Letter, Irene Conole to her parents
A letter from Irene Conole to her parents. Irene reports that she is still in the hospital recovering from a broken jaw and that she expects to be there for four more weeks. She has had many visitors. Irene has received a picture of her baby nephew Mike and remarks that he is cute and fat. She tells her parents about Captain Joyce Bright Hancock, the highest ranking Wave in the United States.
[page 1]
April 8, 1953
Dear Mom and Dad,
Received your letter today.
It has rained for the last two
days but today it is real nice.
There are two babies here with
pneumonia and they cry practically
all day. They are four weeks old and
I feel so sorry for them. Then there are some
older kids here who have had their
tonsils out.
The nurse just brought me in a malt.
The protestant chaplain comes around
every day and he is terrific. He use to
do a lot of boxing but when he broke
his jaw in two parts he quit boxing.
I went again this morning over
to the dental ward and the doctor checked
my teeth again. He showed me the Xrays
and I really clipped myself. He remarked
how good I was when he was fixing my
jaw. I was so foggy from the shot
and relaxed that I didn’t feel a thing.
I asked the doctor how long I will be
here and he said four weeks and
all that time my jaw will be wired.
I’m only hoping that I don’t loo lose too
much weight. I can get weekend liberties
on the base to go to the show or the barracks
[page 2]
2. but I have to be with another
person. Boy it’s an odd feeling being
here like this. Some of the fellows
and girls have come to visit me
especially the Hospital Corps fellows.
They razz me about taking a vacation
from my job.
I received the picture of little
Mike yesterday and I have it sitting
on my table. It is the cutest pose.
Is he just as fat now? I bet he will
be quite good looking when he gets
older.
That Wave you saw on T.V. is
Capt. Joyce Bright Hancock. She is the
only Wave to hold that title and has
charge of all the Waves in the U.S. The
highest rank a Wave can hold is Lieut.
Commander which is two ranks below
a Captain. She was a Yeomanette in the
First World War. The trimmings on
her hat are a row of gold oak leaf
clusters and we call them scrambled
eggs.
So Mr. Geralico has a new car. I knew
he was thinking of getting one.
What did Edith Storey get kick out of
school for?
We heard on the radio that they are
thinking of passing a law on freezing
the girls in the service.
[page 3]
3. Last week we had eight Wacs staying
in our barracks. They were waiting for
a flight to Newfoundland. We didn’t
have anything to do with them and they
didn’t bother us.
Well I guess this is all for now.
Give my love to James.
Love and Kisses
Irene
P.S. It just dawned on me that I
sent your birthday card too early. I’ve
had Apr. 6th on my brain for some reason
or other. Give my regards to the
Geralico family and the Oakdens.
Cheerio