Christmas 1951 Kumwah North Korea

Dear Readers...How the prayer the roster of 5th RCT survived all these years...its   amazng...

                                                                               JMJ
Kumwah valley,North Korea
Christmas 1951,,,
"L"Co, 5th RCT 24th Div.
Phillip Meyer S/sgt Ret
                                                                 Christmas ,North Korea
 It wasn't to long after the Chinese had broadcast us to surrender on Christmas that we came off the hill. Now it was walking through deep snow,,and when we went down the hill we simply sat down an slid off the hill with our rifle barrels pointed backwards, When we got to the holes we had dug with the small tents over them there was at least a foot of snow around them,,The mess hall (tent) had fixed a good dinner.We sat in the snow and ate our meal,,A paper was passed around..On one the company roster as of Dec 1951,On one paper the Christmas menu..and on the back a prayer written by Lt James Lee our Company Commander
which read.....................................Give peace oh God give peace
     This day we celebrate the birth of HE who has blessed us with..notable successes thru out the year with little hurt to ourselves.Under the present circumstances we cannot treat this season with the joy and good cheer that tradionaly accompany it.Instead we must turn our joy into thanksgiving for His protection and our cheer into Hope for better things to come.For Lee's Miserables I pray for the best possible CHRISTMAS and a NEW YEAR in which Gods peace shall come to our land. 
                                                      JAMES M. LEE
                                              1st Lt. Commanding Officer
One little pine tree was decorated with tin foil from cigaret packs,,It was bitter cold..Then we had a visit from Cardinal Spellman. With Priests they set up a tent for Mass and other priest heard Confession went in a frozen rice paddies to a priest for confession..
The only other big thing in the valley was receiving our Combat Infantry Badge awards in a frozen rice paddies,
                                                                  Phillip Meyer S/sgt Ret.

The Moment

Kumwah/Kumson North Korea
"L" Co, 5th RCT 24th Div.
Oct 1951 Phillip Meyer S/sgt Ret/

The Moment

We moved from hill to hill for awhile. One day I had an experience,,You know one of those moments. I was 18 years old.

We were coming down a path off a hill, I looked to my front and many soldiers were on the path along side the hill going to another front line area. The dirt was dry and they were kicking up dust.

Then I thought to myself,,I was watching history being made,..I knew this was a special moment...In that moment I had felt I knew why I was there..One moment I was a teenager that next moment I had grown up.

The hill Sept 51

Kumwah,North Korea
"L" Co, 5 RCT 24th Div
Sept 51, Phillip Meyer S/sgt.
The Hill Sept 51

Again we were on the move and we settled on this hill.What made it so different was that instead of being high on the ridge line I ended up where the hill started down.So the valley was not far away.At one point we took a break going down the hill and I found an abandoned enemy fox hole. He had left behind various pieces of his equipment also found ammo. I got an idea, I took the Chinese ammo and took off the end and lit a match to the powder inside, not bad so now I opened a few more and poured all the powder in one cartridge and lit the round.However this time when it reached the end the cap at the end exploded.That was enough.Now the Sgt said move out and he assigned us an area to make a bunker or a fox hole.My buddy and I look around and he says."Look its late lets just get a good night sleep",,So we just found a spot and slept all night long..The next day the Sgt comes by..:Where is your bunker??" How we ever got away with that one Ill never know,But before the day was over we made a good size bunker.A very large pine tree was our corner of the bunker the other side the opening to the bunker.So we settled down.

One day on the friendly side of the hill a soldier had a razor and he was shaving soldiers, So I am sitting there getting a shave when we had mortars come in and as they exploded he calmly kept shaving me.. They were hitting a different area.

Then one night "Danny Kaye" the comedian came and was putting on a show. Some of our men were allowed to go the next day some more would get a chance.

That night I was in my bunker and I heard the first round go over. This was a large shell..coming from artillery.Then another and another. My prayer was "Please Lord don't let them get lower"..Then one round hit the lower part of the tree to our bunker. There was a loud explosion and I went down and grabbed my buddy who was sleeping,I said :a round hit us" and I woke him up.and he says.."Did you get wounded?" I said No,,then he says Im going back to sleep and he did.

The next morning I looked at the tree,. A large part had been blown away. Then I found out that the artillery had hit the USO show and they were leaving.

So the nights passed.The soldiers in the next fox hole would throw small stones at our helmets if they thought we were falling asleep.

My last act before we left that hill.I found a Chinese hand grenade and put it to the front of our positions, With the string that came with it and made a bobby trap.

So we moved out again...

The High Hill

Kumwah North Korea
Aug 1951 5th RCT 24th Div
Phillip Meyer S/sgt Ret.
"The Hill"

After leaving that village it did not take us long to get our objective.We did eat breakfast and in the mean time we looked at the "Hill" we were going to climb.No not a hill a mini mountain.It was very high.Early that morning we started to climb the "Hill" How different was that hill early in the climb we were holding hands as we went around a part of the "Hill" so nobody would fall...Then we reached a point were it had a lot of boulders. Now we had to be careful not to fall in between the boulders.

We found water coming out of the hill and wild grapes,very high up..The climb continued and the sun was going down,Now we were very close to the top. That is when I realized how high we had climbed.I look down and I was looking at a layer of clouds.

We had just about reached the highest point (so we thought) it was getting dark and some soldiers started a fire to keep warm. Then I heard "Grenade in the fire" a soldier had bent over and one of his grenades had fallen in the fire, In just a quick couple of seconds another soldier put his hand in the fire and pulled out the grenade,If he had not done that there wasn't any place we could go so he saved a lot of lives.I could see a path going higher up the "hill" but the Sgt said to bed down for the night.

When the sun came up here came Lt,James Lee our company commander who had really got to the top of that hill,He was very angry. One of those rare times and only time I saw him angry,As he passed us by he point up,and said "I wanted you all to get to the top of the hill you still had a long way to go." Then he said no food when you get off the hill,,So we went down the hill got on the trucks and went back to our "rest" area.

The next day he had us in formation and he pointed to another hill and said "We are going to climb that one and I know you all are going to make it.Again we started to climb and when I got to the top there was Lt,Lee sitting on a boulder and he was greeting each soldier just as he greeted me,..This time he was pleased,,So why climb a high hill..well we found out later,,Yes he had a reason, a good reason.

On that next hill one of those sad moments,that you never can forget.

Rest Area Part One

Kumwah, North Korea
July 1951 ..5th Rct 24th div
Phillip Meyer S.sgt ret,

USO Show

Im back to the first hill we occupied..and the many patrols we went on..It was some where in the middle of July we had just come off a patrol going over the barb wire fence with the mines and we were told we could go off the hill and see a USO show,Again we walk of the hill and a truck took us down the road.There were a lot of soldiers waiting to see the show,On a small stage was Jack Benny and two other actors,.Its amazing he would come this close to enemy lines. So we enjoyed the show that did not last that long and went back to the front lines..

Rear Area Aug 1951

After the seven day patrol we got a break,For a couple of days, Trucks took us to this area and we set up our tents At the bottom of the hill was the Mess tent.then just short of the woods were our tents,Two things I remember about living in the small tents.One down the middle we dug a small ditch so when it rained a stream of water would go down the middle..The second at night we wanted a little light, We did no have flashlights or candles so what do you do,? Simple you take an empty c-ration can and put a little gasoline in it. You light it and well not much light but it gave some.

In those first couple of days some one got an idea.Lets raid the mess hall.So I went crawling down the hill on my stomach.(We did not have to go far).The cans of food were passed to each of us and back to our tents,Cans of peaches ect ahh, The next day were called into formation. The order there will be no more raiding of the mess tent,.we complied.

About the same day we went in formation out on the road and there was Lt.James Lee the officer I had put 2 boxes of ammo on his shoulders while going on the front lines. This was his introduction to us,Along the line in his speech he said "I wont make you do anything I would not do" and he did it very well whatever he did (After that speech he got wounded six times).

We were in a rear area but for a reason..Not just to rest but get in shape,,We were going to climb a very high hill.The next day we got in trucks and went down the road at one point we stopped by a village,When we got out of the trucks for a break. The children all came out so we took out candy that we had. There was a line of sand bags the children on the other side, I took a Hershey bar and was bringing it down when some children grab for it,before I could open my fingers the candy was gone except a small piece still in my fingers,Then we got back on the trucks and headed toward the hill we would climb.

More next time.

Patroling Kumwah Korea 51

Kumwah,North Korea 1951
"L" Co.5th RCT 24th Division

Patrols June/July 51

During the end of June and all July we went on many patrols. All these patrols came down to the hill to our front.Which we would attack one day. The Sgt, would go down the ridge line and pick out men to go on the patrol. I got my chance, I would go with 16 clips of ammo. My M1 rifle and canteen filled with water.

The patrol would consist of around 9 men (a squad). Down the ridge line we made a right turn and went down a path.Not to far down the path was a barb wire fence. Which we had to cross over. Two problems, the barbs that cut our clothing and boots. The next thing we had to be careful was on each side of the path that went through the fence were mines.Big mines.

As you crossed over you did not want to go to far left or right just straight over.,Once over it did not take to long to get to the valley. Why do I remember my first patrol.? It was a reconnaissance patrol just to gather information. Well we were walking through the valley and I looked to my right.I saw a man (soldier) on the enemy side going up the hill. I had a clip in my rifle ready to fire.I took my rifle look through the site and was ready to fire.The Sgt saw me and push my rifle down and motion for me to not fire.We did not want to draw enemy fire.We continued until we came to a Korean house that had been hit by artillery.The patrol stopped and the Sgt was searching the area around the small house. Then we returned to the path and went back up the hill.,,Some patrols lasted a long time.

Getting Clean

One day we came back from a patrol.As usual our clothes were getting cut by the barb wire. But hat day we were lucky. The Sgt said all of us who had been on that patrol could go off the hill.By following his directions we would find an out post in the woods. They had water and we could take a shower.So off the hill we went and It was hard to find this very small shack,Hidden in the woods. They let us take showers and gave us clean clothes. That would be the last time I would get clean in months.

We were dressed and ready to go when one of men said we had to get back to the front lines. The soldiers in charge of the water point said/get these men something to eat.They fixed the best meal we would have for a long time. We were walking back through the woods and the soldier in front sees a squirrel . Going toward a tree,He starts firing at it with his rifle, No he never was able to hit it..Then back to the front lines...When you laid down in the fox hole sometime the roots of the tree were next to you face.Hit the side of the fox hole with your head the dirt would fall on you.

On one patrol we took a different route.However the men on the ridge line did not know a patrol was in the valley,,We hear machine gun firing and it was at us,,We were being fired at by our own men.We hugged the side of the hill and the radioman was able to get to someone and they stopped firing.

"L" Co. 5th RCT 1951

Korea war 1951
"L" Co, 5th RCT 24th Division

The next time the truck stopped it was down a small road with dried out rice paddies on the right side and a wooded area on the left. When I got out of the truck .I was now a member of the 5th RCT and I was in "L" Company the 4th platoon..I went across a mound of dirt to a bivouac area. A couple of soldiers were sitting on the ground,,The first thing the Sgt ask me was "Okay what weapon do you want" and I had a choice, the machine gun,a BAR (Browning automatic rifle) or a plain old M1 rifle. I chose a rifle which I already had, However I was assigned to a machine gun squad..That night I pulled guard on the wooded side of the road.We had mosquito nets to put over our helmets but I could not see very well with the net so I would pull it up and got bit by mosquitos.It would be the only time I got bit by mosquitos which would cause a big problem much later.

The next day after breakfast the Sgt was looking for volunteers to fire the 2.3 rocket launcher volunteered and we met a the end of the road where it ended at the bottom of a hill.There were three of us who volunteered, There was one 2.3 Rocket luncher..The Sgt took the first soldier and gave him instructions then a round was put in the rocket luncher .The soldier squeezed the trigger it did not fire.A small wire connection was checked it fired. Next soldier another round put in. Again problems making it fire and when it did there was rust on the round that blew out the back,Now it was my turn.I was supposed to fire high at the hill but as I looked through the scope it was aimed somewhere at the bottom of the hill and I thought its not going to fire......So I pulled the trigger and it fired immediatly. The round landed at the bottom of the hill.

The next day some big General came and our company put on a show of fire power, Soldiers carrying 81 MM mortars up the hill, I fired a carbine with other soldiers. I put it on automatic and after firing a clip or two the wooden cover was smoking it got that hot,.after the General left we bivouacked near a hill in the valley, I was in my tent writing one of those rare letters I ever wrote,.When the artillery started to fire which was not far away the ground shook,Some soldiers who were called "Ridge runners" made special patrols before we would go on the front lines.We were in Kumwah,North Korea.

The next day we would go on the front lines.

Front Lines, North Korea 1951

North Korea May 1951
5th RCT :L" Co, 4th Platoon 3rd Squad

Front Lines
After the demonstration for some top generals it was time to go on the front lines.Since I was in the machine squad I was assigned to carry machine gun ammo,two boxes..It was heavy..I had it over my right shoulder with straps to hold the boxes.About half way up the hill I was getting tired.what to do..I looked in front of me and there was this soldier,tall looked strong..With out thinking I got close to him took my ammo threw it on his shoulders then said "Will you help me" He turned around and then I saw the Lt. Bars.and he was my company commander..The surprise he said "sure Ill help you"

So we continued up the hill. When we got to the top .We kept on going for awhile then we stopped and we were told to chose a place to make our fox holes..The machine gun men got quickly making a special bunker.We were next to the machine gun and my buddy and I dug a fox hole. That night guard 1 hour on one hour off all night.During the night the machine gunners heard sounds and would fire in that direction.The morning came and just below the new machine gun bunker was an old North Korean bunker and a soldier came out of it. The soldier was a medic who had thought that would be a good place to sleep but no one knew he was in there so every time he moved the machine gunner would fire but he was safe as long as he stayed in the bunker,That night he slept on the other side of the hill,,

That day the artillery was firing on enemy position and a White Phosphorus fell short on our area,Lucky just far enough not to hurt but as the white smoke came across the hill the machine gun bunker was fill of men...In those first couple of day the mess people were able to bring hot food up in containers but a problem not enough mess kits to eat out off..What to do..Simple.The first men got the mess kits.When they finish eating on the ridge line they put them in a box.Next group took the dirty mess kit hit it on a tree and ate and so on/You finish eating knock the old food out and pass on the mess kit,We only got a couple of meals that way then we got C-rations ..

The next thing I learned the hard way was how to sleep. I was sleeping on the ridge line not far from my fox hole when I got off guard.One night I felt some one kicking me and saying ;Is he dead?" Then they told me.I was sleeping with my mouth wide open and a soldier saw dozens of flies going in my mouth.So he presumed I was dead.From that day on I covered my mouth with whatever I could find when I was sleeping.

Our first casualty, no not the enemy but a horrible way to die. A soldier had a very large flare and as the story goes he put it in his fox hole then for some reason sat on it and it and the flare went up and he was killed immediately. My memory my fox hole was near the ridge line and they carried his body pass my fox hole.

The next man to die.We were put on alert were we being infiltrated, a soldier had gone in front of his fox hole to go to the bathroom his buddy woke up not realizing it and shot him,..We had a lot to learn.

On The Way Up to North Korea -1951

Korea 1951
5 RCT "L" Co.

Moving North

After a day at the abandoned factory we went a little north and came to an area once occupied by American soldiers. There was a row of small house with two floors, they were very small houses. We got there late so our squad got the top floor. We slept on the floor. While were getting ready the Sergeant.left and went to a nearby village. He came back upstairs with bottle he said had beer in it, then he told us to watch.he said as he poured a little on the floor that when he put a match to it if it turn red it was impure but if the color was blue you could drink it. The beer did burn. He drank it.

The next day after breakfast our exercise was climbing a nearby hill for exercise. It was a very rocky hill.

Again we proceeded north and stop by the side of the road and set up our pup tents. It was early and near by was a stream and a small waterfall. The Sergeant got an idea, why not, so we all strip down naked and jumped in the water. Nice clean water and cool. The stream was wide and I had not swam in a long time. So I tried swimming across. I barely made it. The swimming lessons in boarding school saved me. So I passed the waterfall put on my clothes and went back to the bivouac area .

One soldier said to follow him up the hill which I did with a couple of other soldiers. I was not ready for what we found. In front a dead enemy soldier and all down the ridge line many more dead enemy soldiers there body bloating. One soldier took a stick and pushed it in the body then we went down the hill. That night I was put on guard and the Sergeant told me the other soldier in the tent would pull guard after I was finished.

That night I walk the area and when I got to the tent I woke the soldier up for guard and went to sleep. The next morning I found out he never pulled his guard. He was in serious trouble and punished by digging what they called a 6 x 6 hole. He could have been shot.

That night after I got off guard I had a nightmare of dead soldiers head rolling down the hill.
That next day we got on trucks and again move north we were passing by Seoul. As we went down the road we saw a bridge. A soldier took a grenade and as we passed over it he threw it in the water. Everybody was in good spirits.

To our front we saw Army ambulances coming down the road as they passed us by we could see some of the wounded .Many ambulances passed us by and we all got quiet. It was a wake up call. Then we passed by Seoul on the outside of the city. There was smoke coming from some of the buildings. All along were proceeding north.On our next stop I would be assigned to my combat unit,

Korea 1951

5th Rct 24th Div,
Kumwah,North Korea..

Front Lines Kumwah.North Korea

As time went on our focus was on this very high hill to our front. Almost daily this hill was strafed by our airplanes.We would judge whether the pilot was married or not married, if he was not married the airplane would fly real low and near most touch the tree tops. The married pilot flew high above the tree line, also the artillery that hit that hill, soon it was given a name .We called it "The million dollar hill" the idea was that all the shells, all the strafing added up to a million dollars. In the History books and to this day that hill is referred to as "the Million Dollar Hill"
The Ghost

What would you call it? As we look down the ridge line there was another company.That had a particular problem that we all heard about later,..This is what happenned. Each night they would hear something moving around to there front. They would fire there rifles. The next day the same sounds but no matter how many rounds fired the mysterious sounds continued. Now the soldiers were getting worried, what was this mysterious thing that could not be killed. Finally the Sgt ask for volunteers the next time they heard the sounds they would go after it. So that night they heard the sounds and went after it, and caught a pig that was coming up the hill to find food.
Lesson Learned

One day my fox hole buddy says lets dig our fox hole down by the barb wire, this was in the early days when we got on the line. So we took our shovels and dug a hole close to the barb wire that the enemy would have to go over to get to us.

It look good all we would have to do would be to fire straight ahead at the barb wire. We neatly put the grenades, clips of ammo on the sand bags. We were ready. However to our left was the machine gun emplacement high above us and to our right two soldiers with rifle above us.But it was quiet a couple of days. Then came the night. I was sleeping on the ridge line. When my buddy had finished his guard duty he would come get me,then he would sleep on the ridge line. One night he came up to wake me up, all of a sudden there were red flares going up and other colored flares. The left flank was firing there weapons, then our men started to fire. I wanted to get to our fox hole but as we looked down. We could see the machine gun tracers going over our fox hole, our fox hole was now in the line of fire. So we split and stayed on the ridge line.I had ammo in my rifle and my ammo belt. So I started to fire to our front, I kept pulling my trigger then it stopped, my rifle had jammed. I looked around and I saw a soldier pulling commo wire for a telephone, I told him my rifle jammed so he said he would help, he got along side me and fired his weapon until it all got quiet again.

The next morning I did two things. We dug a new fox hole near the ridge line and I took my rifle apart got out the bad round clean my weapon. A couple of nights later I used it again and I fired off eight rounds with out a problem.

North Korea - December 24th 1951

I was on a listening post with "L" Co 5th Regimental Combat team, It started snowing long before midnight. By midnight the snow was very deep. All of a sudden I hear Christmas music coming from the Chinese side. Who was playing the music. I started to think of home (What home??) and I also notice the music sounded different. Then, after a few minutes the music stopped and a voice said "This is the Chinese Communist Army and we invite you to surrender" Then he talked about a hot meal and read letters from prisoners of war and how well they were being treated. I heard a voice come from the fox hole next to me which said. "Pass the word get the artillery" so I passed the word to the next fox hole.

A couple of minutes later the artillery came down on the hills in front of us. (The word was passed on to a radioman)The around midnight they said a man got wounded and I was selected to carry him part of the way off the hill. The snow was so deepwe were dragging him in the snow. I went back to my fox hole and at around 2 am it started again the music and asking us to surrender. This time the artillery came without passing the word, now in all that in between Lt.Lee our company commander and a Sgt down from us caught the Chinese trying to infiltrate us. The Sgt threw grenades and killed a few.Plus Lt.Lee with his rifle.

Yong Dong Po, South Korea -1951

Inchon Korea 1951
After we left the landing craft we walked across a field and I saw a small building.What made it so unusall was that it was full of holes made by shells. There well holes of all sizes.Then we continued walking a truck took us to an abandoned factory.there was barb wire in one area. The sun was going down when we got inside on the bottom floor. The first thing I was told to do was "grab a piece of cement", in other words no bed, no tent, just sleep on the concrete floor,which I did.

During the night some soldiers went on patrols. The more seasoned soldiers. The next day were still at the factory. Years later I would find out that town was Yong Dong Po.(as close as I can get to the spelling but that is the way it is pronounced). But it was that night at the dinner meal, We were able to get cooked meals and we used our mess kits to put the food in..Outside
the factory on one side was a row of trash cans that we put what we did not eat in them. I had scraped my mess kit clean in a garbage can and going back in the factory when I heard voices and people walking I hid myself by the doorway and looked..The people were coming from the village.They went to the garbage cans. I saw one man pull out a piece of meat. Other putting there hands in the carbage cans pulling out what they could find. Ill never forget that scene. It was my first lesson in what war can do.

Fort Jackson SC - End of Basic Training 1951

Some of training went into advance basic so it latest a little longer. For example we went out for firing 60mm mortar. What we did was just a demonstration but it did prove to be an interesting morning.When one round was fired it fell short. Very short but no one got hurt,,We went in the room where tear gas was let in and were told not to put on our mask, as soon as it got to us we were let out,The idea to let us experience what would happen with out a protective mask on,,there other demonstrations but then came the day we would be physically put to test, We would go on a 20 mile force march with full pack on our backs. Now do not think we walk at a regular pace we were pushed. We started early lucky the weather was good. It was an extra rough day.What I remember is when we finally did get back to the barracks got up stairs and I stopped and fell asleep standing up. I woke up after briefly sleeping and got to my bunk.

The Obstacle Course.

There was one last thing we had to do to pass Basic training. It was called the obstacle course.It made everything we had done so far pale in comparison. The idea to give you a feel what it would be like in real combat.If you did not make this you did not pass basic.I had long gotten over my fear of noise but this would really put me to the test if all I hear was true. As we got close to the Obstacle course The sgt told us to take off our watches ,,and he held on to them,.It was night time when we arrived by the course.It was a huge oblong pit. All we had to do was crawl the length of the pit, but as we crawled real bullets from a machine gun would be firing over our heads and as we crawled TNT would be exploded to simulate shells falling. We got down low as the machine gun started firing and crawled over the sand bags in to the pit. How high were those bullets? They could have never been high enough. As I crawled in the dirt down the middle of the pit small explosions from TNT went off this continued until we got to the end, then we crawled out and the firing stopped. The Sgt gave us back our watches. We had passed basic.

Sent Overseas

We had a special ceremony for graduation.In all that time in basic I never received one letter and of course no one at the graduation, I had been in the barracks a couple of days. One day I came back and everybody was gone shipped out, I went with another group. Then I went to Florida before I would go over seas. I would stay with my Foster parents for a few days, I would be going to Korea.

Fort Jackson SC - January 1951

Basic Training 1951
The first thing we were taught as recruits was to stand at attention,right face, left face about face, then marching, left right. I did very well except when we were standing at attention we were told we could not move for any reason. Well I found a reason, as I was standing at attention a bee started to buzz around me. Without thing I took my hand and tried to brush it away, big mistake. The Sergeant saw me and I spent the rest of the day washing stoves. I learned when at attention that is what it meant.

In the mean time the mess hall offered me some adventures, one for example when I went to breakfast I would eat get out of the Mess hall and get in line again so I would eat breakfast twice, many a meal I ate twice, however that was nothing to what happened to me one day. We sat at tables that would be equivalent to a picnic tables, I was sitting at the first table on the left side of the mess hall up by the serving line. I will not forget. As I ate my noon meal I noticed a bottle of ketchup which had been put in a glass jar, I tried to pry off the top. It was on tight. So I banged it on the table, the top came off. I put the ketchup on my food. Now in those days I ate my food fast. Down went that food but this time as I gulped down my food I felt a pain on the sides of my throat. I was taken to the hospital immediately had swallowed a piece of glass that lodged in the side of my throat just bore it would have gone down,when I hit the bottle to loosen up the top I broke a piece of glass. The Doctor advised me to eat more slowly. I did.

One day I was walking down the company street I was going to go on sick call because my neck hurt me. The officer saw me,he ask me what was wrong, I told him He said move you head left and right, I did, he sent me back to duty.

One does not forget K.P duty or Kitchen Police. It was very early in the morning you would arrive at the Mess hall and the work began. One duty was to go out and fill the bucket with coal for the fire, it was a hard days work. The Mess hall was immaculate clean before we left. When the coal fire was burning out side soot would fall so you had to be careful not to get it on your uniform.

My first pay we went to a place in Fort Jackson called "Tank Hill" . There was PX there and I bought my first cleaning equipment, razor blade a razor, soap, etc and a watch plus had money left over.

Our place for entertainment was the Snack bar and the Service club. In those days I liked listening to Western music, Hank Williams, Gean Autrey, The Sons of The Pioneers. The snack bar floor was wood.

Soon the basic would get find me doing things I thought I could never do..