February 1945

Letter to sister Jewell.

Hi Sis,

I want you to pack up about a bushel of that snow and send it to me as quick as you get this letter. I think I can get rich off of it. Several men here have become millionaires selling snow and ice here. They have it sent here from the states. Snow sells for a thousand dollars a pound, and icicles for one hundred dollars each.

Sister dear, I got a letter from you today dated November 25. Now honey, if you can't get my address right, I guess I'm going to have to send you some self-addressed envelopes.

Oh, I make mistakes in my letters, too; otherwise I would take the eraser of this pencil!

Jewell, I don't care how big Eileen's husband is, I'm going to work him over when I get home. I am tired of seeing those "home front soldiers" taking all the women. I guess it's mostly the womens' fault, though. They don't realize they could do much better if they would only wait until the real men come home.

Honey, hurry and send me that picture. I want to show the boys what a cute sister I have.

Love,
Your brother, Pedue




Dear Jewell,

Don't know how to explain about the last letter you received, so I'm not going to. The sergeant that wrote it (and he is my sergeant!) said that he would drop you a few lines and put it in my letter and tell you just how it happened. He is really a swell guy and comes from the deep south -- Alabama. As soon as he comes in from the show, I will have him tell you just how it happened. I started to write and tell you right after that but it slipped my mind.

Sure hope you aren't mad over it. As you know, it was all in fun. If we didn't do something crazy like that every now and then, we would probably go crazy.

Hi Jewell,

Pedue said I should write and explain why I wrote to you for him. I've heard so many things, all good, about you, so when he said he was too tired to write, I readily agreed to do the job for him. I knew you would see that it wasn't his writing and you would wonder who was writing to you. So, if this continues the way I hoped it would, you might write me and send me one of your cute pictures.

So honey, do you think this will go the way it does in the movies?

Anyway, I know a swell guy, and he's your brother. Just knowing him tells me that you couldn't be anything but sweet and charming.

Good night.

Sgt. C.E. Abernathy (same address as Pedue)




Dear Mom and Dad,

Thanks for the birthday card and candy you all sent. The boys all liked the homemade candy and told me to thank you for it. Can't believe I'm 19 years old. I am a man now, that's for sure. I sure never dreamed I'd be here on my 19th birthday.

We can't get any good toothbrushes here either. The ones we get don't last but a couple of weeks. They only cost 10 cents, though.
There is one thing I'd like for you to send me as quick as possible and that is a bottle of aspirin. We can't get them here, and I have a headache pretty often. They should let you send something little like that by airmail. If you don't send it airmail it will take about a month and a half to get here. I sure would like to have them as soon as possible.

I guess Dad thinks I never think about him because I hardly ever say anything about him or write to him, but when I write a letter I'm writing to the both of you, and I do think of both of you every day. I guess he understands all that.

Yes, I smoked the pipe you sent until I broke it, so I started smoking cigarettes again.

I sent you a grass skirt today. It will probably take a couple of weeks for it to get there, if not longer. I'm also sending $50 bucks that the boys donated to me last night. I've got plenty of money to buy anything I need, so you take this and pay off some of your debt.

I have a couple of pictures of the native women I wish I could send you, but we're not allowed to do that.

Mom, I wish I could write about more things, but we just aren't allowed to. You ask me lots of questions that I can't answer.

Yes, this makes 2 birthdays I have been away from home. But, I'll be home for my next birthday for sure.

I got another letter from Louise, and she was saying that she wants to get married when I get back home. I don't know what she is talking about.

I'm glad you got the bracelet, but you shouldn't have paid 17 bucks for it. Hope you sent it by air mail so I'll get it soon.

You said you were going to get my picture enlarged, but you know you don't want to put my ugly mug on your wall. Some of the boys were talking about how cute Ruth was and one wanted to write to her, but I wouldn't let him do it because I don't want any of these boys writing to my sister. They are too much like me.

I got a letter from Uncle Bob, and he told me that he quit his job and is leaving soon to go up North somewhere. He said he wants to see the world before he gets too old.

I'm ate up with hives right now and had to go get a shot for them.

Yes, I knew Bub Pelly, and you are right, there are a lot of boys getting killed from back home. You don't have to worry about old Pedue. He will be back safe and sound, but it might take a while.

I'll bet I would sure look funny to you now because I am so dark. I'm not as dark as the natives, though.

I got the headache powders that you sent, but the aspirin you sent was all smashed to pieces. It takes so long for packages to get here, there's probably no use in you sending any more.

That Leo E. must stay home. I think that makes 3 furloughs he's had since I've been overseas. Well, if a guy is lucky enough to get them, good for him.

I hope Dad is real careful with his truck when he is working. It would be awful if something happened to you or him while I was all the way over here.

I don't expect you and Dad see many Marines back there, do you? I think all of them are over here now.

Tell Dad I'm thinking of all of you.

I haven't been having it too hard for a couple of weeks, but we've sure had some rugged times since I've been here.

Yes, *** was always awful bad about getting with other men. Is her husband overseas yet?

Well Mom, chow bumps just blew, so I guess I will go see if I can eat some of that stuff they call food.