Dickenson County herald. [volume] (Clintwood, Va.) 1939-195?, 1944-01-06
G. I. PARADISE
BY Gordon Gaskill

(WNU Feature-Through special arrange
n1ent with The American Magazine.)
There is a spot in Palestine sur
rounded by orange groves where the
U. S. army has established a rest
camp for tired or vacationing SOL
diers. It can handle $50 at once and
draws them from vast, 5,000-mile
territory stretching from the Persian
Gulf to the west coast Of Africa.
Next to home, this Is sort Of
paradise which soldiers dream
about. The kind of place where cap
tains tiptoe in and ask if there's any
thing they can do for you. The kind
of place where top sergeants even
smile at privates.
The official name Of this unique
spot is "Levant Recreation Center"
The army SHE'D away from the
name crest Camp" They were
afraid the boys would think they
had nothing to do but sleep, eat,
read, and knit khaki-colored wool.
They needn't worry. The GIL. grape
vine works fast, and by now every
soldier from the West African jun
giles to the sweltering Persian Gulf,
and i'm all the great desert lands be-
tween, knows that this is place
where a man can write his own
ticket.
Sure, he can read and knit II he
wants to. But he can also-and 80
per cent do-spend only $14 for an
all-expense tour Of Palestine which,
as a peace-time tourist, would cost
him at least $500. Holy Jerusalem
is only rs minutes away by car. He
can lol1 on the army's private and
fancy beach if he likes lolling. With
in IS minutes he can be in clean,
modern Te1-Aviv, which Is the
worlds greatest all-Jewish city, for
as much hell-raising as suits him.
A little over SO per cent do that.
Like Luxury Hotel.
Arrivals at the Center meet first
Capt. Lloyd Howard, who runs it.
He makes a short talk to each In
coming batch of soldiers.
Fellows" he says, 'I'm just rum
ming a hotel for Uncle Sam. We're
trying to provide you with every
thing but breakfast in bed, and we're
working on that"
Tror,orJ ,,coI n Ioa Observation-Disclosures
of Fairgrounds at Lynchburg, Va.
One morning I watched nearly 200
new arrivals come in. They carried
only musette bags containing toilet
articles, mess kit, and few extra
clothes. The camp supplies every
thing else. Only small handful OF
them had ever seen action. Most
of the men, like Private Salvatore
Spano Of Newark, N. j., had never
heard hostile bombs or bullets, yet
army doctors say men like him
need rest and change even more
than combat troops. Front-line ex-
element keeps them popped up.
It's different with the Private
Spanos of the army. Their work is
essential but unexciting and monoto-
nous. This was Spano's first fur
Tough in II months. He had been
stationed in a godforsaken desert
aircraft repair depot. asked him
what the climate was like.
"CIimate!" he snorted. s'There
amt no climate-just half heat, half
sand. Whatta hole! All we needed
to be really buried was to have o
little dirt sprinkled on u.s."
Then Private Spano looked out
over the great, green gardens the
Jews have created in Palestine, out
to the blue, white-edged Mediter-
ranean and to shining Tel-Aviv.
'Boy," breathed Private Spano,
''after that desert stuff I see now
why they call this the Promised
Land"
Eight Days Of Fun.
Nearly all the men had the