Letter or Postcard – Letter
Sender – Ralph Peterson
Recipient – Phyllis Peterson
Postmark Place – St. Petersburg, Florida
Postmark Date – 4 May 1943
Letter Date – 3 May 1943
Text:
My dearest wife and baby,
Here I am starting another week and starting another letter to you. I missed one from you yesterday and so far today I haven’t got none, but I am expecting one tomorrow. I might (?) get me tonight. At last I am going to be shipped, I hope. In about fifteen minutes I am going up for an examination. Then after that I will be here for maybe two or three days. Then I will get shipped. I don’t know where I am going, but it will be quite a long trip as we have to carry our mess kits. All those who went to California wore their wool uniforms but we wear our summer ones. I guess, though, they wear the summer issue all over now. We are going someplace where it is cooler than Florida or California, as we have to wear our flight jackets. These are wool jacket and they don’t wear wool where it is warm. I only hope it is good old Wisconsin that we stay at. Wouldn’t that be nice, honey? The whistle just blew for examination, so guess I have to close for now. Well, I got back at last. I have done a lot of things since I stopped writing last time. I went down and had my examination. Passed that and come back to the hotel. I washed a few clothes and about three o’clock I went down to headquarters and got that allotment all fixed up. There wasn’t much to do with it. So next month you will get $12 more. I know you can use it. I am quite sure that it will start from the 1st of May. Then, after all that happened I got two letters and that picture from you. I am telling you honey, when I seen yours and Bonny’s picture I was so damn glad to see you again that I just about cried. I can see the baby real plain – at least her little hand sticking up and part of her sweet little face. And I was so glad to see your sweet face again. It almost makes me think I seen you once more. My pals looked at it and they said it sure was nice. They remarked how you were holding the baby so gentle, as if you were afraid you were going to drop her. If you get a bigger one of you and Bonny please send it to me, but wait until I get sent to another place. If I can I will drop you a telegram when I am stationed. I would rather telephone you from Chicago, if I could get there. There wasn’t much doing today. All it was was a lot of fooling around. I did have my picture taken. The kid from Minnesota took it, but he wants it so I have the negative and I will have it developed and sent one to you. I was going to send you a big picture, but I won’t have time to get one here. I will have to make it the next post. I know most of the guys who I am shipping with. They are from our old Squadron 400s. The worst part of it is we are all going except one guy, and he is pretty down in the mouth about it. Gee whiz, darling, this is going to be a short letter, as I want it to go out on tonight’s mail and that leaves in five minutes, so until tomorrow all my love and kisses to the sweetest wife and baby in the world, from their Daddy
PS – Keep on writing to me here, as they will forward it to me. Love, Ralph
Notes: The last letter from St. Petersburg. After days if waiting everything seemed to happen at once. Dad finally sees a photograph of his first child, a photograph which I have been unable to locate as yet. He learns he is shipping out but still does not know where he is going.