Show rn t See Here ot o t J d da Private P Hargrove t tt 11 cd- cd t a by Marion Hat Hargrove SE Ss I y 5 e so FAR Private Marton editor of 01 the at former fanner feature ya N C ew 1 has been In iy to the army and completed the of 01 his training at port Fort weeks s getting Into the army b Before t advises to paint the Corsi Once In in the first three thue hardest ao 0 keep an aa aad ano the of era are d Hargrove bas lias bad plenty of 01 o 1 the fundamentals of 01 lun learning ng ti dl tit g and aDd as a result bas lIu spent pent a are aa a tt re of his time on RP KP duty dilly i 14 as a cook be thinks It its good goode e e HIs ms sergeant ergeant doesn t agree bas learned a large portion of fate ing sad and I L about bont to enlighten i an aD on this score 1 k CHAPTER VI e Rr Junior comes home from fromon fromon on furlough or to fora the week weeke e probablY will th 0 v out his pull his shoulders almost out aim t t and speak a sort of Jargon argon 11 ble to you There cause for alarm Junior IS exaggerating to show off his rus arity anty With military We life Wew will w not be consoled by thiS dge when he speaking own tongue In order to tend tand some of rus lus conversa ou ro m tear out this page ck It away m in the drawer our recipes and patterns E bricking IS an Army term sig sigg In its g in a word loafing o st sense It means avo ding fair share ot the work thus thusy cu the load harder for the oth l y ys 15 When Junior uses the theAll however it merely means hid All om am the work vork m in the first place tali etching an easy jOb out to make j i as long as possible 1 h the breeze is the military oI alent of ce as nearly as It can be ex ro moans ans to clean up or to tos s clean Examples are kitchen or ka pee canteen police lice the area duty is work that is not military training but a part parte iz iza e a turnabout method ot of getting ty work done Fatigue clothes e blue denims worn vorn for extra Regular uniforms are called an for olive oliveto M to toIs is short for Government Is GI soap IS the v laundry in a GI brush is 15 a hard bristle EL ELbing bmg bing brush and a GI haircut e regulation st style Ie which sac sacs s two thuds thirds of Juniors s wa way waxy y to cleanliness and sanitation t e is the post exchange or ora ora a operative co-operative enterprise n h sells practically everything arc sold er needs Three times a ath af f th canteen books of credit tick ay be obtained m in from one to five dollars Ten r cent of the proceeds from these returned to the battery fund fundS S Sh h IS used to buy nones sent als alse e battery e old man is the battery corn com der derho sho ho may referred ong es as the BC or Tl Ti e a top kick IS a first cant the chief of the battery s officers is an apt word meanIng t A Jawbone corporal is an ang ang g corporal who ho has neither the L g nor the pay of a corporal er the bill is an art stir way of to unauthorized absence IS another expression eJ for OL CL f a ODd aid is chow or mess Stew IS ISor isa isor a or Salt pork ch you rarely see m in the Army 3 C i u a ar aM r M ver the lull hill Is an artistic way L to unauthorIZed absence WOL VOL A ailed aUed lamb chop They lam it last the wall to get the salt out t and then they chop it up into beans o fall fallout out soldiers vacate the asks acks qUickly before the set ser nt ht gets really mad To fall faU in 6 intake take their places lD in ranks IS the to 10 vest form of ofal al life in an Army camp Under COmmon law he is rated as one below a buck private The for this misdeed or that spends most of his t me a labor about the battery en Junior refers to a will notice he IS invariably akIng of someone else elsea elseA a at At t Was our afternoon off of and we wee e lying around in our barracks lazy at to dress for a mOVie or a D aD to the Service Club All of us re that is except Private Zither Zuber th thal an al forto enthusiasm and energy for to toa a cook cooks s afternoon off of Zu was as applYing a blinding glaze his shoes This finished he con coni I an iron and began sharpen sharpening ing the creases in his trousers Going somewhere I take it asked Private Clarkin the Jersey milkman Prix ate Zuber grinned happ happily y yand and nodded He donned his fresh tresh clothing gave his necktie several unnecessary tugs and combed his hair for the twelfth time Private late of the Minneapolis bar laid down his copy of the Bartender s GUide and sa sat t tup up on h s bunk Didn t you know he asked Zuber s girl s come comedown comedown down from Rochester They re go hug ing going rid ng That s a fine thing crowed ed I Clarkin I haven t been for tor a spin since I ye ve been here Get your I shoes on Hargrove And straight straighten en our name plate We must make a good impression on our guest 12 You sure are a pleasant sur surprise prise ma am Clarkin prattled on onto onto to the pretty girl m in the front seat Fancy Ben Zuber even 1 anybody like you I ou should see seethe seethe the homely looking th he brings to the dances here She sm smiled ed a polite thank you at Clarkin and glanced sharply at Zu Zuber her ber I never could even get him to the dances at home she said He wouldn t exen en look at the girls at aU all Would you dear No ma am groaned the mar martyred martyred Zuber who spent almost all his evening hours writing letters to Rochester Just to look at Ben saId Mc you d never think such a qUiet seeming boy could raise so much dev devil It constantly amazes me Private Zuber s girl friend s sm smile e ewas was not so spontaneous thiS t me and there was a baleful gleam in her glance at poor Benjamin BenJamm What have ou been doing dear she asked WIth terrible gentleness Private went on gl b 1 13 Tell her about the tune time you got tight m in Fayetteville and tried to take the pol ceman s hat away from him Ben BenThe BenThe The one girl audience was shocked Her expression as she looked at Zuber vas sas one ot of anxiety and doubt Clarkin began again agam And the terrible fight he had that t me- me gave rum hum a hearty d g m in the ribs To make sure that It had reg stored and created sufficient horrible CUriOSity In the feminine mind he repeated It Private Zuber gUiltless but help helpless helpless less drooped his rus shoulders further as the terrible ride continued Here s the Service Club dear he finally sa sad d Shall e go m in and have ng to drink He gave the three of us a cany cally be beseech beseech ng glance They don t sell sen lemon extract m in there Zuber I suggested Clarkin and I exchanged looks that purposed to show a hidden knowledge of another terrible para paragraph paragraph graph m in the collapse of the soul of Benjamin BenJamm Zuber We sat at a table m in the Service Club drinking the sodas our VICt m bought for us Clark n looked long at his rus glass of water The s of water he re remarked remarked marked rem me of what the sergeant was telling Ben last Jast week about da ly Iy bath ng took pity on the mno inno innocent cent Zuber who was dying for a cause he knew not We ll 11 have to be going We have things to do doI doand I and I imagine you t two 0 young oung peo pIe want ant to enJoy each other scam s corn I pany Yes sa d Zuber s fiancee Ily ly Ben and I have SO much to talk about Private Zuber 1 dared dered and his shoulders slumped I tragically We certainly has ha hae e enJoyed the afternoon crowed Clark n Lox Lo Loe Loly e ely ly t me One of the first people I looked up when I went to Charlotte on lea leax leae e ewas was Ward Beecher Threatt who ho writes a column of sorts for the Sat Saturday Saturday edition of the Charlotte l I Well Hargrove began the post post- postcard postcard card philosopher how s the Army agreeing Ith you I lye ve been ach aching mg ing to find out what you ye ve been do doing doing ing This Trus was as a subtle slam at my I column Well all th considered considered- I began NothIng like the Army saId Ward Beecher I wouldn t take a amill amill mill on dollars for tor the time I spent in It it Nobody d offer me a milan m 11 on onan an way Have you got a rat rig ng yet Well Well- WellI I began again Lord dId I have my ups and downs Got aU all the theay way ay up to ser sergeant sergeant geant three times and was busted three times for the good of the service He paused to light another cigarette and I thought I saw an openIng Let me tell you about the trip over I said W We left the the- We started a crap game on the tram train said Threatt and I had to wire home for money before I got to Rock Hill Have you had a pay payday payday day yet We 11 have one one- I started On that ocean voyage he be broke in I went for fourteen days without a cigarette I followed one man all allaround allaround around the boat walt wait ng for h m to throw away a butt Instead of throw throwing throwing ing it on the deck where here I could have scooped it he flung Bung it over the ra rail I followed another and just when I thought he d be ready to throw it away I asked him for the butt The son of a gun told me he had three different kinds ot of colds colds- and he threw his cigarette over the side He didn t have another he said We landed at Brest Brest he said and we had to walk up one of the longest denied hills I ye ve ever seen before we could drop our SUIt SUItcases suitcases cases The Frenchmen swarmed around us selling everything from steamer trunks to fine toothed combs Twenty of us boys pooled our pocket money to buy a pack of cigarettes for fifty cents What are you going to spend your first pay on Oh I suppose I II- II First Furst payday I had I went out and bought myse myself a pack ot of c ga garet garettes ret retes es and lay a as ake almost aU all night smoking them Best cIgarettes I ever tasted By the way how s the food at Fort Bragg I f nd It very very- Over In France we used to take our drinking water and swap It to the French for w ne It was a toss tossup tossup up t h ch tasted worse our water or theIr wine Ali Ah them was the days Like your un uniform orm I think it s very very- Nothing like the ones we wore There ue e were m in the hottest part of the summer WIth these woolen r Over In France e used to take lour our water and swap it to the French for Cor wine OD s Russian high collars wrap rap wraparound rapI I around legg ns and all the works How do you like my costume Well confident ally ally- This field cap am t the one they issued to me I lost that one and had to help myse myself to th s one I II I wouldn t tell y ou where I got It I used to get Into more potato peel peeling mg ing work for not getting th s collar fixed TIght right too Looks TIght dis distinguished i doesn t It I looked at the modernistic clock on Ward Beecher s parlor table I II took my eyes off It qu lest he I tell me ago aga n about ho v he heon won on Jt it at the firemen s coment ent on 1 Well Ward I sa d des desperately desperately into a gap In the convey conver sat on I ye ve enjoyed talking to you OU about my I 1 fe m in the Army but I have to get along uptown again agam agamI I ye ve got got- Sure thing fellow said the man manof of letters It cel is interest interesting mg ing to hear from a soldIer m in this army I could 1 sten to you for hours When a sergeant tells teUs you that It s sI I the I 1 things mIte in 1 fe that are mx Im Important he s not Just saying it A sergeant who Impresses that one corny slice of homely philosophy I upon a rookie s mind IS giving h m mone mone one of the mot moot important lessons of h s Army l life e eThe The sold er has a thousand and andone andone one small th to remember m in his everyday I fe Most of these he forgets at least once before a non noncom corn com etches them vividly on his m in nd w th hitch kitchen en duty At retreat the afternoon inspect t on of the sold ers I al always alays ays check everything before I fall out for the once over Are my shoes sh ned Is Ismy Ismy my rifle cleaned and oiled Is my name plate p nned stra over my left sh rt pocket Can I get by with this morn ng s shave Do I need a haircut Are all my pockets hut but buttoned toned When I make sure that ev ever er th ng IS as it should be I sigh with sat i and fall out The battery assembles in a neat precise p of mass format on The battery commander orders the top kick to Prepare the battery for inspect on The top kick opens the ranks and the lines Imes straIghten out outto outto to perfection from where I stand everything looks perfect The battery commander beg ns DS his inspect on I 1 he gets almost to tome tome me I feel almost smug to think that for once I ye ve stood retreat and not fallen short some somewhere here To bask m my o 0 en perfection I sneak a forbidden peek at my gun and andun un oll th l Then to my horror I see two sh ny strands of stainless steel lust Just below my the belt chain cham on that dollar wItch Your whole day can be spoiled ed by doodads such as that marring the neatness and simplicity of your uniform Back to the k Dulcy There s one good thing however about forgett ng to take off your watch cl airs ain for retreat retreat or to put on your legg ns for tor reveille or to stra ghlen the Shoes hoes under your bunk I After Aller the time you re remember member them ITO TO BE CONTINUED |