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to Estelle Spero

Diamond reassures Estelle that there are no women around, as the "natives" had fled to the hills when the fighting took place. He asks Estelle to send him clippings of articles about chemical troops in action.

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to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he returned the night before from spending the past two days in the jungle, commenting on how accustomed he has become to its discomforts. Sidney asks Estelle again for a lamp so that he can read and write at night.

GLC09120.313

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes the "natives" on the island. He then discusses the banian tree, drawing diagrams to illustrate.

GLC09120.314

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that at last he has paid back the loan that he took out in order to purchase her engagement ring.

GLC09120.318

to Estelle Spero

Christmas Greetings card to Estelle.

GLC09120.319

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that he is in the midst of carrying out an inventory and audit. He tells her that he has once again been working with "native boys", describing them as "cute".

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to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes a conversation with one of the "natives" about love and marriage.

GLC09120.321

to Estelle Spero

Diamond tells Estelle that they will get married immediately upon his return. He states that if anything happens to him she should know one thing: "I've led a full pleasant life - I missed out on but one thing - marriage…"

GLC09120.322

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that he had gone into the jungle to inspect the impact area of yesterday's firing. He describes a discussion with the other officers based upon the question: "What will the people back home say to us when we return?""

GLC09120.323

to Estelle Spero

Diamond complains about the hypocrisy of friends back home who are giving speeches in his honor, but who have failed to write to him

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to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that he has been made a First Lieutenant.

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to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes the soldiers from New Zealand that he has been working with.

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to Estelle Spero

Diamond refers to some of Estelle's letters that he has received.

GLC09120.327

to Estelle Spero

Diamond provides commentary on the photographs that he has enclosed.

GLC09120.328

to Estelle Spero

Diamond reassures Estelle that the nurse featured in one of the photographs that he had sent home is engaged.

GLC09120.329

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that, upon his return, he plans to lock himself in a room for month and "sleep and sleep and sleep".

GLC09120.330

to Estelle Spero

Diamond discusses problems pertaining to the soldiers' ballot for the presidential election.

GLC09120.331

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that he feels surprisingly calm about the prospect of going into battle: "there is only the quietness of heart & body".

GLC09120.332

to Estelle Spero

Diamond instructs Estelle to be good, happy and to keep her level head.

GLC09120.333

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that they are "bon-voyaging again."

GLC09120.334

to Estelle Spero

Diamond asks Estelle to send V-mails in addition to her lengthy air mail letters, as he receives his parents' fairly regularly.

GLC09120.335

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that the "situation continues as usual", with everything "wet, damp, moldy" from the rain.

GLC09120.336

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that "the hunger for home grows increasingly great".

GLC09120.337

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that "there is little if anything new to report".

GLC09120.338

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes his "politics" to Estelle.

GLC09120.339

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that the lack of mail has been caused by his being involved in combat, "front line stuff". He writes that he has "seen 'war' minus hollywood's beauty."

photocopy

GLC09120.340

to Estelle Spero

Diamond praises his men in their initiation into battle. He complains about the difficulty of seeing clearly on the front line, and also writes that he would give up a year's salary for a decent night's sleep.

GLC09120.341

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he is "used to it by now. [His] nerves have settled down to their usual steady jangle."

GLC09120.342

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he wants "home - out of this mess…"

GLC09120.343

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes the telephone operator, Kallor, as a Jewish dress cutter from New York who is in Sidney's father's union.

GLC09120.344

to Estelle Spero

Diamond comments that he has never been ill during his army career.

GLC09120.345

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes Estelle a "short note in field on message & overlay paper."

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to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that their "apartment will have a double apron barbed wire fence about it covered by a slew of machine guns to keep all relatives away…"

GLC09120.347

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes the process of selecting new observation posts.

GLC09120.348

Sketch of Stanley Diamond as a boy

Diamond writes that the mouth is "too feminine".

GLC09120.349

to Estelle Spero

Diamond again describes the process of selecting observational posts in trees.

GLC09120.350

to Estelle Spero

Diamond asks Estelle to send him a book once a month to entertain him.

GLC09120.351

to Estelle Spero

Diamond apologizes for having neglected Estelle on St. Valentines day.

GLC09120.352

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes using the typewriter in terms of a battle offensive.

GLC09120.353

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that he intends to attend his battalion motion picture show that evening.

GLC09120.354

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he imagines embracing Estelle.

GLC09120.355

to Estelle Spero

Diamond reports that that evening they had gone to the cinema to see the film, "The Affairs of Martha

GLC09120.356

to Estelle Spero

Diamond discusses the "present conflict" between labor and industry.

GLC09120.357

to Estelle Spero

Diamond talks of the constant rain, his desire for good cuisine and a recent nightmare about an air raid.

GLC09120.358

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that his outfit boasts "a washing machine, ice box, and recently a generator & electric lights

GLC09120.359

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes his day as "quiet, dull, routine rot!"

GLC09120.360

to Estelle Spero

Diamond tells Estelle that he no longer has "that burning hatred of the jungle and its mysteries", commenting on how peculiar it is that "a man can adapt himself to this way of living".

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to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes writing to the wife of one of his men about his death, an experience that made him realize the "ridiculous emptiness of words".

GLC09120.362

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes the interior of his tent. He writes that it is "grand to be alive and well".

GLC09120.363

to Estelle Spero

Diamond tells Estelle that her "guy is getting along satisfactorily - nothing to write about of any consequence

GLC09120.364

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that his vocabulary is too limited to express how grateful he is for everything that she has done for him.

GLC09120.365

to Estelle Spero

Diamond discusses his "bleak & uncertain" future.

GLC09120.366

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that the day had been spent climbing steep hills to O.P.s (observation posts), and describes the view from them. Sidney gives Estelle some instructions pertaining to the "money order" enclosed and requests some garden seeds...

GLC09120.367

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that she has become an integral part of his daily routine.

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to Estelle Spero

Diamond implies that since it was a leap year, Estelle should have proposed to him.

GLC09120.369

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that they are working on maps and overlap. He comments that he doesn't feel "poetic, romantic, jocular".

GLC09120.370

to Estelle Spero

Diamond mentions that "nearly everyone around has discovered someone they knew from back home

GLC09120.371

to Estelle Spero

Diamond thanks Estelle for the New Yorker that she had subscribed to for him, and then proceeds to "rampage through the 'mag'

GLC09120.372

to Estelle Spero

Diamond complains that they have termites in the camp.

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to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he is recovering from a 96 hour stretch without sleep: "I needed your shoulder badly".

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to Estelle Spero

Diamond wonders "how these Nips can keep getting literally slaughtered." He comments that this is one period that he doesn't want to share with anyone: "I'm spending the rest of my life forgetting it."

GLC09120.375

to Estelle Spero

Diamond apologizes for the brevity of his notes, explaining that he doesn't have the time, place or imagination to write more. He promises to "come out of this mess."

GLC09120.376

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes a reconnaissance trip that all of the officers had gone on that afternoon.

GLC09120.377

to Estelle Spero

Diamond comments on how sad it is "that man must come to destroy, scar, and burn."

GLC09120.378

to Estelle Spero

Diamond compares his current situation to attempting to descend an upwards-bound escalator: "One steps down only to be brought back to the starting point."

GLC09120.379

to Estelle Spero

Diamond states that he seldom writes when in the field, primarily "because there is nothing of consequence to relate."

GLC09120.380

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that he is writing in a hole, with a small lantern providing light.

GLC09120.381

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes the closest to real fighting that he has experienced.

GLC09120.382

to Estelle Spero

Diamond comments on how sad it is "that man must come to destroy, scar, and burn."

GLC09120.383

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes bumping into a girl from Coney Island.

GLC09120.384

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that the oriental inscription on the ring that Estelle bought for him causes him embarrassment, as people assume that he "Got that off a Jap".

GLC09120.385

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he has heard that Passover is the following day, but that his "holidays are celebrated by destroying the enemy." Sidney describes firing on some "Japs".

GLC09120.386

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he thinks that he is at his zenith.

GLC09120.387

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he is using the lantern that Estelle sent him for the first time, and consoles her for the confusion that she is experiencing concerning her job.

GLC09120.388

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes on his birthday that he feels "one hundred years older." He recommends that she reads "The Robe" by Lloyd C. Douglas.

GLC09120.389

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that he has gone from platoon leader to Company Executive Officer. He also mentions that they are now allowed to divulge that they are somewhere in the Solomon Islands

GLC09120.390

to Estelle Spero

Diamond complains about being encouraged by the Army to read the periodical "In Fact", as it offends his liberal sensibilities.

GLC09120.391

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he worries about the administrative side of his job.

GLC09120.392

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that the "days are completely devoid of any activity." He mentions that a rotation policy is being started, whereby men who have spent between eighteen months and two years in overseas service will get an opportunity to go home....

GLC09120.393

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes the contents of a package that his parents have sent him. He recalls the day that he proposed to Estelle, and comments that nearly a year has passed since that date, May 18th. He then discusses how important Estelle is to him in...

GLC09120.394

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he is bored and "craves movement."

GLC09120.395

to 82nd Chemical Battallion

Note commending the 82nd Chemical Battalion for the assistance that they provided the 37th Division with.

GLC09120.396

to Estelle Spero

Diamond tells Estelle that he spent Passover participating in a push. He discusses the horrifying effect of encountering great masses of dead bodies.

GLC09120.397

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that he is writing the letter having just completed the previous one, so as "to prevent the continuity, the nearness from being disturbed."

GLC09120.398

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he has just returned from a musical entitled "Reveille with Beverly". He reports that sometimes, to break the monotony of his current existence, he goes to visit the units on the front.

GLC09120.399

to Estelle Spero

Diamond reports that the rainy season has begun once more. He writes that he has finished reading Voltaire's "Candide".

GLC09120.400

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that the day had served as a holiday for those not engaged in combat, as it marked the two-year anniversary of the existence of the 82nd Chemical Battalion. Sidney states that he craves movement.

GLC09120.401

to the 82nd Chemical Battalion

Farewell letter from the departing Lieutenant Colonel. He writes of the battalion's reputation as "a crack outfit."

GLC09120.402

to Estelle Spero

Diamond discusses the trials of being so far from one's sweetheart. He recounts the story of his former sergeant, who had been engaged, but whose ex-fiancee is now using the bedroom set that he had purchased with her new husband. He mentions that...

GLC09120.403

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that his living standards have improved immeasurably since the "days of fox-holes and C rations." Diamond comments on the frequency that Shuster appears in "Time" magazine.

GLC09120.404

to Estelle Spero

Diamond reports that his battalion has received several commendations for their work "during the recent show with the enemy."

GLC09120.405

to Estelle Spero

Diamond discusses his opinions regarding pre-embarkation marriage.

GLC09120.406

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that some day he hopes to visit New Zealand or Australia. He comments that he has read part 2 of "France et La Vieux".

GLC09120.407

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that he broke the clasp of the bracelet that she gave him when disassembling a Japanese machine gun.

GLC09120.409

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes that he has enclosed a questionnaire that "concerns two misguided morons who for no other reason than lust, financial gain, and imbecility consider the problem of spending the rest of their natural lives making each other miserable."

GLC09120.410

to Estelle Spero

Diamond passes comment on the previous night's entertainment. He also discusses an army film on England, which he writes gave "a direct, frank, and uncolored recognition of white prejudice towards the negro and an appeal…for understanding and...

GLC09120.411

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes the letter while "comfortably loafing on hospital bed", waiting for surgery on a cyst. He tells Estelle that if her cousin joins the infantry and goes into active combat, he will have tremendous respect for him: "Truly the infantry is...

GLC09120.412

to Estelle Spero

Diamond writes "hot & bothered", with "bandages sticking". Diamond expresses frustration about the fact that all press about the "work" that has been done in the South Pacific accredits all success to the "God damned marines."

GLC09120.413

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes the experience of receiving surgery in the army hospital the day before.

GLC09120.414

to Estelle Spero

Diamond expresses frustration about being "shackled" to his hospital bed while recuperating. He describes a conversation that he had with his "cell mate" from New Zealand, who had been amazed "at American soldiers not getting the fullest...

GLC09120.415