The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1919-05-22
Letters From and About Soldiers

! Letters from and ABOUT SOidlsFS :
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Il Is unlikely that ir all tire >. Coo
coo d0uEhhoys ID FfsIce any one was
more greatly disappointed When news
If The armIstice came than Glen Pat
terso4. The Dalies soldier. And with
good reason. for il had been NJ. TAT
tersoU 5 absorbing ambition from A I'll
IS. 1917. to5take part 10 actual coa1I,t
against the b1che.
Mr. Patterson. who was here last
week visiting Mr.. ard Sir. Zee. l.
Sloc0m, and hls ammUritlon tram / al
lust received orders 10 move up to the
front when news Of tie afmlsdee
reached them
Right then" he declares. "all Of
the pep W Mt out Of me
II Mr. Patterson. who is now em-
pi0yed 5y the Warren Construction
Co, would only take the time to write,
as interestingly as he tells of them,
of some Of his experiences In officers
training camps. aboardstranspOrts or in
cantOnments of draftees, his euntriOu-
tion would form a very humorous chap
ter on sidelights Of the great war. Mr..
Patterson is an optimiSt. and though
the war was spoiled for him because
he didn't reach the trenches. in his
"reminiscences he recalls only those in
cidents that leave his hearers laugh
ing.
Glen Patterson entered the first otfic-
es training school at the Preside in
1917 and received a second lieutenant 5
commission in infantry. However, he
was placed on the reserve LIST, and this
was not at all to his liking. The army
had need for artillery officers, and
the young man sacrificed his infantry
commission to enter an artillery offic
ers' school, He says, however, that
the Lord never intended fellows as
dense as himself in mathematics to be
come artillery directors. Mr.. Patter
son was next tried out IN training
school for aviation officers.
II do not blame any body but myself
for failure in aviation, SAID Mr.. Pat
tetson. Il thought knew everything
about wireless, but fell down. /
couldn't receive fast enough. | lost
out.
And let me tell you | was in pet
ty pickle. Nothing was left for me
but the draft. and it appeared that ev-
erybody else was ahead of me in the
first class of the draft. "
But Mr.. Patterson wired to his local
board in Wasco county and was sue
cessfGl in being advanced to. the head
Of the list. Within a few weeks he
left The Dalles with quota of draft
ees. While en- route east with train
load If rockies Mr.. Patterson found
himself in Los Angeles. 1t was early
morning.
81 asked the conductor how long his
train was going to remain at the sta
tion, says the returned soldier He
told me an hour So my bunkie and
decided to slip out and get some break
fast. We were just II minutes at a
lunch counter. but when we started
back down the tracks we saw the tail
end of our special disappearing. On
inquiry we learned that the train would
stop for time IN suburb to the east,
so We caught an electric car and board
ed her there. -
WI. dtLCt sui Says llldL llio Nbi " az
IN charge of one Of those serious mind
ed but we'll meaning young second lieu.
tenants whose possibilities rest
/ heavily. The young officer had counted
1 his men at least dozen times between
Los Angeles and Cotton and the cosnt
always showed two men missing He
was about ready to resign when the
mi sing men arrived.
lie began to give us the regulation
| calling down." says Mr. Patterson
"When | explained that the conductor
had told us the train would stop for an
/ nour. The conductor didn't tell you
any such thing, he yehemently denied
No, sir, the conductor didn't tell me
the train was going to stop an hour, |
I instantly agreed and for the next 80
minutes never spent a more strenuous
session in my life, trying to.agree with
all my officer said.
At a Virginia cantonment Mr.. Pat
terson was made a drill sergeant, and
! his heart was broken. Finally, how
ever, by prayers and threats he was
transferred from his sergeantcy to a
high private in an ammunition train.
His boat was ready and the men were
being inspected when the officer asked
Mr. Patterson if he had ever taken gas
/ drill. 1t appears that no man was
eligible to overseas duty without try.
ing dose of gas
"Hhen told the officer that | had
not had any such drill it stumped
him, says Mr.. Patterson. You
aant' 60, be told me, but replied that
| had to go He telephoned to the hos
pital division there and asked if man
could be given the gas drill in the Xt
hour 1t happened that class was
Just going in. never waited to be
ordered to the gas drill quarters |
ran all the way. | was the last man
TO be handed a mask, and fortunately
got it on in the six seconds regua
tion time. | went through the test all
right, but | did not notice that the
lenses were covered with some kind Of
preparation to prevent corrosion, and
by the time was ready to return to
the outer world | had forgotten f0ur
steps leading from the ground level
down into the gas-flled pit. ] stumble
at the stairs and pitched my head into
one of those steps.
Mr.. Patterson and his ammunition
train went across with 1000 negro
stevedores. A U-boat attacked their
boat, and the panic Of the negroes, he
says, was a spectacle not to be forgot
ten. That sub, coming up out of the
deep and firing a torpedo at their ship
was more than unstrung nerves could
stand. Destroyers drove the sub away,
after her shot had missed.
I'VE arrived at Brest, and on disem
barking were ordered to take the dar.
kies and unload the transport, says
Mr.. Patterson, "and let me tell you We
certainly grumbled We thought We
had been badly treated. but when oui
work was finished we discovered that
our companion companies aboard the
transport had been taken direct from
the boat to be sent on II mile hike,
while moving pictures representing
them to be marines returning from
the front, were taken. "
'Grolching comes natural to the
doughboy. says Mr.. Patterson. wht
returned home with the two stripes OF
a corporal. but if he viii just look
m - !