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#127 Navy #3247 (MG) FP, SF Sunday 4 February 1945 9:15 pm Darling, So much to write and to answer it's hard to know where to begin. It was a big relief to get all your letters today (138, 140-143) and to know that my mail to you was held up for no special reason other than the transportation situation in general, that in turn of course reflecting conditions west of here. Tonight I was so tired after a very busy day and my English class that I just reread all your letters and went to bed. Then my head was so full of thoughts spinning around that I decided to get up for a few minutes and have a glass of sherry (are you drinking with me, sweetie?) I have a little left from the one bottle that came out in my seabag. I really need to slow down (at the moment, I mean) so I shall just watch until I get sleepy. #138 - I'm glad you’re meeting some of the Columbia men and their families. Bob Falk isn't a bad guy - do give him and his my cordial regards. The clippings from the I.H. Quarterly were interesting. Was Frank Ikle (1940-42) really living at I.H. all the time I did? I once had a feeling I’d seen him before, but it wasn't that strong. Glad to hear [pg 2] of Jack Rippey's new job (Home Furnishings, Bullock's, L.A.) Capt. Gene Gregg (1939-42 - [?]) I don't think I know. Do you know Emily Allyn (1942-3, Wilson teacher)? The clipping on [Pardee Lowe?] I shall keep in a copy of Amerasia and shall hope to run across him some time, after the way if not now. I liked him very much. By the way, get his book at the library if they have it - forget the title, but it's about his growing up in either SF or LA, and centers around his father. Walter and his 6-shift-trucks - not a bad thing to know out here, especially at first. I haven't had occasion to drive one tho I frequently drive a jeep, with its special set of low gears. I know what would happen if I simply requested a transfer, sweetie. A man who has outlived his usefulness here, who spent 15 years in China and speaks Cantonese fluently, requested a transfer to go on another operation where he could use his background. Although there's a stigma attached to his having made the request, the latter was summarily refuse (“Coach” Hager, one of my tentmates) If a request for another operation is refused, you can use your imagination as to how one for [?] [pg 3] duty would be received. Gosh, honey. I’d never scold you now for wanting me to pull strings to get back - when there are any to pull (as there may possibly be) you can be sure I'll do so - but at least it is gratifying to feel that I'm doing a job out here now. The Korean names cards were Yeoman's work, tho the list we prepared was not and I got a certain satisfaction out of that. But the school farmer's is alive with interesting possibilities and is a real job. I only hope that any future operation I may go on I am in charge of all education because by then I should be able to handle it. I have no quarrel with my present situation working as assistant to Tel (not Telford as I wrote before, but Telfer) Mook, however; he is a good guy. Went to Yale Law School, spent a year after that at Cambridge, has a tall, beautiful wife - he is quite tall too. Rather boyish and immaturish sometime but he knows what he wants and gets it done. Gets all wrapped up in what he's doing and looks like an unpractical dreamer, but the end result is something done. 10:15 In bed again with the lights out, and just as my itch begins to get the better of me, Riley Ewing comes in and turns the lights on again, so I decide to get up [pg 4] and do something about it (I have some stuff that looks like [methiolate?] to put on it and it seems to be helping) Meanwhile Coach Hager comes in and breaks out the fruitcake, and having mixed that with a snort of Riley's bourbon I feel better. Monday 7:30 am Darling, it is such a satisfaction to sleep in pajamas you've slept in - it seems to me that I gain from the exchange because they’re so fragrant of you that they seem almost [th?] alive; when they reach you there can you really tell that I've slept in them other than by their being crumpled? I want to send you $5 and I don't have it (it looks as tho everyone's going to join an Army liquor mess, which costs $40 deposit that you get back later on. Already have $20 similarly invested in beer). I want us to buy a special pair of duration pajamas to keep on the go all the time. You wear them 3 or 4 days, send them to me to wear for a week, launder, wear again “” and return. Do you think you can find a suitable pair in broadcloth? I'll return one of these to you once more meanwhile, but they’re fast wearing out. Another request. This guy Inonye who made the fancy characters does some first rate tablecloth and handkerchiefs, etc., designs. They’re conventional in style but rather unusual. So far he does them only in black, using India ink. If you can send a) an assortment of India ink in colors - bright red, deep blue, green, any others you think would go [pg 5] well - and b) a plain white or tan linen tablecloth, we could have ourselves something rather special for relatively little cost. I realize India ink must be 50 or 60¢ a bottle and good tablecloth, even plain ones, are expensive but there may not be another opportunity like this. I don't remember whether we have such a tablecloth. If you have anything else that could appropriately be so marked, send it on. At the least you could get some inexpensive material in a size suitable for a headscarf. His designs are well-balanced and centered rather than spotty. Time to go to work. I love you, darling Warren
