Letter or Postcard – Letter
Sender – Ralph Peterson
Recipient – Phyllis Peterson
Postmark Place – St. Petersburg, Florida
Postmark Date – 2 May 1943
Letter Date – 1 May 1943
Text:
My dearest wife and baby,
This letter will be one that will be wrote while I am on guard duty. As I am starting this it is fifteen to twelve and I go on at midnight until four. This shift is called the graveyard shift, as everybody has gone to bed all. I have to do is walk down a few corridors which are black is a cat’s ass. I think that is dark enough. You know, a funny thing happened tonight. Another guy and I was downtown after some ice cream. When we were in the store I was looking out of the door when who would walk in but Elmer Mischka from Wautoma. You or your dad will know who I mean. He didn’t recognize me at first, but when I told him who I was then he remembered me. He is a crazy drunk devil at times, but it sure was nice to see someone from up around home. He is stationed only nine miles from here at a air base. He is a Corporal and the second cook. I still can’t get over seeing him down here. We talked for at least two hours and he wants me to come over to his camp and see what kind of a place he is in. I don’t think I will, as I won’t have that much spare time. I got only one letter today and that one was from you. A nice sweet letter. Just the kind I like. Keep it up, my darling. Now, now, honey, don’t tell me that our little Bonny girl is spoiled already. I thought I would get home in time to keep spoil her. But don’t worry, I will when I come home. Why in two minutes I will have her hitting at me with her little hands. Remember how good I am at that. I just filled this pen up, as you will probably notice. The darn thing is always running out of ink. The picture I got from Alvin is the same kind he sent us when we were in Green Bay. But it still is a nice picture anyway. I am supposed to send him one back of me if I can get one that looks decent. Talking about pictures, honey, I wish you would send my camera and about three films down to me. I would like to take some pictures of this place before I leave. There is some really nice places around here, and I mean the parks and stuff like that. Don’t ever worry about me, honey, as I will be true to you and love you as long as I live. And I figure on living a long, long time. Listen honey, if you gain ten pounds more every time that your mother makes something good to eat you would be a fat little girl in a week. Say, I am going to sign off now for a while, as it is just about midnight. I will write some more later in the morning. Here it is only a hour later. Everybody has gone to bed, including a couple of guys that we had to put to bed. They will come in drunk, start raising hell. That’s where us guards come in. All we do is tell them to go to bed. If they don’t do it we can go to work on their heads with our clubs. And believe me, these clubs are plenty big and hard. Just one little whack and a guy can go to sleep awful darn fast. Tonight especially there is quite a few drunks, as payday was only a few days ago. But when they see one guy take a beating the rest of them quiet down. One of the guys in this hotel is leaving for the nut house tomorrow. He didn’t like the army and he just went sort of nuts. As a example, he didn’t even know his own name today. But I have a special guard over him. He can’t even leave his room for nothing except chow. Boy has it ever been hot down here lately. Nights and days both, it stays the same temperature all the time, and that is too darn hot. It hangs between 75 and 100 all the time. I can’t think of much more to write to you now darling, but I won’t finish until I go off at four in the morning. Maybe something will happen and I can write some more. Right now it is half past one. Until later, my dearest, (?) so long. I thought that I could think of some more to write about, but I guess I can’t, so I think I will close for now. All my love and kisses to the sweetest wife and baby a person could ask for, from your soldier Daddy
PS – Don’t let Bonny cry too much. Maybe it isn’t good for her. RP
Lots of love my darling.
Notes: