US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Sill, OK)

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ForT Sill, Oklahoma Augusf 22, l945 Dear Julie, i Having resolved To bring my procrasTinaTing self up To daTe on my correspOr1deUCe. l have dglvekd IHIOI ThaT ancienT file of unanswered mail from whence I have dug ouT your now somewhaf mouldy .le,TTer o orrors. can iT be Truel May IO, I944, ThaT leTTer, forwarded on To me, came shorfly afTer my arrival in ForT SmiTh. Arkansas. and caughf me in a diTher from which I have never fully emerged. I You asked me how I liked being an army wife, Well, my dear Julie, The answer. ToHThaT would provide excellenT maferial for a full-lengTh book. Maybe someday l'll wriTe The Saga of an Army Wife. In The meanflme. li youre sTill inTeresTed, l'll aTTempT To give you aT leasT a glimpse inTo The lives of Those creafures somefimes referred To as camp followers, The women who do Their besT To make homes-away-from home for The men They married. The diTher I menfioned involved a franfic orgy of searching for pofs and pans.. curTain maferial, dishes, mops, eTc., among The almosf depleTed sfocks of war-iammed ForT SmiTh. One day I. hiT The lackpof and wenT up The elevafor aT The Goldman I-loTel proudly carrying dishpan and ironing board, which were laTer Taken by cab To our new home when we moved in. The very firsT chore of an army wife af a new sfafion is To find a place To live and is abouT as complicafed a maneuver as anyfhing she has To do. Some of The girls spenT days and even weeks siTTing aT The Homes Regisfrafion Office waifing for someone To move ouT of a house or aparTmenT. Well, finally everyone goT seTTled, afTer having removed The dirT and debris in some cases lefT by The' lasT TenanT, making curfains, slip-covers, hanging picfures, and Trying in general To make The place look as much like home as possible. I musT say Too ThaT The effecf was usually preTTy good, Besides being hecTic, iT really was loTs of fun and forfunafely we gof To sfay in Forf SmiTh long enoughfo make if worfhwhile. When we were all seTTled, our Group Commander's wife, Mrs. Bush, a very lovely person, decided To organize The wives in some way so ThaT we could all geT Togefher and become acquainfed. So once a monTh we mef aT The Officers' Club for a duTch luncheon and bridge. Each Time The girls from one of The baTTalions acTed as hosTesses, making all arrangemenfs and geTTing The prizes for bridge, eTc. We had loTs of fun and somefimes as many as sixTy girls aTTended. They devised some preTTy clever mefhods for avoiding cliques by Their seaTing arrangemenfs. One Time we were seaTed according To The sTaTes we were from and once according To our birTh monThs. Some- Times They conducfed quiz conTesTs wifh prizes for The winners, and once we all Took our favorife recipes and ex- changed Them. We had had only one or Two parfies when a new group Commander came To us, and his wife Took over The problems of The group's social life. Mrs. Bedinger was a wonderful person Too and we all came To love her. She was really like a mofher To us all. Each baTTalion had iTs parTies Too and The girls in our baTTalion meT bi-weekly aT The homes of The differenf ones for bridge and refreshmenfs. Finally, however, we came To be Too large a crowd, so we began Then To have dufch luncheons Too. ' Besides our social acTiviTies and keeping house, some of The girls parTicipaTed in Red Cross work. Two mornings each week The wives from The whole group made surgical dressings. Also in our baTTalion were Two members of The Red Cross Mofor Corps, Two I-lome Service workers. and a couple of Nurses' Aids. One Time we decided ThaT we would like To improve our bridge, and a few of The girls didn'T play aT all, so we each boughT ThaT lesson book of CulberTson's, you know, We mef aT The differenT girls' houses, and sfudied, dis- cussed, and Tried To puT inTo pracfice a lesson each week. ' We really had loads of fun and everyfhing usually wenT along fairly smooThly unTil suddenly someone would hear a rumor ThaT we were going To move somewhere, and in The army one rumor has The power To launch a long campaign of wild speculaTion and evil forebodings which Throws all The wives inTo an immediaTe and indescribable sTaTe of iiffers known as being nervous in The service. We've had several affacks of This peculiar ailmenf, buf The worsf was in January and lasTed a whole monTh, AT one Time we were so sure of being senT To Camp Gruber ThaT some of us wenT so far as To go To Muskogee and go house-hunTing. Silly girls! Lucky ThaT Muskogee had noTh- ing, and I do mean nofhing, To offer, because we came To ForT Sill insTead. Oh, yes, we did move, and This is iusT abouT where you came in, where The girls are once more knocking Themselves ouT Trying To find places To lay Their weary heads, ThaT is affer They have again dusTed and scrubbed, made and hung curfains, eTc. Why repeaf? lT's The same deal! Our life here in LawTon-has been much The same as iT was aT ForT SmiTh. We sTiII have our baTTalion parTies. bridge games, and good Times in general. We also aT regular inTervals sweaT ouT rumors. As a maTTer of facT, nine of our officers were Transferred lasT week wiThouT The aid of a single rumor. They iusT received orders, bang- llke ThaT! We sure haTed To see Them go. So now everyone wonders, Who will be nexT? You know, sixfeen monThs' is aulong Time To. live so closely wiTh The same people, We have always had such a grand crowd of.real good Joes, boTh The officers and Their wives. ln The army you become acquainfed wiTh people very rapidly. LosT souls so far from home have a greaT deal in common and sorT of flock Togefher nafurally. Wefalll llljve 'flle Same lf1'fefeSlS. we have laughed Togefher and cried TogeTher, we share The same worry always and we ee T e same deep grafifude for The good forfune ThaT has come our way. Griping is a favorife sporf in The 'army Zndlwe do .our share of iT, buT we do UOI' Complaln- There is noT a one of us who would noT puf up wifh a greaf eahmore ingionwqenience and hardship Than we have yeT known as long as we can be wiflq our husbands, And as TUE GE We QP Ofeglhe neCeSSI.Ty which has broughT us all TogeTher, we do appreciaTe The pleasanT associafions ThaT 'I 55 een OUV P V'l'-399 lo eflI0Y. We have made some close and lasfing friendships wiTh people whom we will really hafe To leave when The Time comes for all of us To ge our Separaife Ways. Good heavens. Julie, l've rambled for Too long already, and There are sTiIl dozens of Things l'd love To Tell you agaoufz lgguess Theyll keep. Sixfeen m.onThs in The army is iugf Simply +00 long a period +0 Cover in a brief rvismlzowsloodness only knows whaT l will have To reporf in my nexf leTTer, Maybe l'll be wrifing from Tokyo.. AffecTionaTely, Margie 58 K N i r. s l l + le .x T' I L I I

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Q. ,f Q ' ,C-a, -, . ' f :xl X i x,x ij- XM WA'-TERMH-. SHEALOR CHARLES M., BUSBEE JOHN R. eases LLOYD L. IRELAND JOHN H. WERNET R. N. ROWLAND aaffaliisitrs-3 B iiaipiam ' Capiiln Caplaln Caplaln Capldln a a lon S-2 Commanding Officer Battery C Battalion Liaison Officer Commanding Officer Commanding Officer Service Battery, Battalion S-4 Battery B ' -,.' sy S. if ' iN,.TY,, M.. . 4,1 XL, ji, it ,, V QA, yi K , . V N , bw: A. V ' ,Q K X, Xt: 6, ' ri, .Q L. X A 1 ii. P X , f , -if P P. .. .3.. H 4' . 'Z . ,Q 1' ,S . 4. Q Rh Q b T 0, ' pkg. ff' . xl' it --A - A sie ' L S V 'L' Ef f-L . C. . . A 1.5.5 ,, . E I. .. 4 ' 'f z 2' -A isis! . .1 E? -QL ' ' ' Ye - 3 f ..-,L S ri - X . : 3, ,f i T I ,. I A A T I!-.1 lf' ii A f ' ay!! A ' N NICOL COOK, JR. SPILLMAN N. F-lTZPATRICK,JR. S. M. GLASGOW, JR, ANDREW F. GOLEBIOWSKI JOHN E. GOODE JAMES L. KEEGAN First. Lieutenant, First. Lieutenant. First Lieutenant First Lieutenant First Lieutenant First Lieutenant Reconnaissance Officer Reconnaissance Officer Executive Officer Battery A Battalion Motor Officer Ammunition Train Commander Battery A Battery A 'Z-'Z .49 N .-an fff A . O K if N, J' 'Nm l l 5 at i LYNDON M. KING, JR. CLOTA C. LEONARD LESTER L. MENG CARL H. STROUSE FRANK H. ABBOTT, Ill First Lieutenant First Lieutenant First Lieutenant First Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Medical Officer Executive Officer Battery C Executive Officer Battery B Reconnaissance Officer Motor Officer, Battery B Headquarters Battery DANIEL H. BERRONG ROBERT E. J. CARTON EDWARD P. HENRY VINCENT W. KAFKA HARNED R. MORRISON Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Motor Officer Battery C Battalion S-I Platoon Leader Platoon Leader Motor Officer Battery B KJ 'Q S57 4-hs 5. 'Uh LO .ad 11. 1 I -- I HERBERT S. PARNES MELVIN G, SHIMM HAROLD J. TRUETT LAURISTON A. WILCOX HAROLD G. MELLER Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Chief Warrant Officer Warrant Officer, iigi Platoon Leader Platoon Leader Battery B Motor Officer Service Battery Personnel Officer Assistant Battalion Supply Headquarters Battery Officer

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