Sept. 20, 1942 - Dear Audrey

Jan Palson

20 Sep 2026 — 7 min read

The Boston Globe - They look mad. Anyway, here's how to salvage tin cans. Newspapers.com

...keep mum chum...

Well, he got back to base all right and the trip was not "Just crammed full with glamour, thrills and fast-moving action". He did have homemade biscuits for snacking thanks to Mom. Now they're making elaborate plans for the 30th. There have been some clues about that so stay tuned.

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

September 20, 1942

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

Dear Audrey:

Once again I am back in camp and as far as I know I’m all right. As I’ve told you before you can always tell whether you are getting away with something or not. There have been times when a fellow has been under the impression that he has been getting away the “book” and in reality, they were letting him go to see how far he would go and then when they started to put the screws to him, it really hurt. Now don’t go jumping to conclusions and worrying because I think I have gone at this intelligently and there is no reason why I shouldn’t get away with what little I try. They checked on the beds last night but I was in my little sack by eleven o’clock. I was in Boston by ten minutes to ten and so I think I made good time over here and the reason for this is partly because there is so much more traffic on Sat. nites. Maybe I could have made it from Hartford up here but I suppose it would have been too much of a chance. I don’t like to take your last dollar and leave you broke. This war has certainly changed things around. It is not right that I should go down there and then spend all your money and then leave you broke. I guess I’ll have to take it easy until my rich Aunt dies and leave me my fortune.

But when she does, I’ll buy you that whole windowful full of dresses we saw in E. Hartford. I liked a couple of those woolen dresses that we saw. Another thing I can get over is your seeing me off on the train. I’ll be so used to leaving you pretty soon that the only job I will be able to take later on will be a traveling salesman’s job. I still don’t see why you didn’t run along beside the train for a mile or so. That is the least you could have done and you are a “meanie” for not doing it. But I’m only kidding you darling and I think you were so nice and brave. And don’t think I didn’t see the way those guards looked at you when you went by. I don’t blame them in a way because you are so nice and lovely. How would you like to hear a running account of my ride? Why?? Well, for no particular reason except that it gives me something to talk about and also that is what a wife is for (a lot of people have the erroneous idea that a wife is only to sleep with and this is incorrect. Sometime I’ll discuss this with you and prove I’m correct). I picked up a newspaper off a seat and so I had a cross word puzzle to do as far a Springfield. It was pretty easy one except there were quite a few of those “Chinese coins”, “Roman bronze”, “moon goddess”, and “an outcast of Japan”. Those always stump me. But even so I went along pretty good on it until I come to a 7-letter word for strapped shoes. Well that stopped me for awhile and in trying to get it, I got to looking at the lady’s hat in front of me. What a queer hat. Then it came to me – sandals – that was easy so a few minutes later when I got stuck on a 8-letter word for a mean-spirited horse, I again started concentrating on that – well whatever it was.

But the intricacies of that head piece, although astonished me, didn’t help solve the puzzle so I had to find another method. Well anyway I managed to work on the darn thing until Springfield and then I gave up. I didn’t have an eraser anyway and that is one thing I need to do a cross word puzzle. From there to Boston I read the Reader Digest and in between times I watched the people coming and going thru the car. How is that for a trip. Just crammed full with glamour, thrills and fast-moving action. When I got off the train (and this is to show you what a wonderful guy you married) there was a girl struggling with a big bag so I rushed over and took it from her and carried it out to the cab for her. It really was heavy and I don’t know what she would have done because I didn’t see a porter all the way out to the street. From the tunnel I got a ride with a soldier who insisted I could be better off over in Revere Beach because I could get a bus from there to Lynn but I knew I wouldn’t be, so I told him I was broke (I still had your dime). Then he said h-ll he would give me a dime so rather than argue I went with him and took his money. Boy is it dark over there. Well it must have been my lucky night – a guy came along and brought me as far as Lynn.

He was a pip. He worked over in S. Boston in the Embarkation Port and did he talk. He told me what they shipped, how, when, where, and how much. Every time you pick up a newspaper you read something like “keep mum chum” and yet he goes around shooting his mouth off. Oh well – where he dropped me, I found another lad from H Btry and so we went back to camp together and over the fence also. I told him I had a pass but I didn’t feel at home coming in the gate so that was the reason for the fence jumping. I am sure he believed me. It would take another three pages to bring us up to date and you would be bored so will stop this drivel. I will write Amelia a letter right after this and tell her we’ll be over to see them Sept 30 (is that right). I don’t think the trailer will prove to be too good but it might and we will see. We only have nine days to go now. Whoops!!! Here we go making elaborate plans and I don’t know if I can have a pass yet for that date. I don’t want you to get conceited but you are a pretty good cook and the other lad with me thought your biscuts? (how the h-ll do you spell that) were good too. We ate them at four o’clock in the morning. Well here is where I close this. I love my wife and only my wife.

Love

Leonard

War Updates

The Hartford Courant

I don't have access to all Sunday papers via Newspapers.com but I do have the Hartford Courant. I too think that's unfair but here we are. The Sunday paper in 1942 was quite impressive. At about 80 pages, it must have taken folks all day to read it. For 10 whole cents - it had better be good.