Document Type
Personal Letter
Rights Management
All rights retained by Bryant University
Transcription
[Transcription begins]:
UNITED STATES
ARMY AIR FORCES
Wednsday [sic]
1800
My Dearest Dottie,
Well honey, I thought I was too good to last. This morning after chow they called us all over to the Post Theatre for a lecture, they called it. We knew something was up immediately because we were supposed to go to the flight line this morning. Well we get in there and Colonel West, our C. O. comes in with a letter in his hand, from General Arnold, no less.
It contained a lot of pretty hard news to take. For one thing, only a few of us that graduate will go on to fighter & pursuit. The rest will be co-pilots or Flight Engineers on B-24s. (They still will be commissioned however.) That wasn’t the bad news however, I sort of expected that. The next thing was kind of a shock—we get no leave after graduation, and if I go to co-pilot’s or engineer’s school there’s no telling how long it will be before I do get a leave.
Gosh honey, even Uncle Sam seems to be working against us, it just doesn’t seem to be fair. It just shows in this outfit you don’t know from one minute ‘til the next what the story is.
If I get assigned to fighters it will be 4 ½ weeks before I get any leave, at least, but out of 44-K, only 13 have made pursuit out of 200.
That’s the story darling, direct from headquarters. We have no choice, my darling, they told us if we didn’t like it we could resign. I don’t like it, but since I’ve come this far, I’m going to stick it out.
I know you’ll probably want to wait until I get leave to get married angel, because I know you want a big wedding and your mother there, and I think that’s the wisest thing to do too, but honey I was never the one to do the wisest thing, and it’s going to be long enough as it is. I do want to marry you as soon as I graduate darling, but I want you to have what you want, and it will only be a few months more, darling, after my graduation. But I’m leaving it up to you darling. Maybe there’ll be another letter or another order or something, you can never tell in the outfit, but I don’t think so. This sounds pretty definite, too damned definite. They’ve got so many pilots they don’t know what to do with them, so we’re the suckers that have to pay for their mistakes.
Honey, it’s bad enough being separated from you, but when they pull something like this it sure burns me up. Gosh darling I love you so much. Can you come down for my Graduation anyhow honey, if we do decide to wait? Please tell me how you feel about it and do what you want to do angel.
I’ve got to go to supper now darling, I’ll write more after, I love you—
I feel a little better now honey, after a nice healthy meal, yeah—hamburgers and cold potatoes. Even the food at this dump is lousey [sic] (Am I nuts or is this ink turning brown?)
Gee honey, I wish this war was over. Then we could get married right away. I’d get out of this army, and maybe we could have some time together, something definite that we could hold on to and work for together. It will be that way someday darling, and I guess that’s what we have to work for now. Don’t worry, darling, it will all turn out O. K. in the end, it always seems to with us.
Say hello to your folks for me hon, and Grandma too. I love you darling and miss you more every day. And don’t worry darling, everything’s going to work out O. K.—I love you—
All my love
Judd
[Transcription ends]
