3. FAREWELL SOUTH CAMP POLK
During my five months at Camp Polk, I was able to make all of the necessary adjustments, and many solid friendships were cemented, may which remain to this day. If you were to look upon that group of 242 men who comprised Co. A as a whole, you would appraise them as being the drinkingest, swearingest, gamblingest, sexiest, nicest bunch of goof-offs to head for the E.T.O. Remember that the majority had been in continuous training for a very long time, so their friendship ties were a bit tighter. Many had set up housekeeping in the Leesville area, so family ties were also made.
A lot of memories were being left behind at Polk. Those many weekends that were spend at Beaumont, Texas, when many of us would all chip in a buck to pay for a room in the local hotel, resulting in about eight or nine of us sleeping on the floor. On a Saturday night, you'd fill up on donuts and soda at the U.S.O. Club. On Sunday, you'd go to church where some kind family would always invite you to their home for dinner.
I mentioned Rex Voss who came to Co. A with me from Fort Riley. Well, one Sunday afternoon I happened to be sitting on my cot in the barracks, situated just opposite from Rex's cot on the other side of the room. I was reading at the time, but I still noticed that Rex seemed to be struggling with a letter he was writing. Rex was literate but he had a problem with writing. Finally, Rex summoned me to his side of the room, and he asked me if I would help him write a special letter to his wife Norine. It was an anniversary letter, and since he wanted to make it very special and personal, he asked for my help. I then wrote a letter for him, being careful not to overdo it; I then had him rewrite the letter, but in his own way. From his wife's reply, his letter was a success, because she said that it was the nicest letter he ever wrote to her. It was always our secret, and it kind of made me feel real good to know that he would trust me with such a personal assignment. Several years later, I was privileged to meet his wife as I made it a point to visit with him during one of my trips to the south. Rex became the Chief of Police in Bassett, Virginia.
My base pay was less than $50.00 for the month, so I had to be very careful how I spent my money. The first Saturday after payday, I would go to a mediocre Italian Restaurant in Leesville for a much desired spaghetti and (one) meatball platter; this was a sort of luxury gift to myself once a month. Then, about four nights a week, I would meet with my old Ft. Riley buddy, Don Shomper who was with the 88th Recon. Reg. of the 8th Arm'd Div. We'd sit at a sort of shaded shelter that we referred to as the 'Chicken Coop'; it was there that we'd drink a quart of iced bottle beer as we swapped family stories, etc. Back at Fort Riley, no alcoholic beverages were available since Kansas was a Dry State (Prohibition prevailed even on the Post), but at the main post canteen, they sold something that was called 'Near Beer'.
About a week before we would move northward to Camp Kilmer, N.J. on our way to the P.O.E., many of our men were given last minute (shore) furloughs. Only those who had a relatively short distance to travel home were given these furloughs. Some planned on having their families meet them near to Camp Kilmer, hoping they'd have a few minutes to spend in saying their farewells.
Our departure ran quite smoothly, and it seemed that in no time at all, we were on our troop train heading north. Personally, I was glad to be leaving the State of Louisiana, but it was easy to detect a pall of soberness handing over the group in general. Some even spoke reverentially of those many chigger bites we endured, and a laugh would be provoked when someone mentioned the Armadillo that had been placed in someone's cot just before they returned from the local watering hole. Or, how about the time a few fellows threw Walter Butts in the shower and gave him a much- needed G.I. bath with a scrubbing brush. I suppose I will even miss sharing a stationary wash tub every Sunday morning with Sgt. Budisek, as we did our weekly laundry. It suddenly grabbed me that we left the old Sarge back at camp, and I really know he wanted to go overseas with us. I am writing all of this 46 years after it happened, and for some reason, it seems like it happened only a sort time ago.
There isn't too much to write about Camp Kilmer, because it was only an overnight stop before we boarded our ship. It was Election Day 1944 when we boarded the English Ship "R.M.S. SAMARIA". I am not certain as to who everyone was aboard ship, but I know our entire 7th Battalion of 1000 men and officers were accounted for plus some other army personnel. The Samaria was a fair sized passenger vessel, but it was certainly not a Queen Mary. I am not a seafaring type of person, so the trip held much apprehension for me. As our ship headed out of the harbor, a united chant arose among our group 'THIS IS IT'!!! I thought of those words that were put to a patriotic song many years ago by Irving Berlin 'And we won't be back until it's over over there.' There were other options I could have considered at that moment, but I was determined to dismiss them from my mind. Note: Five ships in all took our entire Division to Europe.
We soon joined a rather large convoy of ships at a rendezvous area where we were joined by other ships including a combined Naval Force of U.S. and English escort vessels to accompany us to Europe. Five troop ships in all serviced our entire Division. The Samaria eased out of Pier 45, Staten Island Docks on Nov. 7th, and we would eventually disembark at Southampton, England on Nov. 19th. The Samaria in peacetime would have made this crossing in just a little over seven days, but our convoy necessarily followed a prescribed zigzag pattern of travel, for safety reasons.
The meals were served by our English hosts (I am putting it politely) and were barely palatable. I survived mainly on hard baked slices of bread and marmalade. I was a bit surprised as to how well I was taking the trip, but yes, I did have my bad times at the ship's rail. One of our men, Sgt. Arthur Vanderhoof spent the entire trip on the upper open deck. He was so seasick the entire trip, that I was surprised to see him alive at Southampton. He did recover okay once we hit land. He didn't have to worry about his return trip to the U.S.; unfortunately, he was killed in action in Germany.
For recreation, crap games abounded from the first day at sea, but it was interesting to note how the games became fewer as the trip progressed. You see the money was now being accumulated by a fewer number of shooters with each passing day; those were the daily winners, of course. Thousands of dollars ended up in just a few hands by day eleven. A few of the smart winners during the first few days ceased their playing, and put their winnings in their pocket. One of my buddies, Manny Krampf of Fairlawn, N.J. was one of the early winners who held onto his cash. He approached me about five days at sea, and invited me to have a steak sandwich with him. I thought he was putting me on, because I hadn't seen much of anything good except my bread and marmalade. I soon learned he found an English friend in the galley who, with a little monetary persuasion, would satisfy the culinary desires of our hearts.
Our trip was full of lectures of how to behave in combat what to do if you are taken prisoner how to speak some French, German, etc. Dietary practices when alone in certain foreign countries Medical protection regarding such things as sexual practices. Then there were the daily drill practices with our "Mae West" life preservers. I still remember quite vividly that cold damp morning at 4:00 A.M. when we had to strip down to our shoes, put on our badly designed raincoats, and stand a short-arm inspection on the upper deck.
After disembarking at Southampton, we boarded our troop train for a two-hour journey to the Tidworth Barracks. Actually for Co. A, it was a pyramidal tent grouping in a lot of mud except where a few wooden boards created a walkway. Co. A consisted of two rows of these large tents, and we were within walking distance of the shower shed and the Mess Hall; so, it really wasn't all that bad, and the sun did come out once in awhile. It was good to go to our own mess hall for American food. The town of Tidworth was but a short distance from our encampment where there was a nice tavern and a good bakery. We were able to fix our tents to be more comfortable by salvaging the wood from the large shipping crates in which much of our equipment was sent overseas to us. A gasoline powered generator provided each tent with a single light, and a wood fired stove kept us warm and dry.
We soon became organized in our tent city as we busily prepared our vehicles for combat. When the time came for us to ship across the channel to France, we'd drive our vehicles onto the L.S.T.s, tie them down, and then merely drive them off at Le Havre. Someone came up with the idea of trying to get some extra vehicles to take with us to France. We surely could use another Jeep or two, an ammunition carrier 3/4-ton truck, etc. So, we set up a system of stealing these vehicles in Tidworth, run them quickly up to our Company area, have a team of men who would paint out the other unit's I.D. numbers, and use our own numbers in their place. We got three very nice extra vehicles this way and nobody was any the wiser. Of course the checker at the LST Base couldn't find our vehicles listed on his sheet, but we convinced him they were legitimate. Oh how we lied!
During our stay at Tidworth, all of us had at least one opportunity for a two days pass to London. I enjoyed my pass there very much, and London is one city I wouldn't mind seeing again. The Westminster Abbey was my favorite touring sight. A couple of us did the tour via a London cabby who was extremely knowledgeable and pleasant. For a gratuity for his services, he settled for a drink at our last stop, a Pub.
Christmas holidays were soon upon us, and we knew that very soon afterward, we would be headed for Le Havre, France. Preparations were amply provided for our holiday meal, and we couldn't have asked for more. Our special meal was shared with a large group of children who had become war orphans, and the feeling of goodness was mutually enjoyed. About this time, we had received our first packages from home, so there was much with which to share in addition to our holiday meal.
|
