{"id":8318,"date":"2026-07-21T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azadkinsiii.com\/blog\/?p=8318"},"modified":"2026-07-21T19:37:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T23:37:42","slug":"blog-219-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azadkinsiii.com\/blog\/blog-219-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog #219\u2014Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Who said, \u201cTo send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.\u201d<\/em>?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. In what movie did we hear, \u201cBut at night time when there was nothing to do and the house was empty, I\u2019d always think of Jenny.\u201d<\/em>?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. In what song (and who sang it) did we hear:
    Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane<\/em>
    Ain\u2019t got time to take a fast train.<\/em>
    Lonely days are gone, I\u2019m a-goin\u2019 home<\/em>
    My baby just wrote me a letter.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    <\/div>
    Blog #219 (audio)<\/div><\/div>
    <\/div>
    <\/div>
    Published: <\/span>July 21, 2026<\/span><\/div>
    <\/div>Audio by Andy Adkins<\/a><\/div><\/form><\/span>2<\/span> Downloads<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    <\/div>\n\n\n

    Note: This post is an updated version of an earlier post I wrote in 2020. It\u2019s been a busy summer so far: traveling  and volunteer work\u2014it’s all good, man!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Letter writing has almost become a pastime for many of us. Back in the mid-70s, when I served in the Navy, people always welcomed letters from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I\u2019m willing to bet that most people still like receiving letters and cards today. But our \u201cinstant\u201d society typically uses short emails and even shorter texts to communicate. That\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing, but it takes away from the real heart of letter writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Stay with me here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Back in the 70s, during my short, 4-year stint in the Navy (actually, Three Years, Eleven Months, & 29 Days: But Who\u2019s Counting<\/a><\/strong>), my mom wrote a letter to me almost every week. My dad was a lawyer in Gainesville, Florida and always had plenty of legal-size yellow pads\u2014that\u2019s what my mom used to scribe her weekly \u201cnewsletter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    She\u2019d usually start writing the letter on a Monday or Tuesday and write a little almost every day, filling me in on what was happening in their lives, my sister (who also wrote regularly), friends, and other family members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Then, she\u2019d finish it up on the weekend and get it in the mail first of the week. Sometimes, my dad or another visiting family member would add in a paragraph or two. Her letters, all handwritten in beautiful cursive script, would often top 10 or more pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Depending on where I was at the time (NAS Agana, Guam<\/a><\/strong>, or at sea aboard USS Kitty Hawk<\/a><\/em><\/strong>), the mail would take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to reach me. Keep in mind, when you\u2019re on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the Navy flies a plane out to deliver mail. If you\u2019re lucky, it\u2019s a daily flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But, when you\u2019re out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the beautiful, blue ocean and clean, clear air, there\u2019s nothing like hearing, \u201cMail Call<\/a><\/strong>\u201d over the ship\u2019s 1MC intercom and receiving a letter from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    No matter how crappy a day you may have had, letters from home were a welcome treat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The only exception I can recall is a \u201cDear John\u201d type letter. I know a few guys who got those, but they eventually got over it, especially when we hit the next port call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I still have the letters I wrote home\u2014all of them. My mom kept them for me. I recently re-read the first letter I wrote from boot camp<\/a>, just after I arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n

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    \"\"
    My first letter home to my parents from boot camp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    I\u2019ll spare you the details, but the letter begins, \u201cThis place around here is a hellhole. We have to ask for everything or be given an order to do anything<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Yep, that pretty much summed up Boot Camp at Orlando RTC. But, when I graduated boot camp and ABH \u201cA\u201d school<\/a> (Lakehurst, NJ) and transferred out into the \u201creal\u201d Navy, things dramatically improved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The last few letters I wrote home from Kitty Hawk<\/em> showed a slight<\/em> improvement. Well, actually, a grand improvement ever since I had been promoted to a Second Class Petty Officer (ABH<\/strong>-2). Of course, I knew I was coming home soon (30 days and a wake-up<\/a><\/strong>; 20 days and a wake up; and so on). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Believe it or not, I also have my father\u2019s letters he wrote home to his<\/em> parents during World War II<\/strong>. He was an officer in the 80th Infantry Division<\/strong> and didn\u2019t complain as much as I, an enlisted man, did. Despite that, reading his letters and knowing where he was when he wrote them told me a lot about my father that I might not have known while growing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Comparing the letters he wrote home to the diary (now a book<\/a>) was, in a word, astounding. His letters never<\/em> revealed the days or weeks of hell he and other WWII soldiers endured<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I guess \u201cThe Greatest Generation\u201d didn\u2019t want their parents to worry about them during the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Unfortunately, I don\u2019t have those long letters my mom wrote; you bet your sweet bippy I wish I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But, there was limited storage room on the ship (we slept in racks, stacked three-high\u2014mine was the middle rack, in case you were wondering). Our storage was limited to the “coffin locker” below our rack, and it didn’t offer much space. So, I had to toss my mom\u2019s letters. But, the memories are certainly still there.<\/p>\n\n\n

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    Enlisted men berthing compartment. USS Midway, CV-41.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Today\u2019s Navy, and actually almost all the military, now can receive almost instantaneous communications from home. Whether it be by cell phone, email, or text, our military service personnel can still have that personal connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I still like receiving letters, cards, and packages. But I can certainly understand the differences today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Back in my day, if you were a sailor out in the big blue and your wife was expecting a baby, it would be a week or so before you\u2019d hear about the birth (unless she or your parents sent a telegram). But it would still be awhile before you saw the first pictures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To counter that \u201cinstant communication,\u201d let me also share with you another story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After Boot Camp and \u201cA\u201d School in Lakehurst, NJ, the Navy shipped me to NAS Agana, Guam for 15 months. Back in the day, I had several college-age women friends who wrote me from FSU. FYI \u2026 I went to college right out of high school, but flunked out with a \u201cDismissed for Academic Reasons<\/a>\u201d letter. I couldn’t understand … my G.P.A. was a solid 0.7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Anyway, many of the women who wrote me that first year would dab a bit of perfume on the letters. That was always welcomed, and many times, the other guys in the division would want to know a little more about that particular person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I say that because until they invent a \u201cscratch & sniff\u201d email system, nothing will replace the love of receiving letters from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Until we meet again,
    Andy<\/p>\n\n\n

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    \"Andy<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Andy Adkins is a US Navy veteran<\/strong> (\u201973-77) and the author of several books (www.azadkinsiii.com<\/a>), many of which are free downloads (PDF, eBook format). He is currently retired and lives in Gainesville, Florida with his wife and life-long soulmate, Becky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Previous Blogs mentioned in this Post:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n