09 Feb February 9, 1945

Letter
from: Mrs. G. Shonkwiler
to: Pvt George W. Shonkwiler
February 9, 1945
Friday  8:40 P.M.
Noteworthy: Mom is very lonesome.

Dearest,

Here I am again after another exciting day, all by my lonesome and too darn
lonesome!  I can remember one of your favorite arguments for marriage was how
nice it is to wake up and find someone you love beside you.  It certainly was a
poor argument, I can see that now, as I still wake up and all I see is a bed,
four walls, not a soul beside me.  At least when I was single I at least had a
roommate to talk to, anyway!  Anyone who marries for companionship nowadays is
plum crazy.  Am I wrong?

You just better hurry and come home because I’m getting tired of waiting for
that end of the rainbow.

page 2
Sure is taking those Russians a long time to get to Berlin these last 30 miles.
Guess the Nazis think it’s coming much too soon!

Everything happens to me, Darling.  Today the bathtub and toilet backed up
again and I called a plumber.  Another $4.00 for cleaning out the sewer pipe
and I just finished paying $4.50 for the same thing a couple of months ago.
Now they tell me the catch basin outside should be cleaned too.  Aren’t I the
luckiest devil there ever was? (Oh yeah?)  Just one thing after another, my
vacuum cleaner ceased to work weeks ago and I haven’t had enough money to
repair it.  Both my electric irons are on the blink.  Handles off one, rivets
and all, and the other has [the]

page 3
plug missing, also [the] handle.

I bought a broom for $1.19 the other day, but what will I do without an iron,
especially when I have a basement full of clothes to iron.

I sold another pup today for $8.00.  It was for a birthday present for a 6 yr.
old girl who had the mumps.  The girl’s father also has two sons in the service
he said.  The girl is the baby and alone at home, so he spoils her, he claimed.
My profit on the pup went to the plumber.  Ironic, wasn’t it?  I still have two
left, but suppose I’ll have to give them away.  The next time Judy has pups I
hope she keeps better company, so I can get more money out of it.

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No letters from Daddy today, as the 4 I got the past two days are probably all,
until the next boat comes in.

You mentioned getting some snapshots and that I looked thin.  I weigh about 109
and can’t seem to gain, although I eat three meals a day.  Guess I’m not built
to be big fat mama.  Is that what you want me to be? (Sort of 5 by 5!)  Looks
like you’re going to be kind of pudgy, so one fat person is enough in the
family.  By the way, what do mean when you said "That’s what you were afraid of"
in reference to my being thin?  My trouble isn’t in not preparing meals, just
that I never do have as good an appetite when I eat alone.

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I’m not too worried, as I guess I work off any excess fat and I don’t want to
get chubby anyway.

Ronnie’s sound asleep, and after dinner tonight he was so tired he laid down

to play with his trains, and when I asked him if he was sleepy he said, "no,"
but after awhile he said, "yes, I want to go to bed."  I took him for a long
walk after his nap and then we stopped at Dixson’s where he raced around with
Bobby for an hour.  I guess he was all in.  He really had an appetite, too.  He
ate creamed dried beef on toast and asparagus, and peach pie and ice cream and
a large glass of milk.  At 4:30 when we stopped at the bakery the girl gave him
a square of chocolate cake which he made short work of.  I thought

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"here goes his appetite for dinner,"  but it didn’t seem to affect it in the
least.

I rec’d three letters today from Elsie Redditi (Beloit); Pearl Taylor (Rockford)
and Helen Bethen (Hawaii).  Helen is the girl who I chummed with while in
Calif. and if I were single I’d probably be in Hawaii too, as she and I were
always going there together.  She spent 3 yrs. there working for Hawaiian
Electric Company before the war.  Now she is working as a civilian employee in
the personnel office at Army Airborne Headquarters, A.P.O. 953.  It sounds
pretty interesting.  Oh!  If I were young and free again!  I’m only kidding
honey, as I really want nothing more exciting than just having you home to stay.
From then

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on it’s up to you to make my life interesting.  I’m enclosing her letter, as
you might enjoy reading it.  She censors her own mail by writing her own name
in the lower L.H. corner of the envelope.  I understand nurses do that, too.
Why can’t you?  I’ll wager your letters would be very interesting if you could
tell all!

Mr. Dixon will get his Master’s degree this spring, I guess, as he’s been going
to school at DePaul all last summer and 3 evenings per week this winter.  I
give him credit for sticking to it, don’t you?  He seems to have all the
ambition Mrs. Dixon lacks.  Maybe it’s best if there’s only one ambitious
person in the family.  Guess I’ll start relaxing.

I’m all out of Ertron (ERTRON) or

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vitamin D for my arthritis and as it’s $6.00, guess I’ll continue to be out of
it.  It certainly has helped my back aches a lot and I’m not as tired as I used
to be.  It’s a shame I can’t keep it up, but maybe I’ll find a way, somehow.

If you need anything, honey, be sure to tell me, as I’m all out of request
letters and can’t send a thing without one.

Elsie Redditi’s husband is with the Navy in New Guinea and she is still running
the china and crockery shop with his sister.  Guess they’re doing all right, too.

I meant to call Mr. Chamberlin today, but with all my plumbing going haywire
etc. I forgot.

Goodnight, Darling, and dream a nice dream or two.

Love and kisses,
Mom and Ronnie

P.S. Did you get the 5 word radiogram yet?
P.S. The War Department said I should write a message of cheer in five words.
That’s a hard thing to do

Addendum
Enclosure

Letter
from: Helen Bethen
to: Alice Shonkwiler
1 February 1945

      Headquarters Army Air Base APO 953
Dear Alyce:

Well, guess you will be surprised to hear from me after such a long time.
Please pardon the delay, as I just haven’t written to anyone except my folks
since my arrival here.  Mother forwarded your postcard and also the Christmas
card.

I have been back here in the Islands now for almost four months, and am very
glad to be back again.  It seems like I now am just beginning to be able to get
settled down once more.  I have found things here much different than when I
was here before, altho the Island is just as beautiful as ever, with its
wonderful climate.  I guess Ronnie is getting to be a nice big boy now, and how
old is he?  I am auntie now, as my brother and wife had a nice little baby boy
last July, and of course we all think he’s pretty swell.  His name is Bruce
-- after my brother and they call him "Skipper."

I like my job here fine and I am in the personnel office at the above APO #.
When I first arrived here I worked a while in the sales office, office of the
base quartermaster, but did not like it at all, and was very bored, nervous,
depressed, etc.  The work I am doing now is very interesting and the people are
all very nice and cogenial, which means so much.  I live with four other girls
here on the base and we have [a] very lovely Quarters -- a 3 bedroom house and
we have a nice large kitchen with electric stove and refrigerator.  We do most
of our own cooking, as it is much better than eating out.  I go to dances two
or three times a week.  Here at the Officers Club they have a dance on one week
night with buffet supper and Saturday night dances are always formal with
dinner.  I tried to get a place to live out at the beach, but the housing
problem is very bad over here now.  Living out here is very convenient to our
Offices, but it makes it bad if we ever want to get into town.  We just have to
take a day off once in a while when we have any shopping or business to attend
to.  I hate to spend my day off doing that, as when you come home after a day
downtown you are more tired than when you started out.  So far have not done
very good with my suntan, but hope to be able to get out in the sun more before
long.  Sundays I have been staying home most of the time, doing my washing,
ironing, etc., but I have made up my mind I am not going to do it anymore --
life is too short.  It is impossible to get anyone to do your laundry, and you
have so much more laundry here on account of wearing mostly washable dresses,
slacks, sunsuits, etc.

Well, Alyce I shall have to call this finished.  Please write soon and let me
know how things are going.  ALOHA and all my love to you and Ronnie.

As ever Helen