The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-11-09
SYNOPSIS

i
In the alley back Of his home. Is notified
by his draft board that he Is in IA. He
breaks the bad news to his wife. Amy.
and marches off to work without kiss
Ing her goodby.
CHAPTER II: He opens his shop the
following morning. his Imagination work.
Ing overtime. A bullet had just sped
through his body: he found himself dy-
ing In some strange. foreign land.
"reportographer'' from the Evening
Standard calls to take his picture and
get his story. and the next day his picture
appears on the front page under the
headline. Wrinkle Proud to Fight"
CHAPTER III: Telephone calls of COM
miseration pour In. The Pettigrews drop
In that evening. Mrs. Pettigrew weeps
over her son. Jack. who is being called.
Mr.. Westcott. next door neighbor says:
II you're the kind of a soldier we're
going to have. God help US" Mr.. Wrinkle
makes out his will and tacks a sign read
ing CLOSED" over his shop. Amy
packs his bag and includes a pair Of
rubbers.
CHAPTER w: Mrs. winkle confdes
her worries. She fears Wilbert might
get interested in other women. He prom
ASSS 10 kenQ 0eT post caro- III ne uOSS.
Amy and Mr.. Wrinkle drive to the draft
board. fellow draftee calls him Pop"
The draft board members shake his
hand. Mr.. Winkle takes his place at the
head OF the draft parade. and marches
off behind the band.
CHAPTER v: Mr.. winkle kisses Amy
goodby at the bus station and Is off TO
the wars. On arrival at camp. he is
given mis- army physical and is ashamed
of his skinny physique. He is still count
ing on his dyspepsia to save him. He 10
passed along from doctor to doctor while
his spirits sag.
CHAPTER vi: To his utter dismay,
Mr.. Wrinkle is accepted by the army and
takes the oath of enlistment. He gets
his dog tags and so many shots" he
cannot remember what they all are for.
He is sent to Camp Squibb. a thousand
miles from home. where he meets Mr.
! Tinker a plumber-a man of his own
age. They become very friendly.
CHAPTER VII: Mr.. Tinker tells Mr..
Wrinkle that he wants to get just one Jap.
with his hands, to avenge his kid brother.
killed at Midway. Any more that he
gets will be gravy" Mr.. Winkle gets
KIP and some bayonet practice. He for
gets to take his pills for three days
straight and realizes he has no further
need for them His first day on the range
comes along. but he only plows up the
ground.
CHAPTER VIII: Mr.. winkle is called
before his superior officer and told about
the new regulations. Being over 33 he
can get a discharge If he wants II. He
80 -. 10 rfn fn "A wvau
and is recommended for motor mechan.
les school, Mr.. Tinker is classified the
same, but is unhappy about it. He says
he is not in the army to be nursemaid to
a jeep. Mr.. Wrinkle is given lesson in
locating the trouble in combustion en-
gine, according to army procedure.
Mr.. Winkle takes a short cut. adjusts
the carburetor. and gets bawled out.
CHAPTER TX: Granted weeks fur
Tough, MIR. Wrinkle goes home. Amy
says she hardly knew him. Their dog,
Penelope. growls at him. Amy complains
that Wilbert had never gotten fat on any.
thing she fed him. After the furlough
Mr.. Wrinkle and Mr. Tinker are shipped
to an embarkation point.
CHAPTER X: This is i'll" Under the
realization of this. Mr.. Winkle. now
sergeant, nearly falls out of the berth
Each day at the embarkation point they
are marched TO a ship at the pier. and
then back One day they kept on going
straight up the gang plank. Mr.. Winkle
perks up when he learns that Jack Petit.
grew. Freddie Tindan and the Alphabet
are aboard. The Alphabet congratulates
Mr. Wrinkle on being sergeant.
IF a man fell overheard, the shjK
could not risk stopping to pick hin
up.
These instructions caused no evi
dent alarm. Normally, Mr.. Wrinkle
should have had an acute attack o
imagination right then and there
But it didn't come, as it hadn't late
ly in the learning that great ant
solicitous mother, the Army, looked
after his every interest. All he hat
to do was to trust it, obey orders
and, most important of all, keep hi!
mouth shut.
The ship sailed that night while
some of them were asleep and some
of them were still adjusting theil
bodies to the hammocks. Mr.. Win
kle, listening, heard the deep throE
of the engines. He put his hant
against the ceiling and felt a thrum
ming there. The smell of oil became
stronger. A low, sleepy murmurinl
came from other men. A forwart
movement became perceptible.
That was all.
No one spoke.
If the others had Anys of thei
own to think about-and he knew
few of them had-they kept thei
thoughts, as he did, to themselves
In the morning they were at sea
Their own and dozens of other ship
scratched a CLASSY mirror with cor
tinual, untired zigzags. The convo
stretched into the distance as far a
the eye could see. At its outer edge
they could make out destroyers an,
other warcraft, which kept up a wor
ried pacing back and forth, IN an
out, and sometimes around in wild
sweeps and circles.
1t was heartening to see them an
their fellow troopships. Though the
knew that death was possible an
instant from the sky or from be
meath the water, it seemed just a
impossible that anything could touc
them.
Soldiers were everywhere on tn
ship, the last inch of space bein
crowded with them. If they had Iii
tie privacy before, they had non
now. 1t was barely possible to ste
anywhere without walking on some
body, or putting your foot into tn
middle of crap game.
Somehow they managed to NOV
around, for the most part good-ns
turedly. Mr.. Wrinkle marveled 9
what he and other men had bee
conditioned to stand He began /