The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-11-04
No Permits For 1-FamiIy Houses Issue!
NEWS OF MEN IN THE SERVICE


 Captain George L.. Hutton's Sterih- zation company has cleaned up" more individual German soldiers than any outfit of similar size in France. In this company is Private Joseph Tirendi of Waterbury, Conn.
 The captains outfit uses as its principal weapons scalding water and strong, pungent, government issue soap, which removes every thing from the captured ferries, but Dr. Goebbers choicest bits of propaganda. However, the captain says he isn't so sure some of that hasn't slipped off with battlefield filth when the one-time supermen emerge from his huge mobile shower and sterilization units, clean physi- cally for the first time in months.
 Designed to "de-louse" American troops in the field, in addition to cleaning up German prisoners, the company has proceSsed thousands and thousands of prisoners on their way to prisoner of war enclosures back of the fighting lines.
 "When the infantry removes these guys as battlefield menaces to the army, we follow up by cleaning them up so they won't spread disease among our men and civilians in the rear areas" Captain Hutton said.
 Cleaning up a Jerry is a problem, all right" he said. "They come to us unbelevably dirty and lousy.
 First we spray them withDDT powder, and while that's working on the bugs they're processed. After wards we taken them back through the shower units and steam their tattered clothes in vats which re- move all germs.
 Many of the Germans haven't been clean in so long they beg to be allowed to come back to the show ers," he said. Prisoners average about one shower week after the original sterilization process has been completed"
 At times when the flow of pris- oners slacks off, American soldiers from surrounding troop areas flock in to remove layers of French soil which have caked on them during their activities.
 The company is equipped with two lotion mobile shower units which have 12 shower heads each. The unit sets up near an adequate water supply, generally a good-sided stream, pumps the water to the shower units where it is heated and piped through to the shower heads. Dressing rooms are provided in tents at both ends of the units. These are kept near summer temperature by heat from the engines and steam from the showers.
 American troops, the Captain said, very seldom need the delousing treatment.
 "They just naturally keep cleaner than the Jerries," he said. Sometimes I think these fellows haven't bathed since they left home"
 Captain Hutton's company, which was activated in March, 1942, re- ceived actual field training in its present job on Tennessee maneuv- CTS, under conditions similar to those in France. Coming to the European Theater of Operations in November, 1943, the company oper- ated British laundry as Sideline.
 Ensign Charles J. Pelletier of this city, formerly a teacher, will begin his operational training as PIT officer at the Melville Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center in Mel vile, R. l., with an oll-day PIT cruise from NewPort, R. T., down Long Island Sound to the yards of Elco Naval Division of the Electric Boat Company, the nations largest build CT of PIT boats, at Bayonne, N. J. He will be one of f1fty-two officers who, on this cruise, begin their actual contact" training aboard PTS. Upon their arrival at Elco, they will be split into groups of ten and be escorted through the many workshops showing PTS in various stages of construction. After lunch they will be photographed by ElcoS own photographer in commemora- tion of the event.
 Directly following their run back to Melville, they will be assigned their own boats and their own crews.
 Warned in advance that the seven- hour trip aboard the bounding &C., foot speed demons, which they will one day ride against the foe, may be no picnic for uneasy Stomachs. each officer has spent the past few days trying to assure himself that "it won't happen to me-" If it does, chances are good that his shipmateS won't let the news get beyond the training center, for one simple req son: next time it may happen to them.
 BY JOSEPH I. POWERS
 With the Seventh Army in France