January 20, 1945 (to Marion Sneen)

Jan. 20, 1945

Philippines

Dear Marion –

Hi! Been waitin’ long for this letter? Or haven’t you even missed hearing from me? I started to write you a letter about three different times & was interrupted every time. We’re continually on the move. (If my pen seems to jump once in a while like this – just overlook it cuz we’re in the middle of a fire mission & I’m perched right alongside one of the guns – hope we’re killing Japs, were supposed to be.)

I just ran out of ink & Lt. (Tony) Serianna lent me his. He says I’d better not forget to tell you he helped out. He also says “Tell Marion I just took a bath with her pretty blue wash cloth.”

Well Marion, to start at the beginning, I’ll tell you a little about the boatride over here.

Except for it’s length the trip was an enjoyable one. We played lots of bridge & chess. Of course I read a few good books. They had a very nice library on board. Toward the end of the trip we were given all the G-2 on the landing, so from then on we studied day & night. We had to memorize every yard of the landing beach & the interior area & a thousand other little details. Then after we had “hit the books” long enuff we started to brief the men. The American army certainly believes in orienting all the men, & it’s a good thing.

We had several scares on the way across, Marion, but no air raids or submarine trouble. When we reached our destination, it was a different story but not half as bad as we all had expected.

The chow was very good on the ship. ----------- The sun sorta slipped out of the heavens all of a sudden & I had to quit writing. It’s now the next morning so I’ll continue on with my own pen & ink.

As I said before the chow on the ship was good. We ate both our Xmas & New Year dinners on the water & had turkey plus all the trimming both times. We even had pie-a-la-mode once in a while. On one of the ships (not ours) they served fresh strawberries. The Navy certainly lives a rugged life. We had all the Cokes & candy we needed between meals during the bridge sessions.

The officers all had good sleeping quarters with radio in the wardroom. The men didn’t fare so well sleeping down in the holds. Pretty stuffy down there – most of them slept up on deck ‘till we got into the danger zone.

We made two stopovers on the way here. On the first we got off the boat & stayed on shore for 3 days. This was really a break for we were given fresh meat every meal, a beer ration, & lots of ice cream. Oh - & I almost forgot – mail. That was the last time I heard from you or anyone, Marion, & the sun has come up many times since then. Seems like years ago – I’m sure hurtin’ for a letter. Have you been writing?

This spot we’re in now is quite pleasant. The temperature hovers around 80° in the daytime, & it gets cool enough for good sleeping at night. We haven’t had but one rainy day since we came. When it does rain we do like the Swedes do – let it rain. We naturally get soaked too cuz we don’t carry our homes with us. You’ve heard that old phrase – the stars for a blanket – well that’s us.

This is quite a civilized place. Wish I could tell you exactly where I’m at, but censorship forbids it. There are lots of natives here, Filipinos. They dress quite well on the average & are very clean. Most of them speak English having gone to school before the Japs came. They are all quite impoverished & will trade almost anything for clothing, soap, or food. They keep us well supplied with bananas, eggs, chickens, & fruit. We give them C rations in exchange. Most of them have Japanese souvenirs to trade. I’ll send along a couple of Jap bills I picked up. The one peso note is equal to 50¢ & the ten centavos - 5¢. Of course all Jap currency is valueless now. Maybe it’s intrinsic value will increase a little back there in the states. I hear people are pretty souvenir happy. (I have an awful time with that word.)

I certainly am anxious to hear from you Marion. They have promised up some mail soon. I guess you’d be doing some skiing these days altho it’s hard to realize it being so warm here. I also wonder how you spent Xmas & New Years. Who’s arms were you in when the bells were ringing in ’45 Marion? Come clean now! Did the Kins Club have another party in the Spanish Room? I’ll bet you were having a high time somewhere – I’m only sorry I couldn’t be there. I’d no doubt be drunk as usual.

Have you heard any news from our other friends overseas? I’m kinda worried about Coll – I wrote him 3 letters before I left without an answer. He’s always written faithfully too. Now that I can’t drop in on Lee the way I used to I’d better put him on my correspondence list.

One thing I forgot to mention is that we have some real roads here. Most of them are black-top but the main ones are real cement highways. The first we’ve seen since leaving New Zealand.

Well, Marion, I’m sorta written out now, so I’ll close & get this in the mail. I understand the mail isn’t getting out of here yet, so don’t know how soon you’ll get this. I’d be interested to know how long it takes. Now that we’re on dry land you’ll be hearing from me more often although I don’t know how regular because we’re on the move quite a bit. I miss you & hope you’re OK. For gosh sakes don’t forget to write. So long now.

Love, Dip

P.S. My greetings to all those gal-friends o’yours back thar.