Evening star., 1944-07-20
Soldier Strikes Oil
Iln Form Of Nazi Purse
with $3.50 in Cash
BY WALTER McCALLUM,
Star War Correspondent,


! FRANCE Delayed. - Soldiers
don't get much folding money for
themselves. BY the time their pay
has been reduced by insurance pay
ments. allotments to the home folks
and all the little things that eat into
soldiers pay, they haven't much
left for spending cash. It isn't true
that the soldier of the United States
Army, even though he is paid better
than the men of any other army,
spend their off-duty hours in riot
Gus living with wine, women and
song tossed in. They simply do not
have the maxuma for those things.
So when q certain soldier, poking
around among the debris in Ger
man pillbox, picked up 4 Jerry
'pocketbook and struck oil, he wasn't
too peeved. The Jerry must have
been an ofncer with q fair-sized
bankroll, for the soldier found about
1000 francs in the pocketbook. That
is $3.50, and is real cash in q SOL
dier's life.
Did he turn it in to his company
commander? He did not. Did he
tell the boys in his outfit about 1t,
and open himself up to having them
put the bite on him for loan? He
did not. That boy had been around
the Army while, and knew the
Army tricks.
But did he sock any Of it away
for a rainy day or some fun back
In England. II he gets back to Eng
land? He did not.
Money Just Slid Away.
I saw him today He had told me
about his windfall and asked me
to keep quiet I had driven around
France with him quite a little and
he regarded me as his father con-
fessor I had pleaded with him to
put about a hundred bucks Of the
money in a money order payable
to himself, to be used for rainy
day
Today he sat on sunny roadside
counting his cash. He had 1000
francs left, which is $40, and wrist
watch for which he paid 1.500
francs. That's all. Gone were the
good times in England, and the nest
egg I asked him how 1t got away.
Did he toss any parties for women,
with wine? No, he hadn't. 1t just
slid away. He couldn't tell how.
But I was better off than the
other boys" he grinned. They dug
down in their jeans and came up
with couple of francs. I could feel
that roll down there. and believe me,
It felt good III know better next
time, though, if there is a next
time"
The same soldier has a happy
habit of getting around among the
French people and getting butter
and eggs every once in a while
Eggs are rare among the men here
in this rich part Of France. where
the starvation diet imposed on other
parts of France by the Germans did
not apply. When an American Of
ficer gets an egg he hides it care
fully and brags about it.
Chinese Private Gets Eggs.
This soldier turned up with half
a dozen one day. He said the
French people wouldn't take any
hlOllCy lOi IllCul. gave HE i've,
which is par for any course in
France, and I reveled in fresh eggs
for five mornings
Over at division headquarters
there's little Chinese private
named Charlie Wong from San
Francisco. Charlie is hard to under
stand when he talks his brand of
English. but he came in with half
. dozen fresh eggs. His company
commander laughed II can't under
stand his English" he said. How
inell can these French people under
stand his French?
I'm afraid to let Charlie stray
far from the company area. He
looks like some of those Russians
we took prisoner a few days ago,
those ginks impressed into the Ger
man Army. I'm afraid one Of our
boys will take a shot at Wong one
day. I make him identify himself
with an orange scarf"
This part of France wasn't badly
hurt by the German occupation,
although the Jerry didn't always
pay for what he took and some
times got it at gunpoint. The
French people here. according to an
Interpreter. did considerable black
market trade with the Germans,
getting fancy prices for their eggs