Saturday afternoon the regiment gathered for a little talk by Col. Murray. He complimented us on passing tests and said that now basic was finished things would be easier and that there would be more furloughs and leaves for everyone and as a little gift no duty until 6 A.M. Monday. At that the cheering broke out and if you don't think our part of the camp took off for Medford in herds you are mistaken. Even I went in after calling Ruth up and finding Grant was on his way in. It was a mad jam getting onto a bus but after waiting in line an hour we made it. After Ruth finished work the three of us took off for their apartment and spent most of the night talking and lunching. I slept on the davenport and we rose very late on Sunday. In the afternoon Fay's family and Aunt Mabel came into town for a little while and visited. They said a friend of theirs has been discharged from the army, and I guess he has gone to work in California. Late last night I grilled a big steak I had bought on Ruth's electric range and after eating heartily Grant and I got back to camp about 1 A.M. so we had quite a time.
I have not heard yet about my discharge but when I do I'll probably leave in three or four days time. You see, the new regulation is that all men 38 are to be discharged whether they have physical disabilities or not and just the other day the men 38 and over were called in here at camp and told to get letters of employment if they had not done so. Two men here in my platoon go out next Thursday and my affidavit was filed about the same time as theirs. There seems to be some sort of hold-up on the discharges. One fellow who is waiting to hear claims they are out of x-ray film for photographing our lungs, which I guess is part of the procedure. I think I'll spend a couple of days at Fay's before I take off. They are very insistent and I'd like to.
I have just discovered it is nearly 9 o'clock and I think I'll ring off and get this mailed. What a winter! Glad you have weathered it so well and glad the blankets reached you.
My love to you,
Vance
[On the one hand, Vance seems fully engaged in army maneuvers and problems and interested in what's happening. On the other hand, he can hardly wait to be discharged. But now it's not a matter of whether or not he wants to be discharged. He will be discharged because of his age, but he must return to civil defense work. KW]
All that and then the government changes its mind. Hmmm. How fortunate that he'll be able to get out--who knows how life might have turned out otherwise. (I'm assuming here that the aforementioned government didn't change its mind again and he had to staye in.)
ReplyDeleteI know Dad has said that there is no amount of money anyone could pay him to do it again, but also that there is no amount of money he would exchange for what he learned.
Rats!! I thought I proof-read that!! Chagrined smile...
ReplyDeleteWell, I think the last time I commented at your place I left out a word -- the result of some editing. No big deal, I tell myself. It's a casual medium and we're all busy.
ReplyDeleteI know Daddy thought the war ruined life as he had known it, and that's true. On the other hand, it was time for him to get on down life's highway. And what did the Army gain? Men with at least some training should we have to fight on our soil, and no one knew but that might happen.
I didn't think about having men in the states with training. Good point.
ReplyDeleteLife--it just keeps changing. And...that's life!!
I wrote the Camp White museum and asked what happened to the older men who were trained. I received a one-sentence answer that they were assigned to guard buildings, bridges, etc., in the U.S. (Not a very satisfying response.)
ReplyDeleteThere were seven drafts during WWII. My dad went in on the 3rd draft. The 4th draft, 4-27-42, called men 45 to 64 years of age. They were issued draft cards but not liable for service. The purpose of this draft was so that the government would know where these men were because,should fighting come to our shores, these would be the men would have to fight. So, I thereby deduce that having some trained men stateside might have been a part of the government's preparedness plan.
By the way, I read that the draft cards issued during the "old men's draft" are the only ones that can be ordered as part of genealogy research, etc., because these men are, without question, gone from this life. Hence, no privacy issues exist.