Plattsburg Training Camp - Plattsburger Yearbook (Plattsburgh, NY)

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1. Medical Inspection at RE'CEiVill,QAStfltiOll. Q. Going- in ag Qiymaus' 3. l'Ivc11inffParade. 4. Co ' 1' O , num, .ut as Soldiers 5. lW2lChi11SGllll15611lOllSt1'?lli0ll. 6

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INTERVIEW WITH MAJOR GENERAL H. C. I-IALE A' 2nd CORPS AREA COMMANDER By Alton T. Sliter Co. H The commandant of the Second Army Corps Area, Major-General I-Iarry C. Hale, visited the Plattsburgh Citizens' Military Training Camp Monday, August 21, on his toui of the various military training camps in this area, which includes the states of New York, New Jersey and Delawareg The regiment of candidates became. aware of the presence of a distinguished visitor in the camp when a salute of thirteen guns interrupted their morning drill period. ' Late in the afternoon of the same day the twelve companies of the regiment, totaling nearly thirteen hundred men, were drawn up on the historic parade grounds and were reviewed in company formation by'General I-Iale and Brigadier-General YVilliam Lassiter who had also arrived in the Plattsburgh camp that day on his way to Camp Devens. The hundreds of youths in olive drab, citizens of three weeks before, standing motionless in precise formation with every button, every hat and each picce of equipment in its proper place would not other than make a most favorable impression on a commander. Generals Hale and Lassiter passed through the ranks observing closely the cheerful -attitude and soldierly posture of each candidates and spoke personally to many of them. In discussing his review of the regiment that evening General I-Iale said, I was much impressed, especially from the mi.litary point of view, with the stability of the candidates in the ranks, with the manner in which they held themselves motionless in the proper position of a soldier. Their eyes, in every case, were directly to the front, they did not gaze about thc ranks. Such things as these I have mentionedindicate the ,benetlts of excellent instruction and is an index of the state of mind of the man in the ranks as well as of the training received. The bright eyed, alert youths with their cheerful answers to my questions, point out the success of the handling of the men in general. l talked to many concerning little details and encountered universally satisfactory replies. I realize that in some cases the answers might have been different had the candidate been out of the ranks or in a different environment. However I consider the attitude of the youths satisfactory to a high degree. It reflects credit, not only to the authorities in charge of them, but also on their own character or frame of mind which led them to take advantage of the great opportunity that placed them in training here. I asked many if they were enjoying the work here and received a reply to the aflirma- tive. I inquired if they meant to continue their training in the future and with but one or two exceptions where I received a conditional answer, all promptly replied with a positive yes. I am a hearty believer in the value of these training camps, which are in their infancy, and hope to see them greatly enlarged and extended. It is my personal opinion that this season at Plattsburgh will be a great benefit to many of the lads with whom I spoke today in the ranks. The benefit will be in civilian life for the most part. Many have been here shown the path to service for the better- ment of all. Those who had not yet seen the opportunity of service or who had failed to discerne the pathway and even those who had lingered and halted at the wayside have been started anew. General I-Iale concluded his remarks to the reporter with a word as to the future of Plattsburgh Military Training Camp. He expressed regret that very few of the parents of the candidates had visited their sons while in training and hinted that in the future a means might be devised whereby it would be possible for each citizen soldier to have his parents watch him at his work in the camp. In fact another year will probably see an inducement offered parents to visit the camp .during the month of August. The visits from home will not interfere with the routine or discipline of the camp the general stated. ln fact it will be the parents themselves who will bc disciplined since they will be governed by the hours of the camp during which they may and may not accompany their sons. The candidate on the other hand will be displaying the best that is in him for the sake of the family. In other words he will be 'on his mettle'. Alton T. Sliter 5

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Somewhere in Plattsburg General john Pershing, U. S. Army, A Deer Gen: Mabe you are surprized to get this missle from me Gen. but as you probly know I joined your army 81 came up hear to the C. M. T. C. camp in plattsburg. VV hen i gets hear they put me into a company which for want of a bettername they calls B. Into this company was put felloes frum N. Y. New jersey del. and part of podunk. And john this compny is the cats fur when it comes to the so called Military Life even if i do say it my-- self wich shuldnt. I Well Gen. the tirst thing they done when we got hear was to divide us into Reds Whites 81 Blues. At lirst Peet didn't see why he was a Red but the officers told him that the Blues 8: Vlfhites were the brains of the outlit wile the Reds wood be the mussel 81 bone. And he decided he had the latter quality at least. They began almost frum the Ist to give us, I. D. R. Qimposibilitys done rapidlyj, a so called Manuel of Arms which isnt done with your arms at all but with a gun called a rifle, and other things-add infinatum. How the so ever john this hear Co. B. is the snakes hips wen you come down to it. Napolean B.-is only a corp. in our outlit. As i sed before Gen. we didnt no each other very well at first, but that didnt bother us. Some of the fel- loes seemed to have been named rite in the iirst place Qas for exg Roach, Peet, Hinds, Salmon, and etc.j and some of the felloes seemed to nead new names. And this hear co. B. is the elefants ear rings wen it comes to namin Gen. For instance C. Butt be-- coms Cigaret Butt without hardely a bit of thot. r Well Gen. as i mount gard in the neer futer l'll have to clos with you. Now Gen. this is one of the army teknickalitys, Wen you mount gard you don't mount anything just like wen you are on kitchen police you arn't a policeman at all. The army is awful teknickal that way. Cward duty john is like an extempo- raneous speach becas you no wot you are goin' to say all the time. But their goes the corpralfs whistle so i must tear myself away. Yours on gard A. ROOKIE F. C. S'i'lflM7fZ07fLS Co. B. 7