Show ee wa here a by 2 0 private hargrove a ja jl adaa guyy mcgrinn 0 hargrove WN U THE STORY SO PAR FAR private marion hargrove Hare a newspaper man before ids ind induction atio into the army has been receiving I 1 his basic training at fort bragg N C ile he has gone through the 11 hardest weeks of 0 his bis army career and his has been classified as a cook in addition he has hai spent a considerable share of his spare time on KP HP duty he Is familiar with the finer points ot of gold goldbricking bricking and 11 shooting the breeze he has mastered most of the army slang expressions and has rather completely adjusted himself to training camp routine As we pick up the story private hargrove and some of 0 his buddies are having supper and are about to hand the mess sergeant his share shan of the days abuse abose CHAPTER XII orville D pope mess sergeant of headquarters battery and master of all he surveys so long as he stays in the kitchen strolled past our table like a happy nightclub night club owner inspecting his saloon photographer bushemi lifted a forkful of creamed potatoes to his mouth made a sour face and inserted the potatoes as it if they were seasoned with liniment don bishop the public relations reporter who sometimes shows a streak of sheer sanity lifted his coffee held his nose and drank it sergeant pope I 1 said in a small voice voice earlier in the course of this supper I 1 told you that I 1 had never tasted anything harder or drier than the bread you served us tonight I 1 want to take that back pope when I 1 said that I 1 tasted your peanut butter i I 1 youre the only ones I 1 ever hear griping about the chow in this bat aitery said Pope youre the only bones ones I 1 ever have trouble with you three and it if ill pay for your food wont you please take all your meals at the service club lets leave ills name out of this I 1 said poor poor old iU we knew him well he was a good boy was the as 1 I noticed the place is so quiet tonight that you can even hear bushemi eating his celery said the sergeant where is your dear friend the bum you have run him over the hill said bishop your food and your mess hall and your brutishly foul mouth have driven him away he has deserted from the army and his guilt is upon your hands you know the one thing missing from this meal the one thing that would make it perfect asked bushemi ice cream asked the mess sergeant I 1 chloroform said bushemi pope slapped his forehead mightily why I 1 have been a dud picker a horse valet a suicide submarine man anything but a mess sergeant where is he wrinkled his forehead say he here at breakfast either nor lunch said bishop nor supper nor lunch nor breakfast yesterday he has gone over the hill hafl I 1 said gloomily he has deserted lets see said the sergeant he here all day today and he come in yesterday and he show up for supper the night before last Is he sick he would have been said bishop if he got a decent meal soon 1 I can remember just like he was right here with us even now I 1 said he was a fine noble sensitive lad he had a beautiful career before him in the arm army Y fate can ruin any of us by tossing in in the tiniest little monkey wrench or the toughest little biscuit I 1 hated to see go over the hill acton dennington hawkins the third chief cook passed by wheres your friend he asked us oh said bushemi forgetting the play ills on furlough the mess sergeant rose with a roar the day shall comel come he screamed all be on KP one of these days oh will you suffer er and will I 1 enjoy myself finish your supper and get out of my mess hall hah get out GET OUT ma a As if I 1 have enough trouble on my hands with payday said top sergeant tate now I 1 have to be exposed to the sight of you be brief sergeant I 1 began when I 1 hear people say a soldier cant live on the pay he makes id like to show them myself as a living proof that he can quit beating your gums he said and get to the point you come in here to compliment the army on its pay and take your cap off when youre in the orderly room 1 I come to compliment nobody nor nothing I 1 said laying my cap on the corner of his desk 1 I just came in to see if the war department part ment is mad at me they given me a cent of salary since the first of october what in the sweet name of heaven are you talking about the top kick hooted handing me back the cap weve had two regular pay days including the one today and weve had two supplementary payrolls for people who missed the regular paydays pay days 11 mind you I 1 put in im not complaining I 1 eat regularly and I 1 have a roof over my head I 1 can get haircuts and movie tickets and cigarettes and shoe polish on credit but I 1 certainly would like a little cash spending money from time to time well he groaned slapping his desk wearily here we go again hargrove the boy who makes a top kicks life exciting hargrove the hopeless the sloppy bunk on inspection spec tion day the soap in the soup the thorn in the side hargrove the boy who can take the simplest problem and reduce it to its most confusing form now lets start at the beginning and take the whole thing slowly you been paid since october first how come that was because when the november first payday came around I 1 had just got here I 1 signed the october payroll in my old battery all right he said patiently counting off a finger one payday that brings us up to november tenth the day of the supplementary payroll when you should have gut the pay you missed on the first did you sign the supplementary payroll for that occasion yes sir I 1 insisted then when the supplementary payday came around something happened or to be more correct nothing happened I 1 still get paid two paydays you missed the sergeant sighed 1 I will check into the second later now what about pay 1 I missed out on that one too the battery commander find my signature on the payroll he patted me on both shoulders a little heavily and I 1 cowered wait just a minute private hargrove he said sweetly let sar gie see what he can find out about the nasty old payroll he returned in a few minutes frowning wearily private hargrove he sighed dear private hargrove you draw your pay on the tenth of november because you here on the tenth you were on furlough and you sign the payroll for today because you were on furlough while it was being signed your modest pay wait just a minute private hargrove he be said sweetly let sar gie see what he can find out about our nasty payroll for october has been in the battery safe for three weeks just waiting for you to get around to picking it up he took a small envelope from behind his back twenty one dollars for services rendered through the month of october minus two forty for theater tickets minus a dollar for haircuts minus seven dollars for canteen checks private hargrove I 1 present to you your october wages ten dollars and sixty cents I 1 took the money looked at it tenderly and crammed it into my pocket ILZ id winter at last is upon us in the rear ranks the surest indication is to be found in reveille all through the late summer and the fall we hopped out of bed as soon as the whistle blew now we crawl out when the sergeant puts the whistle to his lips tor for a fall blast since it is still dark when we stand reveille and since we are aided occasionally by a h heaven aven sent tog fog there are many saviors of democracy who slip on merely a pair of shoes pa partially ia laced a pair of trousers a and a field jacket the field jacket when buttoned all the way to the collar hides the absence of shirt and tie and the sergeant is none the wiser in headquarters battery the process of getting up in the morning has sunk into a rut of repetition Rs its the same procedure every morn mom ing sergeant roughton platoon leader toots his brass at six and a few energetic soldiers at the other end of the squad room rise and begin the morning with sickeningly cheerful horseplay they yank the covers off their neighbors the neighbors yank the covers back on private first class bishop unofficial guardian of the public relations staff rises from his bunk which is next to mine hargrove bushemi get hupf up salute the moral morn then he yells down the length of the th e squad room to the bed of private first class thomas thoss every morning has already been forcibly ejected from his bed by his wild neighbors he is by this time sitting on the edge of his bunk with his great head sunk between his knees and his fingers fumbling with his shoelaces in a thick and fiery irish brogue he is is berating whatever forces of destiny put him in this mad corner of the squad room I 1 stick a cautious toe out from under the covers the outer air cold but then again it warm I 1 roll over and look at the next 4 git out of there or ill dump yon out bunk where private bushemi bushell is snoring gently I 1 roll back get comfortable for table and pull the cover over my head Har ar grovel roars bishop get your lazy bones out of bedl bed I 1 its five after six call me at ten after six I 1 mutter better still just sing out w when hen my name is called at reveille private bishop reaches over suddenly and rips the blankets from the bunk I 1 rise cursing him soundly private bushemi is still sleeping with a sweet and childish smile on his face I 1 lift a foot and give him a firm shove in the posterior git out of there you blankertz blanked dash dash shiftless good for nothing bum I 1 shout giving him two or three more shoves git out of there or ill dump you cutill id bill a friend of Bu and mine in charlotte drives a street bus before he began his service as a driver he served a hitch in the army like all ex service men hes ready to drop everything and just shoot the breeze any time the conversation turns to the army there was a young first class private got on my bus last week he told me and he sat in the long seat behind me so we got started talking well I 1 thought id snow him under telling him about the time I 1 was in the army so just to start the ball rolling and get the talk turned to the army I 1 asked him how long hed been in 11 oh ive been in for well over eight months he said like he was just starting his thirtieth year ol of service then he started wiping his sleeves so id be sure to notice his private first class stripe 1 I thought id let him blow off about his stripe so I 1 asked him say what does that stripe stand for oh that he said as much as to say aw shucks that aint nothing that just means im a sergeant Is that right I 1 asked him looking sort of at him 11 dessir Yes sir he said real casual in the army only eight months ana and ive already been made S sergeant ergeant 1 well tell me I 1 said what grade of sergeant are you 11 ive ve seen some sergeants have three stripes and then ive seen them have as many as six how come that TO BE CONTINUED |