Letter, Irene Conole to her parents
A letter from Irene Conole to her parents. Irene reports that she has received letters from Aunt Anna and Sam, and that she might be able to see her aunt during an upcoming visit. She tells of a recent Captain’s Inspection in which both male and female Marines and sailors had to stand so long that a few of them fainted. Irene shares that she has been asked to be the Maid of Honor in a friend’s wedding and that she hopes her friend gets married in her uniform. She reports that a Wave was found lying in the road and claims to have been attacked; Irene is unsympathetic.
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18 Jan. 1953
Dear Mom and Dad,
Received a letter from Aunt Anna
and I wrote and told her I was sorry
about not writing sooner. Some days I
have loads of time to write and other
days I don’t have time to think.
Aunt Anna says that if she gets
her vacation on time she will be going
with some other women to Florida and
they will be stopping in Washington.
Maybe I’ll get to see her.
Yesterday we had Captain’s Inspection.
We stood with the rest of the sailors
and Marines. A couple of our girls passed
out from standing so long. A Marine
fainted and a woman Lieutenant too.
Otherwise the inspection was good.
The girl from Palmyra that went
with me into the Navy and she and I
went through boot camp together is
getting married in March providing they
can get special permission for it’s during
Lent. She wrote and asked me if I
would be her maid of honor. She is
going to school in San Diego, Calif and
hopes to get stationed on the east coast
when she gets out of school. I told her I
would stand up for them providing
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2. she gets married at home. Hope she
gets married in her uniform. The boy –
friend is stationed in Buffalo at the
recruiting office and he is a wonderful
fellow.
There are girls getting engaged here and
there are a few married too. Most of
the girls come into the Navy for that
reason only.
I received a letter from Sam and
I believe he has sold their home. Guess
I’ll have to write to the dear boy and
see if he has been behaving himself.
There’s not much to say now. Oh yes,
security found a Wave lying along side
the road and brough her into the
dispensary. She’s claiming rape but
we haven’t heard anything more about
it for she’s still there. Some of these
girls are asking for what they get. Boy
I bet there is going to be a lot going around
when summer comes and the Enlisted
Men’s beach is opened. I’m glad I have
a job with evening hours for Mrs. Hughes
never calls me down to talk to me for
she knows where I am. Mrs. Hughes has
charge of all Waves on this base and has
the rank of Lieutenant.
Will close for now. Love and Kisses
Irene