as I would like to.

Well, thanks for giving me the date that I will be back home. Wow did you say three more children? Woe is me, what a beating I’m going to take.

Did you say that I will receive about twenty boxes? Popular guy, aren’t I?

Goodnight, Sweetheart, I love you will all my heart. Give my regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me.

I love you Sweetheart.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Reading time: 30 sec

Composition time: 1 hr. 35 minutes

Tuesday 24 Oct. 1944

Dearest Kitten:

Letter #123 came today and what a pip it is. A punch line in every paragraph, with never a dull sentence. Whew, you have swept me off of my feet. I surrender dear.

Unfortunately, surrendering is the only thing that I can do. If it were not for the distance that separates us, I would probably break your very pretty neck. Oh well, what is done is done. If a fake fireplace is what you want, rather, what you got and you want to keep it I will probably appreciate it as much as you when ever they send me home. One question please. What did you do with the nickel change?

The Fake Fireplace - left side of photo.
(Christmas, some time in the mid-60s)

The next time that I write to Mother, I will mention what you want me to. She probably will not take my advice but, I can at least try.

It is only natural for parents to be very proud of their offsprings, but I honestly think that we have two very nice children. The last pictures that you sent really showed me how big and how beautiful they are.

Bobby and Barby must be very near set for winter clothes after the rampage you went on. I suppose that clothing our two youngsters is going to be one of the major problems of bringing them up. Oh well work, work, work. Such is life, and not too bad a life if I must say so myself. It is far better to work than to die of boredom.

Women is funny peoples. First you tell me about spending a lot of dough and are half frightened that I am going to give you hell. Then after giving me the full and horrible amount, you start your next paragraph by asking me if I love you. What a Woman.

Of course I love you. It is something that I can not help. Even if you do things that aggravate me, I still can not lose my feelings over something like that.

So the doctor has been giving you & Eva some injections, huh? I am beginning to get suspicious. Just what is that about? Hm. Sounds bad. You had better watch out. Don’t worry, I am only kidding you. You have me wondering now about Eva. Let me know as soon as you find out anything.

Cut out trying to have me doing things that you think I may be doing. It is bad for your morale. And stop worrying about me. I doubt if anybody will ever accuse me of being a hero, so for G-- sakes stop worrying.

Enclosed is another sheet from our newspaper, I hope that you enjoy it.

You know that I love you so much that there are times that I can hardly breathe. When I get feeling blue I sit on my bunk and go through the pictures of my family. It helps to a certain extent and makes me feel proud.

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

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Thursday Oct. 19 1944

Dearest Kitten:

Here it is almost a week since I last wrote and all because I am selfish. Last Sunday my Company commander, Capt. Harris, told me that I could go with a small group of men to a Red Cross rest area at Coolangatta. Coolangatta is a beach summer resort. It reminded me of Ogunquit.

US Servicemen at Coolangatta Beach during WWII

I enjoyed myself immensely and got to feeling like a civilian for a change. We left Monday morning and returned Wednesday afternoon. There was three other of my sergeants along with me and we went swimming, sunbathing, took a hike to the top of a mountain, rode bikes, played ping pong, made pub call twice a day. Anything that even smelled like work was studiously avoided. The three sergeants would not let me alone long enough to write you a letter as they claimed that letter writing was work and had to be avoided.

It is a bit early for the vacation season down there and we had the town more or less to ourselves. The beach is quite beautiful and the sand is the same as at Ogunquit. If they had left me alone I could have gotten pretty homesick. My thoughts were of you and home a great deal and how I wished that we could be enjoying everything together.

I sure hated to come back and get into the harness again. Oh well such is life without my wife.

Now for a crack at answering some of your six letters that I had waiting for me on my return.

Of course I am proud of my company, I would be a heel if I weren’t. Espirit-de-Corps and all that sort of thing, but it is what make an outfit tick.

Your letters are always interesting and you do a very good job of telling me how much that you love me. Just keep on writing the way you do and I will never have a complaint.

So Paul is an ensign. Good on him. It is about time that he did something. Of course I imagine that there weren’t any strings pulled to get him commissioned.

Since going on the diet you have become very ambitious. Keep it up and when I get home I will give you a kiss on your cheek for all your trouble. Nice of me huh?

I am carrying the quarter as a pocket piece. At least as long as I have that, I will never be broke.

When we have our own home, we will have a fireplace. I know that you will like that.

Julie must be a very happy and contented girl. After waiting all that time she deserves a break.

Your Uncle Fred certainly gets around. I can appreciate how you felt about your family not letting you know but do not let it get you down. When I return, we are not going to be so close to them and we will be better off not to be bothered too much with them. Relatives make poor friends.

So, you have been reading some of my old love letters. Now is that nice? Lucky for you that the letters you did get hold of were just ordinary run of the mill type. You see I do not keep any of the real mushy ones just for reasons like that. One never knows who is liable to get to read an old letter.

You’re so kind to me. I am going to appreciate the T-shirts when they get here.

Of course it isn’t fun going to bed alone after being used to having a husband climb in and scratch your back whenever it was itchy.

Do me a favor and tell Gerty to be patient. She will be more than well rewarded when I return. Poor little kid I feel for her. I should not have fooled with her so much. She misses me I bet.

Sorry to hear about Jerry’s little girl. When I hear of a youngster being born a cripple, it does something to me. I am a bit too tender hearted at times.

What do you mean that I am getting to be an old man? A man is only as old as he feels and I feel like sixteen. So look out when I get home.

Sweetheart, do not blame yourself too much about wanting to go to Lorraine’s party. Whenever anything like that comes up, just stop and think, then make your decision. Going in to Boston to an opera, show or something like that is a very good idea. It will do you good and give you a little diversion.

A good soldier can always be spotted by his feet. A soldier’s feet are his most important accessory, his weapon next.

Sorry to say but my Dad overlooked my birthday. Yes I received the box from your mother. There must be some of my letters missing as I wrote and told you about it.

Stop jumping to conclusions whenever my letters are delayed. There are more reasons for delayed mail than you have hairs on your head.

Exactly what kind of injections are you referring to that would make you miss having your friend. H-mm maybe I should look into this.

So you will not have to buy Barby a wig after all. It is about time that her hair grew in. For awhile I was worried as to whether she was every going to have any hair. I get a boot out of reading about all the funny things that they do.

It has been a long time since I have told you how much that I loved you. If I had my way I would be in a position to tell you all the time. My love is like a good whiskey - it gets mellow with age. The amount remains the same but like whiskey the ingredients change slightly - they become more concentrated. Like a bottle, that is me, you can fill a bottle only so full, my body has reached that point. I am full of love for you. The only change is in the ingredients that go to make up that love.

If I had Charles Boyer’s technique and his voice, I would make a recording of my voice so that you could hear me telling you how much that I love you.

Well, Beautiful, I have run out of words so until I write again - I love you with all my heart.

Regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Wednesday 11 Oct. 1944

Dearest Kitten:

Had a very enjoyable evening last night. One of my platoon sergeants had put in for Officers Candidate School and yesterday he received his papers ten days late. He was supposed to report on the first and it was too late for him to make the school, so the Captain told him to go into town and get drunk. It is the third time that he has missed out on O.C.S. by some mistake exactly like that.

I went in with him and another sergeant. We went to a hotel and had a wonderful meal and drank beer during our meal. Later we went to a newsreel theatre. Got back to camp at about ten. We were crying in each other’s beer and consoling each other as best we could.

Took a sun bath this afternoon with only occasional interruptions. It is very restful to stretch out in the sun and forget everything, almost. I may as well get my skin into condition to stand the sun as we never know what we will be up against later on. A good coat of tan may prevent a bad case of sunburn later on.

As I lay there I was remembering the few days that we spent at Hampton and also the sunburn that you got on my first furlough. We have had a great many good times together that I am thankful for, and am anxious to get back to continue them.

Received seven cards for my birthday. It made me feel that at least I am not forgotten by the folks back home.

Tomorrow night I am invited to a stag beer party being run by one of my platoons. They have invited the Captain and myself, so I will have to attend for a little while anyhow. Such is the life of a 1st Sgt. Nothing but a round of parties, a social butterfly, that’s me. You can not blame me for living up to my social position.

Sorry Sweetheart but duty calls and I must desist till a later date.

Regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me. I love you with all my heart and miss you so much that it is not funny.

I love you Beautiful.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Monday October 9, 1944

Monday August 9, 1944 [I believe this date was a mistake - that it was actually October 9, because that year August 9 was not on a Monday, but October 9 was.]

Dearest Kitten:

Another week has passed, which means one week closer to the day of my return to you and the ones that I love. The loneliness in my heart is still part of me. The guy that said, Out of sight out of mind was a damned liar. The more time that passes, the more conscious I am of the loneliness in my heart.

The longer that I am away from you, the more I realize how much that I love you. My love for you is forever burning inside of me. Consuming and controlling my thoughts and desires.

Yesterday morning I went to early Mass and took all day off for myself. Another sergeant & myself went out to a beach close by and had a marvelous time. The only thing that spoiled it was the traveling. The lack of proper transportation facilities takes the pleasure out of going anywhere.

So you like to play poker and sip rum & cokes? If my memory serves me, your diet schedule calls for abstinence from alcoholic beverages. Have you decided that it is no use to try and compete with the debs? They might beat your time with me when I return if you do not put some effort into hanging onto me.

I got a boot out of your answer to all the wolves. When I get home you are going to have to put up with the biggest wolf that you ever saw. You will have to help me to control myself in front of other people. There is one thing that I have found out in this Army and that is that there is nothing like a passionate G.I. and I am most apt to act according to the best G.I. traditions when I get home.

Hope that the doctor’s treatment went O.K. as it has me slightly worried. Take care of yourself and dont cheat on any of the treatments. It may not seem like much now but later on in life it may show up.

When a man is in a combat zone, he is fortunate if he has time to wash his hands or even time enough to eat. Remember that there are lots of times when he has to make a choice between sleep which he has not had for a week or spending part of his precious few hours sleep to write, if he had the material to write with. A soldier in combat moves fast and light. The lighter he is the faster he can move. In a situation where speed means the difference between life and death a lot of men discard the most pertinent essentials knowing the hardships that it will impose on them due to the lack of them. Envelopes, writing paper & a bottle of ink would be the last thing that I would pick up to carry.

Poor Bobby, he is having a hard time trying to understand where his poor Daddy is. There are many youngsters who will go through life with a ghost of a memory of their father. They will always wonder just what their father was like. An unanswered question for a lot of fatherless children.

Excuse me for writing like this but I have to get it off of my chest. The smug complacency that is mirrored in the periodicals that we receive from the States is the main cause. Everything is Post-War and immediately after the Peach settlement. The way the magazines put it, we are just waiting for the Germans and Japs to sign the agreements. It is a long, tough way yet before it is all over.

Tell Bobby for me that his Daddy loves his Mommy very much. He sure can ask the darnedest questions.

I appreciate the words to the two songs that you sent to me. They are very sentimental but they aroused my curiosity as to how the music goes.

Thank goodness that Bobby is not shy. Let us hope that he never gets that way.

Well Sweetheart I have to close and attend to a few details. Give my regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me.

I love you Beautiful.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob

Friday Oct. 6, 1944

Dearest Kitten:

By the time that you receive this letter, you should have received the much promised package. I am going to tell you what it contained so that you will not have thrown anything away that might have been wrapped up. There is three rings - one for you, Bobby & Barby. If they are too small, have Roland ream out the centers. There is three bracelets. The plain one is for Mother. Tell her to have it engraved for me as it takes so d---- long to have it done over here.

Anytime that you want to polish the rings or bracelets, take some dry tooth powder on a dry rag and rub briskly. It is surprising the things that we find that we can use for different things over here. I hope that you like the bracelets.

Yesterday I received your mother’s package and last night I enjoyed a big bowl of mushroom soup. Was it good tasting too. While eating last night my thoughts were of you and all the little things that you used to do for me. This separation has made me appreciate you more than ever. I miss all the little favors that you used to do for me and that I used to take for granted. Maybe the time will come again when I will start to take things for granted. When I do get that way, just let me know and I may keep from getting that way.

Hmm - teasing me huh? You should be careful not to arouse my sex urge or your husband is liable to jump a plane and go home to his Darling wife. How would you like that? Some of my sergeants have made copies of your little item and are having a good time with it.

One of my men wrote and told his girlfriend back home all about his love affair with an Aussie. She wrote back asking what the Aussie girl had that she didn’t. The answer was very simple - Nothing only she has it over here. Not a bad joke huh?

A nice brunette like you is more appealing to me than any blonde that I have seen so far, and I have seen a lot of blondes. You have nothing to worry about.

You certainly are doing O.K. with your diet. What do you mean that you will not [care?] how much you weigh when or after I return? Don’t you want to hang onto me?

What do you insinuate, that Bobby is like me because I can not take it and neither can he? If he can not understand women, then I can agree that he is like me. I hope that Bobby & Barby always do get along well together. Naturally they are bound to have their little spats. It is only a human trait to find fault in someone else.

Sweetheart I stopped my bond allotment for the next month as I want to buy some gifts and prices over here are so bad that it is impossible for me to do so on my pay. These Aussies over here see the Americans coming and what a bunch of robbers.

Getting your Xmas shopping done early aren’t you? It is the best thing for you to do anyway. The rush this year will be worse than anything that anyone has seen.

Herman is rather fortunate to be able to stay in the states. Being overseas is no fun in any sense of the word.

As soon as my flowers start blooming, I will send you a picture of myself in front of my garden. Yep, I got some flowers planted out in front of my orderly room.

So you enjoy playing poker now. Did you say that it does not cost much to play. Maybe not for you but as far as I am concerned, it always costs me dough.

Andrew had plenty of opportunities, huh? Too bad that I had not been there - woo-woo what a time I would have had, learning my french I mean.

Wednesday afternoon I went and played eighteen holes of golf all by my lonesome. The sun was nice and warm and the air was nice and clear except when I would miss a shot. Then the air would not be fit to breath. My game was pretty lousy.

Every chance I get, which isn’t too often, I get out in the sun stripped to the waist. It is beginning to show a little. Most of the men in the company are a beautiful brown. Can’t let them get ahead of me too far.

I have not been feeling well for some time and I think that it is serious, in fact I know that it is serious. My heart is missing and I will not feel better until it is returned to me. Without you Sweetheart, I am about as useless as a man without a heart. So take good care of it Beautiful.

Well Sweetheart I have to close. Give my regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me.

I love you my Darling Wife.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob