Tomorrow I'll Be Fine

January 18, 1953

"Korea"

Clearing snow from the Badoeng Strait's deck, 1950

Hi, "honey,"

This will be short because I'm "shot down."

For the last four days, we've been going day and night, but tomorrow is refueling day so maybe we will get some rest. Also, if this sounds like I'm homesick, disregard it. Tomorrow, I'll feel fine.

I'll have to hurry this also because mail closes at midnight and it's almost that time now.

I've worn those phone headsets for so long today my head feels like I could stick it in a gun barrel. Pretty soon I'm gonna have cauliflower ears.

Today must be Sunday. I heard Church Call go a few minutes ago. I think it was Catholic mass or something but our Sundays ended when we left Pearl Harbor. That is for the guys in the air department.

I wonder what you are doing tonight? Whatever it is, I would like to be doing it with you.

Norma, honey, I can't think of anything else to say, so I may as well sign off.

Answer soon, sweet thing.

Love, 

Jim

Click on this link to read the next letter. 

Every Little Thing About You

January 13, 1953

At Sea

"Happy Valley" (aka USS Valley Forge) Flight Deck, ca 1951

Hi "Baby Doll,"

What's new with the sweetest gal I know?

I'm fine, a little tired but otherwise O.K. I guess I spoke too soon about the nice weather over here because we have hit the grand pappy of all storms. The thermometer is down to 9 degrees and it's snowing like "hell" and has been for three days.

There isn't anything to write about over here. It's the same old routine. Today we shoveled the snow and ice off the flight deck. We started at the bow and worked aft, but by the time we finished, the bow was covered again. HA  Oh, well, that bright day has got to come some time.

I think we are going back to Japan the 22nd of the month. I hope so. It's too cold out here. 

If this letter is fouled up, don't blame me. There are about 6 guys all around me "batting the breeze." 

Honey, I sure am lonely for you tonight. I miss your big smile and the cute way you looked at me when you talked. I miss every little thing about you. 

I'll sure be glad when this cruise is over. One more over here will drive me nuts. The first one wasn't too bad. It was a new experience, but this time it's the same old stuff.  We start engines, fly them off, then wait for them to come back.

Last year, I would count them to see if all got back O.K., but this time I don't give a "damn" if they get back or not. I don't know why everyone is like that, but they are. None of the guys who were here last time pay any attention to them.

Just the new ones, like I was last cruise.

Well, sweet thing, I've got to sign off and write my mother.

Answer soon.

All my love,

Jim

Click on this link to read the next letter. 

The Bachelors Club

December 6, 1952

KOREA

[Norma's Note: "I think it is January 6, 1953]

Harold Feinstein, View From Porthole, from the series Army Draftee

Hi "angel,"

What's cooking? Nutting "new" here, same old stuff. We didn't do anything today. The weather was too bad to fly.

I'll be glad when they run out of this kind of stationery. I've looked at it so much I'm tired of it.

Jim's back to using this stationery

I have to stop pretty often to laugh. We are kidding one of the guys about his girlfriend in the States. He got a letter from her saying she was through with him. "Oh, these women are fickle people." HA

Come to think of it, we haven't had any airmail in about a week. I hope we get some pretty soon.

Hey, "honey," I'm sending a form I want you to fill out and return. It's a form for a date with a sailor. You will see it when it gets there.

I was just reading that last sentence. Sounds logical, doesn't it. HA 

The guys are already talking about leave next summer. I don't know yet when I will take mine. Probably July or August. 

My buddy (Don Cox) and I were talking about taking a tour of Florida when we get out. I sure would like to and then maybe up go up into Canada for a while. I like Canada better than any country I've ever been in. Except, of course,"ye olde U.S.A." I would like to take that trip to N.Y., too, before I have to go to work.

Three of us guys formed a Bachelors Club. We figure that we can never get married any way, so we may as well try to make people think we don't want to. HA We are trying to get some more members.

Well, kid, I might as well sign off. I've run out of verbs and adverbs. 

Answer soon.

Love, 

Jim

Click on this link to read the next letter. 

When Heaven Is Silent

[Editor's Note: On the front of this envelope, Norma wrote the title of a book, "When Heaven Is Silent" by Ronald Dunn. 

January 3, 1953

KOREA

Vols v. Longhorns, '53.
It wasn't pretty.

Hi "honey," 

Since mail goes off tomorrow, I had better write while I have a chance. Please excuse the mistakes. I haven't slept very much in the last 48 hours so I'm having trouble keeping my hand steady. Today we have flown 98 sorties. That means 98 planes took off loaded with bombs. More than that took off but some were just photo planes and two didn't come back. 

Two days of combat flying and two planes gone. I guess that's pretty good, one plane per day.

A plane went in the water yesterday and the pilot was picked up by a helicopter. He was unconscious and couldn't be pulled inside the 'copter, so they left him to hang outside in a sling and flew him hanging outside ten miles to the ship. When we brought him aboard, there was ice on his hands and face, but he's O.K. now.

Still a little shocked, but otherwise alright.

[Editor's Note: The action report from the Valley Forge captain lists two planes that were abandoned after being shot down, both pilots were recovered.]

Excuse me while I get a cup of coffee. I've got to stay awake some way.

Tomorrow is refueling day. Maybe we can sleep a little. We operate over here with three carriers instead of two. I thought that would make it easier, but it doesn't.

That's enough about that stuff. How are things at home? You, in particular? I never thought "Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes" would ever make the hit parade. I can't stand the song. But I guess that's what I get for doing my own thinking.

Tonight is Friday night at home. What do you do on weekends now? I sure could go for some of Westwood's Ice Cream right now. 

Let's drive out for some, O.K.? 

I read about Tennessee losing to Texas in the Sugar Bowl. That almost broke my heart. HA 

Norma, I'm so tired, I can't think so I'll sign off.

Answer real soon.

Love,

Jim


Click on this link to read the next letter. 

Two Paperclips

[Editor's Note: Norma had a system where she paper clipped the envelopes that held letters of special significance, mainly when she noted a "first" of some kind, but occasionally she put paperclips on envelopes that contained romantic thoughts. The envelope that held this letter had two paperclips.] 

Dec. 31, 1952

Lost at sea

"Moon Over Seoul" © Mark Diebert Photography 

Hi Honey,

You should see the big, beautiful moon outside. It's the "biggest, brightest" moon I've seen since we were in Korea last year. It's the only thing this country has that is pretty. 

This job I have is getting a little tiresome. I sit on my "can" so much I'll have a flat one when we hit the States next time.

Tomorrow is the first day of '53. EXCUSE ME [Jim crossed out a thought and wrote over it.] I haven't made any resolutions yet. I can think of plenty I should make, but I can't think of any I would keep.

We flew a little today. 75 planes took off and 75 came back. Of course, they were just getting flight time, none of it was combat.

I wish you could have been with me watching the moon. I wouldn't care where we were as long as you were with me.

Oh, I forgot. I got a letter from you today. I got so carried away with the moon and you I didn't mention it. I'm trying to answer it now, if I ever get around to to re-reading it to make sure what it says. When I read it this morning, I was trying to receive messages and read at the same time. It didn't turn out very good. I guess I'll have to stick to one thing at a time.

I sure would like to have helped you decorate your Christmas tree. I like to do things like that.

McCurry was lucky to be home for Christmas. Wish I could pull off something like that sometime. 

"Yes," that Cathy-Durham affair could develop into something. I think both of them have the same intentions. By the way, don't tell them I said that. They might not like it.

Have you heard "High Noon" by Tex Ritter? I like it; we have the record on the ship.

I haven't heard "My Desire" yet. [Editor's Note: I can't find a recording by that title but there is a song released in 1952 by Louis Armstrong called "That's My Desire" and has the kind of lyrics Norma would have appreciated.]

I can't stand the song "Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes." The damn thing drives me "nuts" and, besides, it doesn't make sense to me.

I'll be glad when '53 is over, then I'll only have one year to do in the service instead of two.

Then I'll be glad when '54 is over. I'll be out. "Oh, glorious thought." HA

I haven't heard "That's Me Without You," either. In fact, I never even heard of it.

Listen real close, honey, and you can hear me singing you to sleep now.

I've got to call it quits. Until next year.

Answer soon.

All my love,

Jim

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War In A Cold Climate

December 30, 1952

Debbie Reynolds, '53 Pin Up Girl

Hi angel,

I haven't heard from you in quite a while, but I'll try to write anyway.

We are on our way from Japan to Korea, but we only have twenty days out this time as compared to forty-five last year.

I'm glad to get out there and get it all over. I'm tired of this kind of duty. I want some of that shore duty they talk about at requesting stations. HA  Not that I'll ever get it, but I can dream, can't I?

I guess it's about time for L.C. P_______, George S______, and all those other guys who got drafted when they did to get out, isn't it? I'm glad to see them get out. I know what it's like.

I hope maybe if I can get through this one, they won't send me back anymore.  

I never have been able to understand why this "damn" country can't start wars in warm climates. If the next one is in a cold country, I'll refuse to go. HA 

It's probably real cold in Detroit now, too, but I hope it isn't too bad.

Are you going to have a big blow-out New Year's? I guess I won't be able to do any bottle popping after all. Oh, well, I'll celebrate when we hit port again.

Tomorrow, we are going to fly some to get the pilots used to the cold weather and the lay of the country. Our first strikes will be about the 3rd or 4th of January. 

Well, kid, I might as well sign off. I can't think of anything to say. 

Answer soon.

All my love, 

Jim

Click on this link to read the next letter. 

"Just A Little Lovin' (Will Go A Long Way)"

April 2, 1952

Lost at sea

Sheet music cover, "Just A Little Lovin'," ca. 1948

Hello Norma, 

How's the sweetest, most lovable girl I know? 

Well, guess what, we're on our way into port again and believe me I'm ready. We've been out for thirty days this time and that's too much for me. And none of that "wild side of life" for me this time in. I'm gonna rest. I'm tired of them "Gooks" anyway.

Still nothing new over here, always the same old routine.

Before I forget, I want to thank you for those clippings you sent. I like to keep up with baseball and hockey and even if the news is a few days old it's better than nothing.

I haven't written you for almost a week now, but I'll write more often while we're in port. 

I got caught in a jet blast yesterday, that's the exhaust of a jet plane and it is powerful, believe me. It almost blew my clothes off me. HA

So now you're comparing me with that guy in the Fibber McGee and Molly show, "eh." I used to listen to them when I was a kid back on the farm in Tennessee, but I haven't heard them in a long time. No, I don't mind my new nickname. You can call me anything as long as you don't call me too late for chow. HA

I "sorta" envy you getting to sleep all day. I think when I come home I won't do anything but sleep. But I know when I come home I'll sleep less than I do now.

I started this last night but I didn't get to finish it. We had an easy day today. When we're on our way to Yokosuka, Japan, we don't do anything at all. This morning I worked for maybe thirty minutes and this afternoon I didn't do "nuttin". 

And the weather is lots warmer down here. We're off the coast of the Japanese home islands. It is a lot farther south than the operating zone we just left. 

If you look on a map, you will see Yokohoma Japan is only 35 miles from Yokosuka. Yokosuka maybe not be on the map, it's pretty small. Between Japan and Korea, you will see the Sea of Japan, that's where we're operating, north of the 38th parallel. 

[Editor's note: Jim was fascinated by geography. Growing up we had a hefty atlas kept at the ready for dinner discussions of current events and one of Jim's favorite Christmas presents from Norma was a globe. He kept it next to his favorite chair in the living room for easy and frequent perusal.]

I think Eddy Arnold is the best "hillbilly singer there is. I also like Hank Snow. 

[Editor's note: As long as I can remember, people have remarked on the physical resemblance between Jim and Eddy Arnold, but I never saw it. I asked him once if he thought he looked like Eddy Arnold. He just grinned and said, "Nope."]

Well, kid, I've got to sign off. I'll try to write again tomorrow.

Answer soon.

Love, 

Jim

Click on this link to read the next letter. 

Short And Sweet

March 18, 1952

Sea of Japan

Bob-Lo Island, a Detroit-area amusement park and summer tradition for nearly 100 years

Hi Norma,

How's the cutest, most lovable gal I know?

We're refueling today and I got a letter from you written March 4th. I got three the last refueling day written the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of March, so it looks like you're writing more than me, but believe me, I would write more if I had time. 

I got lucky a couple of days ago. I bought a chance on a raffle and won a rifle. I don't know what to do it with it. I don't need a gun over here, so I guess I'll raffle it off myself. HA  

So, the Red Wings are still in first place, "eh?" I would give almost anything to see them play. Also, I would like to see the Tigers play baseball.  [Editor's note: Maybe not. The Detroit Tigers' 1952 season would be one for the record books: the worst losing season in the franchise history (50-104).  It was a record that stood for more than 50 years and was finally broken in 2003 (43-119).]

I hear that Harold T______ is getting married or, in fact, I guess he is already married. Do you know him? I don't know his wife but I hear she is pretty good looking.

I guess it won't be much longer until all the beaches and amusement parks will be open. I hope I get home before they close. I always have more fun at an amusement park than just about anyplace else.

Well, good looking, this one is short and sweet, but I've got to stop anyway.

Answer soon.

Love, 

Jim

P.S. I almost forgot, I'm sending some pictures we took on the flight deck. 

[Editor's note: Knowing that Norma saved Jim's letters for more than 50 years, divided in packets by year, arranged in chronological order, and each year bound with a silk ribbon, it's probably not hard to take a leap and assume Norma saved a lot. She had the heart of an archivist and carried an Instamatic or a Polaroid or a Point and Shoot with her as long as I can remember.  After Norma died and I was faced with sorting through her things, I found a bedroom dresser drawer filled to the top with snapshots. It was daunting. Going through those photographs and cataloging them is a longterm project of mine since I've inherited the Archivist Gene (and am a librarian by trade).

I have a vague memory from elementary school days of rummaging through snapshots of my dad's ship, the Valley Forge, and these were probably the pictures Jim sent to Norma in this letter. I have yet to come across them in the boxes of files from their house that are stored in my basement, waiting for me to excavate.  Like Norma, Jim never threw out a piece of paper on which he had scribbled a random poem or an idea for an editorial.

All of this to say that the librarian in me would love to include Jim's actual pictures (primary source documents, in my lingo) but they're not available.  At least, not yet.]

Click on this link to read the next letter. 

The Cradle Of Charms

March 17, 1952

Somewhere in Korea

Detroit Parking Cop, outside the Michigan Theatre in 1952, as he tickets a car

Hi Norma,

Well, I haven't written to you in four days, but at least I'm not as tired as I was the last time I wrote, so maybe this one will be more sensible.

I got three letters from you last mail call day. I hope I do it again tomorrow. 

I should write to you more often than I do, but I'm so tired when we quit flying at night all I can do is shower and fall into bed.

The weather is getting better all the time. I don't have to wear but two pairs of pants, one shirt, one sweater and a foul weather jacket to keep warm. HA  You can imagine what I had to wear when it was cold.

Have my letters been sounding homesick lately? I'm sorry, I didn't mean for them to. When I start to feeling sorry for myself, I try to think that our pilots and the guys in the Army and Marines over on the beach are getting it a lot tougher than me, so maybe I'm not having it so bad after all.

I'm glad the Red Wings are in first place. I sure would like to see them play.

So, you finally got all the spaghetti? I'm glad. I guess you're not Italian after all.

When I come home, I'll show you how to park a car in six easy lessons. Of course, each lesson takes 2 or 3 days. 

Excuse the [spelling] mistakes, maybe I'm more tired than I thought I was.

How easy it is to park a car depends on where you want to park. Downtown isn't so easy, too many other cars in the way, but if you're parking in a lovers' lane or someplace like that, well, it isn't very hard at all. HA   At least that's what I've been told.

And if you'll give me a big enough kiss, I'll show you how to park in both places.

We got that record, "Little White Cloud That Cried" by Johnny Raye.  The song is O.K., but the singer "stinks." If it were by Patti Page or Doris Day, it would be pretty good. I've also heard "Any Time" and "Slow Poke." [Editor's note: these two songs were recorded by Helen O'Connell and both were on the Billboard Top Ten list for February, 1952.]

We also have "Give Me More Of Your Kisses," but it's by some "hillbilly" who can't sing at all.  [That would be Lefty Frizzell.]

Yes, I'll be able to vote, I think. We should be in the States on election day.

We had some bad luck today. The squadron commander of V.F. 111, a jet squadron, was killed today. He was a commander named Baslee, one of the nicest officers I've ever met. Everyone liked him, but when you're getting shot at, I suppose bullets don't respect anybody. It was an anti-aircraft battery that hit him. He knew he was hit so hard that his jet would never pull out of the dive, so he piled his plane up right on top of the gun that hit him with three bombs still on it. It don't suppose that gun emplacement will ever get anybody else.

But it hurts like "hell" to lose a guy like him.

[Click on this link for a declassified document from the commander of the USS Valley Forge, detailing events the ship encountered from March 3 - April 4, 1952 and describes the actions of Lt. Commander Baslee, who was awarded The Purple Heart posthumously.]

Norm, I started this last night and could have mailed it then if I could have finished it, but the "Reds" didn't want me to. About the time I started, some enemy planes started snooping around and we had to go up on deck just in case they came too close. But that's the trouble, they don't come within gun range. They just fly close enough for the radar to pick them up. That gets the captain all bothered, so he can't go down to his room and he thinks if he can't go rest that no one else should.

So, we stayed at a ready condition until 10:30 last night after getting up at 3:30 in the morning.

But enough of my worries. Let's talk about something better, like you, you Cradle of Charms. "Corny, eh?" I sure would like to see you, I'm about to forget what you look like. How about sending me a picture of yourself, one that I can pin up on my locker door, O.K? 

Well, Norm, I've got to sign off this time or pretty soon this will be a book.

Answer soon.

Love, 

Jim 

Click on this link to read the next letter.

Saving Buck Rogers

March 10, 1952

Monday night

Some of Jim's crew members maintaining machine guns.

Hi Norma, 

What's new? "Nutting" over here. it's always the same. 

I'm sorry to hear that you have a cold. This makes two or three for you this winter, doesn't it? You must be unlucky.

But I've been lucky.  All through the bad weather I never did have a cold.

The weather us getting better all the time, but it still isn't warm enough.

I think the big "wheels" have finally decided to win the war instead of talking the "gooks" out of it because we've been flying like "hell" for the last three days. 

Where we used to fly 70 or 80 sorties per day, now we're flying a hundred or more. 

Those top ten tunes you wrote about are new to me. I've never heard of any of them, except "Tell Me Why." 

We have that record, "I Can't Help It" by Hank Williams. 

In case you didn't notice, my pen is all "fouled up." I loaned it to one of the guys this morning and he used some sort of ink that wasn't good for it. I think now it is about washed out though. 

About that clipping you sent. Since you've read it in the paper, I'll you what happened.

The was an A.D. (Attack Douglas) "guppie," which means it was equipped with radar and sonar gear and used mostly for hunting submarines. And when a sub is found, some other plane moves in and kills it.

I know the pilot pretty well. We call him "Buck" Rogers and he is one of the best we have. There are very few pilots who could have gotten it off the water. In fact, the air officer passed the word that a plane was in the water. It was dark (about 4:00 in the morning) and snowing, so nobody could see there hand in front of their face. We turned on the crash lamps but about five minutes later, he radioed back that he was O.K.

The reason it all happened was because of a faulty holdback on the catapult. We had him set up on the "lot," ready to send off and his engine was supposed to be turning up to 45 hundred RPMs, but when it got to 23 hundred RPMs, the holdback broke and off he went. And believe me, we we were "sweating" for awhile.

[Editor's note: Click on this link for a declassified internal Naval document detailing the accident, which took place February 2, 1952 and is described in "Part 2, Chronological Order of Events." "Buck" Rogers' real name was Lt. Commander W. H. Rogers.]

Rogers was a lieutenant at the time, but when he came back, they made him Lieutenant Commander. The admiral said any pilot who could do that deserved another rate, so he got it.

Norma, I started this letter about 4 days ago, but I didn't get to mail it or finish it if I had had a chance to mail it.

It is 10:15 now, we got came off the flight deck. We've been flying since 4:00 this morning.

Norm, I'm so tired I can't hardly see the paper I'm writing. We've been flying 18 hours per day since the 3rd of March, but tomorrow is refueling day and maybe we can get some rest. That is, if the "Gooks" don't come over and cheat us out of that.

Norm, 70 knots isn't the temperature, it's the speed of the wind. If the ship is going 30 MPH and the wind is blowing 50 knots across the bow, that would equal 70 knots of wind, or velocity, and it is pretty much a gale. In fact, you're pretty lucky if you can stand up in it.

No, they don't keep the mail on board until we enter port. It goes off on refueling days, which is every 4 to 10 days.

So, you got three letters from me and want to kiss me for it, "eh?" Well, just hang on until I get home.

Well, Norm, I've got to sign off before I fall off this seat.

Answer soon.

Love, 

Jim

Click on this link to read the next letter.

Sodas At The Westwood

March 4, 1952

Off the coast of Korea

Drugstore soda fountain, Detroit. ©Robert Frank 1955.

Hi Norma,

"Whatcha got cookin'?"  

Well, I promised I would write some more tonight, so here goes.

We're back in Korea again, and, thank goodness, the weather is warmer but now it rains all the time. But one good thing, we don't have to shovel rain off the flight deck.

We have a boy on here that I feel sorry for. A week or so ago, he showed me a letter from his wife. It didn't read like a letter from a wife to her husband. It was more like some friend to friend letter; that was what had him worried. And today, he got a letter from one of his buddies telling him his wife was chasing around with just about every man in town. 

Now the kid is all "shook-up." He can't work or keep his mind on anything but his troubles at home. They just had a baby a couple of weeks before he left the States, too.

That's why I couldn't be married while I'm in the service. "Oh," well, it's nothing to me, but I still "feel" for the guy. 

There just isn't anything to talk about out here, but airplanes and I guess you're tired of hearing about them. When I come home, if anyone mentions airplanes to me, I'll kick their teeth in. At first I thought it would be really something to tell the folks back home about what went on over here, but if anybody tries to talk to me about this place, I'll tell them to read the newspapers. HA. 

Do you kids still go to Westwood pretty often? [Editor's note: It was an ice cream parlor located on Schaeffer Road near the Dearborn/Detroit border.] I used to go there at least once or twice a week. I liked the place. I got so familiar out there, I used to mix my very own sodas. 

Are you going to Canada again this summer? If you're there when I come home, I'll accept that invitation you gave me last summer and come up, but don't be running around in New York or some place like that. That's too far.

Did the Fletcher girls get O.K? I hope they did.

Norma, when I start writing short sentences like that, it's time to shut up.

Answer real soon.

Love, 

Jim

Click on this link to read the next letter.

Rudolph The Red Nose Sailor

January 14, 1952

Monday night

Stock photo from "A Face in the Crowd," Rod Brasfield's biggest movie role (Beanie).
That's him in the second row, center
If you've never seen the movie, you don't know Andy Griffith.  

Hi ya Norma,

I received the letter you wrote while you were sick.  I'm real glad to know you're better now.

You mentioned your red nose.  You should see all our faces.  The wind has beat them so, we look like walking neon signs.

One of our guys has a big nose.  It is so red we call him "Rudolph," you know, the red-nosed reindeer.

You know I sort of envy you getting to lay in bed all the time.  It's been so long since we had a real good night's sleep.  I don't remember what it's like.

And tomorrow we've got to get up at 2:00, I think.  Maybe earlier.

The name of that town is Yokosuka, pronounced YA-KUS-KA.  It is pretty small compared to Yokohoma and Tokyo.

No, I didn't make any New Year's resolutions.  If I had made one it would have been to come home real soon and I know I would have broken that one.

Charlene R_____'s boyfriend got out, "eh." I wish I could find something wrong with me, but I'm not that lucky. HA 

Keeping writing about those song hits.  I like to keep up on them and over here I never get to listen to any music. I used to listen to the hillbilly shows, except the "Grand Ole Opry." The only part I liked about it was Rod Brasfield. Did you know he married a girl I went to school with? She used to be a good-looking thing, but I haven't seen her in years. I don't know what married life has done to her. 

[Editor's Note: Rod Brasfield's online biographies list only one marriage, in 1931, which would have made Jim's schoolmate 1 year old at the time.  The biographies list very little of Brasfield's personal life and note that he was reluctant to give interviews. However, Jim had a remarkable memory and a love of gossip, so I suspect he is repeating what he had understood to the be the truth and there may have been a girl from his hometown who had a relationship with Brasfield, especially given the proximity of Martin (the town in which Brasfield died) and Camden (Jim's hometown).  See this link for a scan of "Lewis County Tennessee Est 1843, which provides the most details about Rod Brasfield's life currently available online.]

We had the funniest kind of an accident a couple of days ago. The mechanics were racing the motor of one place as fast as it would go, when the ropes with which it was tied down broke. The plane raced over and cut the tail of the plane parked in front of it. It also put a hole through the flight deck.

I never expected an accident of that sort. That wouldn't happen but once in a lifetime.

So you read where we lost more men, "huh." I didn't write anything about it because I didn't know if the Navy Dept. had released it to the newspapers or not. They were shot down over Korea. I don't know how many we lost, not too many. Yes, I'm a member of the Crew.

Look, kid, don't worry about me. There aren't enough "gooks" over here to get me.  I want to come home too bad.

Things aren't very bad over here.  Maybe the newspaper just played it up to make a story.

We're going back into Yokosuka around the 19th of this month. "Boy," will I be glad to get back and get my feet on land. I guess I'll have to learn to walk all over again on land, instead of "rolling" with the ship.

Those Japanese girls better stay inside when this boat gets in, because the guys are liable to go wild when they see a woman (me, included).

The Captain said he had a surprise for us that he would announce about the 18th and right away someone started the rumor that we were coming back to the States. I hope we don't, we have 6 months to do over here.  We might as well do it now and get it over with.

Well, Norm, I've got to sign off now and hit the sack.

Answer soon.

Your mate,

Jim

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