Letters Ray To Shirl a WWII Love Story

  Sept. 29, 1945       Dearest Shirl,       You’ve probably heard the jolly news by now so there isn’t much to say.   It was a raw deal but you can’t get the last word in.   I was pretty mad since I found out but what’s the use?   To me, being with you is the most important thing in life.   To the army it’s just another tough luck story.   I have a feeling that the days to come until I finally get my discharge will be the worst in the Army.   It won’t be too bad though.   The end has to come soon.   Wonder what my feelings will be when I walk off an Air Field for the last time.   Its been a long time on one job.   Do you get very tired of my griping and mental wanderings?       One thing happened that you would get a terrific kick out of.   Our new navigator Bob Garmin is only twenty and a little on the naive side.   He’s my bunk mate.   We were walking to the flight line y...

  Sept. 20, 1945        Darling,       Gee there are about 347 things to tell you but if everything goes alright we’ll be in Silver Palming pretty soon.         I didn’t T get your address before I left Alamogordo and there hasn’t been any mail forwarded here since then so I didn’t know where to write to.   So you’ll walk into the house after two weeks and there’ll be this letter.   You’re probably reading it right now.   See, what did I tell you.      How was your vacation?   Did you have a good time?   Was the weather good?   Was there moon light and soft music?   Well gee honey, let’s hear about it.         It sure feels good to be cold again.   I was getting so used to the desert that I forgot about trees and grass and cool breezes.   Just built a fire in our pot bellied stove and the heat feels nice.   It’s cool and brisk outside and once ...

  Sept. 2, 1945 Ahoy Sweetheart,       Why wait until tonight?   Just fortified myself with four cups of coffee.       Jesus H. O’Toole you’re an expensive babe.   Your letter came 20 hours ago and since then you’ve cost me forty-six cigarettes eleven sheets of paper and eight hours telephone waiting.   The time and paper are O.K. but 46 cigarettes! Wow! Incidentally will I send you ten bucks next payday.        About the adventure in Las Cruces!   It’s just a small town 64 miles south of the field.   I went to a show there.   (Hopalong Mcgillicuddy or sumthin)   sight saw??   And had a hamburger.   Hitchhiking back I caught a ride with a truck.   There is only one sign of civilization between Alamogordo and Las Cruces.   We broke down there.   It was a town ( I guess). A combination gas station and bar, grocery store and two houses.   Two buildings on each side of the...

  Aug. 29, 1945 Darlingest you,      This place is definitely the confusedest place in the world.   Nobody knows nothing and everybody hates everybody.   I went to every type of headquarters on the field and couldn’t find out anything that was definite.   There are of course , rumors.   The soundest one is that we leave with a group around the fifth or sixth.   There are two rumored destinations.   One Tokyo, two the Alutians.   How jolly!   Sooner or later someone may accidentally let out a fact.   Until then incongruations are running wild.         I’m slightly stinko!   This being my third anniversary in the boy scouts, it called for a celebration - three beers worth.         Yesterday afternoon I went to the town of Alamogordo.   Comment “ what a blank ing place.”   Real genuine mud houses with muddy streets and muddy Indians living in them.   They must have g...

  Aug 28, 1945 Darling,       Things are beginning to straighten out but not much.   I’ve been assigned to a crew here and we are part of an overseas group.   We may go to one other place from here for a few days, but we will go over very soon.   Like I said, they’re forming a complete group here that includes everything from cooks to generals.        Say, things are picking up.   I’m getting so I can both day and night dream about you now.   More darn fun.   We sure had a swell time last night.       Gee, you should be proud of me.   Today without anyone forcing me, I drank a whole glass of milk.   Just wanted to see what would happen.   So far O.K.         No damn mail from Tucson yet.   That gal at the mailroom better get on the ball.   Wisniwiki didn’t get any either.   (Does this make you curious?)      We was scheduled to fly this mo...

  Aug. 20, 1945 My Darling,      Had you slapped me across the nose with a decayed eel, I couldn’t have been more surprised about *”over21” being barred from Chicago.   Kelly has gone too far this time.   This, of course , means war!   There weren’t anything to do with sex about it.   Unless they pulled something I was too naive to catch.   The whole scene was in AAF and there wasn’t even a decently filled sweater.   The story was about cadets and newspapers.   I’ll be dub le dirty downright damned if I can see everything wrong with it.   Towards the end it even became a little flag waiving.   Hmpf!        Both of your letters arrived this morning.   Ya know, it was hard for me to write the last couple of letters.   I was worried, mad, old, confused and what have you.   I was worried about losing flying pay, glad the war was over, mad that I didn’t get across, and confused about what’s go...