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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 1943)
Tha OREGON STATESMAN, Sclenu Oregon Sunday Morning, August' 22. IS 13 'Destination Unlmown' : A Salem Soldier's Experiences in the Tunisian Campaign Editor's Note: Under the headin Disti nation Unknown," S(t. Timothy Campbell, son of Mrs. Alfred Frykberg who lives tt 37t Evergreen avenue, has written a letter, excerpts from 'which follow. A second -Installment will appear next Sunday. The same letter was sent to relatives of other members oi the personnel section of an armored field artillery battalion in order to provide them all with a detailed description of the men's ex perie rices. Sgt. Campbell graduated from Salem high school in the 1940 class and entered the army January SO. 1942. ... .. . By SGT. TIMOTHY CAMPBELL We embarked Sunday afternoon, November 1, 1942, In New York harbor DESTINATION UN KNOWN. The ship sailed in the early Burning hours on the fol lowing day, so we were unable to catch a last glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. The ship was not too crowded with soldiers, but it did not have the appearance of a lux ury: liner as it had been in its former days. '' .y y ': -.' ' By luck, three men from the section, were able to get bunks in a six-bunk stateroom, and the rest of the section had hammocks on C deck up front where the full sway of the ship could be felt at every little wave, The stateroom was to have ; been' the means of accomplishing . our work on the voyage we clerks of the person nel section having been roped in to do all the work in troop head quarters but very little work was actually : . accomplished. Instead, the room was more or less a gath ering place, poker being one of the , reasons for a packed room. Anoth er reason being that the ship rode much easier on this deck, and the boys were able to catch up on their sleep. Thus the btmis were oc cupied 24 hours a day. . The voyage was uneventful as for r enemy submarines and air craft action; but nevertheless we . had our troubles, these being sea sickness and food.: Not one of us had a severe case of seasickness, but there were slight cases, espe cially once when we weathered a storm for a full day. . . I Because of the number of troops, we had only two meals a day. So we were never overfed, but one means of - rescue was candy. Each of us con sumed dozens of candy bars dur ing the trip. We discovered,' too, that steam-cooked food soon be came unpalatable. , After a few days out in the At lantic ocean, we were informed that ' our destination was to be Africa, and that we would land at Casablanca, French Morocco, if possible. As none of us had ever been to this part of the world we were looking forward to the new and interesting sights we were .to see. We. had heard that an invasion force had left the United States a few days prior to our leaving, but there was notice that we might have to force our way so as to land. After sailing around in circles off the coast of Africa, we received word that the invasion was successful; and after being on the ocean Tor 17 days, we sailed into Casablan ca harbor on November 18, dis embarking on the 19th. An ad vance party went ashore the even ing of the 18th and discovered that a . number -.. of snipers . were still lurking about the city but that the, Americans had every thing well in hand. At a later date an MP detail from our unit was successful in routing out the last of the snipers. (- With all of our equipment and one barracks bag over eur shoul ders, we ' put our feet on this strafege land'at o'clock "in the morning and started to hike 'to the bivouac area. After, a short walk, we disposed of the barracks bags to be picked up later and continued our march to the biv ouac area about six miles from Casablanca. - We arrived at the area that ws to be our camping ground for the next three months, around noon, very exhausted and hungry, so we relaxed and proceeded to eat a K ration. As not much supplies were in Africa at the time, , we were to continue to eat the K ration, changing off to the C ra : tfon, which was either a . small can of beans, hash or stew - with a few biscuits, hard, candy and soluble c o f f e e, for about two weeks, until it was possible for the., kitchen to set up. After eat ing, we pickedi a location for our tents but before, we were able to get them up it started to , rain. Rain or no rain '-we-proceeds to put up our tents. Late in the afternoon our bags a m e, but everything was wet, including the blankets, so we s p e n t a , very miserable night sleeping on the damp hard ground under wet blankets. . ' - ; The following morning the bat talion continued its training where it had left off in the -United States, and we continued our . routine work,! making out insur ance, allotments, payrolls, service records, morning reports, and tak ing tare of aH the letters, papers and packages which came to the battalion from; the states. Our .type of work prevented us from -participating in the important : events and, kept us a few miles : behind the lines in the campaigns f that were to follow; but neverthe : less, we had our own experien 'V.,; ces " ' . ,...--." ? je - Soon after landing, in Africa we were looking forward to our first fpass to visit Casablanca we were given a pass for only six hours . V and "with the best transportation available walking started for Casablanca. Our first stop in the city was a ' small bar ; . y Since no one could speak French, we began to experience difficulty in trying to figure out the franc denomination of currency . . - "But, as time IS) r - ; , I i . -1 y - ' 1 SGT. TIMOTHY CAMPBELL ; . .1 - ' : ! ' ...... went on, we began to acquire a little knowledge of the French language. Most surprising to us, was the speed with which the lo cal townspeople learned our lan guage, especially the Arab child ren.; As we continued our sight seeing . trips around the city, we were rather amazed , to see such modern buildings . We were on the lookout for souvenirs to send home. Informed beforehand, we were told not to pay the prices asked for the arti cles but to cut the prices in half . 4 . At first it worked but . . . the Arabs began to catch on, and they began to stick to 'their prices, so a new way had to be figured out." That was to offer a certain sum and, if it was not accepted, to walk slowly away, turn around and offer a little higher sum. This worked for awhile, but as more and more soldeirs came . . . they began to have set prices . . Tired of walking, we hired a hack and began a general tour of the city. ... Our only regret was that we were unable to visit the two Medinas . . . the old Medina and the new Medina ... native sections of the city and are off limits to American soldiers. From the few that did find a way to get in we were told of the very beautiful palace' the sultan of Mo rocco has, and of the love gar dens, or institutions, that are con trolled by the civil government. Our next few weeks were spent in the army routine, but in De c ember it was interrupted twice. First, when President Roosevelt came ... for the famous Casa blanca conference; although none of the personnel section saw any of the prominent figures who were there. The battalion was honor guard for the caravan of automo biles for one day. sThe second interruption occur red in the early morning hours of December 31 when we were visit ed by Germon bombers. With the gleaming searchlights and anti aircraft tracers lighting up the sky, it had the appearance of a Fourth of July : night display, but we didn't - have' the feeling of such. Unfortunatly we had no foxholes dug;- so there was no protection other than to lie on the ground if any bombs fell nearby. Luckily enough, no . bombs were dropped in our vicinity. This excitement lasted over an hour, and so we had a preview of what was' to come. (To be continued next Sunday) Stricken Mexicans Still in Hospital f GRANTS PASS, Aug. 21 -(Jfy-All but eight of the Mexican hop pickers who became ill Thursday after eating prepared lunches re mained in the hospital Saturday and they were well along to re covery. (V. C Wood, federal representa tive, is here investigating federal hop picking camp conditions and management., and ; Dr. S. B. Os good, Josephine county health of ficer, is awaiting final analysis of the feed to definitely determine cause of the outbreak. ; At its height the poisoning ef fected 280 imported farm workers. All had eaten lunches prepared at a war food administration camp here. : ... 70o OH .; By ETHAN GRANT Wise or Otherwise Sun FeatL, Once again the Navy is shipping some of its lads off to university. These are the brilliant lads. The Navy has seen to it that not a dunce is among them. When it was decided to send the boys to uni versity, I've an idea the admirals talked it over.- y- "Well send no dunces," the rear admiral said, s y; "Absolutely no ; more ' dunces, the front admiral emphasized. "Like the Grant we sent to Har vard during : the last war," the vice admrial added. y How I happened to be sent to Harvard was one of , the major oddities of 1917, ranking with such mysteries as what became of the Cyclops," who killed the Czar and what was in the hash. For only I know, and I've never ) told. The indirect . cause was a .. malady at first diagnosed as measles but. af terward discounted on grounds I was to slow to catch measles. Anyhow, Fm presumably the only nan ever admitted to Har vard because of a tommy rash. In April of V917, I was one of 5000 boots at the Norfolk training station. I was a unique boot be cause : of my 'perpetual :, state of complete relaxation. I was some times so relaxed that spiders spun weeks and caught various ento mological species : between my chin and my knees. The CPO who drilled us pointed me out as the cause of buzzards hovering above the station. He said buzzards were unknown in the Navy before it happened to get me. , The truth is, I was tired. Calis thenics, toting a rifle and saluting just kept me worn out. I was tired all day. And sleeping in sr ham mock kept me tired all night. Tired from fear of falling out and breaking my neck. Fd thought the Navy wanted me to help take a battleship to Berlin and bump the Kaiser off with some 16-inch buckshot. But it wasn't till the manpower situation became drastically acute that a battleship decided to take me. She was the Oklahoma, then a new ship. And we heard a rumor she had bunks, instead of ham mocks. She came into the harbor and we were to go aboard that night , Bat someone, probably a fifth columnist, spread hints of a measles epidemic In the mak ing. As a dirty consequence ef this, the whole 5009 of as were lined vp en the drill field for inspection. This consumed the afternoon, for only one doctor .was available and he had to see each of ns personally. He traveled slowly up and down the ranks giving deliberate scru tiny to the bared tummy of each of us. With him were the station commander, the officer of the day, the officer of the night, a bugler, an orderly and a squad or so of others, including ; for all I know the secretary of - the Navy : and William Jennings Bryan. They were looking for a case of measles and they didn't stop until they came tome. They halted abruptly as if someone had shouted, "Germany's surrendered! The doctor's stare turned to a horn-rimmed glower. They all glowered. He then raised an arm, pointed toward the cainp and issued a piercing command. Napoleon himself never issued a command like it. :. - : "Fall out! Return to your quar tors! Take your , bag and ' ham mock and report to the sickbay! And don't come in contact with your fellow men!" - like a worn, like a mangy dog with ticks and fleas and hydro phobia, I slunk away, banished and disgraced. And from the sick bay I was convoyed -by an armed guard 10 paces ahead and another 10 paces to the rear, to the dock. Here I was ordered , into a boat thoroughly covered with heavy canvas, a conveyance, specially designed for contaminated cargo, Attached to a motorboat by a 100 fathonv or so of line, X was then towed to the Portsmouth hos pital's contagion ward. - y While waiting for the staff doc tor to come and take a look at f i : t o . me, they tried giving me things to cheer me up. This is an effort to disprove 'man's inhumanity to man. They gave me things lace doses of salts and half a half- cooked egg on a half slice of soft toast. It was 8 o'clock next morn ing when the staff doctor finally got around to me. He seemed, sur prised to discover it wasn't meas les I had. "I knew It, sir." I said. "I've already-had 'em." i Se after my belongings and I were thoroughly famigated, I was dispatched back to - the training- station. My eetftt had meantime gene aboard the Ok lahema and my spirits had gene -to pot. My life was a wreck net worth salvaging. As the ripe are of 17. The station bulletin board an nounced that 15 boys were to be chosen for training at the Navy's radio school at Harvard and we were invited over to the armory to' prove we .were smart enough to qualify. Having nothing to lose, X strolled over, relaxed and bared my low LQ. It turned out to be so flat two weeks were required to analyze it I think they sent it to John Hopkins or the .Walter Reed hospital. And even then you could tell it was a four-five decision. They never did issue anything definite. They merely said if I did manage to squeeze through the Harvard course, it would become, one of the miracles of the war. Ardunti rprcgoa By th Associated Press - Big Fish, Strange Place, Yonthfal Angler MARSB3TELD, Ore, ' Aug. 21 -Wr-A 55-inch barracuda, rare in these northern waters, was dis played here Saturday. It was caught from shore by . a seven-year-old girL Continued operation of 11 nur sery schools and 20 summer-care centers for older children in Port? land was assured Saturday after the federal works agency assumed responsibility; previously lack ef funds, had threatened -their clo sure . . . " - ; v - j County Judge Wi A." Johnson and sons announced Saturday at Grants Pass they would reduce their dairy herd 24 per cent be cause of the OPA celling prices on fluid milk . ? ) ' ; . ' Earl J,' Kennedy, 51, junior cus todial officer at McNeil Island federal penitentiary, is held on a charge oi stealing government pro perty, US Commissioner ' Rpbert A. Leedy said in Portland Satur day. Kennedy's home Is at Steua cooxn, Wash. ... i Freeda O. nartzfield, formar Yakima ' USO director, has been appointed dean of women at Lew is 2c Clark college in Portland . . At Wallowa Fred Felconer, sheep man, announced he had traded a 3400-acre ranch at Heppner . and a 780-acre ranch at Boardman for 10,000 acres, owner by Bruce Den nis, in the Wallowa valley, and for 3209 head of sheep ... V-: Oregon ? Shipbuilding Corpora tion at Portland Satu r doy launched 1 its 239th Liberty ship, the David F. Berry, and will launch Sunday its 240th, the Tho mas J. Walsh. : 1 - - - f Blrs. Brown Better ELDRIEDGE Mrs. ' Julia Brown, who has been ill at the Deaconess hospital for the last two weeks, win be removed to the home of her son, Karl M. Brown, as soon as her condition warrants. Vetch Yield Heavy On Blolenaar Farm PERnYDALE John Molenaar has one of the best yields of spring sown oats and vetch in these parts so far reported. He got- 475 sacks from 28 acres, the sacks averag ing 110 pounds each. Mrs. Maxine Tilton is working in.Houk'a store She Is going to work there indefinitely. Her hus band, William TH ton, joined the navy and she will make her home with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fay Morrison, for the duration. Mr. and Mrs. Carl Morrison of North Bend are visiting relatives here this week. Visits at Qatskanie . ELDRIEDGE Mrs. A. W. Nu som Is spending a week with rela tives near Clatskanle. . You Like It - It Likes Yom Sol em I, ,--v-w.- Oreqoa -.If i 11,1. ' iin ii iiiiiii-n ii i iiiiii i .i imiii m ivi l-l ' ' i in ii'iiiii i ,!' '. , t, ' ' . . - ',- I J?-iI: QjumOiraai . . .--;-y ' . '! WM FT tp.c; J. i fcSits;- . f . . ... .;..( If . V . V' - :;Z:';'-rJ las weoribffitr, . " : , 810 II. 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