13 April 1956

Dear Folks

Up until now all our rumors have been semi-pleasant ones, concerning going home. The one making the rounds today is not so pleasant—according to this one, we will be leaving Valencia at midnight tomorrow or Sunday, to proceed to Suda Bay, Crete; from there to Cypress—an island you may have read of recently in the papers. We should know later tonite, when tomorrow’s Plan of the Day arrives. This is one rumor I hope is no more than that.

Should, by any weird set of circumstances, a war develop—a real one, I mean—I want you to 1) rent a trailer & move all the valuable stuff up to the lakes; commute from the lakes to work every day, if possible. If not 2) sleep in the basement, on the side nearest the driveway. 3) Go to the cottage every weekend or if anything should happen at home. That way I’ll know where you were.

As for myself—we’ll probably be quite busy with one thing & another. Don’t believe anything you hear, unless you hear it from me directly. I’ll manage to get home somehow, but I don’t want to worry about you being in town in case anything happened.

All the above may sound very dramatic, but should anything happen, do as I’ve said. Remember that.

I’ve just been thinking—if a war starts, I doubt that it will begin in a blossom of atom bombs—it will start like this one could; two kids fighting & then the parents stepping in.

Now don’t start worrying—nothing will come of all this, but I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t have to worry about you.

Today, oddly enough, is Friday the 13th. Along with the above rumor & the fact that we had a mail call last night & everyone in the division got a letter but me, the day didn’t look too promising.

Then, around noon, I heard that I made 3rd Class Petty Officer; which really doesn’t mean much except $20 a month more. I still don’t believe it, though—after all, I only spent about a week in Aviation Supply before they sent me mess cooking! If it’s true I am now an AK3, but don’t address my letters differently till I know for sure. If so, it will make quite a difference in my discharge pay, & will help me in the reserves. Well, I’ll close now---till I hear from you.

Love

Roge