Spitball Army

[Written to Alice in Frankfort, Indiana. Return addressed: Richard, Co. G, 2nd Bn., 1st Mar., c/o F.P.O., San Francisco, Calif. Postmarked at U.S. Navy, on 12 Dec 1944, A.M. Envelope stamped on front, “Passed by Naval Censor,” and initialed by the Censor.]

Dec. 9, 1944

Hello Sweetheart,

     I’m sorry, I tried.  I started to write you about an hour ago but I was interupted.  Now, I’m in a very bad mood so I’d better wait until tomorrow.

     Goodnight Sweetheart
     I love you with all my heart
          Pleasant Dreams

• • •

     Here I am back again, Sweetheart.  It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m laying on my sack writting to you.  The writting may not be so good but it should be better than what I wrote above.  I wrote that in the dark.  It’s pretty warm today.  Thank goodness there is a breeze ever now or then.  I spent most of the morning washing clothes. (My week’s laundry)  I’ve still 3 things to wash besides myself.  I hope I get them done this afternoon.

     I received your letter yesterday that you wrote on the 26th of November.  You weren’t any too happy when you wrote it.  I hope you are feeling better now.  I think that when the mail gets straightened out, a lot of things will be cleared up for you.  I don’t know exactly how the folks found out where I was, but they are right.  I hinted in my letters as best I could to both of you.  As far as the cigarettes are concerned, I wrote and told you the same thing I told them as soon as I found out you were sending them.

     As for the letters, I wrote you about 4 days before I wrote them.  So, if the letters tral traveled at the same rate, you should have gotten my address before they did.  It was rather strange, I got 1 letter from them.  Then, it was about 1½ to 2 weeks before I got another from them or the first one from you.  I don’t know what happened.  I do know that some of my mail is lost somewhere.  They took some snap-shots around the house and were sending one in each letter they wrote.  As far as I know, they sent 11 pictures.  They numbered each one and that’s how I know that there was at least 11 of them.  I got the first 4 and the 11th one.  As to what happened to the ones in between, I do not know.  That’s prop probably what has happened to some of the letters I sent to you.  I’ve been writting them and mailing them.  What happends to them after that, I don’t know.  They have passed the censor anyway.  The majority of the mail I get, comes through in 2 weeks time.  However, ever now and then I get an old one.  For a while after I got here, I couldn’t get any air-mail stamps and I wrote quite a few letters and sent them by “free” mail.  Since I get could get the stamps, every letter I have mailed has been airmail.  As to whose mail gets to me faster, it’s hard to say.  It’s never the same.  Yesterday, I got 1 letter from them & 2 from you.  Theirs was dated Nov. 24 and yours were dated Nov. 24 and 26.

     There’s just one more thing (I think) that I have to straighten out.  It is about writting Jude and not Harry.  You’re all mixed up.  I got a letter from Harry and I answered it.  I have not heard from Jude and I have not written him.  Now, doesn’t that make you feel better, Sweetheart?  That’s the way things are.  One more thing I just happened to think of.  I wrote 1 letter to each of you aboard ship.  We couldn’t mail then until we got here on the island and I think I finally threw them away.  I’m not sure.

     Now, I’m in a mess.  There aren’t any more questions to answer and I can’t think of anything to write.  I don’t want to close my letter at this point, but it looks like I’ll have to.  There is one thing I hope you will always understand and never have to question.  That is my love for you.  I love you Sweetheart.

     Goodnight Sweetheart
   I love you with all my heart.
          Pleasant Dreams
               ‘Nite
                    x x