May 14, 1952
Port-ward Bound
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| Mt. Clemens (MI) racing legend, Dan Arena, with his boat, Miss Great Lakes II, ca. 1952 |
Hi Baby,
I started a letter to you last night, but I didn't get to finish it. So, I'll start a new one.
The last two days we were out here, we flew 24 hours a day. One time I was up 37 hours without a break.
So, I guess you know why I'm looking forward to our next rest period in port.
A few more days of that and the only place for me would be the psych ward. HA.
We lost a couple more guys the last two days. If it keeps up, we'll come back to the States with nothing but a skeleton crew.
Honey, I can't think of anything to write. We do the same thing almost every day, but we haven't got much longer to do it over here, about a month.
"Oh, yes," I could tell you about the crack-up we had. A plane came in without landing gear (wheels) and really piled up and, as usual, we had a fire to put out. When I get [out, I'm going to get] a job with the Fire Department. I have enough experience. HA "I'm a real gone little fire eater."
[Editor's note: Several years after leaving the Navy, Jim did work as a fireman for the Great Lakes Steel Company. The hours were terrible, the conditions were dreadful and the pay was almost as bad as the Navy.]
No, I didn't know that Char and Norma R_____'s husbands were Catholic, but I can't see where that should make a lot of difference. One of my buddies, a guy I pull liberty with a lot, is Catholic and he is a real good guy.
We go out and get "tight" together and have a lot of fun. But I guess being married to one might be different.
In the Navy religion, race and creed don't make much difference. We figure the bullet that kills a Catholic can kill me just as dead, so everyone is the same.
[Editor's note: Jim's comments make more sense if taken in light of the questions the Democratic party had in 1960 about whether John F. Kennedy was a viable president candidate given the fact that he was not Protestant. Kennedy's religion was very much a part of the public debate with people openly expressing fear that he could not govern without consulting the Pope and other concerns that look rather silly in hindsight.
[Norma was a regular member of Gilead Baptist Church where a significant percentage of the group believed that the Catholic Church practiced idolatry when praying to saints for intercession. Placing statues of saints in churches was seen as installing "graven images," and, consequently, a violation of one of ten commandments. Norma ended her engagement with her fiance at the beginning of her correspondence with Jim not because she hoped for a romance with him, but because her fiance was Catholic and she didn't want to raise her children in the Church. Being a good middle class girl of the time, she thought she needed to practice the same religion as her husband and would not have considered asking him to convert to her religion. When I was a teenager, I asked Norma what David, the fiance, thought about the whole children/religion issue and she said she had never discussed it with him. She assumed that religion would be a problem and returned his ring.
[Ironically, I converted to Catholicism when I was in my 20s. I called Norma from New York City to tell her my decision and the brat in me couldn't resist asking her if she regretted dumping poor David now that her efforts to avoid Catholic children had come to naught. By that time, Norma had mellowed significantly and she knew I had inherited a bit too much of Jim's sense of humor. For my confirmation, she sent a rosary made of rubies.]
Tell me what's going on at home so I'll know what we can do when I come home and what you like to do. Personally, I like sports, all kinds of them. I would like to see the boat races on the Detroit River if I'm home while they're running. I haven't seen any water races since we left Seattle last year.
Well, Norm, I've got to sign off for now. I'll write again tomorrow night.
Answer soon.
Love,
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