This is the thirty-seventh of 87 letters exchanged during World War II between Nicholas Salvatore and Elizabeth Galloway. For more see Nicholas and Elizabeth.

Destroyed building in Rome

July 18, 1944
ETO

Dearest Elizabeth,

Happy birthday. I have nothing I can send you but this letter. I don’t know if I’ll ever have much to give you, other than myself. But know that I give myself to you completely and without reservation. Anything I can ever do for you, I will do. I can’t imagine life without you, or going through this mess without the idea of you to hold onto during the cold, sleepless nights. I hope you had a wonderful birthday and that the year ahead brings you nothing but happiness.

On so many nights I hold your letters or your picture and think of you. I think of you writing. I see each pen stroke, the pressure you assert on the paper, the light you write by, the sounds of the room you sit in. If only for a moment the war fades away and the picture brings my mind peace. I can never repay you enough for that.

Love,

Nicholas

Next letter – July 23, 1944