Letter or Postcard – Letter
Sender – Ralph Peterson
Recipient – Phyllis Peterson
Postmark Place – Red Bank, New Jersey
Postmark Date – 21 May 1943 [typo or mismatched envelope]
Letter Date – 22 May 1943
Text:
Hi girls,
How are my two babies tonight? I got your letter today and it was the only nice thing I did get today? I was just laying around all day, and when they wanted something done I seem to be the guy that did it. But tomorrow I am going back to school and I would rather do that than lay around. It is getting interesting as I get to know more of it. I am still on duty now and will be until a quarter after eleven. I have been on since five this morning so I have put in a long day, but believe it or not I am not the least bit tired. I bet I will be by the time I go off duty. All next week I am a fire warden and also air raid patrol. This is just in case that a fire breaks out or else they have an air raid alert. In that case we would be the last to leave the post and see that everybody else leaves. Does your folks still fight? I just can see Pappy sitting there in his chair smoking his pipe and being just as stubborn as he can be, and that can be pretty bad at times. I used to get a kick out of him when he was mad, but not your mother. She actually got me scared a few times, but she didn’t seem to bother you in the least. Maybe if I had your guts once in awhile I would get along better. I can still remember how you used to get mad at me, and how you would get way on the other side of the car seat from me and you wouldn’t say a word. Then how we used to go for sometimes ten miles without saying a word. Then how you would come over and put your arms around me and kiss me until I would get some sense in my head, and then we would be happy again. Just to remember those things made me so damn lonesome. Just to live some of those nights once again, I believe I would give at least ten years of my life to do that. I think I better quit talking about those things or else I will get so darn lonesome I will go AWOL. I also got the Argus and a nice letter from Alvin today. He told me you owed him a letter. Now if you haven’t wrote him by the time you get this you sit right down and write to him. Boy, was there a lot of news in the Spring Lake, and I see that my wife and baby girl got in quite a bit of news. You must get around even if it is walking. Boy, is it ever rotten weather around here lately. It rains at least half of the time. There isn’t much news to write about as it is awful quiet. We was supposed to have an air raid tonight but I guess it is just a false alarm. I hope so, as I can use the sleep. I will have to close now, honey, as I have to go to work, so I will sign off until tomorrow night with all my love and kisses to my dearest wife and baby from Pap. [wrote out Morse Code for Pap]
PS – The book is really swell. Thanks a lot.
Notes: