August 19, 1942 - Continued

Jan Palson

19 Aug 2026 — 4 min read

Big Guns! Casemated 12-inch gun at Fort Ruckman. Source: Wikipedia

Thoughts while pulling the Hot Loop

Later in the day....

No green ink? He's at work in the dug out now. And he's got this job figured out - jiggle your butt in the seat and rotate your earphones... two, three, four. Sounds like Vicky is going to Texas to see Tony over the holiday. Finally. Recall that Tony is Dad's best friend and Vicky is Mom's sister. I believe the sisters still battle, I mean live in a trailer in East Hartford. The gas and tire shortage continues to be problem considering the Packard is in need. And why oh why does he try to keep his shoes polished. Sunday, August 30th can't come soon enough.

Original Letter

Transcript follows.

Transcript

For some context, War Updates follow the transcript. It includes the front pages of The Daily Evening Item from Lynn, Massachusetts (local to Fort Ruckman) and Mom's local Connecticut paper the Hartford Courant for additional news, plus the Women's Page so you're up on the latest recipes and styles, especially hats!

Research, learn, and support this work. Go to: Newspapers.com

August 19, 1942

Bat H - 9^th C.A., Fort Ruckman

Dear Audrey:

Thoughts while pulling the Hot Loop – which is just another way of saying a four-hour shift on this new job of mine. I wonder what my wife is doing and if she is in bed, I wish I was with her. A pair of jacks is no good if someone else has three of a kind. By changing your position in the chair every few moments you don’t get so tired – the same goes for the earphones, if you keep alternating them first on one ear and then on the other your ear won’t ache – elementary, eh what? An ice cream soda can be carried if you put one paper bag inside of another and this should hold true for a glass of beer. I wish I was in East Hartford so my girl could snuggle up to me. She does it so nice and is so nice and soft. A heart flush will beat three of a kind – damn the luck. This gasoline and tire shortage is getting serious. I heard of a motorist hitting a gas station attendant over the head with a tire iron for spilling gas on the fender. You’ve heard of the tired old horse who after years of faithful service is turned into the pasture for the rest of his days. Well our tires are road weary and tired and if we don’t give them a rest pretty soon, they will be staging a sit-down strike in the middle of some road on us. Tony will have a wild time over Labor Day weekend. He will be like a bull. Do you remember where you were last Labor Day weekend? Six months ago, a weekend like this coming up would send me into a fit of planning on how the best way to get drunk. Needless to say it didn’t take much planning and I got drunk.

What is the sense of trying to keep shoes polished around this place. I get a beautiful polish and if the dust and dirt doesn’t spoil it, someone steps on it and it is ruined. This girl on the other end of the line has a peculiarly soft voice. Prior to this, Chuck Foster, who is at the Totem Pole, was considered good by yours truly but last night he sounded terrible. So harsh and blaring. On the other hand, Ray McKinley sounded exceptionally good. Well that just shows to go you. You can correct a slice by holding the left hand farther over on top of the grip and closing the head of the club. In the same way a hook can be corrected by sliding the left hand underneath the grip and using more of the toe. If you can get a heart flush you deserve to win, unfortunately this is only a personal opinion. What would have happened to us if we hadn’t got married? I know we couldn’t be better off and any happier. You have made a new man out of me. Do you know that if you go more than twenty hours without eating you get hungry – and that is from experience and recent too. You know I miss those sea gulls. They make a peculiar noise and are awkward and clumsy and what a smell they make and maybe that is what I miss. Here is another “do you know”. Do you know that if you hold a very hot iron on one spot on a shirt it burns the cloth. See what a lucky gal you are. Not only does your husband write you daily, but his letters are educational. You profit thru his experiences. One of the other fellows on this line just asked the operator to marry him and she refused him. Maybe it was his southern accent. It is still a ways off but I’m looking forward to Aug 30.

All my love,

Leonard