Letter #2
At Sea
May 29, 1942
Dearest,
Well I’m sitting down to write to you again. This time I think I’ll leave the letter undated and add a little bit each day or so until we land so I can mail it then. I have your picture on the table in front of me as I write and it seems as though I am talking to you at the end of my day’s work as we used to do – asking you what you have done today and telling you of the interesting things I had done.
Dearest, I live only for that day that we may be together again. I shall work my hardest and do my best to get this war over with as soon as possible so that day will not be to far off.
We have been very fortunate so far – no trouble at all. We ran into some fog one day but that’s all gone now. Life on board is not very pressing. I have duty with another captain in charge of a section of men. We have to see that they are fed properly, that they keep their section clean and orderly during that day and for inspection each morning. It is only a temporary detail while on ship. All the officers have various details and duties assigned to them to do on board.
We have dinner at one P.M., supper at 7:30 and breakfast at 8:30 A.M. so it is a gentlemen’s life. The food is excellent and by far too much – soup, fish course, meat courses, dessert, cheese crackers, coffee or tea, etc.
There are practice drills each day of course as on all ships. I take a walk each day of a mile also for exercise, play cards (not poker, thank you, though), chess, checkers, and visit with the various men.
Sunday I went to church on board at 10:00 A.M. It was short but made me feel much better to have attended. It was a sort of morning prayer service it made me think of those last two Sundays we went together at Father B.’s church. I shall always remember his good sermons and especially that last one about the second mile of doing our part beyond what we were required to do. There was an article in April “Reader’s Digest” along those same lines, which I thought was very good. “These Things Shall Not Pass away.” was the name.
I glanced at your picture now. It seems to say to me all the things you used to say and to look at me in all the ways you used to look. It is a wonderful picture, dear, but not nearly as much so as the person it was taken of.
Don’t forget our prayer to each other at 3:00 P.M. your time dear. If you have a daylight time, dear, on top of the war time, you had better go by 3 P.M. on regular war time.
I will write some more later.
Another day and a few more lines, dear. We are still having a very good trip. Inspection of our section is just completed so I thought I would write you a little more. There isn’t much to do aboard after inspection in the mourning. I have been reading quite a lot. I Finished April’s “Reader’s Digest” and am now reading some short detective stories in a book “The Pocket Book of Great Detectives”- one of the 254 pocket books. It has some really good stories. There was one on Lord Peter Winsey. You remember S. and K. had some about that summer we were at the lake with them.
I would like to be able to go up there again some summer as we had such a good time then. Maybe we can do it the first summer after I come back. Tell K. and S. that that will have to be a standing date for the four of us.
By
the way, did you ever hear from D. S. yet about the house? If not you had
better write him as it is high time they got that business settled and we
receive our money. Also are the C.’s going to take
our
I wrote you in my first letter, but will tell you again in case you don’t get the first one, that I am going to number my letters and you can do so too. As I wrote, one of the officers in my stateroom is on the censor board and said he thought it would be all right to number our letters.
Guess I’ll close this letter and start a new one to you later, dear, so that if one gets lost you may get the other. I’m feeling as good as ever, and hope you are also. All my love and kisses to you darling. Write me soon.
Love,