Sunday Eve 7:20

Hello Honey,

My morale is still high after that last letter of yours even though this is another blue Sunday evening. I pretend your here by leaving your picture propped up in front of me. It will have to do until the better days come around when you'll be there in person.

I don't know whether you've already guessed it by my scrawl, but sho nuff we're returning from another run just like we were last Sunday only this time we're empty. Thank God.

This trip wasn't half as bad as the one last week so we aren't all tuckered out, just slightly worn.

One of our mess sgts. and I are alone in the office both trying to write letters, he on the typewriter and I with my scrawl. He's strictly a one finger man so it will take him some time to knock out even a V-mail.

Remember those snaps I said we were going to print. Well we tried to on our return trip Friday, however the negatives weren't clear enough for us to make a print. The fact is, all that showed up when we printed them was a black square the size of the picture. It 'kinda' exasperated me to see the image in the negative and not be able to re-produce it. The trouble was that I took the pictures on a dark day with an ordinary box camera belonging to one of the boys. It had only one shutter speed which would be equivalent to f16 on my own camera at home. They have stops from f16 to 3.5 while the shutter work up to 1/500th of a sec. on the one and 1/1000th of a sec. on my other camera. Pardon me for getting a little technical honey, although you may know more about the subject than I do. Boiled down it means I should have realized that a box camera doesn't let enough light through to the film on a dull day. With a 3.5 lens you can take a picture in the rain and have it turn out as well as one taken in sunlite, but a box camera doesn't have such a lens. Get me! Boy, this is some letter to be writing to your best girl - what say you little one!

One thing I've noticed is several mistakes, so like you I'll say to take each one for additional love and kisses. You know Jerry one of these days I'm going to really get on the ball and write you strictly a love letter. The trouble is I can't express myself well enough on paper to do you justice or my thoughts about you justice so maybe I better wait until we meet. I wonder if I'll be tongue tied - I doubt it.

Take care of yourself honey, and don't work too hard. Now missing & loving you, I remain,

With all my love,

Johnny