Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-07-08
DUKE Tells OF
DUTIES IN CAMP
OTTUMWA ATTORNEY IN co. g
WRITES THE COURIER ON LIFE
OF THE GUARDsMEN.
ROUTINE IS SEVERE

Daily Program Gives Men Appetite
and Supplies Plenty Of EXERCISE;
! Busy Most Of the Day.
light Hours.
An interesting account OF what the
boys Of the national guard have to do
each day in Camp Dodge is given in
letter to The Courier by Private l.. l..
Duke who was among the Ottumwans
to enlist in Co. G when the call for
mobilization was given by the presi-
dent. The letter follows:
f; Camp Dodge, July 4, 1916.
Editor of The Courier:
Believing it would be of interest to
you l shall take the opportunity now
have to describe as nearly as possible
the life of the soldier at Camp Dodge.
The company is divided into squads
of eight men. Each squad occupying
small circular tent. In this tent Is
squad box which contains all the
extra personal belongings of the men.
This tent is your home. The tents
extend down and along what Is known
as the company street. At the upper
end of the street is found the cook
shack, containing large wood range
and all the paraphernalia necessary in
order to cook for more than hun
dred men. Above the cook shack will
be found the officers quarters. The
| captain has his small tent and the
regulation army cot. Just opposite the
captains quarters is a tent occupied
by the two lieutenantS,
The first call comes at $50. The
corporal Of each squad sees that every
man is awake and that he must be
dressed and ready for assembly at
$50. The men are assembled and put
through all sorts Of arm, leg and head
exercises until 6 a. M. when the call
comes for breakfast. This exercise In
wonderful thing for the men and
many mother will scarcely recognize
her son when he comes home a trained
athlete.
| Fatigue call comes at $50 when
every scrap Of paper and waste ma
terial is cleaned up from the company
grounds. ..
Drill call comes at a. M, and be-
lieve me, this means something. It
has been my good fortune to spend
several years as a member of a college
track team and l know something
about the training of men, but this
work is more severe than anything We
get during our college experiences,
even on the football team. We are put
through all kinds of drills and marches
until you are simply ready to drop in
your tracks. Then a halt Is called
and you are put through baking pro-
cess by laying down in hot stubble
field. This is kept up until about
1880 when the men are called in to
prepare for mess at IL o'clock.
There isn't anything sounds better
than the call to mess. We are sup
piled plentifully with beans, beef,
vegetables and coffee. The fact Is you
are ready to eat anything and plenty
of it. ..-...a
The afternoon follows with about
the same procedure except that there
will in all probability be a march Of
several miles and then target practice
on the rifle range The shooting Is
great business. Men are placed In
pits below a high board fence on top
of which is target with a bulls eye
perhaps as large as your head If your
head isn't too big. The target is rails
accuracy of your shooting. You are
Informed just where each shot was
placed without ever moving muscle
first be adjusted to shoot two hundred
yards. Then you go to the three hun
dred yard line and on down the line
accordingly. The Ottumwa boys are
all shooting exceedingly well at four
hundred yards. The majority of them
Init mark the size Of mans head
nearly every shot.
The supper call comes at p. m,
and at that time you will see some
very, very tired looking men that were
it not for the fact that they were
dressed in Uncle Sans khaki uniform
might be mistaken for bunch of tired
and hungry tramps. E|
Retreat at $50 is an exceptionally
impressive sight to both the onlooker
and the men. Each company over the
entire grounds stands at dress parade
while the stars and stripes are pulled
down. A soldier stands ready to grasp
the old flag in his arms and not sin
gle thread is allowed to touch the
ground. All the while military band
is playing the Star Spangled Banner"
If a man has drop of patriotic blood
in his veins at this time he is proud
of his enlistment and proud of the
fact that he is a soldier Of the u 8. A.
Perhaps many will wonder why the
boys do not write more often. The
fact is your boys are working as per-
haps they never worked before. This
is not life Of ease.
The evening is given to writing let.
ters home. Attending band concerts,
wrestling matches, boxing matches,
and mock court martials.
Taps is called at 1920 when every
man must be in bed and you can take