The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1944-12-21

#3XBt4A$E$X S4SoPS - vi
rectly to the Tu-
Ernie Pyle nissan front after
the original occu-
patton Of North and West Africa,
and have been here ever since.
They have not slept IN a bed for
months. They've lived through this
vicious winter sleeping outdoors on
the ground.
They haven't been paid in three
months. They have been on British
rations most Of the time, and Brit
ish rations. though good, get mighty
tiresome.
They never take off their clothes
at night, except their shoes. They
don't get a bath oftener than once
a month. One small detachment &C.
quired lice and had 70 be fumigat-
ed, but all the rest have escaped
SO far. They move so frequently
they don't attempt to put in many
home touches, as the men do at
the more permanent camps toward
the rear. Very few Of the front-line
troops have ever had any leave.
They never 60 to town for an eve
ning's fun. They work all the time.
Nobody keeps track Of the
days or weeks. I'll wager that
80 per cent of our frontline
troops never know when Sunday
comes.
Furthermore, the old traditional
differences between day and night
have almost ceased to exist. Night
time no longer necessarily means
rest, nor daytime work. Often it's
just reversed. The bulk of our con-
voying of supplies and shifting of
troops is done at night. The SOL
diers are accustomed to travelling
all night, sometimes three or four
nights in a row.. Irregularity of sleep
becomes normal. One soldier told
me he once went three days and
nights without sleep.
You e men sleeping anywhere,
anytime. The other day l saw a
soldier asleep in blankets under an
olive tree at two in the afternoon.
A few feet away a full colonel was
sleeping soundly on the ground. In
battle you just 60 until you drop.
War Hardens Men.
The war coarsens most people.
You live rough and talk rough. and
if you didn't tougher up inside you
simply wouldn't be able to take it.
An officer friend of mine, Lieut..
Lennie Bosnian of Milwaukee, was
telling me two incidents of a recent
battle that touched him deeply.
One evening he and another off.
Ger came up to a tiny farmhouse,
which was apparently empty. To be
on the safe side he called out Who's
there?" before going in. The an
swer came back:
Captain Blank, and who the hell
wants to know"
They went in and found the cap
tain, his clothes covered with blood.
heating a can of rations over a gaso-
line flame. They asked if they could
stay all night with him. He said he
didn't give a damn. They started to
throw their blankets down, and the
captain said:
Look out for that man over
there"
There was a dead soldier lying in
a corner.
The captain was cooking his sup
per and preparing to stay all night
alone in that same room. The
flood and fury Of death about him
that day had left him utterly in.
different both to the companionship
of the living and the presence of
the dead.
The other incident was just the 3D.
posite. Another captain happened
to be standing beside Bessman. II
was just at dusk and they were on
the desert. The night chill was com.
ing down. The captain looked to the
far horizon and said, sort of to him.
self:
you fight all day here in the
desert and what's the end of it
all? Night just closes down over
you and chokes you"