SOMEWHERE IN THE SOUTH WEST PACIFIC

Glad Notice: Kindly send me a fairly good fountain pen (insured mail)

My Dear Sweetheart and Wife Glad,

Whoopee! 25 letters in the past two days and were they a sight for sore eyes and welcome as a shower in June to a lonesome and anxious private. Gee Honey you don’t know how good it felt to get a lot of news from home (or do you?).

I wrote a V mail letter to you the other nite but a fellow can’t say a whole lot on them but I wanted to write to you just as soon as possible after I arrived at my new destination.

In this letter I will try to answer the questions you asked just as your letters were mailed from home so in between times there are quite a few that didn’t as yet reach me. But I’m waiting patiently.

“Jan 13″

Yes, Boop I certainly do know how it feels to go for so long a time without word from your loved ones and although it’s not very pleasant it is just something we’ll have to bear until this war is over with. Just pray and have faith in God and He will supply the courage and comfort needed to be a good solider.

In regard to the packages you sent me as yet I have not received them but they will eventually catch up with me “I hope”. I probably won’t be able to recognize them when I do get them, especially the candy.

“Jan 14″

It certainly relieves my mind to know that you are all set in a good concern and you can tell your boss I appreciate the way she treats you and takes so much interest in your welfare. Yes Honey that is just the kind of a position I would have liked for you to get quite agreeing with you that money isn’t all that counts. Its much more pleasant to work where your fellow workers are congenial.

This is the day Sgt. Dick came home on his furlough. Gee Sweets I bet you all were happy and glad he finally made it. Only wish I could have been there with you to celebrate. I’ll bet Mom and Dad were really happy and I’m glad to hear that Dick is still near enough home to visit with them at least occasionally. No doubt it made you feel a little blue but then our day is coming and you can bet that will be one glorious occasion to do a little celebrating, right?

“Jan 19″

I am sorry to hear that Kay was not feeling well enough for you two to enjoy yourself.  However I’m  happy to know that you two still remain fast friends even tho you are both married. The older a person gets the more he prides himself of all the real honest to goodness folk he can really call friend. I know Honey that you have lots of them and I know from your letters that they are proving themselves to be real friends. Tell them all that Private Art appreciates their kindness.

This is the day Dick and Jayne got married and I’ll bet there was a lot of excitement in the home town. Tell Mom and Dad not to worry about them as they will manage somehow. Its a shame I wasn’t there to kiss the bride and I’ll bet she made a pretty one too. Somehow I always manage to miss those big occasions. It’s a wonder I was lucky enough to be at my own. Well I only hope they will have as happy a marriage as we have and may God bless them.

“Jan 22″

Thanks a lot for the pretty Valentine card you sent on this day. You can be sure I’ll keep it with me until I get back home to you. I am sorry I was unable to send you one but I thought of it and wished that one were available to mail to my Sweetheart too.

“Jan 24″

Certainly would liked to have joined you in your celebrating of Dicks marriage. I’ll bet you wouldn’t have had the blues if I were there cause I am sure a good clues chaser awayer. So the son of a gun chiseled an extra three days out of the C.O. did he? Well good for him. He should have asked for a month cause three days will fly. A half a loaf is better than none I’d say. boy how well I remember and cherish the days in New Orleans. Well Honey when I get home we’ll go on a second one only to sunny California this time.

“Jan 25″

Gee Glad I’m glad to hear that you are helping to win this war by buying all the bonds you can and frankly I’m real proud of the way you are managing things at home. Lots of other girls would be completely at a loss if they had what you had thrown on you so suddenly. Keep up the good work Honey and someday I’ll relieve you of some of your responsibility.

In regard to Kraft, thats OK. I only hope he is more content in the east and am glad he got a good position.

“Jan 26″

So they sent you my life insurance policy at last. I guess maybe they thought you would be needing it some day now that I am overseas. Well we will just fool them and the Lord willing I hope we will never have to resort to it.

I suppose Jaynie will make her home over at Mom’s when she returns or does she intend to go back to her folks home?

“Jan 27″

Glad to hear you saw my Dad and its a wonder to me that you two don’t see each other more often as close as your place of work is. I wrote him a letter about three weeks ago and he probably has it by now. I suppose if Butz has to go he will still have Edna at home with him. Sometimes I wonder just what is left of all the beautiful things Mom had stored away before she went to Heaven. Very little I’ll bet you.

“Jan 28″

So Kraft finally came out to see you did he? I suppose that is the first time since Christmas isn’t it? It seems funny to me he didn’t bring the kids with them. I imagine tho from the way she acted at Christmas time that she wasn’t any too well pleased with having two kids come along with her bargain.

Personally I didn’t like her near as well as Pearl but I guess seeing the way the boys looked (and they didn’t look any too healthy) had something to do with it. Well if they don’t want Connie I’ll take him any day. The whole trouble is the women now a days can’t be bothered with them. It sure is a shame we couldn’t have any of our own. But then it is God’s will.

“Feb 4″

What do you mean by having $1.75 dinners? Oh pardon me I see a little farther on that it was on the company. I thought for a minute there you forgot your Scotch ancestry and went on one of Arts famous spending sprees. But I should have known better than that although Honey I do hope you have some good times while I’m away cause when I get home I want to see you full of ginger.

I will have to meet Lou one of these days too. From your letters she is a real person and I’m glad you were fortunate enough to meet such fine people. It sure eases my mind to know that you are being so kindly cared for by our friends.

“Feb 7″

Honey you asked me for an insignia. Well as yet I haven’t any to send to you and I doubt very much if I’ll be able to get one as they all have to be turned in when leaving the states. But if I can pick one up I’ll mail it to you, you can bet on that.

I’m glad to hear that you were able to get into Cincy and take Holy Communion as well as pay Aunt Soph a visit. I hope you found them all well and getting along alright. It sure has been hard on her the past 5 years.

So you became a Postal Packing Mama” since I’m away. Well keep up the good work cause I sure can use plenty of the courage and hope you pack in your letters. Some times I wonder if I’ll be able to live up to all the things you think I’m capable of doing. Well I’ll go down trying my best for you Glad.

In regard to the women over where I am well suffice it to say I haven’t seen even a native woman (that by the way are all black) let alone casting my glimmers on a white one. Maybe I had better visit the Red Cross sometime to see what a gal looks like. The native men here are real cute I think. You ought to see them climb cocoanut trees. They go up them like monkeys. Some of them walk right up and others hop up with the aid of a palm rope on their toes.

“Feb 10″

So you still can’t pass by a ten cent store without dashing into it. Remember how mad I used to get at you when I went to town along with you and would stand outside rather than take a chance on being trampled to death by hordes of women. All I can say you sure are brave bucking that crowd. This time however I’m glad you did go in cause I like that snapshot you had made of yourself for me. Gee Honey you can’t imagine how I felt after going all this time and then having you pop right out of that envelope at me. I certainly like it a whole lot and wish you would send me one every once in a while so that I can have sort of a little album. Will you do that and make just a private a little more content and happy with his new mode of life. Thank You.

“Feb 24″

I’ll bet you were glad to get word from me cause I went thru the same thing only a whole lot longer and I know I sent a radio gram to you the day I arrived but so did thousands of others and I guess mine was lost in the shuffle. But all is well that ends well. Speaking of looking up at the cocoanuts for fear one will sock you in the eye, well Sweets I can tell you this the one I can see I ain’t afraid of but when they fall without any warning and just miss your noggin by a foot those are the kind that gets me. Why it was only this morning when one missed my head by a foot while I was sitting and reading in front of our tent. Too close for comfort I’ll say but then a near miss is as good as a mile but I’m still hoping my luck holds out. Yes Honey I go swimming down at the ocean sand beach every day and it sure is swell.

“Feb 25″

So the Navy drafted Hughie into the service. Well he has been pretty fortunate to have been deferred this long. Maybe someday I will run into him at one of the ports over here who knows. Butzy you say is still deferred well they would put him in the Navy yard anyway most likely beings he is a wood pattern maker. So he is dong as much for the war effort I think just where he is. After all we do need guns you know and some one has to make them Honey.

Your V Mail letter and Air Mail letter arrived the same day and I doubt very much if there is a whole lot of difference except the handling and space concerned in shipping. Me personally I prefer the Air Mail as I like to write a long letter when I do write. Or have you noticed it by this time? If you haven’t I know one person who did I’ll bet.

“Feb 27″

Speaking of being a kitchen mechanic Glad. I guess those days are over so far as I’m concerned while over here. I never did mind it a whole lot. In fact when on Kitchen Police a fellow will get all he wants to eat of what ever he likes and that was something in its favor. Come to think of it I put out pretty good chow while I was on furlough didn’t I?

“Mar 9″

Yes Honey, I am well pleased with my work at present and feel that at last I am doing what I’m most fitted for. The fellows I work with are all swell boys and I am getting along alright so far. Don’t worry.

Yep I’m getting to look like a native with all the sea wind and sun burn and by the time you get to see me you probably will wonder what color of race you married. I never felt better in a long time. I can’t however tell the temperature but its damn hot.

“Mar 10″

Listen now Honey don’t you go worrying about putting anything away. I think you are doing a swell job of it and to break even the way you are doing and on top of that buying as many bonds as you do I think you have done wonderfully. When and if I get paid this month I will send you some dough. It won’t be a whole lot but it will help out some and if you have any left over buy something nice for yourself from me.

As yet I haven’t received Jaynies letter but when I do I will write and congratulate them. Is she still in Kansas or has Dick been moved somewhere else?

From your letter I gather that you could have taken in a boarder. I don’t think it would be wise Honey for after all she would feel like she were entitled to the same privileges you were and I’m afraid that it wouldn’t work out the same as you think. Remember this He who travels best play it a lone hand. So as far as complete strangers to you are concerned I would rather have you get into our savings if the going gets tough. If you feel like you want company now and then why not ask one of your very best friends such as Kay or Lou or any of the others to spend a week or two with you.

“Mar 13″

Say that salutation of Hi How Now Are You? looks mighty good to me. Those two letters of mine at long last arriving put a little more cheer and zip in you didn’t they? That a girl. Keep up the good humor. If the neighbors don’t stop feeding you why you’ll dwindle down to a ton. So you had better be careful.

I also received a letter from Mom today and was sure glad to hear she feels much better than she did now that she knows I’m safe and sound. I’ll drop her a few lines someday soon.

Rev. Barth wrote me a very encouraging and comforting letter. He says he will make it a point to get in touch with you soon and in that way find out more about me. I think I will write him tho in the meantime.

Well Sweets I had better get this letter in the mail to you. Tell all our friends at home I said Hello to them and Good Luck. So for now so long and may God bless and keep you from all harm Honey.

I love and miss you too very very much Glad but its Gods will that it should be so and having so much faith and trust in Him we can take it. Bye Bye now with all my love, hugs and kisses to a very sweet wife.

Your Ever Loving and Faithful Art

My Dear Sweetheart and Wife Glad,

It has been two weeks since I was able to write to you as I have been on the move again. I am no longer in New Guinea but if you have been following the newspapers lately you will get a good idea as to where I am in the Southwest Pacific.

I received several of your nice long letters and am glad to hear everything is going fine with you. I too am enjoying good health and getting along all right.

So Dick and Jaynie had the knot tied. Well I wish them all the luck in the world and I will write to them when I receive their address and wish them well.

So Kraft still remained with National Dairy and is located in New York. You gave me his address in one of your letters and I will drop him a few lines when I get settled and have more time.

Gee Glad I am glad to hear that you are being the good little soldier I knew you would be and it certainly relieves my mind a lot and I sure am proud of you. Keep up the good work and hold that chin high and soon we will make up for all this time in California.

I can’t write enough on this so I will write you a real long letter just as soon as possible. Good luck and may God bless you and keep you from harm.

With all my love, faithfully Art

Somewhere in New Guinea

My Dear Wife and Sweetheart Glad,

Good afternoon Honey! Beings I have the afternoon off my thoughts quite naturally turn to you and so here I am with my pen in hand. I received your very nice long letter that you wrote on January 30 the other day and now I am wondering what happened to the ones between the 10th of January and that one. You see you referred to several things in them that I have to more or less guess as to just what took place and I am anxious to confirm them.

From your letter I presume that Dick and Jayne were married while he was on his furlough cause you stated that Jayne went to Salina Kansas to join him. Should my presumption be right I wish that you would extend my heartiest congratulations to them and tell them I wish them lots of happiness good luck and success. No doubt you got lots of enjoyment out of the wedding and helping Jayne pack and sending her off. It took me back to nine years ago when you and I were preparing for our wedding and honeymoon. Gee didn’t we have lots of fun then writing invitations to our friends, buying our furniture and in general just walking in the clouds with nothing on our minds but happiness.

Gee Sweets I only hope they get as much out of marriage as you and I have cause I wouldn’t take anything in the world for the memories of not only the past nine years but also of the seven years previous. I only wish that circumstances would have let us get married earlier. You know Honey I have such vivid memories of the wonderful times we had together that I can close my eyes and almost live them over again. Remember Indian Lake, St. Marys, Toledo, Chillicothe, Euraka Springs, Memphis, Chicago, New Orleans and dozens of other places not to forget dear old Cincy and last of all Mt. Carmel.

When I get home to you we’ll plan on a nice long vacation to California God willing. There is really some beautiful country out West and I know we’ll have a wonderful time. Maybe we’ll take this trip just as soon as we can after I get back and call it a second honeymoon. What do you say to that? Pretty nice? Ok it’s a deal and a promise and you can look forward to it and I hope and pray God sees fit to let us do it as it will certainly do us lots of good after the nervous strain of war is over with.

I am glad to hear that as yet Harry hasn’t been called into the service for it would sure work a hardship on his wife and two little children. Tell him I said hello and to drink one on me. So Lee was put on a 1A too since I left the states. Lets see now Boop he will be 38 pretty soon won’t he? I think as you do Glad that he won’t be taken into the service due to stomach ulcers and his age and family. (Lee is my grandfather, my father and his twin brother would be 14). At least I hope they don’t as then it would be triply hard on Mom and Dad and the Lord knows they are too old to take much more of what they have been taking. Tell them tho to keep that old chin up and you had better spend as much time with Mom as you can cause I know you can cheer her up and keep her mind off of things. I know you are being a good soldier and I am not worrying about you on that score.

How is Joe and Catherine doing these days? Joe is probably figuring out his garden plot for this year by now. Have they heard from Mel and Loren lately? How about Dick is he figuring on being in Salina awhle now that he has asked Jayne to join him? Tell my Dad that I will write to him tomorrow and not to worry about me.

Thank all our friends and neighbors for all the favors they have done for you and tell them Art thinks its swell of them to be so much concerned about you. I really appreciate it and it relieves my mnd to know you are so well being looked after.

How about you Boop are you planning on having a small garden plot with lettuce and just a few tomato plants or are you giong to raid Dads patch?

Well Honey I guess this is all for this time except that I love you more dearly every day and certainly miss you a whole lot.May God bless and keep you from all harm and hope and pray that some day I’ll be home again real soon enjoying the happiness of our home together.

So long now Glad and take good care of yourself and keep your chin up like the good little soldier you are. With all my love, hugs and kisses.

Your Ever Loving and Faithful Art

Somewhere in New Guinea

My Dear Sweetheart and Wife Glad

Happy Birthday to you Honey! May you have many many more. As it was very nice of the Sarge to give us an afternoon off and it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time cause now I can not only think about you but also write to you on your birthday.

I am feeling fine and am getting along very nicely and I can’t help but think that all is well with you too.

Yesterday two of your letters that you wrote on Jan 7 and 10 finally got thru to me and boy were they welcome to an anxious soldier. I have read and reread them several times now already and although they are two months old everything you told me in them seems as if it were happening just a few days ago. One thing about time over here is that as a rule a fellow is kept so busy that it doesn’t drag along.

Now that my mail is getting thru to me I can expect some word from you at least once a week and believe you me that will relieve my mind of a lot. So keep those twelve page letters coming Sweets if you want your soldier to keep from worrying about you cause that is all the real enjoyment I get and I sure can bury myself in them so deep I’m oblivious of anything around me. In fact I almost live thru them just as if I were over there with you.

As yet I have received no packages from you and the articles you told me you sent will probably be unrecognizable by the time they get here as they probably were not packed for so long a trip. But I’ll salvage what I can when it does arrive and in the future Honey please don’t send anything more unless I request it. I can get most everything I need here.

So I finally got a War Bond paid for did I? Well it will only be a couple of more months till I’ll have another. Honey I don’t think I’ll ever need any more money than I get over here. In fact I’ll either start a soldiers deposit account or send some of it direct to you just to get it off my person as there is so little a fellow can spend it on. So don’t worry that I’m running out of funds.

You know Sweets I too have thought about the last day we spent together. it couldn’t have been spent on a more joyous one than Christmas and even if you did have to take that long ride all the way with me I know now that God meant for us to be with each other right down to the last minute. When I left you there I had a funny feeling that something was going to happen soon. Well it did and here I am thousands of miles away in body but you can rest assured closer to each others hearts than it would seem possible.

You told me in one of your letters that Dick would be home on furlough Jan 13. So he finally made it did he after all those false alarms. I am glad to hear that Dick Mel and Louie are still in the states and can get home occasionally but they all three will probably have a change of scenery or climate before long so when you see or write them tell them Hello and Good Luck for me.

When you tell me about being over to Mom’s and Dad’s drinking a few beers you sure make me homesick. You see Boop its been over two months since I even saw an empty bottle let alone tasting of one and how good wouldn’t a big glass of  ICE COLD Wiedemanns go right now, my my yum yum. Hope they don’t vote the states dry again while we’re away.

I hope Mom hasn’t sent any more of her muffins to me for as much as I would love to have one right now I’m afraid they would be crumbs by the time I’d get them.

You know Honey it will take me the balance of my life just to catch up with everything I’m missing back home. But so long as we are able to remain free, white and independent I still say its worth anything it may cost and I know that you feel the same way. So when I get back home be prepared for a lot of the good old times we used to have together.

Well Glad I guess I had better sign off for now and get this letter in the mail. May God bless and keep you safe and from all harm in body and soul and also see fit to give us a speedy victory and a just peace with out enemies so that once more we can live securely together back in the good old U.S.A.

With fondest of the dearest memories and with all my love, hugs and kisses to the dearest and most loveable sweetheart and wife a man ever had to dream about and cherish thru these days. Again a very Happy Birthday.

Your Ever Loving and Ever Faithful Art

Somewhere in New Guinea

My Dear Sweetheart and Wife Glad:

Here it is Sunday again and another week gone by in a hurry. It seems that here lately this is the only day I can find the time to write you although you can bet I think about you every spare minute of each day.

I am still enjoying the best of health and I hope and pray to God that He has and will continue to bless you with the same. I feel sure that He is with both you and I and will continue to bless and keep us from all harm.

Well Honey during the past week I have changed homes again so until further notice you will address me at my new APO number which is show at the end of this letter.

The place where I am now stationed is the best I have been in since arriving over here. I have very nice quarters and we get very good meals as well as a lot of other conveniences for which I am very thankful. Last but not the least I am now doing the work for which I was trained and I am living in the hope that I will be stationed here for a while.

So far the work has been very interesting and the training at Ft. Ben I believe will help me out a whole lot especially when the work becomes more involved. Another thing the fellows I work with all seem to be swell men and of course that will make my stay here much more enjoyable too. In fact Glad I would consider myself very fortunate if I have to live under no worse conditions than I am at the present time.

I would like to have gone to Church this morning but because of this being the first Sunday here I was not able to locate the Chapel. However I’ll make inquiries this week and go next Sunday because I certainly enjoy the sermon and songs and it leaves me with a peaceful feeling. But I read my little book from the Army and Navy Commission this morning as that has beautiful Psalms and Bible readings in it as well as a lot of the Hymns. Even though it is quite difficult for you to get into Cincy I hope you have been able to arrange somehow to go to Concordia as I know you have always enjoyed hearing Rev. Barth and his word of God. When you see him next time give him my best regards and remind him again of our marriage booklet we didn’t get.

No doubt that by the time this letter reaches you it will be very close to your Birthday. As there is no possibility of me sending anything worth while from here except my best wishes and hoping you have many more only happier Birthdays I wish you would buy yourself some nice present just as I would do if I were there. Now don’t forget and let me know what you bought so I’ll know when I get home what I gave you on your Birthday of March 3, 1944.

Gee Honey I only wish I were there to celebrate with you and I am sure hoping God sees fit to enable us to be with each other by the time your next one comes around. I was just thinking this will be the first one in sixteen years that we haven’t spent together and sure hope God willing that it will be the last as I sure miss you Sweets.

You know Glad that I haven’t received a letter from you in nearly two months and it will probably be some time before I do get one as I have been transferred to so many places. No doubt there is a lot of things in the letters that are on the way that I want to know and also that recent snapshot of yourself so here’s hoping I stay here long enough to receive them. I sure am getting anxious to know how you are getting along but I also feel sure that you are in good health and in God’s care.

You know Honey when I have a few minutes to relax and dream about all the times we had together I am sure thankful that the years were spent pleasantly with such a loveable and companionable sweetheart and pal as you. Gee Sweets I wouldn’t take anything in the world in exchange for those memories.

Well Honey now that I have told you about everything that I know at the present time I guess I had better get it on its way to you. Tell Mom and Dad and the rest I said hello and to take good care of themselves and that I’ll be seeing them.

Bye Bye for now Honey. I love you very dearly and again a Very Happy Birthday to You!

Your Ever Loving and Faithful Art

My Dear Sweetheart and Wife Glad,

I hope you are in good health and this letter is to let you know that I too am enjoying the same. It has been a week now since I last wrote to you but as you will notice I have again changed my address which the process necessarily consumed quite a bit of time. Although I have moved I am still somewhere in New Guinea. My new and permanent address is the one written in the upper right hand corner (note..an address in San Francisco).

Since leaving the States I have received no letters from you so you can bet I am both anxiously but patiently waiting for some of those thirty odd letters you’ve written to catch up to me.

In the very near future I am expecting to do the work for which I was officially trained and because I was doing similar work during the past twenty years in civilian life I will get more pleasure and enjoyment out of it.

Now Honey don’t worry about me as I am being well taken care of by Uncle Sam and you continue to be the good little soldier you are and above all keep your chin up and Trust in the Lord always and He will see us thru.

Well Sweetheart take good care of yourself and may God bless and keep you safe from all harm. Gee Sweets I’ll love and cherish you all my life.

So Long and Good Luck

Your Ever Loving and Faithful Art

Some-where in New Guinea

My Dear Sweetheart and Wife Glad:

Hello Honey. I hope you are in the best of health and that you are getting along alright both at work and at home.

I too am enjoying good health and so far have been getting along very nicely although I have done nothing in the line of work for which I am officially trained to do as yet.

I suppose you are at this minute over at Moms and probably enjoying a nice big glass of beer and talking about Dick and I. Gee it would be certainly great to be with you.

Golly Honey, its been a long time since I received a letter from you and believe me I hope I get one pretty shortly as I too am anxious to know how things are going over home.

I just came back from taking a nice cool shower and along with having a very nice dinner I feel in top shape.

Well Sweets, tomorrow is Valentines Day and as I have no card to send you at least I did think about it and would have sent one if at all possible.

No doubt you are having some rough cold weather at home right now but by the time this letter reaches you spring will be just around the corner and you will probably be planning a small garden to have enough for one this year. One of those nice big juicy tomatoes would taste like ice cream to me right now. Dad will have no competition with his garden this year but wait till I get back home then the fun will start again. Do you suppose I ought to tell him how to raise tomatoes so that he will have some thing to crow about? He probably has seeds started in the basement already hasn’t he? He always was one to get everything in the ground first.

No doubt you have written some information as to Dick, Louie and Mel’s whereabouts to me in one of your letters and when you see or write them tell them all hello and good luck.

By the way Boop I wish you would send me a pretty good supply of writing paper and envelopes as it looks as if it will be pretty hard to get here and V mail letters don’t allow much room to say anything. How about that snap shot I asked you to send to me, have you done so already?

If you see Edna or any of the girls from the office tell them I’ll write them one of these days and you can give them my address which by the way has changed again as you will notice.

You know Glad it would be a whole lot easier to write to you if I had some recent word and news from home to answer as there is very little we can write from here. I’m in hopes of getting some of those 30 odd letters I know are on the way.

I suppose by now the draft board is hot on Harry’s heels but I do hope they see clear to give him at least one deferment.

You know those nice new house slippers you sent me for Christmas well I am finally getting some real good comfort and use out of them and I just finished taping the crystal on my watch too.

Well Sweets, I start on a new job tomorrow, what it will be I can’t tell you but I hope I can make good at it as it will give me one more trade to fall back on when I get back home. I guess by now you have become pretty proficient at your work and find it much more enjoyable and I know that it keeps a lot of things you shouldn’t be thinking about off your mind too. By the way Glad have you received an y bonds from the government for me as yet?

Well Honey I guess this will be all for now as I can think of nothing else and want to get this in the mail as soon as possible. Tell Mom to take good care of herself and not to worry as we got a lot of good times to catch up on when I get back. Tell Dad not to work too hard and that he had better get a new pair of glasses and practice up on his pool playing cause I’m looking forward to beating him a few games one of these days.Tell Joe and Catharine to keep the old chin up as Louie and Mel can take care of themselves.

Last of all will you tell a certain young lady by the name of Glad how dearly I love her and long for the day when I’ll again have her in my arms?

So long now Glad and may God bless and keep both of us from all harm and see fit to give us a quick victory over our enemies. Gee Sweets, I love you so much and miss you terribly but we can take it like good soldiers can’t we?

Your Every Faithful, Art

Some where in New Guinea

My Dearest Little Pal, Sweetheart and Wife Glad:

No doubt you have been wondering and probably worrying now for quite some time as to what has happened to me. Well Honey before I go any farther, I’ll relieve your mind right now. I am in the best of health and have had very good care by Uncle Sam on my trip over here. At the present time we are living quite comfortably in fact we were quite fortunate in being stationed where we are.

I do not know whether or not you have been advised by the government of my safe arrival here so I am writing you just as soon as I could possibly do so.

I do hope you and the folks and friends are all in the best of health and you can bet I sure think about you all a whole lot to say nothing about how I miss the many enjoyable times we all had together.

Having had no letters from you for quite some time and not expecting to receive any in the very near future I have been re-reading the several last letters you sent, so much, they are almost worn out.

Well Sweets I am entitled to another diploma now besides my Finance one. Yep! you guessed it, a diploma for Kitchen Police is due me now I am sure as I had it on the boat every single day we were on it. In a way I was thankful I had it as it gave me something to do and had that much less time to think about things I should not be thinking of and again it kept me in a better condition both mentally and physically.

New Guinea as you well know is right in the heart of the tropical regions and every time I look up into one of those cocoanut palm trees here I am reminded of those famous cocoanut cream pies of yours. I’ll assure you Honey you would have no trouble at all getting the cocoanut portion of them as they grow in profusion here.

Well Sweets, how about Dick? Did he get home on a furlough in January or was it postponed again? Louie no doubt is on his way to some foreign land by now too. My prophecy of being sent across before either of them came true didn’t it?

Mel is probably pretty far advanced in his training too by now and won’t be long before he too will be having a change of scenery.

You know Glad that of all the thousands of boys I have seen I have met no one that I personally know from Cincy. That seems odd doesn’t it?

Another thing I have to do down here is learn the values and the use of English money as that is all we can spend. Our American money having to be converted into Pounds, Shillings and Pence, etc. So far I have done alright with it and no doubt will become as accustomed with its use in a short time as I am with our own money. I think that when I am paid next month that I will send some of it to you because I won’t need a whole lot and again I will get $10.00 more each month for foreign duty so if you receive an additional check sometime in March or April you will know that I sent it.

How about Harry? Has he heard any more in regard to his draft status or was he able to get at least one deferrment? I hpe for his wife and two childrens sake they were able to do something for him as no doubt it would work a hardship on them.

Mom and Dad and old “Rusty” are all doing fine I hope and tell them I’ll be seing them when this war is over with. Gee Sweets what I would give for one of those good old Saturday night sessions we all had together and how I would like to have a good big glass of cold Wiedeman’s right now.and a cold cottage ham sandwich to go with it. Yum! Yum!

Have you heard from the Krafts since Christmas? I hope by now he has his affairs straightened out and that the two boys are being well taken care of. It certainly is a pity that Pearl had to pass away when the boys needed a mother so badly and they’re only 4 years old and have to be thrown into strange hands.

So much has happened to us and our friends in the last year that when you get to thinking about them it makes your head swim. Sometimes I just wonder if the American people have any exhaustion point the way they take it on the chin and come up smiling. The Lord certainly blessed us with fortitude.

You know Honey I finally got to use my bathing suit today for the first time. The swimming here is fine and it certainly felt good to paddle around for about an hour.

As yet we are over here waiting to be assigned to some unit but in the meantime we will be occupied with plenty of other details so I don’t think that time will drag on our hands very much.

I have sent you a cablegram which I hope you have received long before this. That was the quickest way of getting word to you of my safe arrival here.

Well Sweets, I guess I had better get this letter off to you as soon as possible so I will mail this one now and write another in a few days. Now don’t worry any more than you can possibly help because as far as I am concerned I am in good hands and being well taken care of by Uncle Sam.

Of course Darling I love you dearly and miss you to no end but when this war is over with we will make up for all we have missed and all will be well again.

Now may God bless and keep you safe and from all harm the same as He will keep me and may He see fit to end this mess in the very near future.

Bye bye now Boop and keep the old chin up like the good soldier you are.

I love you dearly. Your ever faithful and loving husband Art

My Dear Sweetheart and Wife Glad,

Hello Honey! I hope you are well and this is to let you know that I too am enjoying the best of health and so far have been doing fine.

No doubt by this time you have received some word as to my where abouts and that your anxiety over me has been somewhat relieved.

So far we have been kept quite busy getting our tents and grounds in shape as well as doing other details not to mention good old wash day.

Our living quarters are quite comfortable and our rations have been very good and we can get most anything we need at our post exchanges.

There is not much we can write about from here so my letters will have to be confined to short ones letting you know how i am faring.

Give my regards to all our friends and you and mom and dad drink a wiedemann’s toast to me. Only wish I were there to share one too. Gee Sweets, I love you with all my being.

God bless and keep you always. Your ever faithful and loving Art

Sorry for the “letter lull”. I have been away on vacation for three weeks and posting will resume in the next few days.