Radio and television mirror (July-Dec 1941)

It was bad saying goodbye to Harry. I don't know, with Lucy, I sort of went to pieces and it was all right like that. But with Harry, I had to hang on to all that manly stuff, be casual, no emotions. We shook hands, almost like we didn't know each other, and Harry slapped me on the back and I got out of there. COMEHOW, it got to be Monday morning and a group of us were saying goodbye to our families on the station platform and being herded into a special coach by an Army Officer. Once the train started, it wasn't so bad. It was as if a door had been shut on one part of our lives and another had opened before us. Camp Y, over a hundred miles from Fairlee, in a different state — In the beginning, it was kind of exciting. There was something new going on every day to keep us interested— physical checkups, taking I. Q. examinations, classifications, being assigned to companies, getting into the routine. After the thirteen week Recruit Training period, Ben and I were assigned to the same company. Johnny had mechanical training, so he went with an outfit of machinists. Ted Porter was made a Second Lieutenant— he'd been an officer in the National Guard at home — and we didn't see much of him, because he was in a different area. Then routine — and more routine, though it wasn't so much the routine that got us, because every day was a little different from the day before. One day we'd go on a hike. The next day, we'd be on the rifle range most of the time. The next, we'd have classes in combat training. What was bad, was that, without even noticing it, we fell into the habit of not doing anything we weren't told to do. We did what was expected of us and shut our minds to everything else. I guess that was because our only interest was to get through with our year and go home. Anyway, we gradually stopped reading the papers, except maybe the comics. We hardly even listened to the radio. Actually, we were doping ourselves, not because things «vere so unbearable, or we were so stupid, but because we didn't really care. We sort of lived from leave to leave, only to find that, when we did go home, we didn't know quite what to do with ourselves and, when we came back, it was hard to get back in the swing of camp life again. No one knows how it started, but for months there was a rumor floating around that we weren't go 26 ing to get out at the end of our year. None of us took it very seriously. We'd kid about it, the way you do about things you're sure can't happen to you. Then, all of a sudden, it wasn't a rumor any more. A General made a report to Congress. And Congress started talking about extending the time of service! It was like being hit on the head. At first, we were too stunned to think. Then, whatever thoughts we had were just about useless. Emergency! Defense! What did we care about reasons like that? We wanted to go home, see our girls, our wives, our mothers again. And that's when I got the letter from my sister Nelly. I remember every word of it. There was a page or so about home. Then — "You know how the girls are, Jim. They think I'm a kid and never pay any attention to me. So, the other day I heard some talk and I think you ought to know about it. This is what happened. . "Ever since you boys went away, the girls have been kind of clubby. They sit around and talk for hours, a regular hen club, all by themselves. But lately some of them have been going out again, once in awhile — yes, with a fellow. "Well, anyway, the other evening, the Whole club was in session and I crawled in on it. They didn't even know I was there. Barbara Neely was being smug as the dickens, because Ted's been promoted again and now that he's a Captain they're going to be married, right away, and live in the Officers' quarters on the Post. I guess the other girls were a little jealous and I can't say I blame them. Barbara got mad. And first thing out of the hat, she turns on Ben's Mary and says, 'What are you complaining about? You're having plenty of fun with Bert Crumbach.' Remember him? "Anyhow, Mary says Bert's a fine man and she thinks maybe she'll