Loyola University Maryland - Evergreen / Green and Gray Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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marched from the train to the receiving station and there our spirits took a drop. Without any regard for friendship closely welded, due to a eommon bond of symj)atliy, since we were all from the same part of “Philly and felt like strangers in a strange place, wo were eomj)letely separated and assigned to ditlerent branches of the service and difterenl units, scattered all over the camp — and so big is this khaki city that many of us have not met since. Not finding fault, understand; conditions required the disposition made of us, hut it rather dampened our ardor for a while. But not for long — new ae([uainlanees were soon found to rei)laee the old; such huge melting pots are these eam])s, moulding lasting friendships out of all classes and types who hapiiened to he thrown together for a few months and who in a short time may he separated and never set eyes on each other again. 1 considered myself very fortunate in again being assigned to the Headquarters Company of the 320th Field Artillery. Once more I found myself thrown in with a real fine crowd of fellows representing over ten states of the Union, from Maine to Mississippi, and I soon felt perfectly at home again. Work was continued, drill, drill, drill, and more drill, as week followed week with fifteen mile hikes every Friday and a division review followed by inspection every Saturday morning, and very rigid inspections these are, both personal and barracks. Everything must be spick and sjian and in place. Any man whose jiersonal appearance is not as it should be or whose equipment is not laid out in an orderly manner and the vicinity of his bunk clean as a new pin is S. O. L. (sure out of luck) — denied his hard earned pass to town that night or some similar punishment. I speak from exjierienee. In the weeks that followed nothing unusual happened. We worked hard and steady and really made wonderful progress, and the more we got used to the life and to one another the more congenial it became. For eight hours a day we were kejit on the go with foot drill, artillery gun drill, signalling, reconnaissance work, etc., and the more we learned of our work the more interesting it became and the more pride we took in our jirogress. Our free time was well spent. Out of our company fund, raised by voluntary contributions, we bought a second-hand ])iano and a phonograj)!! and during the rough winter weather had many a j)leasant little social gathering, either singing or ])ushing back the tables in the mess hall and running a stag dance, d’here were some good shows and entertainments, both local and out- side talent, around the Camj), under the ausi)ices of the Y. M. C. A. or the K. of C. or the Camj) Theatre Company. Boxing, too, was one of our main attractions. Two or three good j)airs were matched together each night after sui)per and “mixed uj)” for the benefit of the crowd. There was ])lenly of comedy here loo, as when a lanky, raw-boned mountaineer from Tennessee would ])air 14

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Avere cold then, though the days were hot). But it was evidently only surface grumbling, a good vent at times for the feelings. A cheerful crowd, all told and will- ing; and in the days that followed with hour after hour of “squads right, squads left, one, two, three, four — get the step” and five mile hikes through sun and dust we struck up a spirit of comradeship that went far to make the life most congenial. And our officers were “true blue” — exacted a strict discipline when the occasion required, but otherwise treated us with a kindness and manliness that won our hearts. The third week we heard that the 32nd Training Battalion was to be subdivided and assigned to the different units of the 312th Field Artillery (light). At first we were down in the mouth for by that time we had grown into quite a happy little family. But when we found that our section of the battalion was to be divided in half, one half to be transferred to D Battery and the other to Headquarters Company, just across the road from each other, we accepted the change quite cheerfully. I was among those who were attached to Headquarters Co., and I was not sorry, because the work that followed proved to be very interesting. Then after five strenuous weeks’ work came the first big change. More than half of our company was notified at 5 o’clock one evening that we were to start south at 7 o’clock the next morning, and were confined to barracks in the interim to prevent anyone taking a flying trip home to hid good-bye to the folks, on French leave, or in army parlance A. W. O. L. (absent without leave). The thirty-six hour trip to Camp Gordon was a most pleasant one. We were placed in comfortable sleepers and fed on the regular army travel rations, beans, canned beef, bread, jam and coffee. The novelty of it appealed to all of us. Twice on the way down, at Bichmond, Va., and at Charlotte, N. C., we detrained to stretch our legs and break the monotony and were given a royal reception by the population on both occasions. At 2 P. M., Sunday we had our first glimpse of Camp Gordon through the windows of our sleepers. At seven we were CADET JOHN IIAKTZELL Aviation (Army) 13

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off with some little East side fight-fan who had learned many tricks of the trade from the bright lights of boxdom. Cheered and egged on hy half a hundred rooters, the long-armed individual would tlay around like a wind-mill, never land ing a blow and receiving a dozen quick jabs and uppercuts philosophically, and just waiting his chance to drive one liome. But by the time he got real peeved and started to make it a regular fight, the referee generally called it a draw. When the cold weather passed and sunny South came into its own, ])ascball and outdoor basketball helped us to while away many an idle I ' iOur. A very comical sight that one often sees while going about camp is that of a negro sergeant putting a squad of black recruits from the cotton lands through the “school of the soldiers.” The commander of an army couldn’t look more self-important than that darky non-com: “Come to ‘tenshun’ there, niggah — when Ah say ‘tenshun’ Ah want to hear them eyes come around with a click.” One of the big events in the life of the rookie is the first time he “walks his post in a military manner, keeping always on the alert and observing everything that takes place within sight and hearing;” I mean his first turn at the guard duty. Many a good story is told of that “first trick,” the truth of which I can’t vouch for. This incident I know did happen in a nearby battery. The Officer of the Day was making his rounds of inspection at 2 A. M., one day to see that all the sentries were on the job and was challenged with the regular “Halt! Who is there?” To which he answered: “Officer of the Day.” The sentinel, to whom an “officer of the day” was something new, came back with the demand: “Well what in the mischief are you doing around here this time o’night?” The following story is told of a “dough-hoy” rookie doing his first turn. The top-sergeant had asked him several times during the afternoon, when passing his post, whether he had seen the Commanding Officer. And that night after “Taps” had sounded he halted someone coming iq) 15 EDWARD BEES Military Police