Evening star., 1943-04-05
INSTALLMENT XIII.

working in the kitchen in Battery {
OF the 18th Battalion has been the
knowledge that its No. l chow
hound, Buster Charnley, would drol
around after supper, and the con-
versational fat. It's like a letter
from home to listen to Busters SLOW
and mournful drawl, and his re-
freshingly dry humor is a pick-me-
up at the end of a long, hot after
noon.
j Buster came prancing up the
chow line the other evening with
= grin that started at the back OF
his head and enveloped his face
from the nose down.
Whats eating you, Walter" ]
asked him, besides that egg
sucking grin?'
Leaving here, boy!" he sang
You won't see me around for three
months. And when you see me
son, you'll see stripes on my sleeves
and a look of prosperity on my
clean-cut Tar Heel face!"
The man behind him wanted to
get to the mashed potatoes, so
Buster had to move on down the
line. l got the whole story from
one of the kaypees while I waited
fer him to make his evening call.
Of the 200-odd men in Battery C,
two men had been selected for
three months training at Fort Sill.
Okla. At the end of their three
months they will come back as
gunnery instructors. with a non
commissioned officers rating and a
specialists extra pay on top of that.
Mrs. Walter Charnleys little boy
Buster was one of the two men
selected.
I was chopping kindling for
breakfast when Buster came around
again and I painted Fort Sill as a
nest of jack rabbits, gophers and
rattlesnakes and assured him that
Battery c was sending him to school
to cut down the grocery bills If
we hadn't been insulting each other
In a friendly fashion for years, l
would have told him that 1 wasn't
particularly astonished and that l
was sure he'd make a good instruc-
tor and the kind of commits
stoned officer the boys borrow
money from.
Battery c will miss Ole Buster
While he's away. The cooks will
miss him because he always re-
members to compliment them when
he likes the meat loaf or the cherry
cobbler. The mess sergeant will
miss him because he livens the
kitchen when it comes his turn to
do kaypee. The boys will miss him
because he's one of the best liked
boys there
A Badge Not a Sinner.
One of the sergeants near here
came back from recent leave with
one OF the most glorious sinners that
ever darkled the human eye.
Run into door?' I asked him.
Gave a guy the wrong answer"
he replied simply, "or, rather, the
answer he didn't want"
I looked at his face; his teeth were
all there and his jaw was still in
one piece. I looked at his hands:
the kunckles showed the marks of
service.
L was at party" he went on,
when this fellow who lives next
door to my. folks wants to know
'How's the morale in the Army?
Excellent I tell him: 'excellentr
He looks me up and down sort of
pitying-like and wants to know don't
I read the magazine stories about
how poor it Is. Well, I tell him, I
spend all my time with the boys and
] believe what 1 see more than what
I read
He goes on from there making
cracks at the Army and the coun-
try and the suckers We are for Civ
Ing our time for what's not worth
fighting for in the first place. I
listen politely for a while, because
even though I'm not in uniform I
don't want to look rowdy. 1 stand
as much as I can and then I ask
him to his feet. 1t isn't long before
his three brothers join the fight 1t
was one of the brothers who put
his finger ring in my eye"
Brother told him. that amt
= black eye. That's badge"
Il lost the fight" he said.
You won the argument, though" :"
I told him.
Id like to use the sergeant's name,
but he made me promise not to.
Il told the Old Man" he said.
that got the sinner playing base
ball"
How can I flt you into a coat"
inoaned Supply Sergt. Israel, with
YOU fldgeting around like a race
horse at the post? Stand still, dern
you. stand still!'