Letter or Postcard – Letter
Sender – Ralph Peterson
Recipient – Phyllis Peterson
Postmark Place – Red Bank, New Jersey
Postmark Date – 1 June 1943
Letter Date – 31 May 1943
Text:
My dearest wife and baby,
Gee whiz! I got two letters from you today. That’s the way I like to get them. I can’t figure out why you haven’t been getting my letters. I have been writing every day. There must be something wrong with the mail. You will get two letters this week some time as I wrote one Saturday night and another Sunday. The mail didn’t go out until today, so you most likely get two in one day. I hope I keep on getting two a day. That’s what keeps up my morale. Keep it up, will you? I will try and get one a day to you. A very quiet day in camp. I was barracks on duty today so didn’t go to school. I kind of layed around all forenoon but in the afternoon I really went to work. I washed all my clothes, and this is the truth, I ironed all of them, too. I guess I must have turned into a old woman. It’s the only way I can get them done, though. I could send them out and have them done but I need all the money I get. Talking about, we had payday today so I have some money again. I hope enough to last me the next month. Now I can go down and get my picture fixed up and sent to you. I think you said you wanted my picture, didn’t you? I am glad that Bonny is growing and getting bigger. I only wish I could see her smiling and cooing. I only wish I could have been the first one to make her smile, but as long as she smiles at you. The lights are out in the barracks but I am writing this down in the washroom. A lot of guys are here but I sneaked off in one corner and have a little quiet now. There isn’t much to write about so this will a short letter. You said you had got over your madness. I didn’t know you were mad. If you were, what were you mad about? Was it that trouble you had with your folks? I hope that is what you got over. Tomorrow is another day of school. They added another two hours on our school day so now we have so now we have [sic] nine hours instead of seven. I guess they want to push us through faster. I don’t know why they want us to go any faster but what they want they get, so it is two more hours a day from now on. It’s kind of funny. It hasn’t rained since last Friday, the first time it has gone three days in a row without raining. I hope it has quit, as it is awful dirty here when it rains. This is all for tonight as the lights are going out here pretty soon, so have to close with all my love and kisses to the sweetest wife and baby a man could ever ask for, from Daddy
Notes: Although Dad said he didn’t do too much that day it looks like he was tired when he wrote this. The letter is sloppy, perhaps because he was writing it in a loud and crowded room. Can’t figure out if washroom is a bathroom or a laundry room. Still funny that he wants Mom to write him twice a day.