Part Two: A World Apart

Herbert Victor Lentz and Mary Louise Stenquist became engaged to be married on September 6, 1937. Then Herb went overseas for two and one-half years with the U.S. Navy. This is the story of what each of them did during that time, and how they hung on to their vows to be wed. They tell their own story through their hundreds of letters to each other, from September, 1937 through February, 1940.

Herb and Louise were just 20 years old in the fall of 1937, when they fell in love. Herb was an ambitious sailor in the U.S. Navy, stationed in southern California, and Louise was a musically talented young lady who was quite involved in her little community on a remote stretch of the central California coast. In early September they saw each other almost non-stop for three days, and they became engaged to be married. This story chronicles their journey of love and devotion, as they faced many challenges in their lives, during the Great Depression and as wars were beginning to rage on two continents.

The details of those magical three days in September, as well as how they lived in the years following their engagement, and what they cared most about or feared most, are told by Herb and Louise in their own words. They wrote hundreds of letters, which were well preserved, written in the years following their engagement. They had promised to each other to be faithful until Herb returned from his tour of duty in Asia’s waters, whereupon they would marry.

When our story opens, Herb is stationed in San Pedro, California, near Long Beach. Having grown up in upstate New York, Herb had been in the U.S. Navy for just over two years. His ship, the USS Tennessee, plied the west coast waters from southern California to Bremerton, in Washington state. When they were in their home port of San Pedro, on a few occasions Herb hitch-hiked up Highway 101 to visit his brother, who had already found a home for himself in a tiny little village called Halcyon, on the central coast. This was the same village where Louise lived, having moved there with her mother and brother from Massachusetts, just eight years before. 

Below are links to each chapter of their story. A few samples of their letters are located in the Appendix.