The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-12-30

and armUred lnfanly ouNFe sharefl thelr nead Mvlng conditions and food. and gOt A good insight into the minds and moods oe this new type of laRAelng man.
 After much hlttar, close range fighting. they had withdrawn Co camp in treelesS tleldS spread along Q river valley, [ SAw them come, dirty, unshaven boys in mud caked steel helmets. standing weArlly iM the rear of their half~tracks as the olive 6rah vehicles marked with yol. low stars rinahlea along the road.
 The units were assigned camping spots and the drivers sent the tanks and half-tracks churning through mud into dispersed positions, Green. ish-brown caMoutlage nets were spread over the tanks.
 I wandered throNg, these camps where the boys were cleaning guns, inspecting shell holes in the tanks and puttering around the motors with obvious pride In the way the equipment had stood the test,
 sitting on Q gasoline tin behind c half-traok ! found an otnoer I knew. He was in his socks, scrAp~ ing mud from his shoes with . knife. Near him 0 private wAs cleaning . field jacket In l00.ae- tane gasoline. Across the road O medical captain, stripped Co the waist, was shaving before . chunk of mirror propred on Q haystack,
 I met several officers I had known aboard ship before this campaign began In November. Then they were jolly, smiling and carefree. Now their faces are taut, their eyes bloodshot and there Is hardly . laugh to be heard,
 A series of kitchen trucks was scattered through the fields, At mealtime the men line up with mess tins for substantial meals of hot field rations, which are good but not noted for variety day after day. Boys wanting fires of their own the dirt with high octane gasoline, punch holes In flve-gailon gasoline tins, fill the tins with dirt, soak A match applied to this eontraption will make c good fire for nearly two hours.
 Hundreds of tiny shelter tents dot the field. The boys roll up in blankets on the ground each night Near each tent they have dug slit trenches for use in case Of air attacks. Bitter experience hos taught them to dig trenches deeper and faster than they did when they were in Louisiana on maneuvers.
 I stayed at comamnd headquar. ters, which was . farmhouse ahan- doned by its occupants when the war struck. AS were the oflieess, l was told to throw my bedroll any. where there was room. Some one cers slept on the concrete door Of the farmhouse porch, others ln 6 shed covering American.built farm machinery.
 My bed roll spread atop loose wheat In a harnyard bin. The grain made an excellent mattress but ! had difnculty rolling up the bed. ding later because ! kept sinking knee-deep into wheat.
 Ali the men were in good spirits but they wonderd wistfully what the Christmas holidays were like back home. Not one seriously OK. pressed a desire to 90 home while q Job remained to Do done here.
 One of the most picturesque sights at this blyouac was that of gen. eral standing stripped in the twi. light beside . harnyard well taking e cold shower under c Inakeshift pipe and nozzle arrangement. ,So':.' diers poured in buckets of water at the top while officers watched almost breathless to see whether the water would hold out long enough for the general to remove the mass of lather.
 It barely did.