Document Type
Personal Letter
Rights Management
All rights retained by Bryant University
Transcription
[Transcription begins]:
STEWART FIELD
NEWBURGH, NEW YORK
Toosday
1945
Dearest Dottie,
Well honey, I passed my 40 hour check. It wasn’t tough. A few stalls, some acrobatics, a spin-s and a couple of landings. I had it with a major. He’s a swell egg, I guess that helped.
That’s the good news. Now comes the bad news.
Remember I told you that they didn’t want me to go home Saturday, they wanted me to stay in the hospital? Well now they’re trying to claim that they didn’t release me from the dump, and they’ve slapped a Wing Board on me. Don’t let the big name scare you honey. You see for any demerits awarded over six in number you have to meet a Wing Board. It’s nothing serious, the only thing is I might be restricted next weekend, it depends on how many demerits I’ll get at the board tomorrow. It will be at least seven, and that’s one tour (you walk a tour for every gig over six that you get) and this morning I got gigged for a dusty floor, that’s two gigs, totaling three tours. One more gig and I can’t get out Saturday night, since I can only walk three off Saturday, and can’t leave the post ‘til all are walked off.
Aw honey, I’ve got to see you next weekend. It’s bad enough going from weekend to weekend, but for two weeks, I can’t see it.
Gee I love you so, darling. That letter you wrote Sunday was so sweet. I know you’re then [sic] only girl I ever loved or ever will. I didn’t think it could happen to me, but it has, and it’s marvelous, Dottie.
And don’t worry, darling. Ever[y]thing is going to be all right. I said I was going to marry you in March, and by God, I’ll marry you in March, and nothing or no one will stop me.
Don’t worry about Mom. You see hon, she and I are much closer than the average mother and son, what with Dad dead, and stuff. She doesn’t want me to marry in March, it’s true, but she would never stand in the way of our happiness, darling, I know her too well.
So don’t worry, sweetheart, everything will be O.K.
Oh, and another thing. Maybe Nanny do[e]sn’t want me to marry you in March, that makes no difference to me, but I know that Bobby does, not matter what she says. She understands the way we feel about it.
And as for me, I know what I’m doing. I’d marry you tomorrow if there wasn’t a war on. The only affect the war had on us was bringing us together.
Marriage has been against my principles ever since I’ve been old enough to think about it. So when I ask you to marry me, after all these years of conscientious objections, don’t you think that I really mean it? I do darling, I mean everything I ever say to do, this is too big a step to take just because “everybody’s doing it.” I was never much of a conventionalist anyhow. (With my reputation how could I be)
All I know is that I love you darling, like I never loved anyone before. You’re her, hon, that certain girl in every guy’s life. I just never expected to find you so soon, that’s all.
Hon, let’s announce the engagement as soon as we can. I want everybody to know that I’m the luckiest guy in the world. If it’s O.K. with you we can announce it as soon as I can get a ring, hon.
Well hon, I’ve got to write Mom tonight, I promised her I would.
I’ll call you Thursday night hon, and let you know about this weekend. Gigs, stay ‘way from ma do’!
I love you darling, and kinda miss you, a little too, just a little, (am I kiddin’)
Good night sweetheart,
I love you—
As ever
Judd
[Transcription ends]
