Imperial Valley press., 1944-03-03

mOteu 10 lis piCoNAi0 4''i4N' -
tank driving instructor at the
marine training center at Camp
Elliott near San Diego. He at
tended Imperial High school and
before joining the n.alines was a
mechanic at the Buick i-ctor conf
pany in FL Centro.
Mrs. Robert Doig is aniXously
awaiting word from her brother'
leonard E. Hallman, navy raolo-
man first class, who has been
n,ieoner of the Japanese IN the
Philippine Islands since the IAN oi
Ccrrigedor. They haven't hearo
from him since last Christmas. Her
other brother, Athle V. Hallman'
fire controller second class, Is
visiting his mother in ST. LOUIS,
Missouri. this week. He was ABOARD
the U. S. S. Plunkett and saw ac-
tion in Italy and Sicily, escaping
without being wounded.
Cecil Gillett cf El Centre has
been advanced to the rank OF llISI
lieutenant. He is stationed with lhe
army at Riverside.
Description of the spot in the
south Pacific where he lanoeu
some time ago was received by Bert
Pudy of El Centre from his SON
Wavne. He said in part: "Ihere S
a change being made in ny lie oul
it's something I've been waiting lcl.
After this war is won l can say l
was there BY our camp there Is d
SIGN that says DO Your Joo Aiio
Win the War In 1914. II was
raining hard the day we lanoeo'
Everyone. his clothes, ana equip
ment got soaked. We camped be-
side a river in a clearing that was
hacked out of the jungle, lhe sllei-
ters were set up between the stunipS
of trees that had been cut down.
Then we cut bamboo poles ana tleo
them together to make framework
for bunknets. The mosquitoes were
swarming in on us. lfloIsli'
we would see sunshine fer a couple
of days at a time but my guess was
little off because 1t never laiis
to rain every day, and usually every
hour. Most Of the time we are
u,all,inp in mud and SluSh up tC
orr knees Some of the boys
thought we should move our camp
into the river, we Wouldnt ee'
muddy and it wouldn't be posslple
TO get any Wetter. 1 think every
l.ind of insect alive originated II
the bloody South Pacific. never
thought 1 would sleep with LIZARDS
In my bunk but that's just what
! lot of us do. Put two or three III.
aide the nets and they eaten al
the mosquitoes and bugs that gel
in The other day bunch OF us
were having dip in the river aho
a log came floating downstream
that's what we thought. But the 10Y
was q, crocodile. Right then l pe'
I could have. passed Johnny Wels'
muller Later we found a big
school of them farther up the river
There's quite lot of wildlife up II
the mountains. Big treets, some OF
them rs feet high, and dense
,ndergrowth with tangling vines
There's a steady chatter of all kinds
of birds. On the ground we SEE
lots of wild boars, a few squlrrei
and small animals. We've already
collected a let of souvenirs TO orlnt
home, jap sabers, helmets, ano
ammunition. There are even some
skulls around but I suppose yot
wouldn't like to have a Japs heao
for a mantlepiece, would you?
There isn't a white woman In 5,Ool
miles frcm this hole in the eartf
for all we know. Boy, what I mean
it's womanless. If anyone Wantee
to explore the jungle, maybe ht
could see few woody headed wa
henies but they are the type thai
file their teeth and have bones
through their noses. l know guy
who said he would give a year:
pay to have his girl friend here
saws he would carry her in his PACK
straight through Tokyo. They
sound off chow and mail call a
the same time here. There is
regular stampede. But even th'
chow hounds run in the othel
direction. SO now you know how
fogface sWeats out his fans for
letter.