Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1918-09-04
PUT THEM THROUGH HEAVY DAILY
STUNTS

IBy Vincent Rabbit L. $. Naval Training
Station. Great Lakes. August 1871
w. f. Bawton: VIII drop you few lines
today to let you know that still alive.
although they keep Us pretty busy around
here. We are up every morning at five O'Clock
and sometimes they get up at four. After
get hammecks strung up and 3 bath
and our clothes have 20 sweep and mop
the whole barracks. That is the first half
hours work. ihen comes The policing Of the
grounds and then we have about fifteen min
utes before breakfast. After breakfast we
have another half hour 10 our selves. Then
commences work and lessons. Some days it is
drill all day long and then again have
lessons tieing knots and the compass and
things Of that order. Can tie about thirty
kinds of knots and bitches in ropes but
don't know how long I viii be able TO remem-
Der all of them. We get dinner at eleven and
supper at FIVE, although We don't call them
by those names. Everything to eat is called
chow down here. After FIVE o'clock we have
some job too. You never can wear suit of
whites two days so you have something TO
wash every night. 1t usually takes about an
hour to wash. Then ali fellow has 10 do is
police the grounds again and fall in for mus
ter by seven fOrty-five. After that you go
to bed and ! tell you fellow is about ready
TO go too. The first two weeks were in this
camp had TO be movie actors about every
other morning but that was a good deal worse
than drill. They took a film for the Official
War Review over at the main station. II
said Great Lakes and | don't what all. A
fellow never could see what it represented at
the time. They say that they used from TWEEN
ty-fve thousand to forty-fve thousand men
in each picture. When they took those pic
lures they would march US to the main
station which is about a mile and then they
packed us in like sardines and there we would
have to stand in the hot for an hour and
half two hours. We had to wear our
blues in every picture but and fellow
ready to get out when they let him.
Have been out shore leave twice now.
The first twenty-One days they don't let you
go away from the station. Was up TO Wau-
kegan a week ago and down to Ravina
Park yesterday. viii enclose a postal you
what kind Of hard-boiied bird ]
am. Everybody is a bird Jack around here
and you hard-bOiled when you get tanned
good and black. Some of the fellows had
some sore faces and necks at first; they sun
burned and peeled of something fierce But !
was lucky and got away from that Have
been lucky all the way through. Our ham
mocks are strung up about six feet from the
floor and nearly every fellow has fallen out
at least ard OF them q half dozen
times. One fellow fell out four times in one
night and then had to finish up the floor.
One fellow spFaned his shoulder and one his
wrist. Night before last guy went out
and he lit square his nose. He sure looks
tough. Tom Potts boy was over to see me
evening week ago and | went
there afternoon. He is over in the
fourth regiment and that is only about three
blocks from here. Well il is nearly time for
chow so will close for this time hoping TO
hear from you sometime.