Evening star., 1943-09-25

Henry Mcremors. my furlongh h
around the house, practicing up on
such required Army virtues as neat
ness, early rising, bed-making and
the like, but staying In and around
the house made me entirely-too
available in person, by telephone, by
letter and by wire, to the apparently
inexhaustible supply Of people who
seem to have nothing better ta do
with their time than to spend. 1t
informing me that basic training. is
going to kill me. Having already
figured that one out for myself, it
is no comfort to have others keep
reminding me of it. on
Wearied by Talk. Ws
That's why I am going to hang
around in that foxhole SO much. I'm
afraid my feet will flatten just fforn
listening to people tell me about the
hikes that form such delightful
part of basic training. / don't want
to start mentally walking thosa us
miles a day. I want to wait until
whoever is in charge of these hikes
says, Forward march,"
! I was getting little worn, out
from hearing about how much that
pack weighs, too. I've read about
them. I'VE seen them. / know they
are going to be tough to carry,
especially for a man who always
tried to get his wife to carry the
suitcases when Red Cap wasn't
handy. I know those packs are cas-
big as pianos and that for the. first
few weeks am going to do quite
bit Of my marching on all fours, II
I keep listening to such stories. the
first thing you know I'll be con-
vinced that I'll deserve the Purple
Heart for finishing basic. ~
The worst type of person to talk
to is another 36-year-older who has
been in the Army long enough to
have finished his basic. Here, ladies
and gentlemen, is smugness ireits
most concentrated form. This e Is
particularly true when the 36-year-
older is friend of yours who, intthe
old days, used to share cab with
you when you had two blocks to go.
| Maybe I'm wrong when I say it's
the conversation of these people
that gets you down. / think I am.
It's more the way they look at you,
| and the way they laugh. A number
of people, come to think Of it,
haven't said word. They Just
looked at me and doubled up. -
Undoes Work of WCTU.
| Another thing that seems to add
to the general merriment of my
| friends is that I passed the physical
examination without single re-
check. One friend told me before 7
went to Blanding that if passed
it would undo all the good work the
WCTU has done since it was found
ed. Another said he planned to
/ oSh AAAo W. pOlluS IL i WClc bdkEil
in the Army. 1t was a great source
OF satisfaction to me, when the
medicos finished taking more pic
lures of me than tourists take Of the
Grand Canyon in a year, and COM
pleted their humping and pumping,
to find that there was nothing sin
the world wrong with the McLemore
chassis. A little bit of a surprise,
too, to be strictly on the level. o,s
Suggestions on how to tougilen
myself up are coming in. One man
says to soak my feet in vinegar tVo
hours a day. Another says to. log
6 miles each morning before break
fast. u
Well, I'm not going to do any of
these things. The last thing the
captain told us before we left
Blanding for our furlough was to
come back healthy. You're healthy
now" he said, $50 come back that
way" Darned if I'm going back
smelling like vinegar and completely
worn out from jogging miles. 'ff
No sir. What my captain says.
I do. S9T
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