Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1945-01-19
Whats
New!
Hi, FOLKS!

WO1hs Cll.J
This is sort of community
letter. / don't have much
time to write, but l do man.
age to scribble a few lines on
Sunday afternoons, which l
presumptiously call my "col-
umn." So this will take the
place of all the letters l wish
l could write.
We are beginning our 18th
week of basic training. The
toughest part is now behind
us excepting two weeks of
bivouac, during which time
we will sleep in foxholes,
worry about poisonous snakes
crawling in bed" with us,
practice tactical warfare, fire
the heavy 81 nm. guns, try
to keep the wild pigs from
devouring our food, and wind
up by hiking from % to 80
miles back to Camp Blanding.
Last Wednesday we went
thru the obstacle course and
we finished twenty minutes
ahead of schedule, so | obliged
the Company with a speech
on "Organizing the Infantry"
Friday we had whole day
of ''infiltration," which means
crawling under barbed wire
entanglements for 85 yards,
while machine guns are pour
ing real bullets Immediately
overhead and only three feet
from the ground. We crept
and craWled, ran, jumped and
charged pillboXes after that
with live hand grenades in
our pockets until time for the
attack" Then, after dark,
we went thru the barbed wire
and bullets again.
A one-half pound block of
TINT exploded about three
yards from me, and nearly
broke my eardrum. | guess
this added to the realism of
course, II any was needed!
Mud and sand flew all over
the place, including the back
of my neck. Some sport, huh7
How do / like being in the
Infantry? | hate to disappoint
all the well-wishers who pes
tered my draft board, anony-
mouSly and otherwise, but |
think the training we get is
worth at least six months
wages. I've got half a notion
to write to Board No. 5, and
thank them, and I'm not be-
ing sarcastic! In fact, that's
exactly what I'm going to do,
tonight.
I'm sure that whatever | do
will not approximate one
thousandth of what | did at
home to aid the war effort,
but / wouldn't take a dis
charge if one were offered
me, so | guess that answers
the question of how l feel
about the Infantry! The same
applies to fellows like Walter
Murphy, Clem Holewinski,
Joe Ditzel, Al Kenngott and
others. They are married men,
besides, but they're right in
there pitching, whether they
belong in it or notl
We have all kinds of men
among the trainers. For in
stance there's Pavlatos, a
scientist; Beresovski, lin
Guist (He speaks French, Rus
sian, Polish, Italian and Eng
lish, all fluently); Allen, a
mortician; Coffman, the son
of real, genuine tobacco
auctioneer; McMasters an adj
vertiSing man; McDonough,
professional football player;
and there are numerous ma
chinists, mechanics, farmers,
and students here.
A few days ago l received
letters from Carl Jahns and
Margaret Vegh, Swartzbaugh
committeeman, / understand
that the female welders re-
ceived nice checks for retro
active inequality adjustments.
Nice going
What about Auto-Lite and
Surface Combustion? When |
left, their WLB cases were
hanging fire. In the latter
dispute, something is awfully
wrong if these men don't get
back pay on those unadjusted
inequities, want to be around
to teach that management and
certain shySter a thing or
two about postwar bargain
ing, and with the help of God,
j will.
The Auto-Lite inequities
are so obvious that the Com
pany should be willing to ad-
just them voluntarily. Per-
haps this has been done by
now.
I'll be seeing all of you, |
hope, before long. In the
meantime, drop me a line,
even If / can't answer you
right away. My thoughts are
back home, if I'm not.
Fraternally,
Pvt. Edward j. Duck,
35851838, C-220-68
Camp Blanding, Fla.
p. S. Note to Freddy Gelow,
Packard Chairman: Tell Mr..
LiveSay to get on the ball,