Jungle Doctor (eBook)

I. TRAINING

CARLISLE, PA

June 23, 1943

31st Officers Training Battalion

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

I have never been worked so hard in all my life as these past two days. There is not a single moment all day long to sit down and rest, and it is frightfully hot. I am writing this in our barracks and the thermometer at half past seven reads 93 degrees. The schedule for yesterday, today, and in fact the next six weeks is the same: up at 5:30 am, breakfast at 6:00 am, close order drill from 6:30 am until 7:30 am. March to class at 8:00 and four hour long classes until noon. Lunch from 12:00 until 12:30, then march back to classes at 1:00 and hourly classes until 5:00 pm. Dinner from 5:30 to 6:00 pm. More close order drill from 6:30 until 7:30 and then class again between 8:00 and 9:00 pm. We then have homework from 9:30 until 11:00 which is lights out in the barracks. The food is wonderful; the mess hall is insufferably hot.

The parades to drill and to class are something to see. There are about 600 officers in the parade, accompanied by a great band. They play the “Beer Barrel Polka”, “The Old Gray Mare”, “You’re In The Army Now”, “This Is The Army, Mr. Jones”, and other songs while we march. We are really getting pretty good at marching already. We are drilled by old army sergeants, who are both tough and good. For purposes of drilling us officers, they are very polite but at the same time they are quite firm.

The school work thus far has not been difficult, but rather has been quite tedious for it consists of concentrated lectures and quizzes on the organization of the entire Army from the Commander-In-Chief on down; through Armies, Divisions, Regiments, Battalions, Platoons, etc. Later we will swing into the organization of the Medical Corps. The subjects of logistics and map reading are actually quite difficult.

Enough of the routine for a while. I have met a number of friends here – fellows I never even expected to see again! Fellows I knew in College, Medical School, Rochester and in practice. The guys are full of rumors concerning our unit, and some are pleased while others are displeased. It seems that Chuck Mayo has terrific ants in his pants about getting overseas, and in an effort to facilitate this he has requested the Surgeon General to divide us into two station hospitals instead of one general hospital. Others have suggested that Chuck did not make this request but that the Surgeon General has said that there is too much talent in the unit and that he would prefer that we divide voluntarily rather than it being forced upon us. Of course these are all just “latrineograms”. Nobody really knows. It is clear, however, that a station hospital is much more likely to go overseas soon. Everyone here is most anxious to go overseas, at least that is what everyone says.

25 June 1943

This grind, and I mean grind does not slow down for a minute. Yesterday evening the entire post, over 2000 strong, paraded at evening retreat, and was reviewed by General Davis, our commanding officer, and General Kirk, the Surgeon General. It was a very impressive ceremony, as much of it as I could see with “head straight and eyes front”. My face and the faces of everybody here is the color of a boiled lobster as the weather has been oppressively hot and there is no shelter here.

We had our first examination yesterday (in Logistics) and you will be pleased to hear that I made 100%. Tomorrow we have an exam in military courtesies, of which there are more than I ever would have imagined!

There is a new rule that we must not be more than four hours from the post without a special full day’s pass which is not granted to the men taking this course. Accordingly, it doesn’t look as though I’ll be able to get back home at all before the class is over. There is some conjecture about the 5th of July being a holiday since July 4th falls on a Sunday. The old soldiers around here just laugh at this notion, saying that the army has no holidays. I suppose that we can’t even count on that weekend.

26 June 1943

This afternoon, we fought the famous battle of “Rock Quarry”. Our class sat in a large grandstand for study purposes. It is an exact simulation of battle with opposing forces fully armed with live machine guns and mortars, bullets flying all over the place (out of range we hoped!). The scene directly in front of the grandstand was “The Battalion Aid Station” which is the first stop in the medical echelon, located roughly two hundred yards behind the front line and made up of two doctors and twelve litter bearers.

Our schedule is so fully packed that we have no time between classes all day long and only thirty minutes for lunch. Being late for a formation is almost a court-martial offense. It is the most serious offense in the category here, so I want to avoid it if possible!

We are all looking forward anxiously for Sunday so that we can rest all day. I really was never so tired in all my life as I am every single night here. Then we need to study at least three hours every night. Ten Forty-Five is the latest I’ve been up any night, and I haven’t had as much as a glass of beer since I left home. We just do not have time nor the opportunity. In fact I have not even been to town as yet, nor have I been to the Officers’ Club which I understand is very beautiful and well appointed. There is a delightful looking movie theatre on the post but, of course, I have not been in it as yet. The admission is ten cents and the pictures are the very latest. Cigarettes are ten cents a pack, thick ham sandwiches, etc. at the PX – just five cents. I bought a three dollar book of tickets when I arrived and it is still half-full.

Sunday Afternoon

Today is something of a low day; the previous days have all been chock full of activities, but today is slow. In addition to being lonely for you and the kids, I’m not feeling so hot from the shots. I had typhoid and smallpox on Friday, and tetanus yesterday.

Enough about that, however, as last night I went to a movie, the “Ox Bow Incident”. Tomorrow, we go on our first road march and it is to be under simulated battle conditions. The situation was explained to us yesterday. We are to be attacked at intervals by enemy planes with strafing and bombing. There is a group of planes and pilots here for the purpose: they drop little bags of flour at you, and if you get any flour on your uniform, you’re a goner. At some other time of the march we are to be attacked by a couple of tanks, and it will be up to us to find our own cover. Then we will be gassed. We’ve had daily drills in getting our gas masks on and off so I don’t anticipate any trouble with that. In many ways this all seems like the old game of cops and robbers and boy scouts, but they take if very seriously here, and I guess when we do get into action we will appreciate having had the training.

30 June 1943

I truly fell like a mass of blood, sweat and tears. All fooling aside, we are all tired out. Yesterday was the road march of ten miles carrying full packs. Now the ten miles doesn’t sound like much, really just a bit more than 36 holes of golf, but we march pretty fast, 2 ½ miles per hour, and those packs are heavy. It was very hot, too. However, I am glad to report that I finished in excellent shape, no blisters on the feet and no other troubles. The reaction set in today and most of us are stiff and tired. It’s good, toughening training, though.

18 July 1943

I have slipped woefully on my writing, but we have been exceptionally busy, and at night I have just fallen into bed. In fact the other evening we were out on a night exercise. But, tomorrow starts the big and final week. We have exams all week, ten of them. Then, four days of next week are devoted only to physical business, marches, tent pitching, foxhole digging and the like. I’m pretty well prepared for the exams but will have to do a good bit of studying.

Many of us requested a five day leave, but were granted only three days with the strong advice not to take even the three days. Col. Reddig, our C.O. wrote us all that there is an indication that we may move this summer and he wanted all of us to have some accrued leave so that we could go home for a visit before leaving. He said that if we took leave now he might not be able to grant leave later. However the advice from the old heads here at school is to take leave whenever you can, for they say that even if there is no accrued leave before going overseas, it is almost a universal practice to grant leave anyway. In any event I’m so crazy to get home to see you and the kids that I’m taking mine. I’ll get three days leave and two days traveling time – here’s how it works: Thursday, which is graduation day, is a day of duty, and we can leave immediately after graduation which is at 9:00 in the morning. Therefore, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are days of leave. You must leave on the last on the last day of leave which is Sunday, but they have granted two days traveling time, and it only takes 24 hours to get to our new post in Charleston. Consequently as I figure it, I will have to leave Pittsburgh Monday night. That will give us plenty of time for a nice visit.

23 July 1943

We finished our last examination this afternoon, and everybody is on the loose. We have had a surfeit of exams this week, nine in all, culminating in three today. You know, I’m getting too old for this studying every night. I swore years ago that I would never be caught taking another examination, but here I am and having very little to say about it....