In this letter Jim is hinting more at Margaret to by a ring. He sent her a military catalog to pick out her Christmas present. He apparently does not like to give surprise gifts. He finds the operating plans for the next 18 months and discovers it will be 6 months before the ship will be in the States. He's disheartened by this news and hopes that somehow he will be back sooner.
8 August, 1945
Dearest..
I received 18 letters from you the day I got in port and for three days now I haven't received any more. Maybe the mail got fouled up some place. We received mail today from the states, but no letter from you.
Today has been a very cold and rainy day. I was unusually busy and haven't ventured out on deck but once, then just to the door of the gangway. I have the duty tonight and even though I could go ashore if I wanted to, I think I'll stay aboard and see a movie on board. I went to the Army fort last night and saw Fred MacMurray in "Where Do We Go From Here"[*]. Not bad, but not good. It was in technicolor however, and fairly funny.
Sweet, I sent you a gift catalog for us guys overseas. I figured you might want something in there for Christmas, so if you do, just write me the article and article number. I have a catalog just like it here and will send it. I don't care much for buying present to surprise people when nine times out of ten it's something they have, or it doesn't please them. You select it - I'll get it. Just let me know the number. Also, there are rings in there. I don't know about the quality, but I do know that stuff we usually buy through ship's service is about half again as cheap as on the outside. I'm going to leave that to you. Whatever you say goes.
Here's the payoff. We got our operating plan today and even though it's confidential, I found the schedule for the next 18 months. We are due in Boston on the 29th of January, 1946! That news is disheartening, but of course, we may have to go in before that time. Yet, that time is the only thing we can plan on. We will be there about 15 days. Tough going, honey, but seems that's all you do in the service is kill time and wait. We are going south next patrol and will be down there during the hurricane weather. May miss some of the worse weather. Hope so.
How about a letter soon? They have announced the movie in 3 minutes, so I'm going to say goodnight for now and go see it. I'm sure sleepy. Wish I could cuddle up in your arms and go to sleep. Be sweet, and remember, I love you.
Jim
*The movie "Where Do We Go from Here?" came out in 1945. This is the synopsis on IMDB: "Fred MacMurray stars as World War II military reject Bill Morgan, who wants nothing more than to serve his country in uniform so he can successfully court Joan Leslie as Sally Smith, the girl of his dreams. When Morgan encounters Gene Sheldon as Ali, a wise-cracking genie with the power to make his dreams come true, he is sent spiraling backward through time"
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