March 30, 1944

 

My dearest Hal,

            Tonight is letter writing night at our house. Sam and I are both writing to you but I am not doing so well mainly because I have to stop every few minutes to “make a copy” for Sam. He is writing better as you can see but it is still right much of a chore for him to write anything.

            He is going to school again, last week he had a cold. I don’t see how he learns anything when he has to miss so much time. Miss Campbell, his teacher, is a very excellent teacher. I am so glad for him to have his start under someone as gifted in handling children as she is. I do not know how much of the work he can do but I hope he can be coached a little this summer and be ready for 2nd grade by next fall. He will not worry about it however since he is so very young and has plenty of time.

            We were terribly distraught when Peggy came home tonight and told us that Peyton and Jessie Fish have received a message saying that Peyton Jr. was fatally wounded in some kind of an accident. He was stationed at a camp somewhere in the south. He was shot, the bullet lodged in his lung. It is a terrible tragedy to raise a fine son and lose him like that. Of course his father and mother left at once hoping they could get there in time to see him, but no one knew if they would be able to make connections and reach him tonight or not.

            I am sure you will treasure this little note from Sam more if only you could have seen his intense concentration on each letter. I wrote exactly what he dictated and then he copied mine. This letter is all his work and no help from any one. He will be anxiously awaiting an answer long before one could possibly arrive so I hope you won’t take too long to write.

            Darling, I hope the news of Japanese troops invading India isn’t going to change our plans in any way; I hope they will get a lickin’ they’ll never forget. The war news this week has been pretty gloomy but I guess we have to have some like that. I’ll be terribly glad to hear that Billy is safe and well. I have him always on my mind these days.

            Take care of yourself, honey, and please come home soon. We miss you more every day that comes.

 

                                                                                    All my love,

                                                                                    Page.