Evening star., 1943-03-30
INSTALLMENT 7.


Selectee Joseph G. CAN'T, late of
Liberty, South Carolina, came out
for reveille this morning with grin
you could have used for a foot rule
He held both his arms against the
front of his shirt in queerly
strained posture and blushed hap
pily every time some one looked at
him.
THE heats got the boy" I told
Gene Shumate. Looks like the best
ones always go first"
That amt the heat" said Cookie
"He seems to have a cramp in his
arms" We looked at Citizen Sol
dier Gantt's arms again Then, for
the first time. we noticed two shin
ing stripes on each sleeve Citizen
Soldier CAN'T was corporal now!
Heavens to Betsy" we shouted
In unison for his benefit. rs that
punk corporate" Corporal CAN'T
acknowledged the tribute by joy
fully changing his color to holiday
red The grin widened until his
ears hung perilously on the brink
of his lips. 1t took him half the
morning to sober his spirits to work.
ing conditions.
Corporal CAN'T has been in the
Army exactly four months. He had
been an acting corporal for three
weeks before he got his stripes.
A nice, quiet, studious- looking boy
the new corporal bellies the old
legend about Army corporals. The
fiction writer's and cartoonist will
pass him by. He doesn't bum Gig
arettes from the boys, he doesn't
cuss the yardbird: in fact, he's one
of the most popular boys in the
battery.
We privates in the rear ranks
plan to work on him, though. With
q little training. we can make him
into real shouting. sarcastic COR
poral like the ones in the movies
He's adaptable. Supply Sergeant
Israel says that Joseph G. was a
boy soprano when he came here.
Now he can almost bark his COM
inands on the drill field.
Heaven grant him strength for
the ordeal ahead.
What Buck Private Is.
The term buck private" was ex-
planned to us this afternoon. 1t
refers to the Old Army Game, pass
ing the buck" The sergeant is first
called on the carpet for mistake in
his platoon. The sergeant seeks out
the corporal and gives him a dress
ing-down. The corporal passes the
buck by scalding the ears of the
private. The private doesn't even
have mule to kick, so he can't
pass the buck any farther. He
keeps it. That makes him buck
private. ..
The Army, find, has many subtle
ways to trap the unWary into volun-
teering for work. First, there was
the sergeant over at the Reception
Center who came through the recre-
alton hall one afternoon calling for
PVT. Smith" -Four men answered.
All four were put to work picking up
cigarette stubs.
On the call, "Anybody in here
know how to handle truck?" don't
speak up. The last three were seen
later pushing hand truck up the
battery street to haul rifle racks.
Corpl. Henry Ussery is to date
the most dangerous conscriptor.
This week he came into the squad
ron to ask if any one was gpod at
shorthand Three citizen soldiers
admitted that they were.
Report to the Kitchen" the cor
poral laughed. The mess sergeant
says he's shorthanded on dishwash-
ers."
Good Guard Calls Three Times.
"One of the most solemn and re-
sponSible trusts of soldier" Sergt.
Curly" Taylor said today, lis his
guard duty" Sergt. Taylor, who has
been in the Army for 10 years and
probably knows more about guard
duty than any man in Fort Bragg,
Is teaching us about guard duty now.
The soldier is called to this duty
about once month. For a 24-hour
period, he is on two hours and off
four hours, and he walks his post
al ullltdIy iHdIlueI, guarding tne
peace and possessions and safety of
a part of the post. He is responsible
only to a corporal of the guard a
sergeant of the guard, an officer of
day and his commanding officer.
The guard or sentry. is known
chiefly to the reading and movie
going public by two expressions,
Halt, who goes there?" and Cor
poral of the guard, post No. 81" The
former, Sergt. Taylor said with his