"1 February 1946
My dearest Ellen,
I received another letter from you today and I am truly surprised at the rapid mail delivery we are now receiving out here. Your letter was post marked Jan 25 and I got it today. From what I've heard they are using the B-29's as mail planes and they are flying nonstop from here to the states and back. It's really good service. The last few letters I got from you arrived in about a week. That is faster than they came to me when I was in California. This last letter I got is really a quiz, no fooling! But your going to be my wife in the near future so you should really know my plans for the future, if I have any. As for wanting you when I get home I guess you know by now that I do. As for knowing what is going to happen to us, well God alone knows for sure but we'll do the best we can. You seem to be uncertain about the future, but I wish you wouldn't as I believe our lives are as good as anyone else no matter who they are. After all it depends on the people concerned. I guess we'll manage all right with a little ambition and God's help.
As for my plans for the future, honey, I haven't made up my mind completely but I may stay in service if it's all right with you. I am now a chief and have quite a few benefits and added privileges to go with it. By the time I get home things should be straightened out as far as the Navy is concerned and the two years I have to do to finish my hitch will be a good test for you to see if you would like a life of roaming all over the earth with your man. It isn't bad from the reports these old chiefs give me and for anyone who likes it, it is really an interesting life. When I get home and we get married we can see what can be done. You also said that you would like to get away from Watertown and do some traveling. After we get married we'll see if you like it or not. Who knows, maybe you'll get a case of homesickness and will want to run home without me.
As far as living is concerned I can get a family allowance for rent and with my pay we should do all right and maybe save a little also. As it goes now I'm making $33 bucks a week with room and board not counting my overseas pay which makes it 35 per week. I figure with all the extras I can draw when I am married we should be drawing down about $47 a week which isn't bad at all. All these old timers I know are all retired at about $40 a week and taking life easy in their late forties which isn't bad either.
Please honey don't count too much on a home of our own for awhile as we probably won't stay any place for over a year unless I get overseas and then I'll have to send for you to come on. It won't cost anything as the Navy pays all the bills. Think it over and let me know. I do love (you) so very much and miss you an awful lot. My love
Always
John"
"4 February 1946
My dearest Ellen,
I just returned from the movies after seeing "Stork Club." It was pretty good but I think Barry Fitzgerald stole the show completely. Betty Hutton was good as usual but it's the same thing in every picture with her, torchy songs swaying hips and a heaving bosom. The picture that I recently got a mess of laughs out of was "Men in her Diary" with Peggy Ryan and John Hall. It's really good and Maxi Rosenblum, Alan Mabry, Eric Blore and a few more supply a mess of really good laughable incidents. See it as soon as you can as I really think you'll enjoy it. How are you getting my mail these days? I don't know how Navy mail is going out of here but the Army is having theirs sent out by ship and it's flown from Frisco to the East. I think the Navy is still flying their mail out. I really don't know for sure.
One of our planes crashed today on the take-off but luckily no one was hurt. The plane was a total loss so it saves a lot of work for us. We still haven't had any relief sent out to us as yet so things are still about the same out here. I've had a new proposition offered to me and I think I'll take it up. The last place I was at, Commander Naval Air Bases, are commissioning a new field and the guys I was with before plus all the officers are going to run it. The pilot who will be second in command is putting in a request for my transfer back to his command. He's been trying to get me back since I left but this is his first real good break. I hope I can get released to his command as it will be a good deal for me all around. If I can get down with him I'll be able to save a lot of money and should have a good pile by the time I get home. I sent $400 home last month and will make it $600 more next month which will make it a clean $1000. It ain't bad but with a little break here and there I should be able to save at least 100 or 150 a month with ease. This does not include the $25 bond that I send home to you each month. I'd like to make it while I can and save it while I can so keep your fingers crossed.
By the way how do you like the pictures on the envelopes I've been sending you lately? Just a new idea I had to break the monotony out here. The trouble is I'm running out of ideas. How do you like the one on this envelope? It's a cap I copied out of Maggie and Jigs.
I haven't received any mail from you for a few days but I'm not worrying as it's pretty slow getting here and it usually comes in bunches. I'll close out now with all my love enclosed. I love you dearly and miss you an awful lot. I'll close for now for sure and will again say I love you
Always
John"
I love Barry Fitzgerald and his brother Arthur Shields (who fought in the Irish Uprising and was sent to Frongoch interment camp where Michael Collins was also held) - both brothers were in the classic The Quiet Man film among others. They had been active in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. I think Barry Fitzgerald changed his name because of his brother's involvement in the Uprising - Barry had a civil service job.
Barry Fitzgerald and John Wayne in The Quiet Man
Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way
John Wayne, John Ford, and Arthur Shield - The Quiet Man
I hadn't heard of Men in her Diary, but wouldn't mind seeing it since my father enjoyed it so much.
Jiggs was an immigrant Irishman who became wealthy after hitting a sweepstakes in the cartoon Bringing Up Father - his wife Maggie was a social climber. The cartoon ran for 87 years - 1913 to 2000.
"7 February 1946
My dearest Ellen,
Here I am again and pretty happy at that. I got three letters from you today so you can see the reason for my joy. Please keep up the good work! I am glad that my mail is going thru to you on some sort of a schedule and that you are getting it before it is a month or two months old. The letters I got from you today were postmarked the 24 & 26th of January which isn't bad delivery considering an awful lot of things as far as this mail is concerned. That deal I told you about last night, well I'm going to see about it tomorrow. As it is this outfit is due to fold up completely soon and since we will be scattered hither and yon I guess I'll pick my spot when and if I can. If it comes thru it should be a good deal as I've told you already. So keeping my fingers crossed here's hoping! I'm glad Jim is home in the States at last, maybe now he can settle down and be a family man. I guess the baby won't know what to do after receiving so much female attention while he was away. I guess when he gets home to stay he'll be the happiest guy alive. I hope so anyway.
As far as that old b – – – – McCarty is concerned why doesn't someone of the girls see one of the big shots about her? Nobody could be as miserable as her except an old witch and that word I skipped rhymes with witch. If she gives you any guff when I get home I'll tell her off something fierce you can count on that. I am my own boss out here at long last but I guess I've always been more or less, mostly less.
You seem to be peeved slightly because Peggy and Rita are stepping out and your not, well all I can suggest is that you develop an interest in some sport like I said before like hockey or basketball. Incidentally I see that they are playing in the garden now and that the dear old town of Boston is it last getting basketball conscious. I never played the game myself but I have developed a liking for it since I've been in the service.
Where did Rita get that hubba stuff? Out here we say "Hubba Hubba" to the natives when we want to say hello. I heard it back in the States but only used it playing ball to sort of instill some spirit into the boys. I guess all the service slang is spreading out thru the civilian world now and after they get thru kicking it around no one will understand it.
Well honey I'll close out for now as it's getting sort of late. I missed the movies tonight to write to you and my mom. I love you still with all my heart and miss you an awful lot. I'll close now and send you all my love -
Always
John"
"10 February 1946
My very dearest Ellen
I don't know if this date is correct or not but it's approximately correct. You see we have no calendar around and since there is nothing eventful going on I've lost track of the date. All I know is that it is February and that today or I should say tonite is Saturday. The time is really rolling along out here, thank God and I hope it keeps on rolling. It can't go by fast enough for me. Things are getting drastic out here for the time being we are now suffering a water shortage and a real gasoline shortage. The gasoline shortage I don't mind as I can walk but the water shortage is by now getting nerve racking. Our Quonsets are all up and a few showers are up - with ours well along its way and then this calamity has to happen. The water has been shut off now for two days and will be shut off for an indefinite period to come. I guess we'll have to manage. We did it before so I guess we can do it again. If my letters begin to smell B.O.ish please send along some lifebouy.
A bunch of replacements arrived today but it's just like giving a transfusion to a guy who is by now three quarters dead. They sent us a hundred men but we need about three hundred. I figure most of these guys are inexperienced to so that adds up to make it a glum outlook still. It will help some but if no more arrive it will only prolong our agony that much longer.
That new deal I told you about, well I was talking to that chief I was with at my old spot and everything is set for me to join the outfit except to get a release from my skipper down here. That my girl is the biggest obstacle in the whole affair. This guy is a pretty hardheaded and determined guy and it will take quite a bit of convincing to change his mind. I'll have to pray real good and very hard to get my release. If I don't make out I'm afraid I'll get the foolish opinion that I am deserted by all and sundry.
By the way I forgot to mention I got two letters from you today and one from home. One of yours was from January 23 the other February 1. Reading them I learned Jim hit New York the other was that Jim had gone back to New York after a weekend liberty. Situations like that could only happen after a few letters have been shuffled up in Uncle Sam's mail. Nevertheless I'm really glad and thankful to receive them. I got a letter from Tom and he is going home on the next draft so he should be home some time next month. Lucky Boy ----.
I'm glad you get along with Edwina as she seems to be a pretty rugged character to have for an enemy, near or afar. I guess she'll be the one to dunk Tom's fiery temper and caustic disposition. I've got to close for the time being in order to save a few remarks for tomorrow's letter. I love you an awful lot honey and miss you a lot too. As for getting married right off - you said it.
All my love
Always
John"
"10 February 1946
My very dearest Ellen,
At last I've caught up with the right date so I guess at long last I'm straightened once again. Today is Sunday a day of rest peace and quiet but as for me it was a day of work as usual. I had the duty today and therefore had to make an appearance. There wasn't anything doing so it was more or less a day of sitting around reading and waiting for something to happen. Come to think of it when you sit around waiting for things to happen they seldom do but when you least expect it everything breaks loose. That's the way it is around here. Some days it's extremely quiet but other days there isn't enough hours to go around. I guess that's life in general giving our patience a workout. Needless to say my patience are in fine shape as usual with an occasional spurt of discontent to ease the situation. All in all though I'm getting along all right with no complaints except the universal one out here "I wish I were back home in the States." I guess everyone feels that way but there is nothing that can be done about it so why complain as it doesn't do anyone any good and if you keep on harping on it the guys get peeved. I guess I can stand it just as well as the next guy. As it is I have no other choice. One of the chiefs are going home tomorrow. He is reenlisting for two more years after finishing six years already. For signing over he collected the very colossal sum of 750 dollars. He got $50 for each year of service for a bonus when he signed over plus 300 dollars from the mustering out pay deal in addition to $150 for traveling expenses back to Jersey. To top it off he also gets a 60 day leave and reassignment to duty at God knows where. That's quite a boodle of cash to pick up at one crack. I guess when my six are up and I sign over again I'll pull down about the same I hope. Every little bit helps out.
Now that Jim is home I guess you will hear all about Okinawa and the surrounding area. I don't know how Jim liked it but it isn't bad at all. It's a lot better than a lot of the other islands in the Pacific. Its greatest drawback is the typhoon and rainy seasons. Most of the natives have T.B. so you can see that it isn't a desert. By the way I hope we get a couple of days of that rainy season soon as our water situation is still bad. They turned the water on for about an hour today but that's like throwing a bone to a pack of wolves. The guys ran to the shower coming from all directions. I was out numbered so I have to add another day to my case of B.O. All those replacements I told you about yesterday were transferred today to a squadron of flying boats that fly out here in the Asiatic territory. So you see we are still the same as always. Maybe they will send us relief and maybe not but nevertheless we will carry-on as best we can. The foregoing is strictly navy peptalk. They try to build up morale one day and tear it down the next day. What a life!
I see that you were out to my house again. I'm glad of that. As far as that bashfulness is concerned you'll get over that in time. I guess from talking to my folks you have stumbled onto the fact that I was a bashful lad once upon a time. As you can plainly see I've got over it – I think. As far as my father's ramblings are concerned I can't say that I agree or I disagree. I get wild ideas at times and spout off occasionally as to my future accomplishments. After a little thought about them I change my mind rapidly and on some rare occasions regret the fact that I have ever mentioned them. I am contented for the time being so I won't worry too much and I'll let the future take care of itself. I don't know what Tom will do when he gets home. Things are pretty confusing in the states now so maybe I'm just as well off being out here. I can't think of much more to say except that I love you with all my heart, honest I do. I don't sound very romantic, do I? I do mean it and that's all that counts really. By the way here is another picture. It's a little bit blurred as it was an action candid shot. Some guy snapped it as we were pitching horseshoes. That's another chief with me. You can add this to your collection. I'll see what can be done about that shot in shorts. I'll close out for now so take it easy and slow.
All my love to you
Always
John"
I don't know what happened to all the pictures my father sent home - there are a few coming up but it sounds like many more were lost.
14 February 1946
My very dearest Ellen,
Today is Valentine's Day to my great surprise but as is the usual case it slipped my mind. I didn't purposely neglect you but since there is nothing out here to remind me of the event I didn't give it a thought. That is one more score that I will have to make up to you when we are together again. I wish they had some advertising out here on the radio, in that case maybe I would have remembered.
I have today off as I had the watch last night and what happens to me shouldn't happen to a dog. The watch proceeded very well until 730 last night then it rained like mad. Boy did it come down. It rained this way for an hour or so then quit. As the rain quit the electric power did likewise. We found the trouble to be lack of gas in one of our portable generators. We filled it with gas and tried to crank it but as could be expected in my case it wouldn't go. We cranked and cranked for over an hour and still no go. I went to see the powers that be to really raise stink. If you were around you really would have seen your man in a real fit of rage. Boy was I riled. As I was going up a hill in the jeep they left at my disposal I got stuck in a rut. They have lousy roads out here. I backed and pushed and finally got it free and skidded back down the hill for a new start. When I got to bottom of the hill the jeep stalled on me and I couldn't get it started again. I was mad before but by now my blood was steaming. I saw the powers to be and told the guy my dire story. Not being a guy to get his hands dirty he told me where there were some lamps in the office so I left while the little control I had on myself still controlled me. I borrowed a jeep from another chief and went down to the office to check on the lamps. As you can figure one lamp was broken and couldn't be fixed the other wouldn't go so I sat down lit a cigarette and told everyone in a not to soft voice to go straight to hell. I gave up then and sat in the dark letting my anger subside. You see Ellen your affairs at Gordon Supply are only trifles compared to mine.
We played ball yesterday also and lost and yesterday also while punching the punching bag I hit it a glancing blow and not being on the ball it's spun on its pivot and hit me in the eye. All I got out of it was a slight lump or mouse under the eye. But Ellen thru thick and thin rain or shine I still love you and miss you so much. I guess I need you to nurse me or some thing. I have to wash my clothes now so I'll have to buzz along. I love you with all my heart honest I do.
Your Valentine
John"
"15 February 1946
My dearest Ellen,
Here I am again. I'm swooning this time as the radio has just finished "Rhapsody in Blue" and is now in the middle of 'Baiia"(?) another of my favorites. One consolation with being out here is the fact that we get plenty of music, with no partiality shown. Even hillbilly songs get played up quite a bit. You people in the states don't get the recorded shows that we get. Some of them are pretty raw but the fact is they are all good. No time or date is ever mentioned on any program so we never get to know if it's new or old. Sometimes it gets quite puzzling as in the case of one of the last Cantor shows. He was going on with the show and then introduced for the first time over the air the song "Coming in on a wing and a prayer." That really got us. All in all the radio is giving us a lot of entertainment and we get so we look forward to it. From 10 to 12 PM we have a request program of recordings and since I left the states the bobby sockers must have developed a new language from the way these titles read. One in particular I like is "Groove Juice Special" by Slim & Slim a couple of colored boys. One plays the guitar the other the bass and they both give out with a vocal. They are really good and have quite a few fans out here. One of the chiefs I'm with saw them back in the states and he told me one of them doubles on piano while the other plays the drums and the show they put on brings down the house. When the guy plays the piano he uses his fingers, fist, elbows and once in a while his feet. I'll have to catch their act when I get back. One of the dogs out here, to change the subject had a litter of pups and I put in a bid to get one. They are really cute. There were three black & white and one all white. The black & white ones look as though they had tuxedos on as they have white around the neck chest and feet. One of these will be mine, I hope.
That deal I told you about before fell through I think, as no action is been taken on it. Maybe it was for the best. I'm still helping though.
I have about a dozen pictures of Shanghai that I will send to you as soon as I get an envelope big enough to hold them. I haven't been there yet but one of the guys that were over there took some shots and gave me a set.
As far as future plans are concerned I am sending you a bit of poetry out of the Sat Eve Post that may explain your future status.
I'll close out now Ellen and will write again tomorrow. It's too noisy around here to concentrate so I'll answer your letters in peace and quiet. I love you with all my heart.
Always
John"
The back of the envelope has a list of Irish names - they sound familiar - from an Irish song, but I can't think of the name of it.
I didn't find any sign of that poetry that my father was including.
The song Baiia was from a Disney movie that was part animation and part live action - it was released February 3, 1945 in the US.
"19 February 1946
My very dearest Ellen,
Today I received your Valentine so you see our mail service isn't bad at all, and is improving all the time. Who knows but that someday it may even turn out to be good and then we all will be really happy indeed. I took today off, not on my own choosing but due primarily to the forgetfulness of the chiefs I work with. This morning they forgot to wake me up so yours truly slumbered on peacefully until noon chow time. Out here it is chow time at 11:30 AM. The rest will do me good as after all I am only a growing boy trying to get strong.
By the way honey I am enclosing those shots of Shanghai that I promised you in my previous letter. I don't know too much about Shanghai except the fact that it is a wide open town and that anything goes. I'm going to try to pay it a visit in the spring if it is at all possible and then I'll be more qualified to comment on it. If I ever do get there I'll pick you up a kimono or two as the ones I have seen are really the cats. They have floral designs all over them and really knock your eye out. As for size I'll have to guess what you were when I saw you last and just hope that you haven't expanded much, if you know what I mean. Keep your fingers crossed and if you have time please drop a line as far as size is concerned, mostly your waist. If I can get one I'll try to get one a little larger and you can cut it down.
I'm glad to hear Hannie is home to stay even though she doesn't seem to like it much. I guess she saw too many or too much of the service. She'll quiet down in time. If this telephone strike comes off as we here out here that it will, I guess Hannie will wind up picketing like the others. If they wind up winning the strike she will probably wind up being an old maid as she will be losing money to get married
As far as formulating plans for the future, honey that is out of the question entirely as far as Navy life is concerned. If you marry me you'll be traveling so often and so far and in so many different places that you won't be able to make any plans. In fact you won't need them. By the time I get home things should be pretty well straightened out as far as travel is concerned and then and only then will we know what's what as far as you going around the earths surface with me. I want you with me as I love you with all my heart and miss you something fierce. Secondly when I'm on my own I have a tendency to act up and cut up and then commence to live a pretty wild sort of life altho when added up it only hurts me and no one else. So you see you can act as sort of a shock absorber when I develop a wild streak. I guess by now Jim is fully discharged from the Navy and is home with the family. I certainly hope so as he has the qualities of a good family man whatever those qualities could be I don't know, do you? Do you think I possess them at all? That pup I told you I was going to get is now among the deceased. The mother had complications after having the pups and it affected two of the pups so they had to do away with them.
Two still remain but they are already taken. The two that were killed were both the black & white tuxedo colored ones. One we have are black & white & one pure white. They're being weaned on an eye dropper by a couple of the guys. Well honey I'll have to close now and will write again in a day or two whenever I can get some stamps this is my last one & the post office is out. All my love.
Always
John"
"23 February 1946
My very dearest Ellen,
Well I received your two letters as planned so I guess my deductions are turning out right for a change. It could be that it is just the luck of the Irish after all. I'm very glad that the letters that I send to you cheer you up so very much. That in itself is a very good reason for writing often. From what you say I am doing pretty well as far as writing is concerned but I would write more often except for the fact that I run out of inspiration and when I do get an inspiration I'm about five miles away from any paper or ink. I suppose you wonder why I don't write when I get near my writing equipment. Well it all adds up to the fact that my memory keeps slipping and by the time I get set to write I have a million other unimportant things on my mind. I guess with a little training I'll be able to cope with the situation. By the way honey how do my letters sound to you? Are they interesting vague or dull? Please pass in your honest opinion as I often wonder about it. A lot of things happen out here and when I write about them I don't know if they interest you or not. Please let me know in the affirmative or the negative and I will try to oblige as best I can.
Again I'll comment about my envelope decorations. They are done by yours truly in a special way and with variations. As it is now they are getting better and better and who knows but with a little practice I may be able to turn out a masterpiece.
The only trouble is that I can't get commercial with the stuff or I'll be sued for violating the Patent and Copyright statutes. Plagiarism is what I think they call the offense. It all adds up to putting a twist to another guys talents for your own advantage.
I'm glad you aren't asking me that question "when are you coming home" so often. Boy that certainly got me down in the dumps. I thought that you thought that I could remedy the situation which I know you didn't think at all. You know that I'll get home to you as soon as I possibly can so please don't worry your head about it. I just came across a paragraph in your letter that mentions my technique? Ahem! Ahem! Honestly I never really knew I had one until you just mentioned it. My day is indeed a real success now that I have found out something new. As for your swooning heart flutters and palpitations I'm afraid that I am greatly underpaid or highly overrated by a certain miss whose initials are Ellen Keohane. Sometimes the things you write cause me to blush. Well honey I'll close out for tonight and will write again tomorrow so that when you get the letter you will be happy again. I love you with all my heart and miss you a lot. Take care of yourself and all my love always and
Always
John"
"24 February 1945
My very dearest Ellen,
Well here I am again as promised. I guess you will be receiving both of these letters on the same day as I'll be mailing them both tomorrow. I hope you will be twice as happy with two as you were with one. I haven't got much to say as it's Sunday our day of rest and there isn't anything of interest going on. I was thinking of going down to my old stomping grounds and getting a little buzzed up. Maybe I will before the day is out. The whole trouble is that all the chiefs that I knew down there are all going home or have gone home already. There are still two or three around that I know so I guess I'll still be welcome. When I was down there we threw some pretty wild parties and I miss them once in a while.
The chiefs up here are dead heads and are afraid to let themselves go. I guess it's beneath their dignity. A couple of them are pretty cheap too. I guess we have a conglomeration of all types of personalities. The main idea seems to be 'every man for himself and to hell with the other guy.' I can play that game pretty well but it seems I play a little too rough so they don't pull any of their brainstorms on me.
I'm reading over your letter of February 10 and I see that you still don't like the idea of going to work on Monday morning even though the rest of the world does likewise. I guess about this time I'm in the same spot and am looking forward not willingly but maybe Friday will be payday and that is something to look forward to no matter what the score is.
Cheer up kid things get better every day, or do they? I saw that Weekend at the Waldorf and I too was sadly let down. That Van Johnson isn't a bad Joe but I can't see all the bobby sockers running themselves mad over the guy. I guess maybe it's because I ain't romantic. Walter Pidgeon had a good part in the show and I guess I liked him best of all. The picture was a mess of sad sack plots with an awful letdown as a result when the end crawled around. Things like that can only happen in deah old Hollywood. As far as Hibernian is concerned I guess I discussed that place before. As far as May getting propositioned is concerned well I guess that's a daily occurrence everywhere. They will keep acting like guys in uniform I guess til they find out that they aren't heroes no more. When is Madeline going to come around to the fact that she is no longer a little girl anymore. As far as going to Hibernian when I get back, I can't promise. I don't usually like crowded joints and if they are all jerks as you say then I don't want to meet anymore as I know enough already.
Boy, Hannie must be getting to be quite a rummy especially drinking boilermakers. I can't drink them myself unless I'm half looped by that time I can drink a barrel of anything and then some. Oh well if I ever meet her in a gin mill I'll remember she drinks beer, the shot I'll have for myself.
As for getting married Sunday afternoon would be all right with me unless you wish an elaborate affair. Drop me your ideas. Well honey I'll close out for now and wish you well. I miss you an awful lot and love you with all my heart.
Always
John."
I always liked Van Johnson in old movies - I didn't know he was a heart throb in the 1940s.
February 28, 1946
My very dearest Ellen
I really don't know whether to call this very late Wednesday or very early on Thursday. It all adds up to the simple fact that I am standing a watch out here and it is now 3 AM. So far it hasn't been bad as I've had a few magazines to read and very little to do. As far as sleep goes I'll be able to take care of that all day tomorrow. I still have four more hours to sweat out so my duty is far from over. How is everything back in the states with you? I got a letter from you today, it was the first this week. I guess it is getting tied up along the way. How is my mail progressing back their? From my point of view I am improving a lot. Anything to make you happy. I forgot to bring your letter with me but will answer it as best I can from memory. The most important question seems to be the Veterans allowance that Jim's getting and how it will apply to me. Everything that Jim is getting I get also plus all the advantages under the G.I. Bill of Rights. Personally all it is is another boodle of cash to worry about. On second thought it may be helpful in the long run. By the way you poor civilians must be broke or your running around naked. All the guys that got discharged are sending back letters telling us the price of clothes they get hooked for in the states. They are really crying the blues. In the spring I guess I'll buy my uniforms in Shanghai where they are a lot cheaper. One chief who went home has paid $350 for clothes and still hasn't any extras. Clothes to a chief are his biggest expense so I guess I'll have to hit China for sure. I guess Jim is having a hard time getting readjusted to civilian life what with rationing and stuff to hinder him. I see Curly is going to jail. Boy what a riding I took over that. They had that on the news out hear for three days and then I picked up the time magazine and spot hizzoner on p. 6 with the complete story. I guess everyone thinks that the Bostonians are crazy. Maybe they are right I don't know. The news also states that legislation is in the making to raise the pay of servicemen. One announcement said it would be doubled another said 50% while a third said 20%. That is an awful hike from $21 a month and $50 a month. If they ever double the pay they will have to use a tank or a ton of dynamite to get me out of the outfit.
Well honey my eyes are getting kind of blurry as you can see by the writing so before I go to sleep which is strictly taboo I'll sign off for a while. I love you with all my heart kid and miss you
Always
John
P.S. Here's the history of Okinawa - I'll dig you up a map if possible."
I never saw the history of Okinawa - it's among the missing pictures I guess.
James Michael Curley was a well known politician in Boston. The National Governors Association website provides the following:
"JAMES M. CURLEY, the fifty-fifth governor of Massachusetts, was born in Boston, Massachusetts on November 20, 1874. His education was limited and attained in the public schools of his native state. After working in the insurance and real estate industries, Curley entered into a political career. He served as a member of the Boston Common Council from 1900 to 1901, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1911 to 1914, and was a three-term mayor of Boston, serving from 1914 to 1918, 1922 to 1926 and 1930 to 1934. Curley won election to the Massachusetts governorship in 1934, and was sworn into office on January 3, 1935. During his tenure, he made an effort to ease the damaging effects that had resulted from the Great Depression. Bank and utility rates were regulated; old age pension laws were advanced; public work projects were improved; and forest conservation was promoted. After completing his term, Curley left office on January 7, 1937. He continued to stay politically active, serving again in Congress from 1943 to 1947. He also was reelected mayor of Boston, serving from 1946 to 1950. In 1947 Curley was found guilty of mail fraud and served five months in prison. Governor James M. Curley passed away on November 12, 1958, and was buried in the Old Calvary Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts."
I mentioned previously that Mayor Curley got a job for my grandmother's widowed sister, Mary Moriarty Walsh at the L Street Bath House during the Depression.
Jiggs was an immigrant Irishman who became wealthy after hitting a sweepstakes in the cartoon Bringing Up Father - his wife was social climbing Maggie. The cartoon ran for 87 years - 1913 to 2000.
