August 21, 1942 - Dear Audrey

Jan Palson

21 Aug 2026 — 6 min read

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

Only ten more days.

Countdown to the next pass. The subject seems to be happiness. He's leaving on Sunday August 30, 1942. And he can't wait. Neither can she. And we all hope the h-ll this duration will "durate". He can indeed write screwy letters... but are they???

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 21, 1942

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

Dear Audrey:

It is funny the way something you have said stays with you. Like the way I said we were happy yesterday. What I meant was that we are as happy as we possibly can be. How could I be happy away from you. When we are together it is wonderful but when I have to leave the let-down is terrible. I don’t remember what I was talking about when I said we were happy and that isn’t the point anyway. The point is that we will never be happy unless we are together. Does that make sense darling? I love you and want you so much. When you tell me I’m the brave one I have to smile because I’m not the one who is brave – it is you. You are wonderful. It won’t be long now until I see you. Only ten more days. I watch the other boys go out on pass that I usually start out with and I was glad I wasn’t going. By staying in, it meant one more day I could spend with you. By the way, don’t depend on any money from me this month because I won’t get paid for a week or ten days. You have to collect your pay personally or wait for them to send it to you. I won’t be here pay day because I’ll be with you. Monday Aug. 31^st will be the day this month and I’ll leave Sunday afternoon for East Hartford. Do you think you can swing it?

What is the idea of thinking you can surprise me? I’ll not have you driving up here on the spur of the moment or what ever it was. I read that part of your letter about the blueberry cake to one of the fellows and he got quite a kick out of it. It went something like this, “I am sending you the cake and you can do whatever you like with it just as long as you eat it”. What a variety of choices. It is a good thing I have a feeling that it will be good. Not that all your cooking isn’t good because it is. You are a good cook and a very good wife. Whatever would have happened to me if you hadn’t come along. I’m getting to be an awful sordid sort of a person lately so I’ll have to do something about it. I’ll have to make one of my two-day resolutions (I say two-days because I usually don’t keep them much longer than that) not to feel so sorry for myself. Once again I shall remind myself that I am pretty well off considering everything. Well here we go again. I didn’t finish last night so I’ll pick it up from here. What was it I said about being happy. Someone someplace wrote something (I can see this sentence is going to be as accurate as h-ll) about it. Real happiness is enjoyed only by lepers, insane people, beggars and their like. They are the only ones capable of throwing off past experiences, cares and worries. The word “capable” is misused here. No such set of people is capable of anything and if they enjoy happiness they do without realizing it.

The reasoning it seems is that the average person has too much to think of to enjoy life. So – what am I walking around chewing my nails and chafing at the bit when I can’t be happy when I do see you? Why do I go to so much trouble to get down and see you? Because the guy is all wet and I only want a chance to spend a little time with my wife to show how wrong he is. He will have to find a new word to use. Well I don’t know what good that did me except to say I hope the h-ll this duration will durate (I thought that would be a good word) so I can be with my wife all the time. I sure can write a screwy letter though. I guess it’s because the newness of this Army is wearing off and the things I use to write about are now not worth writing about or have been written about. I used to use two sheets of paper in just relating how bad I was treated but now I am treated just as bad, but it doesn’t do any good to squawk. Every day some of the fellows try to duck out of some working and go swimming over on the rocks. It is good swimming (at least so they tell me) and jumping in and out of the water with no suits on they look like porpoises. Likewise if they get caught over there, they land in a pretty stew. Oh you don’t like that and I stayed up last night thinking it up.

This is a funny shift I’m on these past few days. I go on at eight at night and go to midnight and from eight in the morning until noon. So I sleep thru breakfast and wait for noon chow. Lately night chow hasn’t been worth eating so I have been having one meal a day. Now don’t get excited, I haven’t been hungry. If a person is really hungry, he will eat anything and so there is no reason for my going hungry except I have no appetite. After tomorrow the shifts change and maybe I can go back to normalcy. Say, I need some socks. We can get them on my pass though. Are you keeping in mind my dentist appointment. If you can arrange it have it on the second day so we can have your day off together which is Monday isn’t it? If you changed the oil I hope you used a good oil. If you haven’t, leave it for me.

Well –

Lots of love

Leonard

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