Description
213 11 months old! Navy #3247 (Mil. Govt) FPO San Francisco Thurs. 3 May 1945 8 pm My dearest darling, Today I received something I ordered three or four weeks ago for Wendy's birthday and am enchanted by it. I shall mail it day after tomorrow (must get some wrapping paper meanwhile) - first class Special, because I can't afford any more airmail packages for awhile and there's a good chance, I think, that it will arrive on time. Tonight let's see how much ground I can cover with the briefest sort of answers - #240 (4/25) - a yellow nightie-mm…did you find one? And if you see it sometime, I wish you get just one that is shockingly (sic) sexy. The rest can range from more or less daring to sweet. I'll bet Wendy is getting heavy to lift out of the tub! Afterthought on ink - better try getting me some Quink in blue-black, rather than 51. #237 (4/22) It was good to hear of Norman's visit, and by now I guess he's paid you another, more extended one. [pg 2] How does he come to have a captain for a co-pilot? Monterey incident: shall I call you my pickup girl? How would you like to sit in a cab with me sometime…? (That was a curious approach) Thank Gerry for the 2 petals from her rosebush-they’re a lovely color. Say, do my pajamas smell like me? I guess you must miss some of the very real olfactory pleasure I get in sleeping in them when they come from you. They’re exactly like you, a subtle mixture of feminine perfume and body scents, and I love it- nothing except the sound of your voice could bring you closer. Hoping to oblige in some more tangible fashion than merely providing the idea of pajamas that I’d slept in recently, I spent five or six nights in both pairs, making especially sure to keep my bed clean (no dirty feet, etc.) and not to miss my evening shower, as I do occasionally, postponing it till morning. Maybe there's a little of the moldy smell that creeps into everything out here. But I didn't want to hang them up in the sun as that might spoil everything. #236 (4/21) Thank you for the lock of hair. It's quite dark, isn't it? It will be like mine or perhaps as dark as your by the time she's 16. What is the fragile pink flower with dark markings? The wooden box Kay bought - fuse box? Meaning? [pg 3] #235 (4/20) The new stationery is pretty. Yes, it was fun for a change. I see you got some envelopes with contrasting pastel inside even without lining. Monitor article duplicate might be sent to Muz - M and F sent you the other, didn't you say? Will be glad to get the khaki shirt. I'm down to 2 kh. Pants and shirts now but wear greens nearly all the time. Bev and her collection continue to amuse me. And I'm not being superior; just amused. Gosh-a cheerful fire crackling “sounds good! The heat here isn't overpowering, but it is hot. I'm perspiring all over right now. #234 - as I reread this for the fourth time I find more and more in it (it's your reaction-to-the-orders-for-me-scuttlebutt) to love you for. I won't comment further on it now. #230 of April 15 is still missing. #229 - Yes, the interest on my insurance loan does come due every April - about $10 more than the quarterly premium of (?) $14 something. I'm awfully sorry about the house, darling - that seems such a flimsy excuse when the “children” in [pg 4] question are Wendy - but maybe she will be breaking up furniture and scarring things in a few months from now! I love you taking Wendy to my picture for consolation. #228 (4/13) - a terrifically long letter, let's see: - ten pages- Your scuttle about men being sent out of CASA for a several months’ Japanese course - is that to Stamford (Conn.) or Stanford University? I would not be surprised if it was true that all men not called by MacArthur by fall will be free to choose other branches of the service than M.G. (how futile it would feel to be in that position without ever having got overseas!) - but I doubt that that will affect language men. It may, because the army does have its own, but unless we decide not to police Japan it seems to me they'll have to use every language man available. Your picking out snapshot corners, despite a bilious green color, because they had a peppermint [pg 5] taste made me laugh. Is that a bribe? “Send me more chewing gum and I'll stop using bilious green corners.” Well, generally speaking I approve the reason behind the prohibition on shipping home stuff bought at PX's and Ship's Service Stores, so I guess I shall have to endure the color. It might be interesting to have a copy of that group picture taken at Columbia (I recall so few of the men offhand) - want to ask Helen how much it was and whether she knows where to order? Then, before it's too late, perhaps you could get some of the names from her. I'm awfully glad you've had no more trouble since your visit to the doctor. Eating here too is definitely on the necessity-rather-than-a-pleasure side. We did have fried eggs for breakfast about 2 weeks together not long ago, but we’re back to doughy pancakes, dehydrated scrambled eggs and fried “horsecock” again. We had butter last week, will be back to a very appetizing looking “tropical butter”, I suppose. Food on the whole is not revolting - as that of some units definitely is - but [pg 6] on the other hand it doesn't make me want to sit around for the pure pleasure of eating. Despite white-jacketed-colored-boy service in the Officers’ mess, we eat off stainless steel divided trays like those at the Pier 92 Cafeteria and drink out of very heavy milk glass mugs. Coffee ranges from excellent to lousy, and there seems to be no way of predicting it for any given meal. Average eating time is about 15 minutes for any meal unless someone is holding forth - but the conversation's just as likely to be transferred outside. I’d give anything for a meal at home right now-after, not before. Do you remember certain wonderful breakfasts? I should ask… Impossible to bring a bottle of sake home - well, not impossible, but hardly worthwhile. This here is amateur local stuff. I suppose I could bottle a little but I don't know how it would keep. “The real stuff” has long since been drunk up. Time for bed. Take me, darling Warren
