Show C V jJ C tt J I iL c r 1 i e Here fare Private Hargrove Hargro 1 t Tells Newcomers Griping Means Lans a Soldier Solder Is Happy pV OD n Hargrove nent ent nt 1 14 battery Is my baby Cor- Cor Ussery said loosen loosen- enrY for a real bull ses- ses g g hS be belt watched It grow fr from froma m to what it is now Se ne a men t hard WO work building up ip this to what it is now but its it's look around and andrit t when you n done youve you've hit rit 1 ft f assembly sighed en masse raided to loosen i its belts r was gj wound up again agam J. J i got here there wasn't Inhere At here bere but the instructors 1 sPent 1 nt four weeks eating dust I jSu rabbits There I was wast t months learne learn- learn old drill and tactics to e 1 I Iid had it down bet- bet man in the whole lEan am any Then they started this e army with a bunch of Ignorant Yankees Yankees and and I IS Itch 1 S i teach them what they had Ii i jj etoW ull session nodded wisely Corporal Ussery went on il d 5 thIs this young Corporal Joe for instance Now this L i Gantt when he first I rca tei ln was one of ot the greenest I ii a In the bunch But he hed I d ou out 0 of it and made corIn cordI cor- cor f ji dI In tour our months 1 Is that soldiering a voice I In or handshaking handshaking-as as the I to say mittus flop- flop as I cant can't stand Gantt Have j lave to admit it was soldier soldier- the way it is You Youri 45 ri your head off hammering 1 and the e calisthenics and courtesy and and guard the physical hygiene and ande e of arms into them and awkward e all ill clumsy i bar in to an egg crate at first ilia you can see them after rin mapping into it and get- get iD and better By the a weve we've had them 4 lid and they're ready to be beed ed to their posts they're as asa a and aud alert as a bunch of West nt cadets They're extra good gooda j a and better soldiers tola I nt t a good soldier a specialist Ii at griping and growling somebody somebody some some- body asked him When a soldier can gripe the corporal announced in a pontifical manner hes happy as a pig In the sunshine When he doesn't gripe theres there's something wrong with him That's another thing you learn When you first came here you didn't know the first principles of griping You griped about the clothes you griped about the beds you griped es especially especially especially es- es about having to go to bed bedat bedat bedat at 9 Griping is an art just like goldbricking is an art Before you leave here you learn that you dont don't enjoy griping a bit when you spread your energy all over everywhere everywhere every every- where griping about everything You learn to choose one thing and specialize in griping about that If you want to be a specialist at griping you have to get on your toes You get to where your clothes are comfortable Where you used to think the food was terrible now you pretend that you dont don't get enough of it You like the beds and by 9 o'clock youre you're sleepy So you have to find something something some some- thing special to gripe about If you haven't got any originality at all pick you out one special noncom and gripe about him Now you take Private Hargrove Hargrove Har Har- grove for instance First came here he griped about me telling him he was carrying his rifle wrong Now he gripes when I Itell Itell Itell tell him hes he's carrying it right He might have something there He still carries it like it was a 7 milli 75 meter gun Hes He's getting so shiftless shiftless shiftless shift shift- less even at griping th that t he cant can't find anything to beef about except not getting any mail Im I'm going to write all his creditors so he wont won't even be able to gripe ab about ut the mail That reminds me I said Did DidI I tell you boys what Sergeant Taylor Tay Tay- lor lox told me about Ussery today Nine o'clock Ussery shout shout- ed Lights out Break it up Ui By the Beautiful Sea Somewhere on the wild coast of South Carolina th the battalion in which I cook is being treated to a week end to co combine bine business with pleasure We can romp in the A Atla Atlantic tic while hile we get a a taste of the field With the wind blowing the sand into kitchens and pup tents alike it will be nice to get back to Fort Port Bragg for a taste of the food we eat A vexed soldier here doesn't grate his teeth He crunches them We made the trip here in lorries lorries lor lor- ries rica which the the mechanical ages age's nearest approach in appearanCe appearance appearance appear appear- ance to covered wagons Youve You've probably seen them rolling noisily but smoothly through town town large large topped canvas trucks with a folding folding folding fold fold- ing bench down each side inside You'd expect to be hauled out of one of them beaten to death at atthe atthe atthe the end of a mile trip They give a tolerably bumpy ride just tolerably When we started pitching camp about a quarter of a mile back from the beach we found the place already Inhabited inhabited inhabited-by by cannibals These creat creatures res which masquerade as harmless flies and andev ev even n camouflaged by the harmless sounding name of sand flies must have vampire blood back in the thelin theline theline lin line somewhere I dont don't bear any grudge against the easy going good natured house housefly fly fly in in fact I feel rather cruel when I squash one for tickling me meb b bitt but t it arouses my pi pioneer neer fighting fighting fighting fight fight- ing spirit to see a stunted horsefly horsefly horsefly horse horse- fly light on my bare leg make himself sassily comfortable and start draining of off my lifes life's blood But what can you do Slapping one only serves to make him mad madat madat madat at you At night we sleep or at least we simulate sleep in pup tents made by our own hands with loving loving lov lov- ing care blood sweat tears two pieces of waterproof cloth two lengths of rope and a handful of turned lumber Discover Guest I share shareS by little duplex with Private Warren the new student cook who told me the story about the man at the boarding house When I stumbled home last night prim primed d to the gills w with th a blend lend of sand and salt water I discovered discovered discovered ered that we had an an overnight guest The chief cook on our shift in the task of p packing the field kitchen had neglected to put his his own field pack tent half blankets etc on the truck so he decided to drop over and have us put him up for the night nightA A pup tent as you probably dont don't need to be told will accommodate accommodate accommodate two men provided neither of them walks in his sleep If three men are to sleep in one tent at least two of them must be midgets ts or babes In arms Cooks should never sleep two to a tent because of their tendency toward plumpness We arranged ourselves in the tent by wrapping knees around the tent poles putting all feet outside outside outside out out- side for the night and raising one side of the tent high enough to tomake tomake tomake make a rustic sleeping porch of the whole affair The guest proved to be one of those loathsome creatures who pull all the covers to their side of the bed We had quite a lot of trouble with him nim since he slept in inthe inthe inthe the middle and rolled up in both our blankets We remedied thisby this thisby I Iby by waiting until he started snoring snoring snoring ing then recovered our blankets rolling roIling ourselves in them and throwing a raincoat over him The three-man three arrangement was very comfortable for a while When I finished opening my eyes by scooping the sand from them I found that I r had rolled through the opened side of the tent and spent the night under a myrtle bush 10 yards down the slope During my first off hour I in getting a tan which must have darkened the very marrow of my bones My chest back ack and legs looked the color of ofa ofa ofa a faded danger flag and smelled like the roast pork that the cook forgot to watch After that the surf and the sun went their ways and I went mine To be continued Next Installment On Sick Call Copyright 1942 Henry Holt Co Inc |