| Show see here private private hargrove ty by marion hargrove Ml NU i 4 rr MV I 1 C rl THE STORY SO FAR private marion hargrove former cormer feature editor ol of a north carolina newspaper has been inducted d led into the army and is receiving h his uc s basl basic c training at fort brags bragg he has been classified as a cook and this coupled with his frequent assignment to KP have made him quite familiar with the company pa n y kitchen he has a also so learned a lot about the finer points of 0 gold goldbricking bricking and nd of other lavoi ite soldier pastimes he h has a s learned all of 0 the popular army slang expressions he has become well acquainted with a number of 0 other rookies as the first training period draws toward its close this gang starts to break up hargrove himself Is lust just starting his first genday furlough CHAPTER XI its enough to drive a man to drink you get a ten day furlough and head for new york you mooch a due bill on an ultra swank hotel you say to yourself that for those ten days you will be an all out civilian you will squander your substance in riou tous living you will forget altogether the fact that you are a soldier and then what happens you wake up at six no matter how late you stay out the night before then you cant go back to sleep you have to buy enormous quantities of civilian food to keep up with your army appetite you look in shop windows and see books give your wisdom teeth for but you think of your purse in terms of 36 a month and the inner man convinces you that you cant afford them like very much to put on your civilian clothes just for a change but your friends think you aa b 0 49 veata you wake up at 6 no matter how late you went to bed then you cant go back to sleep look so pretty in your uniform that they wont let you pull the old blue serge out of mothballs moth balls it bad all the way through though for instance I 1 walked out of the hotel the other day and ran into one of the boys from my own barracks in new york on a three day pass we exchanged the prescribed comments on the smallness of the world and I 1 saw a sparkling opportunity to spread a thick layer of hokum I 1 could make the lad think I 1 was one of these filthy rich privates you so often read about in the papers the kind that go about flashing 1000 bills before unsuspecting headwaiters head waiters wont you have lunch with me I 1 asked then I 1 added quite casually im stopping here at the astor his eyes popped faintly but a good soldier never passes up a free meal we went back into the hotel and into the terrifyingly smart dining room I 1 smiled condescendingly at the headwaiter to make him think I 1 was a cash customer at the hotel and he led us to a table im afraid find the food here depressingly dull I 1 told my comrade in arms no ort olans or hummingbird tongues they seem to go in for plain but wholesome foods wont you try the breast of guinea hen with a sip of onion soup reine heine 1 I dont care if I 1 do he said 1 I aint particularly particular about what I 1 eat my nerves are all shot I 1 remarked airily new york tires me dreadfully I 1 have to run about bolens volens latin for willy nilly from one night club to another brushing up on old friendships and im getting so tired of shows and cocktail part parties lesl 1 wont you have a slug of hootch with me ive got to have one ahe gulped nervously and replied that he care if he did I 1 noticed with satisfaction that he was taking in all the propaganda about night clubs shows and cocktail parties im a man of simple tastes myself I 1 said lifting both eyebrows to give my face that bored expression 1 I cant stand these silly mixed drinks I 1 like my liquor straight im partial to scotch im a rye man myself he said th the e waiter who had been stan standing ding by with a disgusted face shrugged his shoulders and fetched two tiny flagons flagens of the old enemy his face sank a little at the sight but I 1 banged to keep up a sophisticated front I 1 took a sip of soda and lifted the glass well heres looking at you and going down me we managed to get through the meal all right weakened though we were by the firewater I 1 continued ta to impress him the only obstacle I 1 hit was his reminder that I 1 would be spending thanksgiving on kitchen police we wd parted when I 1 told him I 1 get out of a reception I 1 had to attend at 1 I had sufficiently impressed him and with the aid of bf providence I 1 might be able to borrow money from him occasionally sio nally back at fort bragg the meal cost me nothing but the fifty cent tip was staggering if worst should come to worst I 1 could always hock my watch if I 1 had a watch lea thanksgiving day with all its roast vermont turkey its pies and fruits its candies and free cigarettes was just another day to me chooey phooey to it our mess sergeant one orville D pope was disgustingly cheerful heer fui when he awoke me in the morning please go away I 1 said just go away and let me gently curse oh private hargrove he crowed we have so much to be thankful for so very very much we have food and warmth and freedom food weve got I 1 growled including potatoes with peelings pe elings to peel this is my potato this morning I 1 dont need coal for warmth when im bathing myself in sweat and freedom see I 1 am laughing bitter bitterly lyl it is thanksgiving day and I 1 am peeling potatoes and washing dishes for the orgy phooey chooey to thanksgiving sollie buchman the cook who was a student with me in battery A strode up humming that maudlin old grammar school song about over the river and through the woods to grandfathers house we f go it is a glorious day drooled private buchman it does my old heart good to think of the expression on those boys faces when they see that thanksgiving dinner repress yourself pappy I 1 asked him it is not to think of the dinner I 1 am thinking of the sinks overflowing with dirty dishes left by those gluttonous hogs it was not enough that we had trays to wash now we have to have improvements now we have to have china plates and cups and soup bowls and silverware I 1 hate progress better leave the lad alone pappy sighed sergeant pope he is pouting and will not enter into the spirit of the day he has done wrong and is paying for it now la Z I 1 was dawdling over a huge chocolate nut sundae the other night at the service club cafeteria when johnny lisk walked in with someone who was a dead ringer for simmons jones of the charlotte news staff anyone who is a dead ringer for simmons jones cant be anybody but simmons jones I 1 decided so I 1 gave the low whistle the two saw me and came over it was simmons all right he looked as if the two things he needed most at the moment were a haircut and a kind word of sympathy he had the look of utter futility known only to those who have been in the army for less than ten days well weh boy I 1 asked him how do you like the army and you dont need to lie about it 1 I dont think ill ever get used to it he said ive been pushed and crowded and yelled at for a week now and it get any better maybe I 1 was just bom to be a you should have seen johnny and me when we got in I 1 told him been only four months ago and here we are being condescending and fatherly already them were the days they lisk sighed deeply simmons dont know the trouble trouble at all he said when hargrove and I 1 had been in three or four days they slapped us on KP and almost killed us first thing then the next day they put the two of us to cleaning and painting GI cans until past supper time simmons knocked on wood well they must have forgotten me ive been in the army a week already and I 1 been on KP yet you will brother said johnny you will hargrove said simmons will you please stop looking at my hair I 1 cant go ten feet without being reminded to get a haircut As soon as I 1 can find a minute ill get it cut are you really having a hard time of it I 1 asked him well after that talk I 1 got from you before I 1 was inducted I 1 thought I 1 would be going through hell for the first three weeks the way you talked was terrifying to say the least so I 1 prepared myself for a much rougher time than im really getting the drilling bad at all I 1 suppose my dancing has helped me there anyway I 1 even surprise myself at it but the getting up and dressing in in ten minutes ill never be able to do it everything is all right until it comes to the leggins I 1 struggle with those things until im limp and I 1 never do get them on in time yesterday I 1 just tied them on for reveille and sneaked back and 1 I cant go goten ten f feet without being reminded to get a haircut he be said put them on properly later ive tried every way possible but I 1 just cant get anywhere with them how are the fellows I 1 asked him nice bunch of boys 1 I was surprised at them he said people ive never seen before and they all go out of their way to help each other when we were first inducted there were a lot of fellows id seen possibly once or twice before in my life and we all acted as if wed known each other since we were babies then too ive already run across some of the boys I 1 know johnny here is attached to our battery for rations and quarters and so is buster charnley they do as much as they can to show me the ropes and help me along during this awkward period pa reading through the camp newspaper the other day I 1 noticed stories written by pat T private thos ille pac tom thomas pac and various other authors whose names bore startling resemblance to thomas pat or pac the collection of literary and journalistic contributions to the fort bragg post were all marked by the same flair for rhetoric the true gift of gab and a certain rich and gorgeous sentimentality in the midst of a factual story about a group of college girl choristers cho coming to fort bragg for a concert the steady journalistic strain would suddenly burst into brilliant and majestic phrases such as the battalion recreation hall will burst into golden sound next tuesday night when the angelic voices of thirty lovely zilch college young ladies present a recital or the generals little eight year old son awed by the solemnity of the occasion clung to his daddys daddes hand throughout the impressive ceremonies this is what is known as the touch the touch is supplied at fort bragg by the public relations offices irrepressible and inimitable whirling dervish black tom a fantastic and unbelievable irish tyro who came from new york city by way of salt lake city utah of the great head and the shaggy locks of the lumbering walk the man of a thousand faces and a thousand voices is the public relations offices one spark of true glamour our hope of immortality is everywhere at all times out of every hundred photographs taken at fort bragg official or personal professional or amateur it is safe to say that the flexible face of private will beam out at you from ninety five of them photographers ha have v e no idea of how he gets into the pictures but a picture of any rec hall in the center will show playing ping pong hes the one nearest the camera TO BE CONTINUED |
