The Wyandotte news-herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1943-1963, 1945-01-04

life is COMPLETELY changed for thou
sands Of American boys on this side
Of the earth. For at last they are in
there fighting.
The jump from camp life into
front-line living is just as great as
the original jump from civilian life
into army. Only those who served
the last war can conceive Of the
makeshift. deadly urgent, always
moving-onward complexion Of 'front.'
line existence. And existence is ex-
actly the word 1t is nothing more.
The last Of the comforts are gone.
From now on you sleep in bedrolls
under little tents. You wash when
ever and wherever you can. You
carry your food on your back when
you are fighting.
You dig bitches for protection
from bullets and from the chill
north wind off the Mediter-
ranean. There are no more hot
water taps. There are no post
exchanges where yen can buy
cigarets. There are no movies.
When you speak to a civilian you
have to wrestle with foreign Ian
guage. You carry just enough cloth
ing to cover you and no more. You
don't lug any knickknacks at all.
When our troops made their first
landings in North Africa they went
four days without even blankets,
just catching a few hours sleep on
the ground
Everybody either lost or chucked
aside some Of his equipment. Like
most troops going into battle for the
first time. they all carried too much
at first. Gradually they shed Il. The
boys tossed out personal gear from
their musette bags and filled them
with ammunition. The countryside
for 20 miles around Oran was strewn
with overcosts, field jackets and
mess kits as the soldiers moved on
the city.
Arabs win be going around
for whole generation clad I'm
odd pieces of American army uni
forms.
At the moment our troops are
bivouacked for miles around each
OF three large ceuters OF occupa-
ton - Casablanca. Oran and Al
giers. They are consolidating, fitting
in requirements, making repairs
spending few days taking q deep
breath before moving on to other
theaters of action.
They are camped In every con-
ceivable way. In the city Of Oran
some are billeted In office buildings,
hotels and garages. Some are camp
ing in parks and big. vacant lots
on the edge Of town. Some are miles
awajs out in the country, living on
treeless stretches Of prairie.
The American soldier Is quick in
adapting himself TO q new mode OF
living. Outfits which have been here
only three days have dug vast net
works of bitches three feet deep IN
the bare brown earth. They have
rugged up light here and there
with q storage battery. They have
gathered boards and made floors
and sidebosrds for their tents to
keep out of the wind and sand. They
have hung out their washing, and
painted their names over the tent
flaps. You even see q soldier sitting
on his front step" Of an evening
playing violin.
MEN ANXIOUS TO
MOVE FORWARD
Now that the first phase Is over
new jubilance has come over the
troops. There is a confidence and
enthusiasm among them that didn't
exist in England, even though NOR
ale was high there. They were I'm
patient TO get started and get 10
over, and now that they're stared
and feel sort OF like veterans, they
are eager to sweep on through.
That first night OF landing, when
they came ashore in big steel motor
led invasion barges, many funny
things happened. One famous officer
intended to drive right ashore in q
jeep. but they let the folding end
Of the barge down too soon and the
jeep drove off into eight feet Of wa
ter. Other barges rammed ashore
so hard the men Jumped off without
even getting their feet vet and were
soon at their posts.