438th AAA AW BN
APO 527 % Postmaster, N.Y.
England
12 March, 1944 1245
Dearest sweetheart –
We eat early on Sundays – i.e. earlier than I used to at home. As a result, I’m now back at my quarters and ready to write you. Today is raw and rainy – the first in about 2 weeks. The fire feels good – it’s nice and quiet and everything is fine.
Last night at 0030 I received 3 letters from you, one from Mary, one from Barbara Tucker and Mrs. Tucker and one from Eleanor. Every now and then mail will come in at a very strange hour – but typical of the Army – it is sorted out then and there and delivered. The lights were all out, I was in bed – so I read by flashlight. We use a flashlight a great deal in the country, dear. You have to or you’ll get lost. Blackout in England is of course severe. Before dark, we put up wooden covers over our windows. It’s now quite routine and will seem peculiar after the war – not to have to bother with such things.
Anyway, Sweetheart – I read your letters and enjoyed them immediately. Naturally I dozed off to sleep peacefully.
In the day before mail, I got a swell letter from your mother – and it made me very happy. She told me about having been over to my house and that she enjoyed herself. She also mentioned that my father was doing considerable hugging and kissing of you – which is ‘like son like father’ – as I see it. But best of all she asked me how I thought she was shaping up as a mother (not ‘in-law’). That was wonderful of her – to put it that way, dear. I wrote her and your dad a kind of long letter – and I guess I made myself quite clear – almost to the point of being matter-of-fact. They’ll no doubt tell you what I wrote, darling, but the sum and substance was that I told them I loved you, wanted to marry you – with their permission and wanted to be engaged – likewise with their permission. So there you are – Sweetheart. If all goes well – and I hear that there are no sincere objections – we’ll be engaged! The details – I really don’t know but probably it will involve my father’s presenting you with a ring, kissing you for me, and announcing it. That’s the way I see it from here, dear, although I admit the perspective from here is a little too far away to be satisfying.
I suppose there’s a letter in the mail now in answer to an earlier one of mine asking whether or not I should write your folks. Without waiting for a reply I wrote them and I hope they accept it. I’m just trying to save time.
Darling it seems almost too good to be true to realize that I may after all become engaged to you – and when it does materialize, I know it will be some time before I can make myself actually believe it. But I know I shall be very proud and content.
In one of your letters, dear, you say you’ll be waiting at the pier with a Rabbi. That suits me fine, although I imagine it will probably be more than just that – but not much more than that. As for getting my clothes, darling, maybe we won’t wait that long. No one knows much about demobilization – but I imagine it will take some time in the States. In that case – we get married anyway, even though I’ll still be in uniform. Oh – darling – I hope this doesn’t sound like a pipe dream. The war’s end is still beyond the horizon – and yet – end it must one fine day. May it only end sooner than we expect!
Well, Sweetheart, that’s all for now. I’ve got to write my folks. They know how I feel and what I want to do – and although I haven’t as yet had an answer to some of my more recent letters – I know what they’ll say.
This p.m. I’m going to read a copy of ‘Time’ which came yesterday (Feb. 28 issue) and then practice my clarinet. I’ve had it 3 days darling and so help me I’ve had my money’s worth. I still squeal horribly – but I’m having fun. This morning I played it awhile and dug out “You’ll Never Know – How Much I Love You” – on it – and I hope to tell you someday, darling, just how much that is. For now, solong – fondest regards to the family and to you, dear
We eat early on Sundays – i.e. earlier than I used to at home. As a result, I’m now back at my quarters and ready to write you. Today is raw and rainy – the first in about 2 weeks. The fire feels good – it’s nice and quiet and everything is fine.
Last night at 0030 I received 3 letters from you, one from Mary, one from Barbara Tucker and Mrs. Tucker and one from Eleanor. Every now and then mail will come in at a very strange hour – but typical of the Army – it is sorted out then and there and delivered. The lights were all out, I was in bed – so I read by flashlight. We use a flashlight a great deal in the country, dear. You have to or you’ll get lost. Blackout in England is of course severe. Before dark, we put up wooden covers over our windows. It’s now quite routine and will seem peculiar after the war – not to have to bother with such things.
Anyway, Sweetheart – I read your letters and enjoyed them immediately. Naturally I dozed off to sleep peacefully.
In the day before mail, I got a swell letter from your mother – and it made me very happy. She told me about having been over to my house and that she enjoyed herself. She also mentioned that my father was doing considerable hugging and kissing of you – which is ‘like son like father’ – as I see it. But best of all she asked me how I thought she was shaping up as a mother (not ‘in-law’). That was wonderful of her – to put it that way, dear. I wrote her and your dad a kind of long letter – and I guess I made myself quite clear – almost to the point of being matter-of-fact. They’ll no doubt tell you what I wrote, darling, but the sum and substance was that I told them I loved you, wanted to marry you – with their permission and wanted to be engaged – likewise with their permission. So there you are – Sweetheart. If all goes well – and I hear that there are no sincere objections – we’ll be engaged! The details – I really don’t know but probably it will involve my father’s presenting you with a ring, kissing you for me, and announcing it. That’s the way I see it from here, dear, although I admit the perspective from here is a little too far away to be satisfying.
I suppose there’s a letter in the mail now in answer to an earlier one of mine asking whether or not I should write your folks. Without waiting for a reply I wrote them and I hope they accept it. I’m just trying to save time.
Darling it seems almost too good to be true to realize that I may after all become engaged to you – and when it does materialize, I know it will be some time before I can make myself actually believe it. But I know I shall be very proud and content.
In one of your letters, dear, you say you’ll be waiting at the pier with a Rabbi. That suits me fine, although I imagine it will probably be more than just that – but not much more than that. As for getting my clothes, darling, maybe we won’t wait that long. No one knows much about demobilization – but I imagine it will take some time in the States. In that case – we get married anyway, even though I’ll still be in uniform. Oh – darling – I hope this doesn’t sound like a pipe dream. The war’s end is still beyond the horizon – and yet – end it must one fine day. May it only end sooner than we expect!
Well, Sweetheart, that’s all for now. I’ve got to write my folks. They know how I feel and what I want to do – and although I haven’t as yet had an answer to some of my more recent letters – I know what they’ll say.
This p.m. I’m going to read a copy of ‘Time’ which came yesterday (Feb. 28 issue) and then practice my clarinet. I’ve had it 3 days darling and so help me I’ve had my money’s worth. I still squeal horribly – but I’m having fun. This morning I played it awhile and dug out “You’ll Never Know – How Much I Love You” – on it – and I hope to tell you someday, darling, just how much that is. For now, solong – fondest regards to the family and to you, dear
My sincerest love
Greg
* TIDBIT *
about "You'll Never Know"
about "You'll Never Know"
"You'll Never Know", based on a poem written by a young Oklahoma war bride named Dorothy Fern Norris, won composer Harry Warren and lyricist Mack Gordon the Oscar for best song in 1943. It was introduced by Alice Faye in the 1943 movie "Hello, Frisco" and performed again by Faye in the 1944 film "Four Jills in a Jeep," as heard here. Although the song is often credited as Faye's signature song, she never made a recording of the ballad. In later years, frequent covers of the song diminished her association with it. In 1955 it was the first song that Barbra Streisand ever recorded. Others who covered the song were Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Lynn (above), Trini Lopez, and Bette Midler. Here are the lyrics:
YOU'LL NEVER KNOW
You'll never know just how much I miss you,
You'll never know just how much I care...
And if I tried, I still couldn't hide my love for you,
You ought to know, for haven't I told you so,
A million or more times?
You went away and my heart went with you,
I speak your name in my every prayer.
If there is some other way to prove that I love you
I swear I don't know how...
You'll never know if you don't know now.
You'll never know just how much I care...
And if I tried, I still couldn't hide my love for you,
You ought to know, for haven't I told you so,
A million or more times?
You went away and my heart went with you,
I speak your name in my every prayer.
If there is some other way to prove that I love you
I swear I don't know how...
You'll never know if you don't know now.
