Thumb Sightseeing

Lieut. Gilbert Steingart

U.S.S. Ocelot, F.P.O. San Francisco

Tuesday 10 July 1945, 6:45 PM

Dearest Eleanor,

          Hello Darling, here is that guy again.  This morning was the usual busy routine.  Then I received a typhoid booster shot and a smallpox vaccination.  My arm isn't very sore now but it will be by tomorrow.

          After lunch the captain and I went over to Joe Goldfarb's ship and he ran us up the coast to town.  We went ashore and via the thumb went sightseeing.  We must have covered plenty of miles because we were riding almost steadily from 2:30 to 5:00 PM when we returned to the dock.  We had a boat take us over to Joe's ship which was anchored in the stream.  It is an hour's ride, so we had dinner aboard the LCI.   We got back aboard about fifteen minutes ago.  It was quite and interesting trip and yet nothing outstanding I can write about.

          I received one letter from my sweet today so here goes.  Let me know what you find out about a lot in the Pickering Estate.  They are probably high but then one can never tell.

          There is a change in the flag setup which I can't go into at the time. Temporarily we have an admiral and commodore aboard.  Soon however (we hope) the admiral will leave, but the commodore will remain.  This commodore was a captain aboard before and was just promoted to his present rank.  So much for that.

          I do hope for Deb and Dave's sake that Dave gets into Officers' Training.  There is one catch that they may not be aware of and that is the officers trained at Navy or Marine expense, especially at this late date, will be the last to be released from active duty.  Right now there is a big drive on to get reserves to join the regulars.  So far the response is poor.

          No doubt Dick is ruining his health, but I for one shan't worry about it.  He is old enough to know better and his attitude about the whole deal is very warped.

          There is nothing more to say.  The movie tonight is an oldie "Boom Town" with Gable, Tracy, Colbert and Lamarr.  The trip ashore was very dirty and I'm filthy.  I'll take a shower before going to the movie.

          Goodbye now Sweetheart.  I'll see you in my dreams.

Loving you a always,

Gil