[December, 1943]

Duxbury Calling!

Come in, Please.

This letter brings you The Thoughts and good wishes, rampant in your home town where you are missed and talked about not only at Christmas, but all The Time with great affection and pride. We hope this will reach every last man and girl of you, yes girls too, for Duxbury is also proud of its enlisted girls, six of them. Army nurse T. Velma Glass, Pacific, T. Gladys Simmons, England, Margaret Martin, Kentucky, Ruth Gallagher, Washington, Dorothy Cottin, Miami, and believe it or not – a major, Ruth Kerr, Indianapolis. But the rest of us are still in Duxbury, gloating over well-filled preserve-closets, and if that makes your mouth water, remember, the whole point of home-canning is to clear the decks for just that much more good tinned food for you. Russell Soule’s Daughter, Natalie, went down to Atlanta the other day to marry her Ensign James N. Henry.

The senior -class at Duxbury High School has already started rehearsals for the play “Summer Rash.” We suppose that means poison-ivy, but we wouldn’t know!

Miles Standish is still on the job. We can’t drive up there any more, for various and obvious reasons.

When you hear that Steven Lambathis is now held prisoner of the Japs, you’ll wish you had his address, so here it is! Do send him a cheering word. Just think what it will mean to him! PVT. 1/c – 6147745 – U.S. Air Corps Interned by Japan Formerly of the Philippine Islands. 0/0 Japanese Red Cross. Tokio, Japan, Via New York N.Y.

The coast guard now uses watch dogs, given to the Service by patriot owners, and you all may imagine what a good idea that is! – The old, abandoned Millbrook Post Office waddled over a new cellar-hole opposite the new P.O which, you remember is now right spang on what used to be the R.R. track. Homesick, I suppose, or jealous. The old Duxbury Station has been stripped and will someday be somebody’s house.

A bumper cranberry crop was picked this fall by older men and women and small boys and girls – we’ve had some swell high-tides but no bad storms. – A few fishermen still hang over the rail on the long bridge. At this date, out of 240 enlisted from Duxbury, 64 are now over-seas. We are all buying bonds as fast as we can. The metal drives have netted tons of good usable stuff. The Red Cross workers are going full-tilt, and the Civilian Defense keeps in good shape. The Industrial war-workers keep up a full head of steam. Our visiting nurse keeps us rolling and there’s nothing for you to worry about on the home-front. You are keeping the roofs over our heads intact, and we know it! The only real danger here is that we may all simply die of joy when you come marching home with your job done.  – We are just terribly happy of the snappy Honor Roll surmounted by a swell gold eagle, in the front yard of the Police Station. – This letter is multigraphed for you by our own high school, a voluntary part in this. Your Christmas letter. God bless you all and the best of luck to you. We are rooting for you all the time. Everybody in Duxbury is behind this letter, so we send our love to every single one of you. – This is Duxbury signing off.