Introduction

Original Memories: By Philip Gibson Hodge Jr. and Thea Elaine Drell Hodge

1943-1960: Volume II Chapter 2

Intro: In the spring of 1944 it seemed likely that my draft deferment would not be renewed, so I completed my seaman’s training and “shipped out.” On my first trip I wrote many letters to Thea, but in addition I kept an extensive diary. A the end of the trip, I had a few week’s leave and I retyped my diary and possibly some of my letters. This was then typed again on a stencil (how long ago that seems) by a more skilled typist and mimeographed copies sent to all family members and several friends. I don’t know if any of those copies still exist. This chapter is Xeroxed from my typed original including all typos. For some reason, most of it was typed with a blue ribbon which accounts in large part for the poor quality. Also, it was originally typed with zero margins, so that the chapter has been reduced by 10% to allow it to be bound. The original was not on high-quality paper and is rather fragile.