Abell, Joshua Randolph, 1925-2003

"...Today while handling a cable some wires were ragged on it and as it passed through my hands rather fast it caught my right index finger and third finger also my thumb and ripped the skin off of them. They are quite sore now...confidentially, I've been overseas since September 7th '44. If anyone would ask me I'd probably answer them just like this, 'Too d--- long'...."

"...The first church service of any form except my own personal daily one, since my 'boat leave'. The other Sunday when I told you that I had signed up to go--conditions didn't make it possible for us to attend. This Catholic chaplain seemed to say a good many things in Latini...Your letters to me are not censored only mine to you are...."

"...I guess that I told you that I received the total sum of forty-five letters while we were in port the 20th and 21st. From now on our mail will be received in stacks like that--maybe a month or so's mail waiting for us at one time...." [A section, measuring 1.0 x 6.0 cm, has been excised from the second page of the letter]

"...It was so nice of Aunt Gertie and Uncle Harry to bring you a basket of apples down. I feel as if I could eat almost half a bushel at the present. But I'll just have to settle for those that we get for breakfast--either an apple, orange, grapefruit, figs (California), or buns. This is going on my fifth month of overseas service--and my eighth month in the Navy...."

"Life aboard ship is practically the same except that quite a bit of my time is taken up in standing guard and security watches...My weight has increased considerably since I came aboard ship. I gained most of it while I was on 'mess cooking' those two months...." [A small section of page 1 has been excised, possibly by censor]

"The climate out here is still the same, 'tropical', and if I was to say anything concerning it I'd say that the days are a little warmer. The nights however, remain cool and 'clear-cut'...."

"...Each morning now instead of Bedetti, the Master at Arms (MAA), waking us up in the morning by blowing reveille, the general quarters alarm wakes us up...Well, the other night I had a little accident. As I've told you before, I sleep up on the third sack up. There is a light out in the aisle with a shade on it--so I quite often bump my head on it when climbing up. I hit it just a little too hard and it cut a small gash in the forehead and made it bleed...."

"...At the ship's store canteen we can now buy all the candy we want to; even so much as a box. The reason that they've let down and taken the ration off of them is because they are going bad on their hands. Cigarettes are still rationed to a carton a week. But the latter doesn't hold any concern for me so I don't worry too much about it...as for the schooling on board ships--it's definitely out. All you can learn...is what you pick up through experience...."

"I guess that by now you are pretty worried since you haven't heard from me for quite some time...As to what has taken place during that time we can't say. Censorship is quite strict in the Navy, more so than any other branch of service...Our little 'The Nip Nipper' newspaper keeps us up on nthe latest news--from all sources it sounds fairly good. Germany seems on the verge of collapse...Tokyo is getting bombed rather heavily...maybe this will be over this year...."

"...We are now having classes (hour ones) in aircraft recognition, first aid, and chemical warfare. All of these classes are very good and may come in quite handy in the future. Ensign Locke conducts these classes. I've already had eighteen classes of plane recognition while I was in 'boot camp'--yet I still can't recognize them as to whether they are enemy or our planes...."