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Show THE SAMPLER Friday, Mar. 12, 1982 Lady remem bers ( :.h' ' IN .rv .r V r i: '-'"''''1 digging it out with a tablespoon was most efficient. Under normal conditions I am sure such living conditions would have left me completely frustrated, but it was truly pleasant for a change to have all day to read and write letters and follow my own devices. So many of my dearest friends husbands . were already prisoners of war or deceased, so I could never forget for one single minute how truly fortunate I was. . - v r 'H a Renovations v While living in Salt Lake City I had made some friends at Fort Douglas, Utah, one of whom was the wife-othe Post Engineer. The word, has passed about my mansion and one day she and her husband drove out for a visit. She was simply horrified at the quarters we were furnished for a colonels commutation. (When I was the wife of a lieutenant, I must 7. . confess I thought that if the time ever arrived when ' :'l t I became the Colonels lady that I would be sitting on my front porch in a rocking chair with simply i sumptuous quarters). My friend had rather the same idea and wf nt to work on her poor engineer husband immediately. By then summer had arrived and we dripped through the days at 123 degrees but slept under blankets at every night. ; One very hot July day a man came out to talk over :v rebuilding our house. We literally battled for hours because it was his plan to give me a shot gun house me room behind the other in a straight line. Id had that years before at Fort Benning and would have no jr : part of it. I can still see that poor man so red in the face and the perspiration dripping and leaving yellow stains on his collar as we argued and argued. We finally compromised and I won about ninety percent f $ ' of what could have been done. The rebuilt quarters V j are still the home of the Commanding Officer of Dugway Proving Ground. It is not an ideal home, but those who have followed us will never know how superior it is compared to what might have been if I hadnt been bom with a square chin. We thought it very grand when completed and were very happy. My final battle was to take the material meant for a side road to the house and persuade hr'' them to lay it in a square for a patio. The evenings spent there were heavenly watching the bluest blue Editor JVola skies to an artists dream sunset and then setThe following article in adapted from a March-Apri- l, tle change a to slowly canopy of stars. 1956 issue of the 'Armed Forces Chemical Journal The story ia being printed to gire our reader aome idea of Dugway outatanding Landscaping When the house was completed we worked diliThe article waa written by Mra. Lucy C. Hums , who traa the firat, and for aome time, the gently on the yard and outdoors. Some very kind soldiers cut some squares of turf and trucked it in from only iromon resitting on thia poat. where grass grew. I had a 9 x 12 patch of lawn which, The area was a vast desert 85 miles southwest of grew. Everyone who was homesick for such things Salt Lake City. lie named it Dugway Proving came to look and admire it. I am sure they thought I Ground because it was where our earliest Ameri- was sligjitly cuckoo when caught cutting the grass can pioners had been forced to actually dig tracks to with a pair of big kitchen shears. But while performtake their wagons through the passes, often lowering' ing this operation I listened to many G.I.s problems them with block and tackle. This was the land that and troubles so much that I began to wonder iad been inhabited from time to time but never whether I was a chaplain or Dorthy Dix. In those actually settled. Some of the old Pony Express early days a priest came from Tooele, Utah to conmarkers were still there, and we did find arrowheads duct Roman Catholic services. There were no and an Indian rouge grinder in a spot that had once Protestant services and when I told this sad story to been an Indian camp. But for many years only a Dean Gibson of the Episcopal Cathedral, he himself lonely sheepherder, a lone prospector, or some came out every Wednesday evening for services members of the grazing service had wandered into until we later obtained a chapel and a chaplain. The these parts. Hie nearest town was 50 miles' away, green grass was an inspiration to plant roses and Tooele, Utah. It was a beautiful country in a wide, tomatoes. Both were successful and our treeless with miles of sagebrush rancher friend, Dan Orr, shook his head and said, expansive way and cacti dotting the ground and colossal, majestic Never seen them in the desert before! So somestony mountains in the distance, with a canopy of thing new was added. We imported hundreds of trees to line the roads. the most beautiful blue skies flecked with snowy white clouds. On my first trip out to the camp we They were the sadest, spindliest little things; each drove for the last 40 miles without seeing a human looked like a stick about a yard long. In order to being or another vehicle. After the wartime bustle of water the roots the men built wooden troughs which Washington, D.C., and of the entire east coast, I was they sunk beside each tree. They grew fast, and so literally spellbound by the vast amount of space and many people helped in watering with buckets! Each evening on our regular walk my husband and I great silence. My husband, who by then was a Lieutenant pulled all the suckers that appeared where they Colonel, assumed his first command in what had shouldnt be. Later when Dugway was in moth balk Ireen some C.C.C. buildings at Simpson Springs, ac- I almost wept when I heard our beautiful and hard trees had been jerked up and taken to companied by eight officers. The engineers, lumber, fought-fo- r Deseret. was one special one the G.I.s had and There moved in and all the road scraper paraphernalia from a a liecame canyon for my yard which had more reality. brought Dugway Proving Ground soon There was no room for me at Simpson Springs so I re- brandies than any tree I'd seen in Utah. I had always mained in apartment in Salt Lake City intended to go back someday and put a brass plaque on it in memory of our happy days there.. months in Utah. during my early f . i. . A J thing for the scads of lieutenants. In those years of the war everyone seemed bent bn entertaining the enlisted men and the bachelor lieutenants seemed to me to be the forgotten ones. We enticed the sorority girls from the University of Utah to come out for a dance. They were transported by Army bus and all was well until it was time for them to return. A terrific storm accompanied by ice and snow blew in, and it would have been sheer folly for anyone to try to travel 85 miles in it. We had solemnly promised the parents that we would personally chaperone each girl on this junket, so when the dance was over we ' herded them into our quarters where each was forced to telephone home and explain the problem. In the meantime, .two wards in the hospital were prepared to receive our healthy guests. Ive never talked to so many parents or promised so many things in all the rest of my life. Ami I never gave another party for all of the poor lieutenants. . A : . aid they not only added to the glamour but they worked like Trojans and did a splendid job. Almost every girl in that company had a husband or sweetheart overseas in combat and they contributed all they had to help win and end the war. With them came a beauty shop which boosted my morale no end. Tim poor WAC who operated it wanted to drive a dump truck she had previously been a so she was the only unbeauty parlor operator happy one.' the war Later there were new frame buildings constructed all over the place. Finally about 30 of the more courageous wives moved out to the desert to live with their husbands. For various reasons many settled in Tooele or in Salt Lake City and remained weekend wives. We all had plenty of time as there was little housekeeping to be done in our type of quarters and practically no cooking facilities so the Officers Mess became co-eand we had to find things to keep the girls busy. We organized a Red Cross unit that poured out almost the entire quota of sewing- and bandages for the Tooele chapter. They all brought their children of all ages and met in our house. With the noise, bedlam, door slamming I often wonder how we accomplished so much but we received lots of pins and commendations. Our refreshments were ice cream cones from the Post Exchange. Later they built a larger and nicer club. By that time the club had a little money, which they turned over to the ladies for decoration. Never have I seen such careful shopping and so much diligent labor cheerfully expended. The officers wives living there made all the draperies, painted furniture, draped dressing tables and simply loved it. The night before our grand opening the husbands washed windows, did the spit and polish, and up went the decorations. I have heard that the present club at Dugway is out of this . world but I am sure that there can be no more pride in it nor no more love for it than our group of Pioneers had in our first new one. Mrs. Burnsl - ed ed coal-devouri- Comfortable cuisine We had most of our meals in the Officers Mess, where I snagged many pairs of precious wartime benches athose climbing over the I tached to the tables. Frequently longed for some home cooking and attempted it on the top of the potbellied stove. I could stir up many concoctions made from a boiled chicken and some mighty fine stews. My at home clothes consisted of woolen slacks, sweaters, and slipped lined with lambs wool, but every afternoon after braving my shower I dressed for dinner. I always had the feeling that certain standards must be adhered to even though the background was not conducive. For months I was the only female inhabitant exdaily cept for three secretaries who made the trip afterfrom Tooele, fifty miles away. Nearly every noon we seemed tohave a dust storm and sand about poured in through all the windows and doors; winthe where an inch would settle in the groove dows were supposed to slide. After trying all the iwmI housecleaning implements, I finally found that old-fashion- ed an outstanding personality. He lived with the first group of officers, tore up their papers and magazines when he was angry, stole all the shiny trinkets he could find, dipped into their pockets for coins and was constantly clowning. Edgar first saw skirts when 1 arrived and he didnt like them. The first time he saw me walking beside my husband he flew madly at me from the rear and took a big nip out of my back. He never had any affection for women and he let us know that Dugway was a mans world and that he preferred khaki. When the first plane flew in, Edgar almost had. a fit, and flew out squawking trying to chase it away. He finally perched cm a weathervane which spun around with him, making him. angrier and angrier. Aeroplanes and women were always taboo as for as Edgar Allan Crow was concerned. success was to try to give . My big attempt at social a New Year's Day COs reception as was customary in the Army. I had taken my silver service and ' embroidered linens, which no one yet had seen displayed in the desert. The cooks in the Officers Mess baked hams and turkeys for me. There was a huge contraption of an oven that resembled an upright deepfreeze which completely baffled me, but I wanted homemade rolls. So my husband and the surgeon came to my rescue they understood the contraption (thanks to Cooks and Bakers School) and we baked rolls at 2 a.m. The party was a huge success but what they loved most of all was the tablecloth and silver. Many had not seen a tablecloth (except the card table variety) for almost a year. . . ' . . , Interesting visitors One of the greatest contributing factors to our morale was the steady stream of interesting and important visitors. Although most of the official activities were top secret as far as the wives were concerned, we surmised the importance of the work being done by our husbands attitudes and were convinced of it by the many Very Important Persons who came for visits. We had all the generals of the Chemical Corps, of whom there were many during these days, plus many from other branches. We had groups of British and Canadian officers regularly and the top ranking members of the National Defense Research Committee. It was time when I would have enjoyed having had the most luxurious quarters and our best equipment as a hostess. But our guests did not mind and we thought less of material things during those days. Never have I enjoyed more scintillating and. inspiring conversations than we had during those visits. Never will I forget the many fine Serious feces we gazed upon amongst those officers and those civilians who were all so seriously using all their talents and energy to end that awful war. Shortly after the war, in January 1947, the Western Chemical Center was established, consisting of the Deseret Chemical Depot and Dugway Prosing Ground, and Dugway was placed in an inactive standby status, where it remained until July 1, 1950. At that time, it was reactivated as a Class II Industrial Installation. ' On reactivation, the existing buildings and facilities at Ditto Technical Center were reoccupied; however, plans were quickly developed for construction of a new adminstrative and residential area named Easy Area, now known as English Village. Action was also initiated to secure additional land and on Oct. 25, 1951, 279, 000 acres with withdrawn from the Public Domain and transferred to Dugway. Construction of the new complex began almost immediately; however, it was not until June of 1952 that operations began the move to the new area with all the personnel following in December. Initial family housing requirements were met through a Wherry Housing Project comprising 400 units, which was completed in 1953. During that same year, June 25, the Environmental Test Programs were transferred from Edgewood Proving Ground, Maryland, to Dugway. Responsibility for the Chemical Corps Program of Meteorological Research and Development was added on July 31,1953. On July 1, 1954, Dugway Proving ground was confirmed as a permanent Department of the Army Installation. Exactly one year later, it was redesignated as a Class III installation under the jurisdiction of the Chief Chemical Officer. Additional land was provid- ed by Public Land Order 1240 on Oct. 21, 1955. Two years later on July 1, the environmental test teams were redesignated Class II activities under the command of the Commanding Officer, Dugway Proving Ground. On Oct. 1, 1958, the US Chemical Weapons Battalion was redesignated the US Army Chemical Corps CBR Weapons School and moved from the Army Chemical Center, Maryland to Dugway. It was redesignated the CBR Weapons Orientation Course on November 6.of the following year and was discontinued on Dec. 31, 1969. Another move sent the Chemical Corps Radiological Unit from Fort McClellan, Alabama to Dug--wa- y on Nov. 1, 1960. Hie unit was placed under the technical and operational control of Radiological Operations Division, Technical Operations. Iii 1962, when the Army was reorganized. Dug-wa- y was placed under the Test and Evaluation Command, a major element of the Army Material Control Command. In 1965, the 65th Military Police Platon was activated and stationed at Dugway. On July 1, 1968, Dugway and the Deseret Test Center (DTC) were merged under the jurisdiction of the US Army Material Command. The offices of the Commanding General and staff remained at Fort Douglas and many of the staff offices, formerly located at Dugway, were moved to Fort Douglas. Effective June 1, 1973, the offices of the Com- -' manding Officer and staff and civilian personnel of DTC were relocated to Dugway Proving Ground. The following month, DTC was disestablished and test facilities, equipment and personnel were returned to the control of the US Army. The test organization was designated as Dugway Proving Ground, as it stands today. . 1 self-appoint- ed had a real nifty little bath on the outside wall. One of iny household duties was to arise and, partially frozen, hold a lit candle under the end of the pipe under the basin to melt the ice which formed there each night. A set of wooden slats formed the base of. the shower something I never learned to balance upon. The only time I could shower was about three ' n the afternoon when the sun was beaming on that side of the house. Id steam up as much hot water as possible and leap in and out as fast as possible. ar - m pot-belli- ; Delightful group When I did move to Dugway Proving Ground (my In those earlier days most of the buildings were huslrand had been promoted to Colonel). I went to a heated with the same stoves which were three-rooT of O house as far as I was concerned fired day and night. So the great terror was fear of that simply meant it was covered with black tar fires. My husband was a Fire Marshal paper. There was one large room about thirty by and often on our evening wain would leap from my twenty, which was our living room as well as the side into a nearby building. He would have seen CO's conference room. In that room was the only sparks flying from a chimney so would personally wood and run in to teach some greenhorn like me how to fire a huge heating contrivance lots the dam thing. I' never did learn, so sympathized soft coal The produced gadget. of gas and every so often the lid would blow off and I with the other dumb ones. was sure I was a target. There were two very small The most famous of the pets and the very first one 'The bedroom his office. and our bedroom rooms adopted was Edgar Allah Crow a black crow with pot-belli- procedures, the coordination and direction of per- sonnel engaged in such tests, the analysis of results and the preparation of technical reports. Hie size of the installation was further increased on March 28, 1945, when part of the Wendover Bomging Range was transferred to Dugway for a five-yeperiod. This agreement has been continually renewed. Back in those weary difficult days there was only stove ed (Continued from front page) . - one Regular-Armofficer at this post. Every other officer and wife,. except in the case of the Executive officer a former Regular Army was brand new to the Army and the Army's way of life. Inspite of this fact they took it on the chin; they took hard living and a way of life to which they were not accustomed. Weve never known a better group, a more diligent group or a more delightful group. It was like a fraternity, as if youd asked each one to join. Through adverse people drew closer to one another; certainly there were hardships to face in those days at Dugway. No matter how luxurious life has been upon occasions at Dugway, we constantly meet and greet some of the familiar faces who now have risen far above the stations of life they (nice had there but there is not a single one who doesnt say, Wasnt that the good part Wasnt that living? of our lives? at Dugway 40-yr- s d his-tor- y. Pot-belli- INSIDE OF THE Clothing Treatment Building depicts various types of protective clothing being treated in 1944. Cheerful labor v Tar Paper mansion WACsmovein My first female companions arrived when a company of WAGs moved in. They were a fine group of (me of the first companies activated during girls - . ow . Farewell to Dugway . I knew thered be a time when my husband felt his part of the job was accomplished as he had indicated upon occasions. I dreaded that days coming but I knew the man. Inside of him there was another thing that must be accomplished. He personally must help end the war in the Pacific where we had lost so many friends. He had helped prepare for it on Corregidor and at Dugway but he wanted more. When the offer came .for him to join the Sixth Army on Leyte I knew the answer would be Yes. As much as he loved Dugway and its inhabitants, he was actually jubilant. On November 27, 1944, 1 hid my tears long enough to accompany him to San Francisco and try to wave with a weak smile as he drove off in a good-by- e government carryall to take the plane which would land him in Leyte. I returned to the Hotel Utah to cry'silently for three days before packing my child out of Rowland Hall and bidding farewell to so many dear friends. His new home was to be a foxhole mine a comfortable house on the east coast. Reluctantly, I turned it was a sad faremy heart and mind on Dugway but I was gladdened by the well and parting so shared by many of us there, that Somethought, will be famous; we were fortunate to day Dugway Sorority girls somehave been the Tioneers. My first attempt socially, was to try to do POST HEADQUARTERS BUILDINGS interior, as shown in 1944, shows military personnel hard at work. |