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| US Postage Stamp, 1943 |
In this letter the reader can detect a yearning on Dad’s part for a child. I like his description of the English kid he thought was so cute and his comment about his chance with Bonnie to have a child. This was still before the marriage, which would be December 26, 1944. There is also a photo of Mom with Dad’s army buddy, Hyram, taken the summer of 1944 when Dad and Hyram were on a furlough.
A Little Case of Jealousy
A side note to the photo of Mom with Hyram is that Hyram made many copies of the photo and sent them to every Tom, Dick, and Harry he knew in order to show off Mom as his own girl. Dad was not happy about that, even though he was proud that his friend should find Mom so beautiful that Hyram actually gave in to the temptation of implying that she was HIS girl. Mom’s reaction was to laugh about it and to feel flattered, and I think she may even have enjoyed the healthy jealousy that Dad showed in the little snit that followed. You can still read Hyram’s signature in the lower left hand corner of the picture. I love the whole story! This was still before Elwood and Bonnie were married. JB
April 13, 1944
Dear Mom & Dad,
I received a letter from Bonnie telling me that Earl was drowned and Chet was killed in action. I can’t tell you how bad I felt when I heard that. That sure must have been a terrible day for the Murphys to lose both of their boys within twenty-four hours.
I hope you aren’t worrying a lot about me because I can’t write often. If you are, please try to understand that I’m in no danger here, and the only reason I’m not writing as often as I used to is because I am working. As yet, I haven’t been able to work at the job I am trained for and hold in the company, but I hope to within the very near future. But remember, I’m not in any danger here and I probably never will be. All we have to worry about is the Jerrys coming over, and I’m used to that. They don’t worry me anymore.
Well, I heard from Ed Starks, and he is only about 140 miles from me. I was planning to go see him, but I guess I’ll have to wait until I get a furlough and Lord knows when that will be.
I do hope I can see him pretty soon, because I haven’t seen him since the day he left for the army.
Gee, I was glad to hear that you’re sending me another box. They not only mean a lot to us but also these English kids don’t get any candy or gum, only what the Yanks give them. We go in for our rations once a week and in our rations we get two candy bars and a pack of gum. The English kids are getting so they stand outside of the PX in a crowd and wait for us to give it to them. The only thing that worries us is that we may be making beggars out of some of them, because a lot of them are just little kids that seem not to be old enough to walk. There was one little kid here that I used to give mine to, but I haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks now. He was the cutest little kid I ever saw. I was playing with him one afternoon and watching the way he smiled and laughed and I thought then if Bonnie & I were married and had a boy like that, I would be the happiest guy in the world. He is so darned cute that I used to just leave my work to go watch him. I wish I knew where he was.
Well, it is 05:00 now , and I am almost dead tired. I’ll soon have to get the company up. I am on CQ again (some fun).
I guess I’ll have to close for now. Tell everyone I said “hello” and tell Dickie I said thanks for the two flags he sent me. I’m saving them. I’ll write again soon. Be careful and please don’t worry. I’ll be right back here when this is all over and be in A1 shape to go to work again like I used to. Bye for now. God bless you. I love you and miss you more every day.
