Cedric Duryee Guion
Trumbull, Conn., July 30, 1944.
To all my sons, except Ced:
That priceless brother of yours, whose heart is as warm as the climate he lives in is cold, has been engaged in a sort of undeclared war with his father, in an effort to see which of us could be the more insulting or unusual in the superscription or salutation of our letters, one to another. I have had the feeling from time to time that I have put across some pretty good ones, and I suppose he has felt the same. Just lately one of his notes was directed to the writer as “Office force extraordinary, Manager Soldiers’ Haven, King Cupid, J.P., etc.,” but the letter just received this week I must admit tops them all. As a salutation it is directed to “Our Father which art in Trumbull”. I suppose to some of you who have been for so long removed from the environments of Trumbull, it might have as well been heaven, but he probably feared that aside from being a bit sacrilegious, it might convey the wrong impression and been anticipating a bit. And besides, he might not have been sure of the destination. Be that as it may, I am chalking him up with a score of 100% this time.
But to quote further: “Nothing more on the draft status. No parts for Old Faithful (his car, a 1937 Black Buick Sedan, purchased by Grandpa (January 30, 1941) as an Agent, and delivered by Dick in March, 1941) yet, and Big Ben and the bike are doing nobly. My watch is again about to throw a stem and will arrive at the jewelers for repairs. We had some superb weather just after the fourth – nearly 2 weeks of it – hot and clear. I went out to Spenard (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spenard,_Anchorage ) a couple of evenings with George Rengard and swam a little. Without Old Faithful I have to stick pretty close to Anchorage, which likes me not, but I do ride around a little on the bike. The last few days haven’t been so pleasant, due to rain and coolness. I haven’t done any flying yet, not being able to find my license or logbook. They have disappeared completely and high and low failed to expose them. I’ll have to see what I can do about getting a reissuance or something. Meantime, the good flying weather goes fleeting by on swift wings. Rusty writes, July 8th, Nome, Alaska, ‘Stormy weather for about a week. Expect “ADA” down from Ketzebuk any day now, then it will be a mad rush to get everything aboard her and pull stakes for Pt. Barrow where I finally decided to locate, if they’ll have me there. Many thanks for green stuff – they arrived in o.k. condition the same day boat brought the first greens we’ve had since fall. Came three more boats with more greens, then a tanker with whiskey and beer, but I went in for the milk on first boat – $.40 a quart.’
Ced also asked me to see what I can do about getting and shipping an electric refrigerator, but that is just about as hopeless as Tojo’s chance of dictating terms of peace in Washington. For years, here and there, ain’t and hasn’t been no sich animal. However as my motto is “never say die”, I will not accept defeat before making the attempt.
Dan this week has contributed another copy of the London daily telegraph. I noticed one of the items is the account of the circus fire at Hartford. He also sent a copy of the overseas edition of the Stars and Stripes (July 7th). I hope Dan doesn’t get in the way of any of those Nazi buzzbombs that, according to our news reports here, have been doing considerable damage to those not evacuated from London.
A letter from Dave hazards the optimistic opinion that the European War will be over by the middle of August, and that you all will be home for Christmas, 1945 – and maybe even for Thanksgiving. He also asks for Dan’s address.
I’ll continue this letter tomorrow with individual sections address to Marian, Lad, Dave and Ced. On Wednesday, the final piece of this very long letter, addressed to Dick.
Judy Guion