LETTER # 25
Company "D" - Sixty-eighth Battalion
Fourteenth Training Regiment
Camp Fannin, Texas
2 Sept 45
Dear Family,1
Even though the Japanese have officially surrendered,2 our cycle is still scheduled for 17 weeks.3 It is, however, the last cycle that will go through Camp Fannin4, because on October 15, it becomes a separation center. At any time the length of our training can be shortened, and probably will be. We have just completed our first week of training. About fifteen AST men from Brookings got here on Sunday, 19 August,5 and so did about 65 other men in the battalion. We had some orientation and other things the first week we were here that helped us more than the boys who came in later.
A number of the AST men were chosen as squad leaders, or acting corporals, myself among them. In my squad6 I have three men who can neither read nor write English, although they can speak it.They are, of course, Mexican, and speak in their native tongue much of the time.
So far we have had classes in chemical war- fare, physical training, dismounted drill, guard duty, first aid, personal health, sex hygiene, and personal adjustment. On Friday, 31 august, we tested our gas masks in the gas chamber, once with tear gas, to make sure our masks fitted perfectly, then another time with tear gas to show us that our masks would work and then took them off, gave our serial number and walked out of the chamber. We went into the chlorine chamber and tested for the smell the first time, and then walked in with our masks in the carriers and put them on inside the chamber.7
We got Sunday and Monday off this week. On Tuesday we begin on mines, boobytraps,
and hand grenades. We will also have pre-rifle instruction during the next three weeks. In the fifth week we fire our rifles for practice and for record. We were issued some more equipment
both at Ft. Leavenworth and here. Now we have another pair of fatigues and a pair of coveralls. Also we have a helmet liner and steel helmet, combat pack, gas mask, foot locker, M. rifle, bayonet, and accessories. So far we have taken only one hike purely for hiking, but we pile up enough mileage walking from one area to another for classes. Later on in the cycle, when we fire machine guns, BAR's,8 mortars, and bazookas, we will walk to ranges that are from seven to ten miles from our company area. With GI shoes and leggings on, one's feet must be carefully attended to every day. In fact, everyone is required to take a shower every day. '
We must rise at 0500. At 0555 we fall out for reveille. Chow is at 0615 or 0645. We begin our day of training at about 0715. PT is held only two or three times a week, but the manual of arms and hikihg make us sweat enough to make even warm salt water taste good.
Most of our company is composed of 18-year-olds, even one Canadian who served for 18 months overseas, and once marched 120 miles in 4 days in France. He was discharged and overstayed a pass into this country, so he had to register for the draft.
As far as Japanese is now concerned, I would not be interested in staying in the army very long, since the war is finished. It's a cinch that the army wouldn't train some- one for nine months or a year and let go for some time. At the present, I am merely recommended for Japanese when I have finished basic. Later in the cycle we will have a chance at OCS unless it is closed to new candidates by then.
Tyler is about 135 miles from Texarkana,9 but weekend passes have only a fifty-mile radius. Besides, there are 4 theaters, a swimming pool, a main PX and a branch PX in our own Bn. area,10 and a servicemen's club all on our post. I received my travel check for $26.00, and we will receive a full-pay on 10 Sept.
Don't send too much in the way of food, because no food is allowed in the barracks, so it must be eaten immediately.
I am bearing up all right so far, although I am rather tired.
Love to all,
Stewart
NOTES:
1 This salutation is "Dear Family" rather than "Dear Dad" or "Dear Mother," because Dad, mother and I were all in Minneapolis at this time. I had completely forgotten that dad came home from France in late August. His Chaplain's Journal has a page for Sept., 1945, and it states, "at home," and lists three sermons or talks he gave in the area, including one at the Como Ave. Congregational Church, his former parish. Dad was home, but not out of the army. He was subsequently sent to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas, and then to Camp Breckenridge, near Morganfield, KY. Mother and I joined him there in November - but that's another story. Stewart came through Morganfield at Christmas, 1945, on his way from Camp Fannin to his next assignment, and we all got to see him then.
2 The Japanese officially surrendered on August 15, 1945 - V-J Day. This occurred just before Stewart arrived at Camp Fannin - either he was at Ft. Leavenworth, or in transit. It must have been a huge relief, not only to him, but to my parents as well. I personally have no memory of V-J Day.
3 If Stewart's first week of training began on August 26th, 17 weeks would end on Dec. 22, 1945. That would allow just enough time to make it to Morganfield, KY for Christmas.
4 Camp Fannin was located in East Texas, 6 miles from the small city of Tyler, TX. The camp was decommissioned in 1946. There is a Camp Fannin Association which preserves its history. Here is a Wiki article on it:
Camp Fannin was a U.S. Army Infantry Replacement Training Center and prisoner-of-war camp located near Tyler, Texas. It was opened in May 1943 and operated for four years, before closing in 1946. It is credited with training over 200,000 U.S. soldiers, sometimes as many as 40,000 at one given time. The camp was named for Col. James Walker Fannin, a Texas Revolutionary War hero, who died at Goliad. The camp served as a German POW camp during World War II. The area where Camp Fannin existed was returned to non-military use during 1946. A section of the land was handed over to the state of Texas, where the once military hospital was transformed to the East Texas Tuberculosis Santorium, later the University of Texas Health Center at Tyler. Other buildings were sold to commercial and development companies. Many buildings still stand today, most of which are used as location for business and warehouses. A memorial, paid for by the Camp Fannin Association, stands at the UT Health Center at Tyler.
Tyler, Texas was six miles from Camp Fannin. Stewart has little to say about it. Today it is famous for its roses - it boasts one of the largest rose gardens in the world, with over 500 varieties. An October Rose Festival draws thousands of visitors annually.
5 Stewart doesn't say so explicitly, but I am assuming that he was among this group. If I read this paragraph correctly, the week of August 19-25 was spent in orientation, and the next week of August 26-Sept. 1 was his first week of basic training.
6 According to one military website, a squad is 6-10 soldiers.
7 This bit about gas mask training must not have been easy reading, especially for mother. Chlorine gas is very pungent and irritating, but wouldn't be fatal with only a brief exposure
8 Browning Automatic Rifles.
9 Texarkana was where we were living in 1941 when the war began. Stewart was in high school there, so he would have liked to go back for a visit.
10 I don't know what "Bn. area" refers to.
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