Today, I continued to research the correspondence between Marjorie Polon and some of the men in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. I read the rest of the mens' letters to Marjorie, including those of Nat Gross, Harry Haken, George Kaye, Bill van Felix, and the Spaniard Ernesto. I found these correspondences with Marjorie to be different than that of Bill Bailey with the young girl. The one letter written by Nat Gross seemed to me the most respectful letter that Marjorie received from any of the men. In this letter, he praises her for being so "wise" and for sending the cigarettes to the men. He tells her "one of the boys told me that his life was saved by your cigarettes." He does not make love to the girl, but rather treats her how she ought to be treated, as a kind person and dear pen pal. He ends his letter with "The boys send their regards and love to a strong anti-fascist and true friend of the Lincoln Brigade."

By contrast, Harry Hakam's letters use strong, provocative, aggressive language. He sexually harasses the girl: " So watch out for I have big teeth and generally have a little red riding hood with my eggs for breakfast." He is even less subtle with the fact that he uses her for cigarettes. He writes: "P.S.- mucho love pero much más cuando it gives some more cigarettes pronto." His unsubtle writing is brutal and disrespectful- at least that is how I would feel if I were Marjorie.

However, it is suggested that Marjorie provoked this kind of response by being rather flirtatious herself. Harry wrote "From the way you write, I am tempted to call you my cute little provocative sweetie."

Therefore, it is very difficult to determine how these correspondences between Marjorie and the American soldiers reflects gender relation issues inherent in American culture in the 1930's. Perhaps Marjorie's flirtations with the soldiers were purely acts of compassion made by a remarkable young girl and the soldiers' aggressive and disrespectful attitudes were simply reflections of the unique condition of the disillusioned soldier. Perhaps not. Perhaps American gender relations factors in to the sometimes disturbing and inappropriate correspondence between this American teenage girl and the adult soldiers.