1946 August

Note: Some of the envelopes are postmarked earlier than the letters, but I have kept the envelopes with the letters that they contained. These letters are over 75 years old - I don't know who may have read them over the years.

"4 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen, 

I guess my correspondence has slipped a bit in the past few weeks but please bear with me for a while and it will improve, I promise. The heat is terrific and combined with the humidity out here it just saps all the inspiration and ambition out of me. Sometimes I think that I am just plain lazy but to circumvent that impression I'll stress the heat angle. Seriously though it gets stifling hot at 7 AM and continues that way until eight or nine at night. All our water is pumped from a well and is stored in a huge tank atop one of the hills that surround the base. The sun is so hot that it heats the water hot. Not lukewarm but hot. We don't get cold showers out here until midnight or later. Sleeping isn't bad as we all begged, borrowed or stole enough electric fans to help us out. I am about to establish a ritual and go swimming every night right after supper. I've been swimming once or twice since I got here one of them being a midnight affair at Awase when we all gassed up and put up our Aquacade from midnight until two in the morning. When you get wound up as we did their isn't a dive or a stroke that can't be done. I know as I tried but the results were hardly worth it as I wound up the next two days with stomach cramps that had me really worried. My new aquatic venture will be strictly legal and sober I promise you. They just cleaned a beach for the guys so we'll have to put it to use. They are going to put it in commission this afternoon with a beer party for all hands. The beer party I'll miss but I'll be around to enjoy the swim. The whole trouble is that you have to wear trunks and you can't go native. I guess it's reasonable but it seems nonsensical as the natives swim fifty yards away completely as nature created them to swim.

Don't get any foolish impressions as it's strictly the juvenile element of the native populace that ventures forth unclad. Sometimes I think they are half fish the way some of them take to the water. Last night as we were looking the swimming hole over we saw three or four brown youngsters no bigger than a fire hydrant splashing about like a couple of seals. It reminds me of the time when my brother Frannie was a baby and being his guardian I took him up to our old swimming hole at Milton. I guess he was about three or four and when he saw all the kids jumping off the wall onto the water he followed suit. I didn't miss him for a minute then I looked into the water and saw him fully clothed floundering around. After being pulled out sputtering and spitting out all the water he swallowed he commenced to laugh as though he really enjoyed his near drowning. I don't think he remembers it but I'll never forget it as it scared the life out of me. While on the subject of drowning I can't say that I'm immune. When I was about eight or nine a bunch of us went swimming at the Cunningham Gym outdoor pool and your beloved walked off with the prize of the day or maybe it was for the season. I almost drowned twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. To make it ironical it happened at exactly the same spot each time. It was good fun as I knew what was going on all of the time and the water was only a foot deeper than I was tall. Don't worry about me out here as you have to walk halfway to California before the water gets over your head. Who knows maybe someday I'll swim all the way back. We have a native that swims out to one of the islands once a week and you can just about see the island from shore. I'm not quite that good yet but give me a little time, say a century or two and I'll be able to do likewise. 

I'm using an advertising folder under my perspiring hand and as I write I keep seeing out of the corner of my eye an outstretched hand holding a crystal ball with the image of an automobile grill visible. 'There's a Ford in your future' is the caption and I'm wondering if it's for me or will I be forced to revert to my Plymouth as of old. Right now it doesn't mean much but the future will tell. The Army is sending civilian workers out here and they are bringing their automobiles out. Why, I'll never know as this coral dust will ruin them in a matter of months. They do look swell though, the cars I mean and they seem so different after looking at jeeps all this time. How did you enjoy your weekend at Falmouth and did you pick up that ambition that you lost down there on your vacation? I'll have to give that place the once over when I get back to see what it's like. Speaking of Falmouth a chief came in a few weeks ago that spent a little time at Otis Field at Camp Edwards. I'll have to see him and find out how he liked it. I guess they have closed it up by now as it was only a training site for the carrier planes from Quonset. I guess I'll have to write to my Congressman and have them set up a field at 6 Green Street to help me out when I get home. That would really be something come to think of it. 

Well honey I'll have to close for now and I'll write you again this afternoon for sure. Please take care of yourself as I love you with all my heart and miss you terribly so help I do. I must close for now so until a little later when I write letter two - all my love to you

Always and Always

John."

                     

"4 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen,

Once again I'm back as promised. It's the same day and it's still hot but the fan that is blowing at my legs helps out quite a bit. Today being Sunday I slept quite late for a change and feel rested for a change. The only trouble is that I had some beautiful dreams last night and was sorry when I woke up and found out that my happy life had come to a realistic end. It seems all my dreams are short stories every one being different. I dreamt that I was home for a while and when I came out of my coma this morning I would have sworn it was true until I opened my eyes and saw these walls that surround me now. After awhile I fell asleep. I dreamt that I was back in the states once again but this time somewhere up in the Northwest. I guess seeing the picture 'Hot Cargo' influenced this dream but it was pleasant while it lasted. My nightly dreams always start off with pleasant thoughts of you and us and then they go off at a tangent and wind up nonsensical and terribly unrealistic. I guess it goes from one extreme to the other never focusing on one subject or being.

I haven't had much mail from you lately. I know the whole island is short of mail as it's coming in very slowly. I did get an envelope full of envelopes and I was puzzled for a while until I saw the postmark  and realized that I asked you to get me some a few months ago. Thanks honey, now I'll have to hunt up some artistic inspirations for them. 

I had all intentions of going to Communion today but I broke my fast by eating a sandwich. We have Mass said at five in the afternoon out here on our base due to the scarcity of Navy chaplains. It seems funny but you get used to it after a while. There is only one Navy chaplain on the island now and two Army chaplains to take care of the flock. It gets pretty difficult at times to attend Mass but I'm still persevering. I've been planning to go to Confession and Communion for a few weeks now but something always pops up to prevent it. Today it was a sandwich last week it was a a bottle of coke. The fast on solid foods is four hours prior to receiving and one hour on drinks which isn't unreasonable at all. Next week I'll make it or die in the attempt. Wish me luck honey as I need it. I've been very good in fact too good so I want to go to Communion to remain the way that I am.

Yesterday was pay day once again and for once I seemed to be getting overpaid.  We were paid two weeks ago and again yesterday. I sent my mother five hundred bucks last week and with another hundred going home tomorrow I'm afraid they will think I'm getting it by unfair means. It all adds up though and the more they give me the more I will take. Speaking of sending stuff home I'll send you that Chinese garment tomorrow for sure. Every day I keep forgetting it but tomorrow I'll send it for sure. Well honey I'm running out of inspiration for now so I think I had better close out before I cease to make sense. I want you to know now while I do make sense that I love you with all the love that's in me and miss you so awfully much. It seems difficult to describe but if you will listen to the song 'When day is done' you'll get an idea of what I mean and how I feel. I love you honey believe me and I will 

Always

John."

Hot Cargo was a 1946 romance drama about two discharged service men who go to Northern California to help the family of a fallen buddy keep their business.

My father talking about breaking his fast reminds me of when I was in St Pat's Grammar School - we HAD to attend the 8 am Mass in the lower church - our teachers would take attendance on Monday morning. I would be a wreck if I missed Mass - the nun would want to know why. It was very seldom, but sometimes when the time went forward in spring, we would oversleep and miss the 8 am Mass. We sat together as classes with our teachers. At that time you had to fast from midnight, but we were children and were in bed long before midnight - so it could have been 12 hours or longer since we last ate. I remember fainting when the priest started with the incense - it happened at least twice and the nun was none too happy. 

"7 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen,

Back once again as promised but slightly peeved at condition in general especially chow. To begin with please get your cooking training under way immediately because if anyone ever puts cold cuts in front of me when I get back to the states I'll sock 'em and sock 'em good, so help me. During wartime conditions warranted an occasional serving of cold cuts, the men have their own name for it. Now with the war over we get the stuff three or four times a week and are forced to scrounge meat out of the butcher shop in order to survive. Oh just wait until I get home. I'll eat nothing but steaks until the horns show.  I'll buy a side of beef, crates of eggs, sides of bacon and gallons of milk and eat like a horse until they hitch up a wagon to me. 

I remember, oh so well, the steak my mother served up for me the last time that I was home. It almost covered the kitchen table and like a good little boy I didn't make a hog of myself as I should have. Oh how I wish that sweet occasion would only arise once again. That steak would last at the most thirty seconds. At night we big deal some meat out of the butcher shop and slice it into steaks to take the place of our already diminished diet. I've seen my mother put better meat into a stew than what we make steaks out of. But nevertheless, a little meat, a lot of imagination a bottle of beer and you're sitting on top of the world comparatively speaking. I can see it all now - : Breakfast consisting of about six or seven eggs over light, about two pounds of bacon, coffee et al with maybe a side order of hot cakes. Dinner would be steak steak steak with baked potatoes and other accessories while supper would have chicken roasted boiled or cooked, just as long as it's chicken. What wishful thinking but honestly honey it does my morale a world of good nevertheless.  So please get moving along those cooking angles of yours or else I'll be a very very disappointed man when I get home. Speaking of night steak fries we have a huge jug of vodka in the ice box for Saturday's disposal. That's the stuff that helped the Russians win the war. It sneaks up and knocks you cold after a few quickies. I'll be forced to be cautious with it, extremely cautious. How goes the world back where your at? I guess it must be the same all over; just plain confusion. It's raining out now so I guess I'll miss out on my swim for sure now, pleurisy or no pleurisy. Well honey I'll close out for now and will drop you a line again in a day or two as things are getting dull out here. I wish I were home and could go on a fling together to build up my morale or spirits or whatever it is that's low. I'll close with all my love to you always and always. I miss you so much but I can't quite find words to express it as I want to. I love you and will 

Always

John."

"8 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen

How are you today? Right now I am trying to shake off the affects of a case of pleurisy that I picked up somewhere or another. It ain't bad except when I take a deep breath or try to roll around while I'm lying down on my back. This is the third day that I've had it and since it's been rainy and damp for the past few days it's been pretty difficult to shake it. I saw the doctor about it and he gave me a few pills to take. I guess they have more or less a psychological effect than a curing one. I took the past couple of days off attempting to catch up on my lost sleep and did surprisingly well considering the noise and commotion that prevails thru out the day. I think I picked it up after going thru my exercise period of punching a punching bag and after getting all heated up standing around in the draft created by the fans. The only setback is that it interferes with my swimming routine that got off to a good start Sunday nite and came to a screeching halt the same night. When the aches and pains are all over I'll go to it again. The water incidentally is swell out here but it's terribly salty. You have to get accustomed to it. Sunday night it blinded and gagged me and when I looked in the mirror when I got back here I resembled an avowed drunkard with bloodshot eyes and all. In a couple of days everything will be okay once again and I'll be back to the old routine as usual. The incoming mail situation is getting really drastic out here as none has come in for quite a while I guess everything is bogging down all over. Since I have no alternative I'll just have to wait and see what the future holds in store for me as far as mail goes. I hope mine is getting back all right as it would never do for both of us to miss out. By the way I finally got your Boston Post with the picture of the Louis-Conn fight. I think they must have sent it by way of Egypt. Honey, if you get any more stuff like that just clip out the pages and send them out in an envelope - it's an awful lot cheaper  and so much faster also. I have a chief with me who comes from Dedham and his folks clip out the sports page and send them to him every week. I guess it costs either twelve or eighteen cents air mail and they get here  pretty fast when the mail is running on schedule. Speaking of home and newspapers it seems every magazine or pamphlet I pick up concerns Boston some way or another. The latest 'Look' is slamming the hell out of the Boston School Committee and the sport pages are building up the Red Sox. I guess with Curley the mayor anything can happen and it usually does. To make the year complete all they would need is the Legion Convention and have Notre Dame play at Fenway Park. This is really one year that I wish I was back home as I'm missing all the fun and I'm missing you in particular. Woe is me. At times I think I am a very lucky guy and at other times I think misfortune is following me around but I guess I'll have to take good with the bad until I can once again do was I please. I figure I'm not doing too bad when I run into guys who have spent only three and four months in the States in the past four or five years. Well honey I'll close for now and I'll write to you again during the day. I love you with all my heart and miss you terribly - All my love

Always ~ John."

"11 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen

Oh happy day! Today I received four letters from you and was I glad to hear from you. It seemed like a month since I received your last letter and I have been really sweating these four out.  Our Air Mail situation is going to be quite rough from now on in as our mail flights have been cut from twice a day to three times per week. All the pilots are getting discharged so the only alternative is to cut down on flights. Our morale is pretty low now but if the mail gets any slower I'm afraid morale will be a thing of the past. The longer I stay out here the more disgusted I get with it all. I don't know whatever happened to the good officers we once had in the Navy but out here they have an awful mess of lunk heads. They haven't the common sense of a baboon nor the initiative of a corpse. I'm happy over your letters so let's forget the situation out here for the time being. Okay?

The first letter that I opened was your four Manhattan inspired masterpiece which considering the circumstances was really nice. It took me by surprise at first but after a while I got a boot out of it. I remember the time I saw you kind of high coming home from Nantucket so after four Manhattans I can imagine. I agree with you when you say a few drinks are supposed to make you forget but sometimes as you found out the whole theory backfires. Maybe that's why I took up the vogue. To forget in a little way how much I missed you but it never really worked out at all not until you get really stupid drunk and then you don't remember anything at all. When you wake up the next morning though you remember twice as much of what you were supposed to forget. It's confusing but it's nevertheless true. I'm not mad at you taking a couple of drinks as that's your privilege. You're no longer a child and you're old enough to know what your doing and why you're doing it. My only suggestion is that when you do drink please take care of yourself. I know how you miss me and I miss you just as much, believe me. The only thing I can do for any diversion to alleviate the situation is to constantly do something to forget it, otherwise I'd go berserk. I'm just as anxious to see you as you are to see me but there isn't anything that I can do about it. I'm just sitting and waiting for someone or something to move in one direction or the other. I love you so very very much and miss you so much that it's hard or I should say impossible to write about it. I guess I'm in about the same boat that you are in. Well honey it's time for lights out so I'll close out. I'll answer your other letters tomorrow as there is a terrific challenge in one of them. Till then I'll love you and miss you.

Always

John"

"12 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen,

Well last night I answered your inebriated transcription so tonight I'll pull another letter from my file and proceed to answer that also. Maybe in a day or two I'll be caught up once again, I hope. This is your letter of 29 July that I am about to answer so please stand by. I'm sorry that things are so dull for you back there but I guess we are both leading very dull quiet and secluded lives. As I said before I'm getting disgusted with this joint and tonight built up my anger. We played a little baseball and then it rained. Needless to say we had to quit and when we went to take a shower there wasn't any water. We filed over to the movie area at quarter to eight waited fifteen minutes and then they told us that there wouldn't be any movie tonight. Well here I am and if at times this letter seems to beat a tinge of anger I guess you'll understand all the makings. Now to get down to brass tacks and the big issue of the letter, namely my impulsive experiences or as you put it and my lack of same. If you want to know everything I ever did or said I'd be writing and talking to you about it for years. So just say that I had a common ordinary childhood with a few escapades now and then that caused my rear end to be thoroughly whaled strapped and quite reddened. I met my first 'love' when I was a mere eight or nine and when she moved away I thought my poor little heart would break in two. A few years later I was involved in a confused sort of triangle as two girls were 'madly' in love with me and attempting to keep both of them happy in my own crude sort of way - ahem - they discovered my objective and they in turn spurned me. I really had some 'gay' times in my younger days but the passing years haven't been unfruitful either.  The whole trouble is that as I grow older I didn't fall in love with them as I did when I was a child. The moonlight swims were the best. Since I met you I've been on the straight and narrow pretty much as I came to the conclusion that when a guy is going to take himself a wife he can't afford to do much messing around as it isn't quite a healthy thing to do. If you advocate the idea that I gather a little marriage bed experience this is a hell of a time to let me know when my only alternative is some scrawny Red Cross character whose price is too high and some buck-tooth, scabby-legged gook who I would mess with of any price. As for your going out getting a little experience, well your a big girl now kid so do as you like. If sex was all that was running thru my brain and my only reason for marriage it would be most unprofitable what with all the 'love me and leave me' girls running around. Why buy a cow when milk is so cheap! I love you too much for that believe me honey. As for our honeymoon, well, I don't know where we'll spend it. As conditions are so rugged back there at present I don't know what to do or where to go. As things straighten out maybe we'll reach a conclusion as to our destination. Please keep me posted and pass on your suggestions, after all we're going together. Well I'll close out for now so please take care of yourself. I love you with all my heart and will 

Always

John."

"14 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen,

Well, today is the first day of the second year of peace. To be brief it's the first anniversary of the now famous cessation of hostilities between us and the Japs. About this time last year I was at Ulithi Atoll just south of Guam or on my way into there. It was indeed a joyous day then but just another day in the work out here. I'll give the powers that be a small plug as they gave us the afternoon off while the army had all day off. Maybe I'm griping about it a little to heavy but I'll get over it. Seeing that tomorrow is Assumption Day I guess that would mean an early rising to go to Mass. From what I've heard so far Mass is it seven in the morning, which is half a day prior to my rising. I guess I can sacrifice one mornings sleep for the occasion. Well, I guess that's enough for current events on Okinawa, let's get back to the things that appeal to me; you and the states. I've been reading over your last few letters, including your ?Masterpiece? and see that you really do love me sober or otherwise. Well honey, I'm afraid I must confess that my feelings are mutual as when I get a little 'high' I think of you and us and out here my first thoughts are if I wrote to you or not. It usually winds up that I didn't and by the time I get around to it I sit in my sack and fall asleep thinking about it. See, I haven't you around here to prod me on toward the righteous road. Soon though, maybe. I hope so anyway because if it isn't I'm going to go stark raving mad. You keep praying and hoping back there and I'll do the same plus keeping my fingers crossed out here. Agreed?

I hope my mail is getting back there before its age old if not, I'll file a complaint with the Post Office Department.

I'm sorry to hear that Annie is still in the hospital. That is a pretty tough condition to get rid of but I honestly hope that she clears up soon. Living at home in Mattapan I saw lots of patients from the Sanitarium, some who had been there for years. I hope Annie never get that bad.

Speaking of reading, I'm third on the list to read Errol Flynn's new book 'Showdown." After I get thru I'll give you all the dope on it. It's supposed to be pretty good but I won't believe it until I read it. Well honey I'm going for a swim as the surf is high for a change. It's usually flat calm so maybe riding the surf ashore will be a diversion. I love you with all my heart and miss you terribly – honestly – I do and will.

Always.

John."

"18 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen,

Another Sunday is here and almost gone so all I have to look forward to is another week of toil and strife. It's really monotonous but I am still managing to hold onto my sanity. To remain sane and sound sometimes becomes quite problematical but I still persevere. Things get worse by the day if it's possible and now our mail is getting a mauling. Our Naval Air Transport Service is going to the dogs and mail planes will come to Okinawa only when a pilot is available. That goes for outgoing mail also. If you don't get mail from me very often please don't blame me blame demobilization. I wrote a letter a couple of days ago but since no planes have come to pick it up you will undoubtedly receive the both at the same time. Everything is working the same way. They have stopped sending men home on rotation for the time being and they are now sending men home whose enlistments are running out. They are running one ship in here a month so I guess we are just forgotten people at present. Time alone will tell. 

How is everything back home with you? According to the last letter that I received from you Peggy is running around like mad in preparation for her big day. I guess by the time you get this letter she will have taken the fatal step so please give her my very best wishes and all the best of luck always. I guess it will take me a while to realize that she is married but I guess everyone winds up that way sooner or later. I guess you and I being in the later category. Please don't give up as our day will come along someday and when it does we won't take a back seat from nobody. The whole trouble is that it is getting around soon enough for me. I'd like to get married in the summer time and spend two or three week at some resort where everything is peaceful and quiet and where there is plenty of good food. But since service life is so unpredictable I guess we'll have to get married at the first available opportunity and figure out our plans from there. There will never be a dull moment as I don't think we'll know what will happen from one minute to the next. I'm getting quite impatient for that opportunity to arrive. Well honey, I'll make this a 'shortie' for tonight and will continue tomorrow. I love you with all my heart and  miss you terribly. Please take care of yourself. I love you.

Always.

John."

"23 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen,

Here I am once again but I'm afraid that I'm a couple of days later. I've received a few letters from you this week, three in fact. I was going to write to you last Wednesday night but I got stuck with a watch that kept me going until eight the next morning. To keep from getting too many watches we stand our watches from four in the afternoon until eight the next morning. It's pretty rough but we have the next day off to rest up. It takes a whole day off to rest up I've found out. This way though we wind up with one watch a month so that isn't too often to knock yourself out. I remember back in the states when I used to be able to stay awake all night and then go to work the next day. Out here, I no can do. I guess I am out of shape or just out of practice. Well I lost a couple of my buddies since I wrote to you last. A bunch of guys went home yesterday as their enlistments were up. Somehow or other I can't get used to saying goodbye to guys I've known for any length of time. Maybe it's my Irish sentimentalism (?) or something but that's just the way that it is. The guys I knew in the group I have known almost a year and we used to get looped and raise hell together both here and back at Awase. One guy I'm glad went home though not that I didn't like him but because he became slightly involved with a native girl and wanted to marry her. I thought I had convinced him against it, but three days before he left he went up and saw the Chaplain about marrying her. If he had stayed a month longer on the rock he would have married her. I couldn't understand him at all but I guess that's human nature. I was glad to see them go as (it) reassured me of the fact that ships are still sailing out to this part of the world. I was beginning to feel that we were all to be abandoned. Another ship is scheduled in November to take men home on rotation. That will take quite a few men out of here but I'll just about miss that. They are sending the men home from twenty two to thirty days before their rotation is up, rotation being allowed after 18 months. If things run according to schedule I should be eligible the ninth of January. That will be the earliest I can leave unless these people get extremely generous which seems to be an impossibility from any angle. My only certainty is that I'll be home sometime but I hope that I'll be young enough to enjoy it.

Right about now we are sweating out a typhoon. The wind has picked up considerably. Last week a terrific typhoon swept over Iwo Jima, and only missed us by an eyelash hitting Japan instead. The one that is hanging around now is centered between here and the Philippines. Everyone is hoping that it hits and blows the base away so that we can get to hell out of here. I can smell the perfume or powder whatever it is that comes from your letters and I'm getting a terrific urge to up and swim home. It makes me fiercely homesick and lonely for you. I miss you very, very much as you know and love you with all my heart. Someday my luck will change for the better and we'll not be separated as we are now. Until then I guess there isn't much that we can do about it for the present.

Well honey I'll have to close for now and will write again maybe later tonight or tomorrow afternoon. Please take real good care of yourself as I love you with all my heart now. 

And always

John."

25 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen,

I promised you in my last letter, written Friday nite that I would write again Saturday but since yesterday was a crowded day for me even up until 3 or four ayem this morning, I was unable to fulfill my pledge and I'm sorry, honest. We worked until noon, ate chow and then I went surf riding in one of those amphibious ducks that we still manage  somehow or other to maintain. It was a lot of fun as the surf was pretty rough but at times it took on the appearance of a perilous adventure especially when we got ourselves hung up on a reef. Luck being on our side for once in my usually luckless life the tide was on its way in and we finally broke loose with the only damage being a couple of good dents on the bottom go our craft and a set of jangled nerves caused by our own impatience. After the boat ride I played softball against the Army Post office but this time my side wasn't so lucky as we tied them 5-5 after playing until it was to dark to see the ball. After a shower, shave and other essentials that usually go with the occasion I messed around for an hour or so drinking coffee and then I hit the sack. Little did I know the lack of sleep that was headed my way. A couple of guys started messing around with short wave and picked up everywhere from Aylon and Bangkok to New York and Los Angeles. After the 'static addicts' got thru I lay back and pass into the well known state of oblivion. At last sweet repose was mine all mine. I really couldn't believe it and I knew that I shouldn't count on too much peace and quiet. Sure enough a terrific clatter that raised in crescendo almost instantaneously filled my otherwise sleeping ears. The time I learned later was three ayem and I finally knew my luck had run out. A couple of drunks paying us a social call were the cause of it all. I immediately adopted a real Hollywood complex and 'slept' thru it all. I don't know how I managed as there was as much quiet and solitude in riot as there was here. I sweated it out nevertheless and in an hour or two they left never to return. I won't swear that they didn't return but if they did I din't hear them. Maybe they only shouted and yelled on the second visit. I awoke at ten this morning had a couple of cups of coffee took another shower to wake up, dressed, went to chow and now here I am. What a line of gab I must have! I could have cut this all down to a sentence or two but on second thought then I wouldn't be able to fill over a page with all my inert thoughts. If my letters sound windy or stuffy to you let me know and I'll digest my writings to mere factual things and cold, cruel realistics, or should I say realities. Come to think of it now I started out to answer your letters and here I am already at the bottom of page two and all I've said really is 'hello.' I must be getting 'rocky' or slaphappy but bear with me for a while and I'll eventually get around to them. By the way I got a letter from my old buddy Aleo. What in the name of all that's holy are you girls doing to the men back there? When Aleo was in uniform the girls flocked after him but now as a civilian earning only forty bucks a week he doesn't even get a tumble. He's dejected as all out and has come to the conclusion that you have to be sailor to get along with the girls after all. He broke off with his ex-wave girl friend for the fourth and final time. He went to Philly to see her and caught her two timing him by dating another sailor who was attempting to beat his time prior to his discharge from service. Such is life for the ex-serviceman, Aleo especially. Since I have about five letters from you to answer I guess it's about time that I begin to answer them. I guess you can understand how I long for you when things around here get quiet and uninteresting. Especially today, or any Sunday for that matter. It's a lot of wasted time for both of us when we could otherwise be getting better acquainted or if we were married having a lot of fun together. I remember our Sunday afternoon and evening dates when I was Stateside and I miss them terribly. Sometime, someday we'll get together again and really make up for this separation but I doubt if I'll be able to make it all up as it's too great. Loving you as I do, a year or a year and a half of separation where emotions and feelings are pent up as in a cell or prison calls for lots and lots of time together to sort of readjust ourselves and pick up where we left off. Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought of you sometime during the day or night and missed you fiercely. I suppose when I do get home we will be both a little bashful towards each other but a couple of hours together will clear that up in short order and we can commence where we left off, that is if it's all right by you. 

I'm glad that I rate higher than the 'jerks' you see around as I was beginning to wonder after your 'wolf-baiting' letter to me. I guess that Cambridge incident will change your mind about that wolf sojourn. All these 'wolves' are after one thing and after being in love with you for five years I believe I'm entitled to be the wolf in your life if you are to have one at all. I think that I have earned that privilege. I'll close out this letter and start on another immediately if not sooner. 

All my love 

Always

John."

"25 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen

I couldn't get here sooner so here I am once again immediately after addressing Letter No #1. Is this fast enough? I have one of your letters propped under my nose and it smells so enticing or whatever it is that describes the aroma that I want to keep smelling it forever or until I can get back to you. It does things to me. I guess I'll smell it every night before I go to bed and then I'll be prepared for the future as far as scent is concerned at least. Oh! happy day! I'd better cease before I build my emotions up to a terrific let-down. I'd better get back to the text instead of the fragrant aroma. Yes, they have finally brought dependents out here after much debate pro and con. I don't know how the kids will make out as fresh fruit and milk, childhood necessities are as scarce as gold. I haven't seen an orange in six months and outside of a couple of pieces of celery that we had yesterday there just isn't any greens. You really don't miss them until you haven't had any for a while and your gums begin to soften up and grow pale. Maybe the kids will get along on canned milk and apples which are pretty plentiful just about now. I'd like to have you here just to be with you but if we were married and had any children you would stay stateside for a while until conditions  improved a great deal. As far as these Red Cross 'trollops' are concerned they are strictly out of my class. You see enlisted men haven't any rooms to sleep in alone so -. The officers, especially when I was at Awase, all had a couple of rooms a piece so Red Cross girls were as common as natives around the base. 

I have a terrible disgust and dislike for anything Red Cross and it will take a miracle to change my attitude. Some of the girls are so ugly I can't understand how a guy could make love to them and in a bed especially. I guess with the lights out, half drunken up and with a vision of Lana Turner in their mind they have a good time. I'm glad that I have at least good taste under similar circumstances ~ what am I saying? You said something of them tossing their bosoms. If they had any it would be all right as at least our imagination would go to work but most of them would make good business for for some 'gay deceiver' outfit. The others should share the wealth so to speak. If I remember correctly, you once mentioned something about 'all over a handful is wasted.' Such are bosom conditions out here. As for Rita and my throwing aspirations on her character well I retract some in part. Morally she may be okay but her attitude and pseudo-socialite bearing are similar to some of these gross deceivers of good character who are 'by his side' as the Red Cross posters so nobly put it. Enough on the Red Cross -.

As for my ending in one of my previous letters 'I'll miss you always' let's credit to a typographical error on my part. I don't want to miss you ever but under the present circumstances I have no alternative. Please forward my congratulations to your cousin Frances on her recent blessed event. I'm glad that that fall hadn't caused any complications. From reports that I picked up here and there and around a miscarriage is very pleasant experience. Fifteen months is about par I guess after being delayed for a few years due to service. About you having no ambitions along that line, what do you mean? Clarify! You have no ambitions of having a baby or you have no ambitions of having a child? Well honey I'll close this writing for now as Church time is drawing near. I love you and miss you with all my heart, honestly I do. Please take care - I love you

Always 

John."

"29 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen, 

I received two letters from you today and as usual was very glad to receive them. They were postmarked Aug 20-21 respectively so you can see that they wasted no time in arriving here. I don't know that the trouble is with my mail unless it's the plane situation as I explained in a previous letter. The condition hasn't changed one bit as these mail planes are about as dependable as a rainy day out here. They may come in and they may not but they do arrive eventually about twice a week. I hope you get my mail soon as I honestly worry as much about your receiving it as you do. Writing on week-ends and maybe once or twice during the week I sometimes feel guilty after receiving so much mail from you and so very often. I'll never get over thanking you for your efforts and if you do slip off once in a while I have no complaint to lodge whatsoever. You have been wonderful and I mean it from the bottom of my heart. With baseball and other evening activities plus running around like a dog after his tale all day I lay in my sack and debate whether I should write or postpone it till the following day and before I can decide I'm fast fast asleep. It seems I am thinking of you in my dreams more often and last night really topped it all. I went on a stag party prior to our wedding and after many distractions I wound up dressed in a sheet with a blindfold. When I was turned loose and the blindfold removed I was in a steam bath with a bunch of naked women all sizes shapes looks and descriptions. I don't know how long I stayed there but when I woke up I was covered with sweat. I don't know what caused the sweat the heat or the steam bath. I will admit that when I did wake up it was with a great deal of reluctance on my part. By the way in the steam bath I didn't see a thing as usual. I guess I mustn't be the observing type or so it seems to be.

We have a couple of Christian Science Monitors and the past couple of days I've been scouring them as far as resorts are concerned. You see I haven't deserted our honeymoon as yet. It is uppermost in my mind but getting married is foremost. As far as my coming home is concerned well it will probably be two or three ships more. The next ship is October the first and at least one a month after that. It's getting nearer and nearer all the time so don't give up yet. I'll keep praying and hoping and soon maybe the eventful day will arrive. Keep your end up and between the two of us we'll be able to swing the deal. I guess by the time you receive this letter Peggy will be able to give you a little advice on married life and its likes and dislikes such as they are. Give her my vey best wishes for success & happiness and maybe before too long they will reciprocate. Well honey I'll close now and hit the sack with the hopes of picking up that dream where I left off. It seems I'm missing everything these days but I'll give them a good looking over tonight. All my love to you

Always & always

John."

"31 August 1946

My very dearest Ellen, 

I'm not quite sure if today is the last day of the month or not but it is Saturday so I am writing to you just the same. I guess another month has gone by us so I'm that much nearer to you. I hope the next few roll by just as quickly as did the past thirteen and that once I get home time just stops completely. I only wish that it would. Since that Terminal Leave Bill passed thru Congress we have been flooded with batches of dispatches trying to explain its provisions. The last one broke down to the fact that we are allowed payment of 120 days leave acquired at the rate of 30 days a year minus all the leave already taken. Of this men on active duty will be forced to take the first 60 days leave prior to discharge and they will be paid in bonds for what's left over. In my view this means that they owe me 60 days leave whenever they get around granting it. Other dispatches will clarify the matter more fully so hold onto your hat. What a honeymoon that sixty days would be after all this wasted time. I guess we would both be so 'rested' after sixty days that we could almost stop for a day or two. About all I want when I get home is you, my folks, food, milk and a couple of good breaks once again and then I'll stop complaining for a while. I think I will anyway. Since this is Saturday afternoon there isn't much doing but listen to the radio. The third act of the opera 'La Boheme' is on at present and since I have no alternative except total silence I'm letting it fill the air with its essence some good and some bad. I guess somebody enjoys it so who am I to deprive them of a little pleasure. A couple of the guys went fishing on the other side of the island and if their luck is as usual they will be returning in an hour or two empty handed. I tried fishing a couple of times but gave up. 

In my last letter I mentioned a dream I had and said that I'd try to pick up where I left off, well I have come to the conclusion that such dreams come only once in a lifetime. Maybe it's just as well but I doubt it very very much. As for our honeymoon, well, I've been giving it an awful lot of thought and have come to the conclusion that I'm getting absolutely no where. My main concern is getting home then getting married. After those two important items are taken care of we will have to draw up our plans as time will allow. So many changes are coming about that I don't know where I am or where I will be from one minute to the other. That is the primary reason that I don't want to set any definite plans for anything and then wind up with our plans smashed to smithereens because of some action emanating in Washington. Our only alternative and our best bet is to wait and see how I make out with my leave when I get back. Keep your eyes open as to where you would want to go but remember I'll be home in the winter and most resorts will be closed so I guess our selection will be limited. Anywhere as long as we are together, that's all that counts. Well honey I'll close for now and will write again tomorrow or maybe later tonight if I get a sudden inspiration. I love you with all my heart honey and will

Always

John.

P.S. I miss you very very much also ---"

1946 July

"3 July 1946 

My very dearest Ellen,

At long last I have come to a lull long enough to enable me to write to you. I, like the rest of the guys that were with me at Awase, have been transferred to Yonabaro and such confusion I never have seen. It would make the O.P.A. look like a simple grammar book in comparison. We have been here since Sunday and finally today they realized that we were here. Nobody knows a thing about a thing and very few care. We have more officers than men and they want everybody to work except themselves. I had a racket for two days driving natives but I lost that and now I am the big man in the Transportation Division. We have about a thousand vehicles from jeeps to twenty ton cranes so I'll be as busy as a beaver for quite a while to come. A few of the chiefs will be going home next month as their 18 months will be up and they are due for rotation. That will make things easier as then I'll be looking forward to my turn at rotation. The time is going by rapidly but not quite fast enough for me as I want to get home to you as quick and as fast as I possibly can. Keep your chin and your spirit up. I have a couple of letters to answer that I haven't been able to answer for the past few days. Two I received prior to your vacation and I have two from you at Falmouth. My mail to you must be going back by rocket as it's getting there before the ink is dry it seems. I really hope that they keep it up as your mail is getting to me quickly and very regularly. Keep up your good work honey as I appreciate you and your letters more than words can say or than I can quite express. Hannie from my way of thinking is turning into quite a rum-soak if you will forgive my saying so. I'm no prude, nor am I without scruples, but there has to be a limit somewhere and Hannie had better draw the line somewhere. There is such a thing as taking a drink or two to be happy at a party and a wedding but it doesn't take too many more to turn into a God damned fool if you will excuse the jargon. Maybe some day she will catch on. At least I hope so. Well honey duty calls for the time being and I'll answer the other two letters tonight or tomorrow. Please take care of yourself and have a really swell time on your vacation. I love you with all my heart and soul and miss you terribly.

All my love

Always

John"

"My very dearest Ellen,                                                 4 July 1946

A glorious Fourth of July to you and I sincerely hope that you enjoyed yourself. It wasn't too bad out here as the Army Special Services put on a big show and we managed to finagle a holiday out of the Navy after a battle. The only setback is the fact that the army has a three day spree to use up and we resume work tomorrow. They had a parade this noon made up of floats submitted by various outfits on the rock. It was pretty short but nice just the same as they represented an awful lot of work for the builders. The army is also putting on a three day carnival over in their area aided and abetted by the Red Cross which is quite a novelty indeed. Boxing and other sports events are scheduled plus an air show by the Eight Air Force that is stationed on Okinawa. 

On Okinawa the Navy is too small and too busy to mess with that sort of an extravaganza so all we do for fun is work and try to get out of it.  They have made Yonabaro a receiving station for transient personnel out in this section of the Pacific. They seem to be getting assigned to every island except Okinawa. I guess they'll get around to us some time, at least I hope so anyway. If I was in telephone contact with you which is impossible, I'd ask you how you were enjoying your vacation at Falmouth but since I'm not, all I can say is how did you enjoy your sojourn? I sincerely hope that you had yourself a very good time as you certainly deserve it no fooling! I'm terribly sorry that I couldn't be with you but if it was at all possible you know that I would have done the same thing that I did last year; namely call you up and let you know that I was home. Just about this time I was on my way back to California after spending the best week of my life with the best little gal in the world. My only regret I that it didn't last long enough. Maybe it was best as only God knows what would have happened if we had a few more nights together. I really think that one or two more nights together and under the same conditions and surroundings our emotions would have exploded and Ellen would have been no longer a nice little girl. You would still have been my pride and joy nevertheless no matter what came about. I knew a chief out here who must have went thru the same experience with his girl that I did with you but he had those extra few days. As a result he had to go home on emergency leave and marry the girl as she had given birth to a bouncing baby boy. I often think about him and his situation and then I say to myself 'why couldn't I have had two or three more days and maybe I could go home too.' I only think about it, as I'd never want you in a predicament like that. After we are married alright but before marriage no, no, no. The more I think of us and all this wasted time that we are apart the madder I get. I promise as soon as I get home I'm going to make up this wasted time so we had better get married right away. I miss you so much that it's really pitiful. I love you with all my heart and soul, I want to marry you and be with you more than anything else and yet I can't. There just isn't any justice left in this world at all. Please send me some pictures, honey, especially your two piece swim suit. Of course you have to be in it. I hope that you fill it okay. I'll be the judge of that though, you just rush them along. I have to close now so take care. 

All my love 

Always

John

P.S. I have you on my brain. I can't even write my name."

My father had written Ellen instead of John in signing off. 

                

"12 July 1946

My very dearest Ellen,

Hello again! Is it hot out this way! I'm afraid that some day I'll wind up being a puddle of sweat. The whole trouble is that I'm not losing any weight that I notice, maybe it's because I put back all my expended weight by drinking beer and cokes. I guess I must be drinking about a case a day now not counting about a dozen cokes and ice water in between. It's a rough life kid but I can't complain. It's hotter in Hell from what I've been led to believe. We are working like slaves out here and with the heat and all maybe you have noticed the lengthened space between my letters. Please excuse it honey as some times it's almost impossible to write it's so hot. I keep telling the natives out here that it's too hot on Okinawa but they keep telling me that it won't last but three months more. I guess they think they are comforting me a bit in their own way but I only hope that I can hold out till then. My forearms and face is so red that I resemble a walking tomato. The whole trouble is that it keeps changing color. Sometimes it's red and other times it's tanned. I can't quite figure it out unless it's grease. Incidentally they gave us a shot today for sleeping sickness and when they daubed me with mercurichrome (?) I couldn't quite tell where my sunburn ended and the the stuff began. I guess I'm just a tender guy; you lucky kid you! I got a couple of letters from you that I must answer and a package that I must thank you for. It was really swell. Incidentally I'm using the Cheezits as a beer tantalizer. They really hit the spot. Thanks again. I'm very glad that you had a good time at Falmouth. As I have told you time and time again you earned it. I guess Madeline must react to the sun the same as me. Remember the Sunday that we went down Fieldstone and I go so burnt that I couldn't put my shoes on and I could hardly drive home. Such is life. I keep thinking of events that occurred during our interrupted heyday and I just sit around moaning and thinking for a few hours each day. If I keep it up I'm afraid that I'll get fired. I guess that last week that we spent together was the best of them all though. Agreed?

I'd give a billion dollars to get home, get married and then pick up where we left off. We will eventually but just to get back now would be well worth it. As far as being inexperienced in married relations is concerned, from what I've learned off hand it comes natural. As far as my own experience on the subject is concerned I'll remain vague as it may embarrass me. One thing is certain though, I'm not getting any experience out here. I wouldn't if I could. You see I'm saving myself for you, so that's that. Well honey I'll close out now and will continue tomorrow. I love you with my whole heart and miss you more than you'll ever know - All my love always 

John"

"13 July 1946

My very dearest Ellen,

It is now Sunday morning here on this beautiful island of Okinawa  and with the radio putting out the strains of some Johann Strauss' best work I can be in no other mood but a loving and sentimental mood. I just returned from Mass so my religious obligations for the day have been fulfilled. I intended to go to Confession and Communion but arrived at the Chapel a little too late. They hear Confessions before Mass for about thirty minutes and if I had had enough energy I could easily have made it. One of our chiefs was relieved from watch at about 6:30 and woke me up when he came in. That being a little to early I rolled over and didn't come to until 7:45. I dragged myself out of the sack, shaved washed and went off to Church. Up to now you can see that it has been a pretty exciting day but nevertheless I came to the firm conclusion that I should write to you now when it is comparatively cool, 85 degrees F, than wait until later on in the day.  I miss you like anything honey and wish that I could get home to see you for a while. Since I can't I'll have to keep on thinking and wishing that I was where I aut to be namely close by you. Our day will come eventually though the delay is driving me frantic. I'm not the only one who is dreaming dreams like that as there must be fifty guys from Mass. out here with me. The trouble with them is they just got married before coming out here and you should hear them beat their gums about this rock-bound duty. They could send for their wives and bring them out here but they would have to sign up to stay out here a year after the wife arrived. They have all been out here now for over a year and they can't see another year out here scoot. Rumors persist out here that our outfit will fold up around September. A bunch of seaman replacements are due next week plus a few wives of some of the officers but the word is spreading that they are being held up at Guam especially the seamen.  We aren't the only outfit that is short-handed. A carrier out here was so short handed that it couldn't leave port. When replacements went aboard they were piped aboard, an honor that is reserved for high ranking officers and dignitaries. Such is the manpower condition of the Navy at present. I guess they had better send me back to do some recruiting duty. Maybe they should send me back, period ... Incidentally my Polock buddy that was with my brother is now out here in the bay aboard a seaplane tender. He came ashore to see me the other day but I wasn't around. The whole trouble is that he can't get ashore to see me and I can't get a boat to go out to see him. We were also graced with the presence of Forrestall the Secretary of the Navy. He's a swell egg from the point of view of all sailors and I only hope that he stays in the Cabinet until Truman gets out. Well honey I have to close now and will write to you again in a day or two. Please take care of yourself. I miss you an awful lot And love you with all my heart now and 

Always

John"

"Sunday 21 July 1946

My very dearest Ellen,

Here it is the end of one week and the beginning of another. As you will undoubtedly solve yourself this is my first letter in almost a week but conditions have been so hectic out here for the past week that it was an impossibility to do anything at all. We have been sweating out a typhoon all week and it eventually wound up with seven days of solid rain to add a little more woe to our already miserable existence. I don't know nor can I understand where all the rain comes from. It just poured and poured for hour upon hour then it stopped only to commence once again in all its fury. I guess it must have been our belated rainy season catching up to us. Today is once again a sunny day and as I came and went to church the sun felt really good. I hope it keeps sunny now for a while to dry out our dampened clothes and bedding. I wrote to you last Saturday and as I didn't have any stamps I couldn't mail the letter. Just about that time they decided to close down the mail room for five days so you'll get both of them together. I got paid a week ago and I haven't been able to make out a money order to send home. On top of this I got a second shot for sleeping sickness that almost floored me. I still have a lump under my arm from it. I guess everything happens at once out here. All our broken down conditions are being remedied though slowly but surely. The mail room is opened once again and a registered mailman is now in charge so that will be running smooth for a change. I guess it will take time and Providence to clear up most of the other defects out here. We are getting replacements out here now so our work should be able to slow down for a while. A few of the chiefs I'm with are due to go home on 18 months rotation but due to the shortage of personal out here they are being retained as essential. They are really blowing their tops over it but there is nothing that they can do about it. With these replacements coming in maybe they'll get to go home pretty soon. As for me I'll be forced to sweat it out until late fall which out here doesn't seem to be to far away. I'm glad they are sending replacements out here and I hope they keep it up because when I get home I'd like to stay stateside for a while. Most of the guys who are coming out are guys who spent the past few years in the States and are now out here because someone caught up with them. They all came in this week and with the rain, mud and high winds they were left with a drab outlook on life. They will have to get used to it I'm afraid as they are due to be here for a long while. I saw Tom's buddy Ski out here last Sunday. He hasn't changed a bit. He is aboard a seaplane tender out here in the bay but is due to head Stateside in the near future. It felt funny meeting him out here as I always associated him with good times spent back in  Philly. He is supposed to drop in on Tom when he goes home. Well honey I'll close for the present and will write again after chow. I miss you an awful lot and wish that we could get together somewhere sometime preferably as soon as is humanly possible. I love you with all my heart honey and will always and 

Always

John"

"Sunday 21 July 1947

My very dearest Ellen,

Hello again honey. Here I am again and believe it or not the sun is still shining brilliantly for a change - maybe we will eventually get dried out and return to our every day routine. I have a couple of letters to answer I have a couple of packages to thank you for. I have only one complaint and that concerns the packages. They set you back to much money to send out here so just resort to the sport page in the future. I really appreciate it no end but I don't want you to be spending that kind of money on newspapers for me. According to your letters that vacation in Falmouth really wore you out instead of building you up. As long as you enjoyed yourself there is nothing else that can be desired. As for my boys I haven't heard from them for quite a while. I guess that old adage 'out of sight out of mind' is really correct as far as it goes. I did get a letter from my buddy in Atlantic City. They had a sort of reunion down at his house around the middle of June. From reports everyone had a swell time and all went home 'happy' if you know what I mean. As for my coming home soon I hope your womanly intuition is correct. I'm not expecting to go home but surprises are always in order as fas as I'm concerned. As for Pete Moran and his wife's impending blessed event, I guess he has the same point of view as me. Incidentally I wrote to him quite a while ago but never did get an answer of any sort. Maybe this married business is taking up too much of his time. The old married men tell me that the first year of married life is a busy, busy episode and takes up all of their time. Not being experienced on the subject I really wouldn't know but give me time and I'll find out for myself. As for your holding me to my statement that I will be a wolf when I get home I guess you won't have much to worry about on that subject. I wish I could be around now on those occasions when you are in a loving mood. I'd really give you a workout and I'm not kidding either because I get these moods as often as you if not more frequently. Oh, happy day, when I get home with you things will change from this drab rock-bound existence to something out of this world. Give me time, just give me time. As far as Madeline is concerned I think she'll be sweating out a man twenty years from now with the same luck that she's had so far. I have your housecoat with me and will send it as soon as I can get something to wrap it in. It's really nice although it may be a bit long but I guess that you can fix that. If I get any more of this stuff I'm afraid that you'll turn Oriental but as long as it's you I won't care a bit.  

Well honey I must draw to a close again for the second time today. I'll write again tomorrow so until then please take care of yourself. I love you with all my heart and soul and miss you terribly, really I do. All my love 

Always

John"

"Wednesday July 24, 1946

My very dearest Ellen,

Another day has passed which eventually means that I am a day nearer to getting home. It will be a while yet but nevertheless every day that passes is a day nearer to my arrival back to God's country. That will indeed be a happy day and the faster that it rolls around the happier this guy will be, and I ain't kidding either. Out here every thing is rapidly developing into a state of mass confusion. I don't know what's going on from day to day and every day I am losing more and more interest in the whole deal. I hope all the Navy isn't as confused as  N.A.B. Yonabaro or we'll just pack up and go home and give it up as a bad job. At present I am in the transportation division attempting to keep our motor vehicles rolling but the whole scoop is that for every unit we get running two others come to a screeching halt. You can't win no matter how hard you try. Don't worry about me working too hard as in a position similar to mine it's to no avail. Enough of my groans for now so I'll get into answering your letters. I have a couple here that I have to answer. I got two letters yesterday and two today plus a postcard that you sent from Falmouth. Undoubtedly the most prized of all was the letter with the pictures enclosed. Thanks a million millions kid as I appreciate them more than you can ever imagine. They really came out wonderful and you look as chic and as sharp as a tack. The biggest trouble is that I can't get home to see you soon enough after seeing the shots. You look really swell hon. I don't know why you are complaining about your hairdo as I personally think that  it's swell and does you a world of good. The picture that I'm in love with is the one where you are leaning against or sitting on the picket fence. You really look marvelous kid. Why in the name of all that's holy can't I get home so that I can marry you and be with you always and always instead of only having a picture to drool over? I guess I'm paying for my 'wicked' ways such as they are but someday I'll get a chance. All of the pictures as I said before turned out swell despite any statements you make to the contrary. As for your two piece suit it certainly does become you and it's most revealing, ribs and all. Gosh, (?) honey I miss you something awful, even more than usual. It's like seeing you for about ten seconds and then being dragged away without being able to speak to you. It's a crime at times no fooling and this is one of the times. Just wait until I get home honey and I'll love you so much that - well I can't think of a good comparison at present. It's getting late now so I'll close for now. I'm madly madly in love with you and the more I look at your pictures especially the one of you leaning against the fence the more I'm in love with you. I guess I'm swooning over you honey but that's the way it is. I love you with all my heart. Why we weren't married before I'll never know but please wait and I'll try in my humble way to repay all this wasted time. 

I love you and miss you dearly and will 

Always 

John

P.S. Thanks again for the pictures as you'll never realize how much of a boost they give me and how much more I miss you and love you if I could love and miss you anymore than I did before they arrived. I love you, always."

"26 July 1946

My very dearest Ellen

It is now Friday morning here on Okinawa and everything indicates that we will be forced to put up with a stifling hot day whether we like it or not. Our rainy season seems to have ended for the present as we haven't had any rain now for almost forty-eight hours which is exceptional to say the least. I'd better not crow too soon or else we'll be flooded once again. Outside of sunshine in place of rain everything continues to be the same. Confusion predominates all other activities and functions out here, so with everyone and everything in a hectic state nothing is being accomplished and since we are so low that we can't lose anything we are standing still but firm on rock bottom. I just got off watch at 8 am so I've taken an hour or so off to write to you and to rest up a bit. With that type of routine you can see that I'm not wearing myself out so you can drop any ideas that you may have that I am being overworked. Well, the dependents have finally arrived out here on Okinawa but it's a little too early to get any reactions either favorable or unfavorable from them. I guess when they outgrow the glamor and novelty of being at an outpost they will settle back and live in the same rut as the rest of us just sweating and swearing till we head east once again. Maybe now that a few wives are out here these Red Cross trollops will stop tossing their derriers and bosoms around in their enticing and accustomed manner. Some of them, Red Cross women that is, thought they were Lana Turners and the like when competition was nil but I guess they'll crawl back in their hole now until they return to the States and obscurity. I often wonder why Rita O'Hara never went into that racket. Then she wouldn't have manpower trouble whatsoever. They would be flocking around her like a bunch of ants on a lump of sugar. I guess she missed her chance. 

I just read over your last couple of letters and I guess we both agree that our last week together was the best whether you wish that you did turn out to be a 'wicked' woman as you put it and wound up with a bouncing bundle. I'm glad that it turned out as it did. I guess we'll have to classify that week as a sort of appetizer  or an entree of things to come when we get together once again. I guess if we keep planning as we are we'll have the first couple of years of our married life booked solid. I don't know what the waiting period is back home but I hope it isn't too long as it will only be time, cherished time too, going to waste. I guess we'll eventually catch up on our wasted time as, always, is an awful long time. Well honey I've got to close for now so take it easy. I love you with all my heart and miss you terribly. I'll write again tonight or tomorrow so until then All of my love to you 

Always

John"

"29 July 1946

My very dearest Ellen

I'd start with my usual 'Here I am again' but I guess you know that already. I haven't got much to say tonight but I can and will say continually as long as I'm out here that I love you with all my heart and miss you very very much. Speaking of missing you, quite a few of the Army and Navy Joes have overcome their loneliness as their wives came over and landed during the past few days. It'a quite a novelty yet to most of them but after it's all over I'm pretty sure that they will wish to God that they stayed back in the States and sweated out the old mans arrival. I guess they consider themselves adventurers and the like but their only adventure out here will be attempting to overcome the deep silent brooding monotony of not having anything to do except eat and sleep. After their year is up I don't imagine that they will want to hang around for another month or year. After the excitement of their arrival passed over we were alerted for an approaching typhoon that once again failed to hit us. It kept going around in circles between here and Iwo Jima and finally wasted itself at sea or at least I hope it did. They are getting nearer and nearer to us all of the time. Maybe next month we'll hit the jack-pot and have more than we can handle. That's about all we need now and then everyone would be blowing their tops for sure. Not one of our officers ever saw a typhoon and they are supposed to be our inspiration and guide. Such is life!

I just wrote to my mother and sent her five hundred bucks to add to my bank account. Maybe by the time I get home I'll have a few hundred thousand in the cash drawer of my favorite bank. That may be a little out of proportion in relation to reality but I'm after all that they give me and more if it's around. I guess we'll need it after seeing some of the food prices that exist in the states. Most of the guys are saving for a new car but they are now changing their minds quite a bit. I think that they will finally settle for a new pair of shoes, that is if there are any available. Well honey I've got to go to bed now so I'll close out for now and try to dream about you. It should be quite simple as I'm continually thinking about you. I love you dearly and miss you something awful. All of my love to you

Always

John"