My father had gone on leave the beginning of July - his letters to my mother resumed the end of July.
"26 July 1947
My very very dearest darling Ellen,
After being with you for so long it seems quite strange to find us separated once again. I'm hoping and praying that time flies by for us and that our next meeting will not be too long in arriving. From the very depths of my heart I want you to know that I have never enjoyed any leave so much as I enjoyed the one just passed. Never having any doubt to the contrary I am thoroughly and firmly convinced that my place is with you, always and always. From the moment that I kissed you goodbye at the airport I've had a lumpy sickly feeling of loneliness that nothing seems to cure. I miss you so very terribly. I shouldn't work myself up I know as I can't do anything about it but I do miss you with all my heart and soul. I've been away from you now for less than a day and already I'm almost nuts from it all. Tomorrow being Sunday and only going to Church to look forward to I'll probably wind up as jittery as can be. With only a year more to the realization of all my fond hopes and dreams I can find some consolation but right now today it seems to be so endless. Once I get back into the monotonous grind of things around here I guess I'll feel a lot better. It's just the inactivity that causes me to think of nothing but you. My room mate is on leave and he has locked up his room so my one source of diversion is temporarily out of my reach. He is due back in a couple of weeks. A radio is terrific piece of amusement down here when diversions are at a minimum. If worse comes to worst I'll be forced to purchase one of my own. I will eventually anyway. Why does everything have to interfere with our happiness? Just when things were going so beautifully for us both something comes along to set it all akimbo. I'm just waiting for the hour and the day when I can return to you and tell you that I'm home to stay with no date of separation to look for to spoil it all for us. Being with you and home is like heaven and I promise you it will always be that way come what may, because this hellish life has taught appreciation if (it) has taught me nothing else. I've never been as happy in years as I have been for the past three weeks. You are all that matters to me. When you are near me I can be happy gay and carefree but now I feel glum dismal and terribly lonely.
Please forgive me if this letter doesn't cheer you up but I'm speaking from my heart and I can't tell you anything different. I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm going to close out for now until tomorrow when I hope I feel a little better. I love you and miss you desperately honey believe me.
All of my love to you
God Bless & keep you
Always & always
John x"
"27 July 1947
My very dearest darling Ellen,
How is my blushing bride tonight? This day passed quite uneventful for me although it didn't drop too much. I had very good intentions of going swimming but after sitting in the sun for about twenty minutes and noticing the scorching effects on my anatomy I decided against it. I layed down and rested all afternoon. I guess I still have a case of nerves as I kept getting up smoking all the while with an occasional quick trip to the coke machine to quench my thirst. It must be the after affects of all of the tea that I drank while I was home. I'll be glad to get back to work tomorrow maybe I can shake my nervousness and loneliness thru activity. I miss you terribly. I saw Ester Williams in 'Fiesta' last night and Clark Gable in 'The Hucksters' tonight. I guess they were good but I couldn't really concentrate on them thinking so much about you. In Fiesta they did a lot of Spanish dances which I liked an awful lot. It reminded me of the night at Allen 'A' when I wore myself out. It was really wonderful to get away by ourselves and I know when we can be together always that it will be much more wonderful. If time will set a fast steady pace it won't be too long until everything will be wonderful once again. I miss you and everyone all of the time at meals during my leisure (h)ours and I miss you terribly especially when I sleep, not from a sexual point of view believe me but it's your presence that is missing. My whole heart and soul is wrapped up in you and being away hurts.
Hearing the radio and juke boxes blaring out the songs that we sang and danced to sets me to dreaming and thinking of all the fun and happiness and pleasure that I am missing while we are apart. It's awful.
The status of the station down here hasn't changed much but as it was when I left there are a lot of rumors floating around. I guess the Navy wants to close down but political pressure in Washington by these loud mouthed Texas politicians is keeping it a controversial matter. It's on its last legs. I hope that its final disposition will be revealed in the very near future and that it will be possible for me to head East for a change.
I haven't told you about my plane trip as yet so here goes. As you know I reached New York all right and after calling you I visited the bar and had V.O. and soda. Not having you as a partner and being blue and lonely it tasted lousy. I boarded the plane at midnite and we headed for Washington. I remember landing but I guess Morpheus caught up with me and I don't remember a thing until we hit Dallas Tex where I changed planes. From Dallas we hit Austin Waco and San Antonio thence to Corpus Christi. After looking over schedules I realized that the last plane leaves Dallas for Corpus at 5 pm daily so in order to make it I was forced to sacrifice those precious hours that could have been spent with you. Why couldn't they have found a more suitable spot for this airplane pasture.
I'm going to close out for now honey and hit the sack. Work day tomorrow. I love you with all my heart and soul and I miss you more than I miss anything on earth.
All of my love to you
God Bless & keep you
Always & alway
John x"
"28 July 1947
My very dearest darling Ellen,
I have completed my first work day since my leave expired and all I have is complaints. It's rotten to say the least. When I left things were moving slowly and there was a little bit to do but now things have come to a complete halt and no one is doing anything. Everyone is sweating out the final disposition of the base. The majority, of which I am one, hope that it closes up tighter than a drum but the local talent that are firmly settled pray that it remains open. By Wednesday we should have some kind of dope one way or the other. Some big shot Admiral gave the place a going over this morning and then left for Washington for a conference. Here's hoping that I may be free from Texas shortly. I'm beginning to settle down after the leave and I'm not quite as nervous as I have been for the past couple of days. I'm beginning to realize that I have a year to do and nothing can stop it. With God's help and a little quickening on the part of time I think I'll survive it. Once the days commence to roll along and weeks begin to pile up behind me everything will be all right. At least I hope so. In this racket you can never tell.
I miss you like mad honey just as I always do. Every time I leave you I miss you more and more and more. If I have to say goodbye to you many more times I'm afraid that I'm liable to go mad. Honest. When I kissed you goodbye and boarded the plane I could feel tears in my eyes and on my cheeks. It's at times like that that I want to pull my hair out for no reason at all. Pretty soon our partings will be a thing of the past and we can live together as married people forever and ever. It will be a dream and a wish come true as I've told you time and time again and when it's finally come to be you will have the happiest guy in the world on your hands I'm afraid. I haven't sung or whistled a tune since I've come back nor have I cracked a smile for that matter. I guess I'm just in a bad way that's all. As the days pass by my smile will appear and a song will eventually come to my lips as happy days will be just around the corner for both of us. I was snooping around today inquiring about leaves for Christmas or thereabouts but I got shooed off. It's too far away for one thing and no one knows what's going to take place between now and then. I'll keep trying though. If I can't get home for the Christmas holidays I'll be home for our first anniversary for sure. I should be getting mail from you in a day or two as I really need it now to boost up my morale.
As I told you before I left I'm counting on you writing to me every day and since you promised I'll be expecting a letter a day. Please hurry them along.
I'm running out of words about now but I'll write again tomorrow night. Please take care. I love you with all of my heart and soul and I miss you very very much.
All of my love to you
God Bless & keep you
Always
John x"
"My very dearest darling Ellen, 29 July 1947
Today was indeed a great and really a glorious day as I received two letters from you, the first letters since I returned from my leave. It is wonderful to be in contact with you once again even though it is thru the medium of the mails because being out of contact is like being dead or forever lost. You will probably never realize how much your mail means to me and how deeply I appreciate every letter be it long or short as to me they seem and they are in an indirect way a part of you.
With things in a mixup down here and monotony running rampant your letters will be a steadying force to keep me from going nuts completely. You are wonderful if I have never told you before I'll say it once again, you are wonderful. Today turned out to be another common ordinary day in this section of the world. The heat about noon was almost unbearable and with the mugginess that constantly prevails your poor boy perspired quite freely. I guess I'll have to get readjusted after my leave. Sleeping isn't bad as it tends to get cool during the night and upon occasion, as last night we are cooled a bit by an infrequent shower of rain. During the night they are a blessing but during the day they are a curse as they make a terrific mess of mud and fail to cool the place off at all. I should break this letter into paragraphs but I'll ramble on & on.
This base is definitely on its last legs and my guess is that it will close completely by the end of the year. All outlying activities including the radar school will close the first of September. Political pressure will keep this place open a few months longer. The Radar School is moving to Memphis while the other activities are due to go to Pensacola and Jacksonville. As you already know it is welcome news to me to see it all come about because I absolutely hate despise and detest this whole place. I guess I would say the same about any place or any thing that keeps us separated but if I could get somewhere that I could be reasonably close to you I wouldn't mind so much. Maybe by the first of the year things will change for the better. I certainly hope so. All of my buddies are on leave and they aren't due back until next week sometime so things are pretty dull. I'm still taking my usual tour every day to kill time and it helps out some. These clocks down here are the slowest on earth believe me, or maybe it's my nerves.
I have been meaning to write to your Aunt Nellie and Fred but I haven't got to it yet. Maybe tomorrow if all goes well. With all their crazy nonsense and ladders I still think they are swell people. If we ever go to Falmouth again, and I hope that we do, instead of snooping and racing around like mad we will walk right up the driveway and into the house to them. They will probably drop dead but we will prove our point. Okay? I suppose that you still haven't heard from your Aunt Hannah nor learned her new address not that you would be very interested but I'm asking purely out of curiosity. I thought maybe the phone call Mae put thru would bear fruit.
How is your mother feeling now? I certainly hope that she doesn't have any recurrences after the tough day she put in last week. It must have been something that she ate or the heat one of the two. I think that I forgot to thank her when she was leaving for all the things she did for me. Please thank her very very much because I do appreciate every thing.
I guess I had better get to your letters before I forget. We seem to both agree that we had a wonderful time at home together but my only regret is, and yours is probably the same, that it all came to an end much much too soon. It won't be long though until we shall be together once again for good and then everything will be really complete and perfect. I'm awaiting your birthday anxiously as that will be the last turn in the road and I'll be heading down the stretch for home. Sometimes it seems quite unbelievable that these years have gone behind us but since we have so very many years ahead I'm not looking back but ahead when I'll do my best to make you happy and comfortable always. Then I shall be continually singing and laughing in the bathroom and out. All the things I did for you add up to only a tiny bit of what I'd like to do for you. I should have done those things a long time ago. As far as being ashamed of the way you kept your room when I was home, forget it. We didn't have time to think about such trivial things.
As for your joke about keeping me in suspense it seems that we are both in the same boat now. Please keep me posted. I guess maybe our strenuous 'struggles' thru you off schedule for a few days. Please don't worry about it. Nature will take its course. Well honey I have answered one of your letters and I'll answer the other tomorrow. Okay? I miss you like mad kid, honest. I'm looking forward patiently if possible to October when I shall see you once again. I'm going to close out for now until tomorrow. I love you with all of my heart and soul and I miss you desperately. Take care.
All of my love to you
God Bless & keep you
Always & always
John xxx"
P.S. unk or is it 'ungh' "
"30 July 1947
My very dearest darling Ellen,
This week is half over and I'm still missing you quite franticly. Time is moving I'll say that much but it isn't moving quite fast enough for me. I guess it never really does except when I'm with you and then it moves much too quickly. You are indeed worth waiting for so I guess I have no alternative but to stand pat twiddling my thumbs and let time roll along its merry way. I'm resigned to fate I guess. I saw about a transfer today but it's quite useless I've been informed. The only possible way that I can get out of here is to have two years shore duty or wind up behind the 8-ball. Since I have only four months shore duty to my credit since I came back and not wanting to get behind the eight ball I'm going to be forced to remain in this God forsaken place until it closes or my time runs out. Maybe it's all for the best so if you can stand it I guess I can too. It seems quite long, a year that is but it should go along pretty fast for me once I really get knuckled down to business. I'm still sort of nervous and homesick after the leave and when it wears off I'll be all right. time alone will tell.
I got a letter from you today in addition to your quite unexpected telegram. Thank you for letting me know as now we can both breathe a little easier and the suspense is over for a while. I sent a reply telegram to you at noon, about an hour or so after I received your wire. I had two old adages to choose from; one you have on the telegram the other is - quote - It is better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all - unquote.
Tonight I caught up on all of my washing and tomorrow night if all goes well I'll give your iron a work out on three or four shirts & pants. Standby for a comment, favorable or unfavorable. It's been terribly hot and about noon the sun is almost unbearable. This would be the place for you to get a tan. You could get brown clear thru your whole body. I get colored clear thru my shirt its so strong. Pretty soon the fall will be here and everything will cool off I hope.
How are everyone at home these days? It seems like weeks since I've seen you all and here it is still only a matter of days. Give my best to everyone.
I guess I had better answer your letter now. I'm sorry to hear that the 'curse' caused you so much pain and inconvenience this time. Are those terrific cramps and cold sweats natural? If not go see a doctor but quick as I don't want anything to happen to you ever. Women and their physical ailments I don't know too much about so if anything is out of the ordinary promise me that you will see a doctor. As for babies kid I guess we will be one of those couples who will have a lot of night work to perform in order to produce results. I was quite certain that nothing would materialize out of our relations during my leave but you never can tell. Your idea for waiting until I'm discharged is best I guess so we'll wait. As for the clothes that you found hold onto them and I'll get them when I get home again. I don't need them down here at all.
The way you describe the rain storm it sounds like a Texas cloud burst. The time has come for me to say ado for tonight so please take good care of yourself. I love you madly and I miss you so very desperately.
All of my love to you
God Bless and keep you
Always & always
John xxx"
"31 July 1947
My very dearest darling Ellen,
I just finished a short letter to your Aunt Nellie and Fred and with that obligation taken care of I'm about set to write to you before I go to bed. Today was another day of nothing to do with lots of sunshine and heat. I guess that's all that can really be said of this place. I had something to look forward to early in the day. Today turned out to be pay day and I was at the function with both hands outstretched. Following my self ordained policy of 'no money means no trouble' I deposited the greater portion of it in the bank. I opened up a new account at a new bank so in a few days I'll have to coordinate my savings in one place or the other. I kept out just enough to get by on. As I've told you before all the money that I spend down here doesn't give me any enjoyment or pleasure so I'm saving it until I can be with you and then we will both have a good time on it. With a few more dollars I'll have enough for a round trip ticket back home which isn't too bad a thing to save for. I'm looking forward to my next leave already.
Well today finishes the month of July thank God and a new month begins tomorrow. I'll be glad when I can say that it will be the month or holiday that I'll be spending in this mans Navy. I have six weeks to go before I'll be able to say it and that doesn't seem too far away come to think of it. Right now I'm looking forward to Labor Day and to the other holidays that follow because when they commence to click along I'll know that time is moving past.
I got a letter from you today plus the pictures. Ah sweet sweet memories. I also got my application for Mass State Bonus. I'll take care of the Bonus later but right now I"ll get to answering your letter. Your letters cheer me beyond all words of description honey so please don't fail me by not writing. Sometimes it gets dull and inspirations seem few but at times like that just write what's in your heart. I hope Uncle Sam delivers my mail to you soon. By now it should be all caught up with you. I hope so anyway as I've been writing to you since Saturday night. Did you get my telegram yet? I just want a sample of your reaction. I must say that all the time you spent thinking about what to say in your wire bore fruit because if I didn't understand the situation I'd be at a complete loss as to what you meant. Good work dear girl, I'll make a code expert out of you yet. Frigid Bridget or no Frigid Bridget I miss you something awful and with nothing else to take my mind from you I'm in a fog thinking about you the greater part of the time. Since you are coming down in October I'll set my sights on that month. It's only ten weeks away which shouldn't be too long in passing. This will be the first time that you will ever come to me instead of me to you and when you leave, something I shouldn't talk about it will be the first time that you will be going and I remaining. Our positions will be reversed for a change.
I'm glad Rita is having a good time in Maine as between colds and dishes she has earned it. She will make out all right. She'll be envied by all her cronies.
I'd give anything to be at Gordon Supply at noon and at 5:30 to pick you up in fact I'd give anything to be with you. I should have had dinner dates with you every day as I wasn't doing anything else worth while. Next time that I'm home we'll see about it. Any more dope on Madeline's wedding? If that bank loan was disapproved as I hope they will feel a little down in the dumps but it will probably be the happiest and most fortunate day in both of their young lives. They could probably have swung the deal for a couple of years but then their real miseries would have begun in earnest. I hope that our judgment never gets quite that rash. We will hold on to what we have until the right opportunity presents itself and then we will take our step. We are still young and have plenty of time to look around for what we want. Okay?
I'll get to the pictures now. They came out swell honey and you are as beautiful as ever I saw you. You seem more relaxed and at ease. They are swell. One full length shot of you in the water has your rib outstanding. If I didn't know you better I'd swear that something was out of place, if you know what I mean. In your Gordon Supply gown you look swell so refreshed and happy. As for myself I can't say much. I came out and that's about all. One shot of me sitting down on that stump gives me the creeps. If I didn't know that it was me I'd swear that it was something that had crawled in. It must have been the results of too much love life or something. All in all they came out very good. Instead of keeping any I'm going to send them back to you a few at a time. My wallet is loaded now and since you are going to put them in your scrapbook I'll be able to see them when I want them.
Well I guess that I've run out of words for the time being so I guess I had better sign off for now. I miss you so very very much honey that I'm afraid I'll go nuts eventually. I love you tremendously.
All of my love to you
God Bless & keep you
Always & always
John xxx"
I found this letter with my father's papers.
"The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Treasury Department
Boston
Bonus Division
16 Ashburton Place
Boston 8, Massachusetts
Dear Serviceman,
The Massachusetts Bonus Law has been amended authorizing payment of the bonus to persons remaining on active service who have not received a discharge or release from the service.
The enclosed form, in lieu of a discharge certificate, must be completed by your Commanding Officer.
Forward your completed bonus application and residence questionnaire together with Commanding Officer's statement to this office for processing.
To be eligible for this bonus, veterans must have had domicile in this state for a period of six (6) months immediately prior to their entry into the service.
Yours very truly,
Geo F. Killgoar
George F. Killgoar
Deputy State Treasurer
Enclosures:
Application
Residence questionnaire
Certificate in lieu of Discharge"
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