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8 Su
girls" and their more monetary minded older sisters. SP's shoo sailors and marines out of bad districts, taking into temporary custody those who have imbibed too freely, thus becoming no credit to the Navy, as well as an easy "roll" for anyone who would like to separate them from hardearned overseas pay.
The tight are allowed to sleep it off at headquarters, then are sent nn their way with a stiff warning. Some are veterans of long months of battle and feel entitled to a good binge. When they are sober again, they're grateful that their pay is in the Shore Patrol safe — instead of in the pocketbook of a 12th Street blonde.
A Shore Patrolman is taught that his most important duty is to help his shipmates, not to punish them. Working with the conviction that most offenders can be quickly corrected with a little friendly advice, he does much to keep men of all branches of the armed forces out of trouble.
All officers and enlisted men assigned to SP duty are thoroughly indoctrinated in naval regulations, police procedure, and military law during an intensive course which also includes ju-jitsu, firearms, first-aid and military drill. On duty they are a walking travel bureau, a friend to the man who is confused, has lost his papers or money, is lonely, or has missed a train connection. And by keeping a few trouble-makers in line, SP's maintain respect for the naval uniform.
Around the clock they answer
December, 1945
questions. One night during the heaviest part of the rush in Kansas City's Union Station, a confident seaman dashed up to a Shore Patrolman, demanded, "Say, have you seen my wife?" And a radioman once approached an SP petty officer to ask where he might meet a girl who could cook. "I'm just back from the Pacific to get a discharge," he explained, "and I decided while I was out there that when I got back stateside I wouldn't waste my time and money on the frivolous babes."
He met the right girl, at a nearby servicemen's canteen.
A typical Shore Patrol watch means patrolling on foot or an wheels, combing the hot spots for the tight, the pugnacious, or the AWOL, warning those who wear the naval uniform sloppily, cooling off overly ardent swains, providing guards of honor for funeral services, policing stations, and checking papers. Other duties include riding cross-country trains, convoying prisoners, and watching over drafts of enlisted men moving under orders.
Ninth Naval District men assist overworked trainmen on more than a hundred trains a day out of Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis, DcMoines, Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis. One surprised SP found himself caring for three lost children in the Chicago Union Station. Another acted as a midwife aboard a jammed coast-bound train. And in metropolitan areas they keep an eye on the thousands of Navy men and women who crowd into midwcstern cities for