My father went on leave after his last letter in August. His letters resume when he returns to Corpus Christi.
"20 Sept. 1947
My very dearest darling Ellen,
Once again I'm picking up where I left off and I'll attempt to my utmost to carry on a remote conversation with you by means of the mail. As you see I arrived here quite safe and all that traveling in one day even though it was by air left me a little worn out. The trip was even better than I had contemplated because after leaving Boston I stopped at New York where I changed planes and from there we stopped at Philadelphia then non-stop to Dallas Texas. It took eight hours to get to Dallas which is only about 500 miles from here but it took four hours to get down here to Corpus. I think we must have covered the state as we went to Ft Worth Waco, Austen, San Antonio and then down to Corpus. The plane that took me to Dallas was due in Los Angeles at 9 PM the same time that I got down here so you can see what I mean when I call Texas the 'American Siberia.'
When I returned the place was all excited over the hurricane and the base was and is still loaded with planes that flew here from Florida. Instead of heading up the east coast as expected the storm crossed Florida and wound up in New Orleans which isn't too far away in this modern age. My first day of work moved right along and I have my eyes and ears open for a possible transfer out of here. Any halfway decent deal that will take me East I'm going to grab if it's at all possible. I'm working on a possibility now as an instructor at either Chicago or San Diego but with my luck I'll undoubtedly get San Diego so I'm sleeping on it at present. If I was fortunate enough to get Chicago I could get home about once a month which wouldn't be bad at all but San Diego would almost put me back out in Okinawa once again. I think I'll wait until something better comes along with no alternatives to meet.
I miss you very very much honey and even though we were together for only a couple of weeks I still find it strange sleeping in a single bed with no one to comfort me or to bother me. It was wonderful to be home with you once again and it built up my realization that I have got to get out of this Navy and settle down with you for keeps. Now that I am over the hump and a week or two along in my last year it won't be too hard a strain but being away from you causes me a constant pain and longing that only our being together can ease and relieve. I'm too far away at present to begin counting the days but I'm counting them in the back of my mind. If I commence counting now I'll get tense and nervous and will wind up morose and depressed just waiting and waiting. I'll let them slip by unnoticed until I get down to within hailing distance . With only ten days remaining in this month it won't be long until we are in the last quarter of this year which will be the first quarter in my last year. I'm fairly happy over it all but not one iota as happy as I would be if we were together to stay. You are too wonderful for me to neglect for so long and even though I have just left you I'm trying to figure a way to to get to see you again before too much time passes us by. I haven't had much time to think but I'll let you know again in a week or two when everything is settled once more. I'm going to close out for now but I'll write again tonight. I love you my dear with my whole heart and soul and I miss you and want you like nothing else on earth. Please take good care of yourself.
All of my love to you
God Bless & keep you
Always and always
John xxx”
20 September 1947
My very dearest darling Ellen,
Right now I feel lonely and blue simply because I'm not with you which is enough at times to drive me completely nuts. I just returned from the show where I saw 'The Long Night' with Henry Fonda and I liked it very much indeed. The only set back was that the love story set my mind working and instead of following the show I doped off and thought of you. It wasn't the story or plot that brought it on but just the thought of being in love and being away from you. Please, may the days weeks and months roll along at a rapid pace so that we will be together for good, then and only then will I be completely happy. Every time that I go home I'm so much more happier than my previous visit and as it goes when I get home to stay I'm afraid I'll collapse because I'll be completely overjoyed by it all. I'll be able to stand it all right as I'm preparing for it day by day. Being with you all the time is wonderful and despite remarks to the contrary I'll be always happy just being with you. That was the case last Tuesday night when that Bachelors Party came up. When Peter Moran told me about it I knew that I didn't want to go to it and when you told me to go to it I felt funny about it. I kept thinking up all kinds of excuses to stay away from it and when none were forthcoming I didn't go. I came home to see you and that's all that counts. I can always see those guys if and when I want to see them but I wanted to see you and be with you and I had no intentions of wasting an evening at a drunken brawl when I could be with you which is my greatest pleasure in life whether you know it or not.
It seems every time I go home we are accomplishing a little more and now with a house on our hands I can't quite imagine what our next accomplishment will turn out to be. I hope that when you start to renovate the house this winter that I'll be able to recognize it when I get home once again. Keep up the good work as it will save me all the work.
When I get home once again and if you can't be with me during the day figure out what you want done around the house and give me your list, that way I'll be constantly occupied and I won't be moping around all day doing nothing worth while. I'll have to buy a manual on household repairs and short cuts as I know that it will come in quite handy now. There are so many things I would like to do but the time seemed to short to do it all but once I get started everything went right along all right so it all boils down to getting me started on the way. Getting started on my way reminds me of my farewell at the Statler. It was sort of a rushed affair but I had to say 'good bye' because I was about to bust out into tears. It always happens that way, I guess I'm just soft hearted and sentimental over goodbyes that's all. After you had gone and I got a hold on myself I looked around for you but I couldn't see you and I felt alone once again as I usually do when you are not around. The limousine left about five minutes after you did and went up Boylston St to Tremont and I look and looked for you on the way but no luck. I guess you hurried right along. Then I really got lonely. I have only a year of loneliness left and then we will be together for good with no farewells or heartaches to cause us grief or pain. Let's both pray that the time goes swiftly.
When I got down here the heat was just as I had left it. It was hovering up near 100 degrees and it has been that way since with no let up at all. It is a terrific change from the weather at home where it was beginning to get cool and quite comfortable which I liked tremendously. I guess that we have another month of this heat and then it will begin to cool off around here for a few months and then the heat all over again. I planned to go swimming today but the sun was so hot and blazing I postponed it until tomorrow when I shall give it a try. I need the exercise and it will do me a world of good in more ways than one.
I am writing two letters to you today to make up for the one I missed last night when I went to the football game down here. When I got back it was too late to write and I was pooped besides. I'm going to write my one a day as usual and I hope that you will do the same if possible. My morale can't stand many letter less days so try to keep up your good efforts by writing each day to your lonely husband.
The football game was terrific with plenty of scoring and passing. It was typical Texas football, wide open and fast. Corpus Christi won incidentally 32-14. These football games will consume all my spare time over the weekends so life won't be too dull for a couple of months anyway as long as there is a football game to watch. Incidentally my advancement in rate went thru and I received my certificate yesterday confirming it. Besides the rate I get my boost in pay, fifteen extra dollars a month so I'm not doing too bad at all. I'm as high as I can go just now unless I get commissioned and to get a commission I need ten years of service which I never intend to acquire so I'm at the top of the ladder as far as the Navy is concerned so I'll quit while I'm on top. I only hope that when I get out and get a job that I'll be half as successful in any endeavor that I follow. I'll send you my certificate and you can do with it as you please.
It's getting pretty late honey so I'm going to close out for now until tomorrow. I love you very very much my pet and I miss you so very badly. Please take care.
All of my love to you
Always and always
John xx”
"Navy Department - Bureau of Naval Personnel
Certificate of Appointment
John James Patrick Manning 202-46-63
having served satisfactorily under an Acting Appointment, is hereby appointed a Aviation Chief Metalsmith, Pay Grade One, in the United States Navy from 13 August 1947, He is, therefore, carefully and diligently to discharge all the duties of his rating, and is to obey the orders and directions which he shall receive from his seniors in rank, according to the rules and discipline of the Navy: and all enlisted personnel under his command are strictly charged and required to be obedient to his orders.
This appointment to continue in force only during his present enlistment, unless continued by reenlistment within ninety days from the date honorably discharged or as otherwise prescribed by the Chief of Naval Personnel.
Signed by the Chief of Naval Personnel (which I can't make out)"
"21 September 1947
My very dearest darling Ellen,
Hello again my pet! Today marks the end of summer and the beginning of Fall but with this heat down here still prevailing I doubt if fall will ever arrive for me. All the glorious splendor of turning leaves and brisk breezes will be yours and I'm just sorry that I won't be around to enjoy it all with you. There will be no harvest moons to swoon under nor snappy breezes at night that brings out all of ones ambition and zest. Woe is me, only broiling sunshine and stifling heat. I wish that I could be home as the early Fall and spring are my favorite seasons because everything takes on a new freshness and new life. In the other extreme it's also football season and I'll miss another season of it, being content down here to watch a display of high school football. Next year it will be different I know so until then I'll sit reasonably tight and sort of live this year at home in my mind's eye.
The thermometer must be stuck down here as it's still way up in the nineties although it has 'cooled' off to about 96. I'm getting par boiled once again but I'm getting accustomed to it pretty well. Leaving and returning fill me with excitement and nervousness which is contrary to the way of life down here but in a day or two when I've completely composed myself I'll relax and let the heat do as it may. It's a trick that I've developed, to relax and forget everything and just imagine that everything is cool and serene and that's just the way that it turns out to be most of the time. Do you think that maybe I'm going nuts? I'm not just rambling on and on. You see my inspirations at present are few so I'm writing as I think of things and this all adds up to the result (???) I did manage to go swimming for about an hour this afternoon but the exercise didn't seem to do much for my sagging body (beautiful!) It takes time I guess so I'll continue the exercise and see what develops, maybe me. If I don't start exercising soon, by the time I get out I'll be as robust as a grape if you know what I mean. If I spend a couple of hours a day paddling around I'll feel better I guess so I'll see what I can do. This has been a quiet weekend for me as the guy who owns the radio in my room took it down to his girlfriend's house. While I was on leave she broke her leg doing of all things - dancing. That's these Texans for you, if it isn't one thing it's another and they find them all believe me.
We have a new chaplain down here now, another Bostonian. The one that was here when I went on leave went to Washington D.C. to some sort of school. He looked like a smooth operator no offense meant by it I mean. He probably has a few connections in the right places that come in quite handy when you get stuck down here. Good luck to him and may he never stop until he gets to Chelsea or similar parts.
Like a good landlord and homeowner I've been looking thru the papers checking on paints and plumbing etc and I've finally come to the realization that prices are quite high in these needed commodities. Since I have no intention of using them right away I'll just follow them along and hope that they come down a bit by next year when I'll probably be using them on our humble abode called home. I'm hoping for the best anyway.
I've been thinking of you all day long honey which seems to be my favorite hobby all of the time. There isn't much more that I can do under the circumstances but I miss you terribly and I'm waiting patiently to hear from you again by mail. Maybe tomorrow or Tuesday will bring me news, I certainly hope so as I'm running short of inspiration. This has been a collection of my rambling thoughts and I hope that you can make some sense out of it. I love you dearly kid and want to get home to you so very very much. Please take care of yourself.
All of my love to you
God Bless & keep you
Always and always
John xxx”
"22 September 1947
My very dearest darling Ellen,
I received my first letter from you today and I'm truly happy and once again I seem to be back in the groove which makes things go a little easier and comparatively faster. Any thing that pushes time along will be a great help to both of us so I'm hoping for speed and lots of it. I was going to go to the fights downtown but I changed my mind at the last moment as suddenly they didn't appeal to me. My next sport venture I guess will be Friday night when I shall once again take in the high school football game. I haven't set up a definite routine as yet but in a few days things should be all right. All of my old buddies have moved out and are now living in town or at Naval housing so I'm practically by myself once again. I'll have to readjust myself that's all there is to it.
I'm going to send you a newspaper clipping to show you a thing or two about our weather down here. Yesterday it was up to 102 degrees which although a record of some sort is only about five degrees above our usual temperature. Like I keep telling you it's as hot as all hell but since I won't be here forever I can stand it. Right now I have no alternative.
I intended to go swimming tonight but I got sidetracked along the way. Instead I did my washing which has piled up to quite a bundle. It's all done now and over with and it's now drying out on the line. I recalled our terrific task of wallpapering when I picked up the socks I wore that day and found wallpaper and hardened paste all over them. Incidentally the more I think of our wallpapering the more I believe that we should go into business. That will be our last alternative if things get tough around home when I get discharged. If you do all that wallpapering this winter as you planned I'm afraid you won't want to have anything to do with it again. We will see. I was going to say that I wish that I could be home to help you but when I think of it I get so blue and melancholy I feel lousy so I won't say it. You know that I do though as that's all that counts. I'm trying to act nonchalant these days, not seeming to care or worry about anything just to see if the days go by any faster. I'm going to keep it up for a week or so and see what happens. Deep down in my heart though I'm thinking and pining for you all day and all night long. If I keep thinking of home etc the days seem to drag or maybe it's my anxiety to end all of this seemingly wasted time that tends to make things drag. Whatever it is I'm going to try to overcome it if I can.
Friday wasn't too bad as it went by at a fair pace and if it keeps up I won't grouch too much. I guess I wouldn't be human if I didn't complain some but I hope conditions will prevail that will warrant only a minimum amount on my part. A lot of guys are getting discharged these days as there is a letter out authorizing their discharge two months ahead of time. I guess they have more men than they have money appropriated for and they have to get rid of some of them. This two months deal will probably go out of vogue after the first of the year so I am not looking forward to taking advantage of it. If things keep up as they are this place will be empty in no time at all as no replacements are coming in.
I'm still looking for a nice present for you and maybe pay day I'll be able to dig something up that will be quite nice and suitable for you. If and when I do get it I'll rush it right along to you. Okay?
I'll get to your letter now as I'm out of inspiration for the present. By the time you finished that letter I was in Corpus Christi, damn it. I wish I were with you and then I would be completely happy. I've missed you like mad ever since I kissed you 'goodbye' at Park Square Thursday.
When I'm with you everything seems to move along at a good clip but when we are apart everything seems to drag out and the days and nights seem to be never ending. I'm just lovesick and homesick, that's all. I guess when we parted we both felt the same way as I know that I was set almost to bust out in tears as I didn't want to leave at all and if the resultant consequences weren't so terrible and our happiness and future weren't impaired I doubt if I would have left. So late in the game I can't afford to mess up. I'm glad that you made out all right with Miss Mac even though she may have been suspicious of it all. Let all her tirades go in one ear and out the other because if you take all her harangues to heart you will wind up just the same way that she is, an old dried up frustrated crank. Hold out until I get out and then we shall see what is what. If she still moans and groans about it all you can quit and if you want to continue to work you can get a job elsewhere until you are forced to settle down. That house is more important than your job so don't do anything foolish. If the bank is open Thursday night drop in and see if they can arrange the passing while Miss Mac is on vacation. It could possibly be arranged okay. Try it and see what kind of arranges you can make.
I'm sorry that we disappointed Fred but I'll write him a letter explaining about the house and all and just hope that he'll understand. If I had another weekend we could have possibly swung it but as it was time was too short for it. The next time I get home he should be back up in Boston and we can see him then. I'll have to close out for now honey so please take care of yourself. I love you with all of my heart and I really miss you so very much.
All of my love to you
God Bless & keep you
Always and always
John xx”
"24 September 1947
My very dearest darling Ellen,
Today or, I should say tonight, I am very very tired and if all of a sudden this letter comes to an abrupt halt please forgive me. After I finished writing to you last night I was informed of the fact that I had a mid watch, midnite to four in the morning and so as a result I have had only two hours sleep in the interim. It's all so needless but now that it's all over there is no sense in complaining about it all. I was tired and dopey all day although I did have two pleasant moments when the mail arrived this morning and this afternoon leaving me with a grand total of three letters which made me very very happy indeed. I won't be able to answer them all tonight but I'll catch them all tomorrow night after I've had a little sleep. You have been wonderful in all your efforts to cheer me up and I'll never be able to thank you enough for all of the letters that you have sent my way these past half dozen years. I love you honey very very much for all of it and I shall try my best to make it up to you in the future. My first bit of help would be to get out of service and that will ease the strain on us both. Well that will come to be and if days continue as they have been it won't be too long in coming about. Every day if and when you think of it say a little prayer that the days pass by rapidly and I know that they will. This week is already half over and by this time next week the month will be history, As I've told you in my last couple of letters I seem to have a whole new outlook on life since I returned from leave, the reason I guess is that every day is my last as far as the Navy goes and it's a wonderful feeling. I haven't got that waiting attitude that I had before I went home to you and everything seems so very different to me. I only hope that it keeps up and then the time will really fly by for both of us. Maybe it's because I haven't got my old buddies crying on my shoulder telling me their tales of woe that are bound to make anyone feel blue and lonesome.
As I keep writing to you let me know if letters seem to be down in the dumps then I can check around and see what's causing it all. Being separated from you makes me feel blue as it is but as long as everything else is functioning smoothly I'll have no reason for too much complaint. Okay?
It continues to be cool down here and that is helping matters out immeasurably as we are not oppressed and worn out by the heat that prevailed all summer long. If it lasts that will be another contributing factor to my well being.
Incidentally they are changing back to optional uniform Act 15 so send me my blues as soon as you can as the next inspection may call for them and I want to be prepared. You can send my greens when you get around to it. You don't have to be too careful with them as I can get them cleaned and pressed down here when they arrive. Just throw them in a box and send them along. Don't forget now or I'll be right directly behind the eight ball if you do. Okay?
I see that you miss me a lot too honey. It's a cruel world that's keeping us apart but I'm getting consolation in the fact that our being together always isn't too far away and that will certainly be the happiest day in my life. We've been apart so often and so long that at times it seems criminal but the end is fast approaching and then happiness will be ours.
It's been a long uphill struggle but we have managed thru it all. I love you honey with all of the heart and soul that's in me and I will until my dying day. I'm going to close out now and get some much needed sleep. I miss you an awful lot and I'm thinking of you all the time.
All of my love to you
God Bless & keep you
Always and always
John xx”
P.S. Don't forget my blues send them right along - mail-air or anyway."
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"25 September 1947
My very dearest darling Ellen,
Another day has come and gone but a week ago this morning in fact I said 'so long' for awhile. The time has been moving along so fast that I can hardly realize that I have been back one whole week because to be truthful it only seems to be a matter of days. I miss you an awful lot my pet and I can hardly wait until I see you again. When that will be I'm not quite certain as yet but it will be as soon as things straighten out and conditions permit.
Tomorrow ends another work week and I'll be expecting some mail from you. I missed out today but I'll probably make up for it in the morning. I have no complaints as I still have three from yesterday to answer which I shall do presently.
I just returned from the movies and the library where I killed the evening. I saw 'Lured' with Lucille Ball which was a pretty good show. It was a Scotland Yard deal with La Ball the female detective. My time at the library was spent reading over the Boston papers to sort of catch up on current events around the Hub. My interest was centered particularly on the sport pages as usual where I endeavored to pick up a little dope on the football situation, both high school and college. They must have confiscated the Sunday paper as I was unable to dig up any high school scores. The college season opens this weekend I guess so maybe things will liven up around town. Tomorrow night I will venture down town to see the local high school in action once again as it's about the only athletic organization in this burg. For college ball I'd have to venture up to Houston or Austen which would be a terrific strain on my budget. Next year will be my year and I'm looking forward to it very much. Then I will be back into civilization once again and with you as a partner what more could I ask. The weather is continuing to be cool down here thank God and believe it or not I firmly believe that is one of the main reasons why the days seem to be going faster. I hope it stays cool from now on.
Nothing new or anyway exciting has happened down here lately so I guess I had better get around to your letters before I let them pile up. From your mail nothing much of interest seems to be happening around home but that's the way it should be. It seemed funny to me to get back to letter writing too but every time I come into this rom at night I can't go to bed unless I write a letter to you. Last Friday night when I slipped up I was so exhausted that I just couldn't do it so I wrote to you Saturday morning instead. I hope that you didn't mind. I don't think it made any difference in the mail delivery schedule because after Friday afternoon no mail is picked up or delivered until Monday morning. If you hadn't been at work we probably would have gone some place this time also for a few days any way but since it didn't work out that way you had a preview of your future homelife with me! I hope that it didn't appear hard to take as that would never do at all. Once we get settled it won't be too bad for you I hope, I'll try my best not to be difficult or too particular.
Maybe Miss Mac will be on vacation after all when the sale does go thru and you won't have to ask for extra time off. You can keep me posted on all the dope because I'm as anxious to hear about it as you, being away I guess I'm more anxious about it all. Bunny is a very good tenant and I'll feel lucky if he stays around for quite awhile because good tenants who take a real interest in their apartments and surroundings are quite hard to find these days or any day. I hope that we shall always be as fortunate in the future as for as tenants go. His good work saves me a lot of toil also so I'll commence thinking about that too.
With all your dusting and scrubbing you really must have been as busy as a beaver and I regret that I wasn't around to give you some advice and also some willing help. We've been through all of that before so I won't go into it at length. The arguments that we had in dusting and mopping convinced me that I'm out of practice. Next time I'm home and that chore comes my way I hope that I find and you find that I've improved a great deal. That's something to look forward to. I had intentions of going to Confession last Saturday but it slipped my mind. I'll give it another try this week and I'm hoping that I'll be more successful. We shall see what we shall see. Hannie and Norman seem to be hitting it off at a pretty good clip. Someone will talk her out of it I'm afraid, as they always do. I hope she isn't broadcasting his confidential words of affection and that she is telling you all of this in the strictest confidence. If there is anything that shakes a person up, be it man or woman, it's to confide in them intimately and then have the trust and confidence explode in your face. Stuff like that hurts and hurts bad. He seems to be a pretty nice guy and a good sport.
I guess I must be a character when I get hight because I've heard that a few times before from various sources. It's all in a good time I guess and as long as I'm enjoying myself what is the difference. Everyone is a character more or less when they get a few shots of poison south of their throats.
What is your mother going to buy a stove or a sink? From your letter I'm a little confused so straighten me out a bit. If she has her mind set on buying something I won't talk her out of it. After all she is going to live there and use it so if it makes her happy and content let her go to it. I was thinking of it when I was home but buying the house itself was a big enough investment for one leave. Well honey I guess I'll close out for now until tomorrow. I have only answered one letter so I have a long way to go. I miss you terribly honey something awful and I love you with all my heart. Take good care of yourself honey.
All of my love to you
God Bless & keep you
Always and always
John xxxx”
P.S. Don't forget to send me my Blues."
"26 September 1947
My very dearest darling Ellen,
My work week is over and I now have a long lonely weekend ahead of me but if it goes as fast as the work week has gone I won't mind it at all. This week sped along at a fairly rapid pace and I'm looking with expectancy to what the new week will bring my way. I have only one fault to find and that is in the mail department. I didn't receive any mail from you today so therefore missing out these past few days and no mail deliveries over the weekend I've run into a famine I'm afraid. I guess it's just hung up somewhere and I'll get it all Monday. I certainly hope so because if no mail comes forth I'll begin to think you have forgotten me completely and that would never do at all. I just returned from the football game downtown so I'll make this a 'shortie' as it is after midnite. The game itself was good although it was awful one sided. Corpus Christi won 25-0. If they kept their first team in they could have registered sixty points without a strain. These Corpus boys are big tough and fast and their opponents are whipped before they start, or so it seems after seeing the last two games played down here. They run into some stiff competition in a couple of weeks and then their caliber will really be known. I see by the Beverly papers that Watertown High played a 13-13 tie game its first time out. Not Bad! Has St Pat's played a game as yet if so let me know?
They really go in big for the game down here as the high school draws 15,000 fans a game which is quite a bit more than a lot of colleges draw. They have a swell band and a huge cheering section which gives it a collegiate flavor. I have two of your letters to answer so I'll let them go for the weekend, one a night to build up my inspiration. I'm going to close out for now until tomorrow when I shall once again be in full swing. Please take good care of yourself.
All of my love to you
God Bless & keep you
Always
John xxx”
P.S. Don't forget my blues."
I found an envelope dated September 29th, but it had no letter only old square negatives which I have yet to develop.
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