Letter written by Navy Servicemen to his sweetheart, served on multiple battleships.

[Heartfeltzero]

This is a 4 page letter written from a James H Winter to his sweetheart in 1943. He was serving in the U.S. Navy during WW2. From research, it seems that he passed away in 2006. During the war he served aboard the USS PASADENA CL-65 as well as the USS NEW YORK BB-34. The letter is quite the read but if you like reading personal corespondents then I definitely recommend giving it a read! I have another letter from him I will post at another time. Letter from my collection.

Page 1:

“Saturday, May 29
My Darling,
A whole week tomorrow prow since I spoke to you on the phone, and longer yet since I have writtn you---forgive me, forgive me. I think you know why I haven’t written--at least I mentioned it on the telephone.
Isn't this the first time I have written you a letter to your own home as Mrs James H? Seems to me it is, and that makes it an occasion of some kind --I’ll try to make the letter worthy of the occasion. Better yet, I'll surely speak to you on the phone tomorrow, as it is my non-duty day--and a Saturday one at that which means I shall get off early enough to take that long-projected walk into the woods, or maybe, who knows, even a horse-back ride! And won't I feel as though you should be there too if I do! You and Art and Pat and Curly--because incase you don't know it, you have gone everywhere I have gone since long ago, way back in 1939 A.D. You used to be on all the rides I went on at Mt.Pleasant--and you'll sure be on this one tomorrow if I go. Hope the weather is good--it’s been so confoundedly changeable this spring everywhere.

Well --here I am, stuck for something to say. No news of course--things go the same day after day, and one gets so he's scarcely aware of time passing any more--just sort of a numbed state. Which is perhaps a good thing. It's a funny life--time doesn't seem to mean much to anyone, because the hours are so irregular, the days so much alike.”

Page 2:

“Right now for example I'm standing the good old mid-watch, which means as you remember no doubt that I have seen the
movie (an excellent one for a change--"Big Street" with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball) and then slept for about an hour and a half.
Now I'll stay here until 0345, go to bed until seven fifteen or so, have breakfast and get ready for Captain's inspection. So it's already Saturday, and yet I still, think in terms of Friday. And when I get up again in the morning, have retired on what I know to be Saturday, it will feel as though it should be Sunday--- and there you are!

Most of all, though, I wait for the time when time will mean I'm either being with you or very shortly to be with you--because until then time cannot be expected to mean very much.
As a matter of fact, nothing seems to mean very much while you are so far away. You're a little closer now of course--cut about one days travel out, I suppose--maybe we'll have to arrange a little while together on of these days again- just so we can say/we still know each other. Today (it is
today, I guess) being the 29th, on tomorrow, Sunday, we will have been married a whole five months--and we haven't spent even a month of it together. Such a world we live in, Dear-.
maybe we're just paying for all the time we had together at beautiful Carleton before we were married. Boy—have the last couple of Carletonians, with their mentions of your recital, the May Fete, the spring Baseball tournament, etc, made me homesick for that place! Spring is never quite so lovely any-“

Page 3:

“where as it is at Carleton. And to think of Carelton having the additional wonder of your presence, and that for the last time, and me not there to soak it all up! Well, I've dwelt on that subject long enough--that is certain.

Honey, it's so hard to find anything to say in these stupid letters of mine--there isn't anything that even faintly resembles interesting news--except a couple little things I can't even tell my shipmates.
They’re interesting all right, but certainly of no use in letter writing.

Norris, the yoeman I've told you about, is
"singing" again--I sometimes wonder if it wouldn’t be a kindness just to shoot him--the pain must be terrible to cause those sounds! And if it isn't as far as he's concerned, it surely is as far as I am. Generally , after the fiftieth time thru the three-bar phrase that is "tune for tonight" I tell him to shut up. Seems kind of nasty on my part to take that advantage of my rank and ask him to quit singing--but it is so excruciating! Maybe it isn't too unjust of me--in any case, it's what I do.

Well--there's a little busness for me to do.
I suppose I'd better knock off and get back into harness. Do I need to tell you how I love you and miss you? I think not, really,
except that if you're like your selfish husband, you like to hear about it. This I can say, and honestly--I'm not living now, when you're so far away. I'm just in a sort of cocoon of daily routine, waiting for the spring that your presence will“

Page 4:

“bring with it. When you are with me, I'll live again--until then, life I'm afraid doesn't mean a lot. There is a certain amount of work to do, that's true, but even it doesn't mean anything this way--pretty hard to get up and maintain any enthusiasm, somehow. Guess I'll almost have to have you come see me for a while pretty quick now, if I want to keep on being worth anything at all to the Navy and myself. I
seem to run down a little when you're away. After you were East the last time, for even so short a time as that, I was all made over again for a little while. But since we've been
in here, and so long since I'v seen you, I'm kind of going dead. We'll talk about whether or not you should come see me tomorrow.

Now I must quit and get to work--
All my love, as ever, to your wonderful self, and to the family.
Your
Jim“