Letter or Postcard – Letter
Sender – Ralph Peterson
Recipient – Phyllis Peterson
Postmark Place – St. Petersburg, Florida
Postmark Date – 27 Feb 1943
Letter Date – 26 Feb 1943
Text:
My dearest wife,
I have nothing to do right now and I wanted to write to you so here goes. I just had a little bad luck down here. I went to bed the other night and I put my wallet in my money belt. When I woke up in the morning it was gone. I reported it to the 1st Sergeant and he made a search of the room but he could not find it. He made one hell of a stink about it. He said there wasn’t nothing he could do about it except to wait and see if it turned up, but I had most of my money so I am just about flat broke. I will have to ask you to send down about ten bucks if you can. I wish you would do it right away as I could use it now. You better send it in a postal money order. I have not heard from you yet but I get lonesome down here without you. I tell you honey it’s hell here without you and I won’t get a furlough until about six months from now. Of course there is a chance I will be sent to Chanute Field in Illinois. That will be a lot closer but that’s only a slim chance. I have a new address here now. I have moved to a different hotel here. It is the Serena Hotel. Don’t put the hotel on the address. The address will be on the back of my letter. Maybe I had better write it here, too. It’s just about the same. This is it
Flight 400S
604 Tech Sch. Sqdn. (SP)
AAFTT@
St. Petersburg Florida
I am writing this right between drills so I will have to close now. Kiss the baby for me and take good care of yourself. I don’t want anything to happen to you. Say hello to Mom and Dad and tell them I will write them later. Let me know if you got that first letter. I’ll have to close now with loads of love from your husband Ralph.
PS – Remember that money.
Notes: There is one very curious detail in this letter. In the postscript Dad asks Mom to “kiss the baby for me.” But my sister Bonny would not be born until 14 March 1943, a bit over two weeks after Dad wrote this letter. I assume he was speaking figuratively but it still seems just slightly odd.