Tarzan meets DD-373

Joan darling:

On my return to Honolulu, I found two nice letters from you, of December 13 and January 15. You could not have sent me anything for Christmas that I could wish more than your continued love and mistaken belief that I am a great guy. Anyway, I like to have you say it. And I am just as proud of you, dear, as you seem to be of me.

[...]

Joan, you just can't imagine how wonderfully every one has treated me. As you know, I have always been just a little bit cynical about Homo Sapiens. But now I guess that I shall have to admit that God made a pretty good job when he whittled him out.

And for me, the best of them are our own people. After spending three solid months with Army, Navy, and Marine Corps men of all ranks and grades I am so damned proud of being an American that I am on the verge of bursting. They are friendly, they are intelligent, they are ingenious, they are courageous.

I know that there are morons and heels among us, but they are outnumbered a thousand to one.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, letter to his daughter Joan about his war correspondent experience on USS Shaw DD-373, 5 March 1943