22 April, 1945

My Dear Joan;

Again a week has passed and no great change has come in the situation here at Lake Charles.

We have been antisapating our first flight in our new air-craft.  We have had quite a wait while our turn was coming around.  At the moment the antisapation is at a peak; tomorrow we are scheduled to take our first ride.

At this moment also the world is looking to San Francisco for the Conference that is soon to meet there.  You spoke of your local Brains Trust; This San Francisco Conference will be a really fine example of a Brains Trust.

My interest in the San Francisco Conference has a double foundation.  People from Arcata dash down to San Francisco almost as frequently as you would go to London.  It is only a few hours by car or train . . . . a few minutes by air; in addition to the fact that San Francisco is almost at home I am particularly interested in the outcome of this war.

In one of your letter you said that your activities might seem trivial to me . . . I don’t know how serious and “heavy” you think activities should be. – . I think your ability to carry on a simple quiet life in the midst of the war has always been a puzzle to me and a reason for admiration . . . A great many people say that I am too serious and that I take the war too much upon myself.  Perhaps you can help me to learn the lighter things of life.  Social activities, (which you mentioned) were almost a nonexistant part of my life.  An occasional movie, a dance on alternate Saturdays . . an occasional lunch or Dinner with one of my brothers . . . .

The problem will be less simple when I return, because there will be two people to consider and every one will be interested in meeting my wife.

Good bye, for now.

I’ll be seeing you

love,
Harold