In this letter excerpt, Wellings is getting angry over missed mail drops.  Not only had he had any communication from home, but his men are suffering low morale because there is nothing to look forward to for themselves.  Hearing from loved ones helped make their situation bearable.  Though they have not gotten into the thick of battle yet, there are many long and lonely days spent preparing for the battles to come:

"Well, still no mail from my sweetheart.  I guess the man in charge of the mail doesn't think anyone cares for me and my 307 men and 16 officers.  I am beginning to get mad over the mail situation now.  I sent a dispatch today and in addition wrote a letter to Al to check up and wake up the people in his area to forward out mail.  I had Jackie Fulham take the letter to Jackie Greenslade, aviator friend of mine in '26 who promised to send it to Al in one of the planes which frequently go to Al's home port. 

We did receive our supply officer, an Ensign fresh from the Harvard course for Supply Officers.  He appears to be a fine intelligent youngster – name Shirley from Seattle (Keith Shirley), Washington.  I signed a certified money list to which enabled us to be paid for the first time since we all drew $10.00 in Panama (?).  He drew his money from the tender so that from now on we will always have sufficient money to pay the officers and crews.

By the way have you seen anything of my new glasses?  I haven't been able to locate them since leaving New York.  Did I by any chance leave them at home on my last trip?  Please try my black suit case.  If you can't find them please call Montgomery Frost Co. 414 Boxlston St. and ask them to make up another pair to the same prescriptions and frames.  They have a record of my last glasses (about Oct. or Nov).  They could send them direct.  I want a stand-by – just in case I break my present ones.  You see you still have to take care of me even though I am many, many miles away.  Oh if I could only be with you and have you take real care of me and vice versa.

Two months ago tomorrow I sailed from New York.  Gosh it seems like two years ago – honestly.   However it does mean that I am two months nearer to returning home to the sweetest in all the world.  Until I do I will only exist because real life can no longer exist for me without my Darling by my side.

Goodnight Sweetheart,

Yours alone,
Harold

Soon I plan to have a couple of neat informational blogs, one about another Strong sailor whose relatives have contacted me recently, and another talking about a flag that Gus Wellings kept, and some recent discoveries as to its origin.  Until then, I welcome other suggestions and ideas for blogs.  If you would like to contribute or write a piece to be included, I'm open to that.

Tammi

I love reading the reflections of Captain Wellings as the ship made its way around the Solomons training for pushing the Japanese back west and out of the islands.  This letter has a lot to say and goes through his day from start to finish.  Enjoy!

USS Strong
17 February, 1943

Sweetheart,
Good morning my darling little  girl.  How is everything around the household this morning?  I trust that Anne
was up bright and early, closely followed by her charming mother, that Anne had  a fine breakfast and then went sailing off to school willingly and in good  humor.  Now it is about ten a.m. And of course there is nothing to do -  ????

Gosh I am still anxiously waiting  to receive my first mail from my sweetheart.  What I thought about the mail
orderly who sent our mail to another port would not be fit to print.  However I  hope they will get the information straight very soon so that my crew – and particularly the captain – will receive their first mail in almost two months.  
 
“My Day” by J.H.W.
This morning I was up as usual  long before sunrise.  As the stars began to lose their luster and as the first
indication of dawn appeared in the eastern horizon a new day was born – a day of hope and prayers that sometime in the not too distant future peace would once again reign and the captain of the finest destroyer in any Navy would be back
home with his two sweethearts.  

At this point my thoughts were  interrupted by my mess attendant who had carefully prepared a cup of delicious
coffee which appeared on a tray along with the morning news selected from the  various radio news bulletins.   I immediately retired to my sea cabin and for the next five minutes enjoyed the fresh aroma of fine coffee, the morning news
and one of the popular brands of cigarettes.  
 
I was not alone, except in my  thoughts as over three hundred keen eyed and well drilled American youths were
at their battle stations alert and ready for any eventualities which may occur  with the new born day.  
 
Exactly at the time predicted by the navigator the sun began to appear above the eastern horizon, first as the
smallest of crescents, then getting larger and larger until it was completely above the clear cut line where the sky reaches down and meets the deep blue and smooth ocean.  I only wish my readers could have seen the changing of colors in
the adjacent sky and in the sun itself as the sun changed from a deep rich red  to a beautiful shade of golden yellow.  

Sometime after sunrise the ship resumed its normal condition of watches.  The boys off watch were served a most
delicious breakfast from the neat and clean all electric kitchens.  I myself was served in the captains sea cabin a breakfast consisting of orange juice, cereal, scrambled eggs, toast and coffee.
 
During the morning the men were engaged in various drills and lectures.  The ship in reality appeared to be one
huge school with small groups everywhere receiving instruction in the numerous details of the many subjects in which a good destroyer must be proficient.  In addition an aircraft flew over the ship several times towing a cigar shape
sleeve on the end of a long tow line.  As the sleeve approached the many types of guns would start firing.  The criss-cross of the fire from the small guns and the puffs of smoke from the large guns as the shells detonated was a very
unusual sight.  Of course the many maneuvers performed were very fascinating.  Before I realized the time it was twelve o'clock and time for lunch.  I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch in the wardroom discussing many and varied conflicts with the officers.  

After lunch I was persuaded to take a fine nap for about two hours.  I must admit I felt very refreshed afterwards.  As I must go on deck to witness some more maneuvers I will continue this story tomorrow.

 Sweetheart remember I love you always.  I have no idea how regularly my mail arrives.  But you know by now no news is good news.

All my love is yours.
Your very own,
 Harold

More reflections of the Captain, and other things.  I welcome stories of your family members to post here.  This could be a banner year.  I'm doing my best to make it so.

Tammi

On February 12th, 1919, William "Billy" Clay Hedrick, Jr. was born in Wyoming, Bath County, Kentucky to William Sr. and Emma Manley Hedrick.  He was the 12th of 14 children and the youngest boy surrounded by a gaggle of doting sisters.  If he had survived, he would be 94.  My hero great-uncle shares a birthday with one of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln.  I like to think that had he lived, Billy would have also achieved many great things.   Happy Birthday, Billy.

Captain Wellings also sent an update home to Dolly at this time, and just to keep the thread going on what was happening with the Strong crew in the south Pacific at the time, here's an excerpt from his letter home dated February 11th:

"Sweetheart,
This mornings’ press carried the news that the Japs have evacuated all their troops from Guadalcanal.  This is good news for us as it should bring to an end the general fighting – both land and sea – in this area.  It also confirms what we thought before I left, namely that we were getting firmly entrenched on the island and that it was only a question of time before we would have the entire island.

Since my arrival in the Pacific I have heard some marvelous stories about the land and sea fighting in the Solomons.  Some of the stories about the Marines are simply priceless.  I will remember the best of them for one of our sessions when I return.

Well Sweetheart your little boy feels fine.  I am continuing my policy of having Fred run the ship while I set the general directives and rest whenever possible ready for the big decisions if they have to be made in a hurry.  As a result everything is running very smoothly.  My men are improving by leaps and bounds."

Unfortunately it did not mean the end of Japanese actions in the area, but his optimism was always apparent.   He was always a man of hope and confidence, and that was beneficial for his own peace of mind and that of his men. 

This is also Fat Tuesday, so I hope all of you had a great day on Mardi Gras!

Tammi

Seventy years ago today, Strong landed at Guadalcanal.  This was also the day the Japanese finally pulled back and retreated to the westernmost islands.  Of course Captain Wellings wrote home to his wife to update her on their progress in port.  Here are a couple of snippets from the letter.  Unfortunately I believe the censors (of which Wellings was one) must have cut something out, as a portion of the page with some information was snipped out.  So here's the gist of his news about the happenings on Strong as they prepare to monitor the area around Guadalcanal:

"Sorry not to have written the past two or three days.  We have been quite busy running here and there doing odd jobs.  Guess they must reserve these odds and ends for the newcomers?  No – there was not anything exciting just the type of work which kept me busy on the bridge – without getting my usual 8-9 hours sleep.  However we have a little time to ourselves today – hence a letter to my darling.

My mail has not caught up with one as yet.  Gosh it has been six weeks since I have heard from my little girl.  (At this time, they have not received any letters from home.  As they meet ships at sea and in port, they are able to drop post in most places they stopped.  But they needed to be in one place long enough to receive letters from home.  This was a huge morale issue)

My ship is rapidly getting to be a snappy well-tuned organization.  The boys have at least realized that second place does not exist in the game.  Their improvement has been extremely gratifying.  I will be ready for any kind of an engagement.

Now how is my sweetheart?  Miss me??  And our little girl does she miss her Daddy?  I certainly miss you and believe it or not am always thinking regardless of how busy I may be – and when these beautiful sunsets radiate in the western horizon – boy oh boy how I miss you."

More later, as they prepare to do battle with the Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands. 

Tammi