Armistice Day

NOTE IN ELEANOR'S WRITING: Received November 18, Postmarked November 12

Lt. (j.g.) Gilbert Steingart

          U.S.S. Ocelot, F.P.O. San Francisco
           Saturday 11 November 1944, 6:45 PM

My Darling,

          Here it is Armistice Day and here am I in the Navy several thousand miles from home.  I didn't realize what day this was until I sat down to write and looked at the calendar.

          It is so hot here that when I don't have any work I just look for a place to light and "crap out," the Navy turn for loafing.  In spite of that I've been doing more work and keeping busier in the past few days than I have for several weeks.  Today I saw nine patients by ten o'clock, extracted two teeth, filled five cavities and treated two men for trench mouth.  At ten I made a sanitary inspection tour of the ship which took me to 10:45.  By then I looked like I had taken a shower with my clothes on so I went up to the bridge and relaxed until 11:30 at which time we have lunch.  After chow I played a few games of cribbage and at 1:15 I went back to work.  I saw three more patients--all for gum treatment.

          Honey, do you remember the heat wave we had when Linda was a baby?  How we undressed her completely and put her out in her buggy on the porch?  We even have some movies of her turning on her tummy with her fuzzy head looking up at us.  After this war I'm going to take a lot more movies of all of us so we'll be able to look back together and enjoy the past.

          Well Sweet, I'm going to sign off now.  Last night we had "Whistling in Brooklyn" with Red Skelton.  I don't know what we have tonight but anything will be OK by me.  Good night my darling, I love you

As ever

Gil