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242 Navy #3247 (Mil Govt) FPO San Francisco Monday 4 June 11:45 am Hi darling Just to round out the current session of letter writing. I arranged (specially for you) another brief stay in sick bay. After looking at my ear this morning (it's my left ear, by the way, and doesn't much impair my hearing). Dr. Cyrano said, “Ok, that's improving - but it's bad enough so that I think you had better go to bed for the day. The abscess has broken and with rest and four-hourly application your ear should clear up much more quickly. You won't be able to work anyway, because the pain will continue for awhile and get more intense…” The applications are more methiolate; I don't know what strength, but I'm quite sure it's strong enough. I'm in the same place as last time - the staff ward, which occupies about 3/5 of a Quonset (the rest is a pharmacy) and has 3 beds and 1 massage table. The same (enlisted man) masseur I watched at work last time, a registered chiropractor who works for the Chicago Bears football team, was busy this morning on a 16-yr-old girl who lost her left arm above the elbow and whose right leg, besides bearing an ugly six-inch square wound caused by shrapnel (and looking like burns) on the side, is paralyzed. Slowly but surely he is helping her get back the use of that leg. “Gee, I really love this [pg 2] work,” he says. “I’d like to spend full time on it and to hell with that stickin' sanitation” [which he supervises in the camp at large, under one of the doctors.] A little while ago before my lunch was brought in, two young nurses who had come to pick up the litter on which the paralyzed girl is carried recognized me and hung around a little awkwardly for about ten minutes just to talk. Much of our conversation was conducted in the English which the nurses have been learning as a separate group from the school. “You no go school today, no?” I laughed and said, “Doctor say no can go school today. Bad ear. Maybe go tomorrow.” Etc. One of them was rather cute. The nurses as a group are considerably freer than other girls around camp (excepting the 40 or 50 jurors) because of their association and kidding around with American corpsmen. I can see that I'm not going to get very far with a letter at any one stretch. My ear is pounding again and I feel generally a little tired from the effort of sitting up and concentrating. Guess I'll snooze for a little while - I had some delicious and very soothing dreams about you a little while [pg 3] ago. They were not sexy in feeling, but precious. They were shadowy at times nuances of feeling rather than images, but I remember a picture of my arriving in San Francisco and meeting you - both of us knew in advance I was to be home only a few days, yet there was no strain and only a quiet joy at our being together again. A natural, everyday love pervaded our behavior, and the mutiny was almost as though I was returning from a weekend business trip; we both knew (in the dream) that each had suffered a long loneliness, but that was of no consequence for this moment. The dream is obviously wishful thinking, tho perhaps of a maturer sort, and in repeating it, darling, I'm not trying to hold us to any impossible standards for when I do get home! 4 pm Just slept for about 3 hours. No more dreams, but it was a very refreshing sleep and my ear feels better. In the mail waiting for me on my return was a good letter from M and F, who told of going to Aunt Beth's for dinner and the evening with Muz, Helen and Jean also present. I was pleased to hear it. Mother feared that she and Father may have stayed too late - she doesn't know Aunt Beth, who is happiest when surrounded by a circle of people (especially those over whom she enjoys the advantage of seniority) I guess she was [pg 4] in her glory. Darling, I loved the little card of Wendy with her hair done up, washing the back of a hypothetical baby brother. #275 (Friday May 25) “very shiny shells that looks as if they were polished” - are they about this size, or about the size of a chicken egg? In either case dark brown and very glossy? I don't know their names but have seen a number of them. The big ones came mainly from other parts of the Pacific; I watched a diver bring about 20 of the little ones up from the bottom that day I went fishing and was promised some by one of the enlisted men stationed at the fishing beach; but I haven't seen him since nor been down there. I've seen lots of punctured helmets (they don't interest me at all and various weapons - Charlie of course had his samurai sword - I’d like to have one of those because however battered, they’re works of art, Johnny Reif has an automatic modeled after the German Luege-) can't get very excited over any of these things. I did pick up the pilot's wheel-stick of a wrecked B24 to send to Jamie Lecke when I get around to it; after the tragic news of your clipping I'll try to get if off to him soon. Too bad about the Mulligans little boy, but as you say there's still lots of time. I can't figure out why you’re so confident that I'll see Chuck, however glad I’d be to. Out here you travel whichever way [pg 5] your transportation happens to take you, and seldom have time anyhow to leave ship or terminal to visit around. It was only because I’d been here as long as I had and was about due for a trip anyhow that I got to see Walter. You can't leave this or any island, regardless of the distance you’re going, without special orders made up by the CO and endorsed at Island Command, when you go someplace, you have to present your orders at the command office of that place. There are Officer's here who, because of the nature of their services (like Legal Officer), have not left the island since they got here almost a year ago. With exceptions in the case of our units, [?] time of M.G. (which has reason to travel inter-island, for the purpose of comparing organizational procedure) is much more so of other units, though some commanding officers will allow trips to visit relatives whom one hasn't seen in a long time. So I don't really expect to see Chuck at all, but I hope he does come this way. #274 - the clippings about Mt. Luke, which was a shock and the enlargement of you. I was awfully glad to get those two pictures that are now in the little plastic case, Sweetie. I'm not crazy about the bow (I've always thought them too ‘precious’), but they’re awfully good pictures of you. I was interested to see how well the slipover fitted. Would you mind [pg 6] awfully much getting another tiny bottle of perfume for me to give the Moons? It would help ease any ill will caused by our firing him as principal and at the same serve to thank them. Tues 5 June 7:30 am Morning, sweetie Slept right thru the night, and my ear feels much better this morning. Have just had breakfast of sliced pears, oatmeal and sweet roll, shaved and combed my hair, and am waiting for the doctor. I can't get this into this morning’s mail, will answer a few more of your letters before starting a new one. #273 - I can just see Wendy with thumb in mouth smiling roguishly as she nestles down beside you in the morning - are we going to have a hard time breaking her of that early morning visit when I get home, or won't we try to? Honey, those bamboo ‘gadgets’ which you fastened by the front door are flower vases - what else did you think they might be? It never occurred to me that you, with your love of flowers and things to put them in, wouldn't catch on right away. They were, as I think I mentioned, made by Engineering Office's office boy ‘Junior’ a bright and clever Japanese boy of about 16, and were given to me by Brownie after I’d admired a pair of his. Brownie has since left, more than a month ago, and I think is now building airfields on Iwo. Love hearing about Wendy at the beach, and her ‘small conquests’ No more guilty conscience about the Mothers Day Special, darling - just a general inclination now to be a little more moderate - [pg 7] for awhile, anyhow. The artichoke salad sounds good. In fact, any salad sounds good. We do get a certain amt of uncooked green stuff, but not an awful lot. I don't know what the story is on Japan except that all MG will be under the Army. That doesn't mean that all MG personnel will be Army, but probably ¾ of them will. I'm awfully glad you like the lighter, darling - In time the finish will scratch and get messy, but I wanted you to have it while it was new. #272 - Thanks for the letter from Doug (but what's his address?) - odd that he should be so close by again. I'll bet he is having a good time in [R?] and I doubt that slot machines are the half of it, unless you leave out the “machine”. The place is supposed to be full of gay divorcees who are only too happy to oblige (or to be obliged), if you know what I mean. Wouldn't it be swell if he did get assigned to the 4th ferrying command at Memphis? I was awfully glad to hear that he’d got with ferrying, and I'm sure Muz is doubly so. Many B-24 personnel, I am told, are being trained for B29s now and will of course be used in this theater. I got the little picture of Bobby (or is it Dickie) standing behind Wendy in her kimono. I'm sorry the garment doesn't show up better in pictures, but it does look as though it must be awfully cute. Will you take and send me snapshots of (a) Helen and Bobby (b) Gerry and Dickie? When you speak of tiny shells to mount on a pair of tortoise shell combs, do you mean white ones, or what? and [pg 8] how big? - please draw picture. I don't get to the beach very often but next time I do I'll look. The strawberry jam sounds yummy. I wish you could send Wendy to me for a visit! I’d put her up in the Orphanage-Day nursery, where she’d be well taken care of, and spend all my spare time with her. Or I guess maybe I’d keep her in my quarters and have one of the nicer girls come in to stay with her. Dr. Cyrano has been in, says I must stay here today but may leave tomorrow morning. Am still getting the methiolate every four hours, and my ear and surrounding glands are still swollen, but it doesn't hurt nearly as much this morning. Two days of inactivity like this, especially after I've caught up on sleep is about all I could stand. #271: What a nice windfall, the $100 for our china! I had no idea Mother could get that much for her service plates. I'm sure you feel good about having that much of a balance in the savings account. Yes, darling, I do think it would be awfully nice to give Mother some sort of special present. I've thought and thought, but the only appropriate thing that I could get out here would be a set of 6 or 8 place and 1 center table mats with C on them - have already sent 6 coasters, just the other day. What do you think? The pink gabardine dress which “really does things” for you sounds luscious - tho I'm afraid I'm thinking less about [pg 9] the dress than about you when I say that. Am waiting to hear all about Wendy's birthday, and about how the picture-taking came off the next day. #270 - Yes, the lighter is what Brownie gave me for you. He's not here to thank now, as I've said, but I did thank him 2 or 3 times before he left. The geta are not too huge to wear - I've been wearing a plain pair (no finish) for some three months now; the same size, they’re about ½-3/4” short in front. I like them much better than other types of shower clogs. Did Ruth Ebling ever come west at all? Fun having a Father's Day box to look forward to. My dearly beloved, I want so much to come home to you, and in this prolonged interim between periods of being absorbed in my work here it's double hard to realize that all I have to do is take the initiative, and the chances are ten to one that I’d be home in a couple of months. But there are so many factors to consider (my 18 mos. would start all over again, for one thing), and as I have told you I've decided to forget about it and get back on the job here. Till later, darling I love you Warren
