Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1936-02-20

| and I had always delighted to
| attend their regimental reun-
ions and hear the war stories
they told, SO it was natural
| that | chose that branch of
the service.
| After enlistment came only few
hours wait and then we were on our
way to San Francisco. In starting
| from such a cold, blustery place we
began to notice the change in eli
| mate after about two days of the
four-day journey, and since we had
not been issued uniforms we would
| get out of the train at each stop and
walk up and down in our shirt
sleeves while the natives were all
bundled up as if it were really cold.
Major Walcott, after describing
the Journey to San Frncisco, and
training there, writes: After few
weeks of training in marching, san
itation and discipline, we were plac-
ed aboard the transport Fitzpatrick
and started for Manila. Our educa-
ton soon began in earnest-sea
sickness. steam-cooked mutton
slum, salt water to wash in, U. S.
marine to say ''you can't sit there,
Jack" "you can't stand there" ego
up on deck "go down below" etc.
We were uncomfortable enough but
to make matters worse, measles
broke out before we reached Homo
lulu and of course, / was one of the
first to get them. This prevented
me from going ashore at Honolulu
and this made the journey seem
much longer. Finally one bright
morning we sighted land and for
one who had never been in the trop-
les, the sight on approaching shore
was one never to be forgotten. Tall
waving palms, colorful vegetation,
picturesque native canoes-long
wooden affairs with Out-riggers and
sails-dotting the harbor, and a
soft tropical air which causes a
kind of general relaxation, a con-
tented, lazy feeling which is apt to
be conducive to permanent inertia
We were landed by cascoes Ca
large native barge Of which one end
is covered and serves as a dwelling
for the native owner) and were es-
corted to Santa Mesa barracks
which were constructed mainly Of
nipa and bamboo. Here we spent
our first few days of soldering in a
foreign country. There was much
to see and learn. We proceeded to
become acclimated and to pick up a
few words of the language which
as used by the soldiers already over
there was a mixture of Spanish,
Chinese and soldier slang, perhaps
more expressive than elegant. There
are over 80 dialects spoken in the
Philippines.
We soon grew accustomed to see
ing carabao, bumped cattle, small
native ponies, carromatoes, GALE
chies, cur dogs, rice paddles, beetle
nut, chewing senoritas, cocoanut
bolos, and as to music, wonder OF
wonders, there were native orches-
tras of violins, cellos, bass guitars,
oboes, etc., marching down the
street playing such standard selec-
tions as William Tell overture, the
more popular of the Verdi selec-
tions such as Carmen, Rigoletto, III
Trovatore, etc. / have also heard
native band returning from fu-
neral playing the then popular
American tunes, "There'll Be a Hot
Time in the Old Town Tonight"
and "This Will Hold You for
Awhile" Altogether we found the
islands to be a conglomeration Of
antitheses; beautiful, dirty, dis
ease-infected and treacherous, but
withal desirable for their COM
mercial value, at least.
Orders finally arrived dividing us
up into small groups for replace
ments in various units in the inter
ior. With few others l went
aboard a small inter-island trans
port and after a very rough all
night vayoge we entered small
bay, landed, were met by wag-
on train guarded by a mounted de-
tachment and were escorted a few
miles up the mountain to a small
village called Sariaya and / found
that we were entering the enclosure
Of an old convent where Co. E, to
which I had been assigned, was
quartered.
Immediately upon arrival at Co.
squad room and then and not until
then | was issued rifle. l also
drew a web belt with loops for cart
ridges, an extra bandolier, bayo-
net and a scabbard, 200 rounds of
ammunition and first aid pouch
and packet, all of which made that
belt feel like it weighed ton. AS
this was shortly after the mas
sacre of G. company of the-Inf. at
b, orders had been issued that no
one was allowed out of quarters
without side arms Well, side arms
for infantry meant bayonet, and
since it was supposed to be in the
scabbard on that belt with all that
dead weight of ammunition, and
since it was we'll known that q
supposedly" dull bayonet used
without a gun is a poor defense
against a razor-edged bolo in the
hands of a native who is master of
it's use, still "Orders is Orders" and
when off duty we either carried a
bayonet Git might have been sharp
ened some too, l would not say
nnsitiualul stuck in OLE waist belt