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S U N D A Y , 1430
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PUBLISHED WEEKLY FOR ALL UNITS AT C A M P ABBOT
Voi. 1
No. 4
C A M P ABBOT. O R EG O N
ABBOT Abbot Is First
FACE!
A SEW SEW STORY
There is a story going the
rounils in camp ulmnt a W AAC
who won her first stripes. For
an hour she tried to sew them
on her blouse. Finally she gave
up.
The next night she sought the
sewing advice of an ERTC (log-
faro who took her blouse hark
to his barracks and returned the
following day with a perfect
job.
. . .
COM PLETELY ENCLOSED
An Abliot MP was on sentry
duty when an officer approached
in an official car. As the soldier
waved the latter by, he failed to
give him the proper G. I. salute.
The officer stopped his car and
inquired: “ Sentry, what is Gen
eral Order No. 10?” The soldier
answered by reciting the order
verbatim. “ Then why didn't you
saliUte?” the officer asked. “ Sir,”
replied the sentry, “ The order
says to salute all officers, colors
and standards not cased. The
glass in the windows of your
car was raised—and I thought
you were cased.”
7?
Kramer Brothers
Figure In News
A Camp Abbot officer, Lt. I.
J. Kramer, A -56, figures prom
inently in the coincidental story-
of-the-week.
Troops he helped train at Ft.
Belvoir, Va., recently arrived on
an active fighting front and who
do you think met them as they
lined up at a base hospital for
their "shots” ?
It was his brother, Sgt. Her
man Kramer, attached to a med
ical unit. The troops noticing a
close resemblance between their
former platoon leader and the
non-com pill roller, asked the
_ latter’s name and were amazed
. * when he sounded off, “ Kramer.”
^ » “ Any relation to a Lt. I. J. Kram
er we knew at Belvoir?” the
men inquired.
“ Say, he’s my brother!” the
three-striper gulped.
P. S.: The jabs were lighter
than usual!
Post Chapel Opening
Set on Sunday, June 20
Construction of the Post
Chapel, Group avenue north of
Center street, is nearing com
pletion and may be completed in
time for opening services on
Father’s Day, June 20, Maj. W il
liam H. Andrew, Post chaplain,
said this week. A definite an
nouncement as to the time for
the first service will be made in
next week’s issue of the ENGI1.
NEER. Meanwhile, r e l i g i o u s
services for Camp Abbot per
sonnel will be held at Group
Chapel No. 754 on Group avenue.
OFFICERS' PX OPENS
An officers' exchange has been
opened in Bldg. 215 on Hqs. Ave.
selling a variety of items be
tween 1600 to 2000 daily. The ex
change will not be open on
Sunday.
_________ _______
REQUEST: C O P Y
Contributions to the ENGI
NEER by A b b o t m e n and
WAACs have been gratifying,
but copy is urgently requested
from reporters in the 51st and
52nd to insure adequate battal
ion news.
Organizations desiring addi
tional copies of the camp week
ly newspaper should phone the
Public Relations Office, exten
sion 528 and arrange for in
creased coverage.
The ENGINEER appears on
Friday noon, with deadline set
at 1800 Wednesday.
Veteran Soldier
ERTC to Get
Aqua Training
W A A C Units
For Housing
Nearly Ready
A SALUTE! . .
Yhirty-four
years ago today Col. Frank S.
Besson entered the s e r v i c e .
Here’s the post commander set
to “ squeeze 'em” o ff on the Ab
bot rifle range. (ENGINEER
photo by Pic. Boh Hahn).
Co/. Besson
Begins 34th
Year in Army
Today marks the 34th anni
versary of the In-ginning of a
colorful career with the United
States army for Col. F’rank S.
Besson, Camp Abbot command
er.
The colonel became a commis
sioned officer in the army June
11; 1909, after he was gradu
ated with honors from the Unit
ed States Military Academy at
West Point. He entered the
academy in 1905.
Col. Besson assumed com
mand of Camp Abbot — the
Army’s newest ERTC—nearly a
month ago.
“ W ILD B IL L " RODEO RIDER
Cpl. William "Wild Bill” Hunt,
Hqs. 12th Gp., one of the nation’s
best-known cowboys, will thrill
thousands of yippee-shouting
persons next Sunday when he
appears in the Sisters rodeo.
“ Wild Bill,” who hails from
Southern Utah, has e n t e r e d
hundreds of rodeos and his skill
in “ taming ornery criters” is far
famed.
Locator Files Disclose G. I.'s
With Rare Names at Abbot
By CpI. Pauline Cohn
Public Relations Office
Thumbing through the Camp
Abbot locator records in the En
listed Personnel Office, one's
imagination runs rampant from
A to Z with names, their associa
tion and meanings.
The first card in the file, and
one of the shortest names re
corded, is Aab, Franklin G.
There is no one named Abbot,
hue we have a Peter Abbate,
and William >1. Costello if you
don't mind stretching it a point
. . . We are "all to the good" with
Courtland M. Allgood. There is
a James L. Allred of Allred,
Tenn. Serve up an order of am
brosia with Claude R. Amhrolser
and Wayne M. A p p e l in the
shower month with Domenirk J.
Aprile. If you prefer something
more potent, call out CpI. A r
thur E. Bacchus. Intoxicating,
isn't it?
Another popular man in the
army is Leonard A. Bean, Jr. Al-
Pass the Liniment
Dep't. Bulletin
CampAbhot’s obstacle course
is, in the opinion of experts,
"the toughest layout in the
country.”
Consisting of 16 ingenious
devices to start heads of sweat
and aching muscles, the course
extends about 475 yards, north
of Post Hqs. Co. D of the 51st
Engr. Tng. Bn. covet ed the lay
out for the first time in the
camp’s existence last Thursday
morning. Concensus: “rugged
as hell.”
Complete pictorial review ol
the course will appear in tile
June 18 issue of the ENGI
NEER.
Red Cross Instructor
Teaches Cadre Science
O f W ar Sea Maneuvers
For the first time in any
ERTC, thousands of trainees in
the Engineer Replacement Train
ing center at ('amp Abbot will be
taught to cope with virtually any
emergency which might arise
(luring aquatic maneuvers under
a system introdueed here by the
Red Cross this week, aeeording
to Maj. Burr E. Adams, super
visor of military training.
A 30-hour course intended to
certify a limited number of cad
re, as Red Cross swimming in
structors is being conducted here
and at the Bend High school pool
by Mr. Fred Amick, special field
representative of the San Fran
cisco office. On completing the
course, cadremen will be author
ized by the Red Cross to certify
trainee-graduates of the course,
who in turn can act as instruc
tors and certify still other Abbot-
Men. The first class of Camp Ab
bot cadre is scheduled to com
plete the course this afternoon
(Friday).
“I f I can certify 24 men during
this week, they and the trainees
they teach can qualify thousands
of men as instructors within a
short time,” Mr. Amick said. "E f
forts will be made to reach every
man in each company.”
Taught in the course are the
proper techniques for leaping
from sinking vessels, swimming
through burning oil and oil slick,
floating by use of inflated cloth
ing, disrobing in the water and
swimming with full field equip
ment.
Three courses which ordinari
ly would require 50 hours of
training—in functional military
swimming, senior life saving and
the Red Cross instructor’s course
—have been.combined in the 30-
hour training plan.
In discussing the importance
of the program, Mr. Amick
pointed out that “ about 40 per
cent of the nation’s war casual
ties to date can be attributed to
drowning.” Only a small per
centage of the men accepted by
the army are capable of taking
care of themselves in the water
at the time of their induction, he
added.
Mr. Amick is one of 14 special
field r e p r e s e n ta tiv e s of the
American Red Cross covering
the entire western area, com
posed of six states and Alaska.
Friday, June 11, 1943
so of the mess hall we have Has
sell H. Butcher, and Pierre E.
Cantaloup.
There are five Bells— much too
Early (Agnes E. a Waac), unless
you want to hunt for Bird, Crow,
Fox or fish for Trout (another
Waac); Fly bait (T 4 George S.)
might or might not work in this
case.
I f you go in for morp active
sports, call Oris L. Bowling, or
Cpl. John P. Boxer. S/Sgt. Dan
Bravos makes a good soldier, as
should Sgt. Donald M. Bull of
Eugene, Ore.
We have a general who is a
private— Leo F. Generel, on our
POST, several CAMPS and Sgt.
Y. Gmm in the army vernacular
. . . and we’ll bet w hat's left from
lost pay-day that Abbot's five
Kings will heat as many or more
Japs.
“Dual personalities" encoun
tered were Al Capone <T/5 A l
bert P i of Elizabeth, N. J.; Pvt.
William S. Hart of Onomia,
(Continued on Page 3)
Service Club
To Be Built at
Camp Abbot
Theater Will Open in a
Week; Other Recreation
Units Near Completion
In the immediate
future
( amp Abbot will have a new aiul
well-equipped Service Club to
serve as the haven of all soldiers
and WAACs on the post.
Ground breaking on a site, lo
cated between the post chapel
and Dental Clinic on Group Ave.,
started last Tuesday morning,
and contractors have assured
camp authorities that every
thing will be done to speed con
struction of the building.
At the same time, the Special
Service office announced that
Theater No. I will be placed in
operation "within a week.”
Everything is in readiness to
show nightly screen features
direel from Hollywood studios.
Army motion picture engineers
are expected to arrive here over
the weekend to supervise instal
lation of projectors and other
equipment. The G. I. cinema-
house wil.l have a seating capa
city of 1038.
Meanwhile, plans are advanc-
for the early opening of a well-
appointed cafeteria adjoiningthe
All-Purpose rcc hall.
Lt. P. H. O’Brien, director, and
Lt. Wayne B. Leitzell, 12th Gp.
Special Service officer, visited
Portland during the week pur
chasing vital equipment for the
Service Club, Guest House, li
braries, hattalion rec hails, and
considerable athletic equipment.
A principal hostess has been
selected for the Service Club and
is on her way here. Two junioq
hostesses remain to he named,
while a librarian is under con
sideration. Selection of a cafe
teria hostess is expected very
shortly.
The Guest House, across the
street from the A l' ree hall, call
provide emergency living acco
mmodations for 60 guests, thr<e
hostesses and the libraraian. It
is planned to charge 75 cents a
night for guests, with rental
limited to three nights.
There will he seven hattalion
rec halls, adequately furnished
with every type of indoor recre
ation facilities. Besides a main
library in the Service cluh, there
will also be two sub labraries,
one in each of the two Groups
in camp. Plans are progressing
for a W AAC recreation hall, and
other units where Abbot men
can find relaxation and enjoy
ment after a gruelling day in the
field learning how to become
combat engineers.
I
Quarters for Camp Abbot’s
W AAC Dot. SCU 1973 will he
completed ahead of original
schedule and ready for occu
pancy by the middle of June.
Mr. M. E. Didier, general su
perintendent for the contractor,
said original plans called for
completion of the W AAC build
ings by July 1st, but work has
progressed so rapidly that they
expect to have them completed
and ready to turn over to camp
authorities on or about June 15.
Four buildings are nearing
completion at the intersection of
56th street and Hospital road,
consisting of two barracks, din
ing hall and recreation room.
The barracks are two-story
mobilization type buildings with
asbestos siding for exterior
finish. The floor plan calls for
38 beds per barracks with built-
in wall cabinets. There is a
laundry room in each barracks
for W AAC washings, with built-
in ironing boards, drying racks
and laundry trays.
Each barracks will have six
showers and two tub baths lo
cated on the first floor. The mess
hall is modem and fully-equipp
ed in all respects to feed hard
working WAACS. It will have a
large sized store room and com
plete kitchen.
The separate recreation hall,
an L-shaped building. 81x87 feel,
will afford Abbot W AACS every
facility for comfort, rest, relaxa
tion, replenishment and beautifi
cation. It includes a canteen,
lounge room, and beauty shop
equipped with six chairs and six
dryers.
Also in the recreation hall
will be the company officers
quarters, with living room, the
orderly room and supply room.
A ll units in the W AA C area will
have steam heat. Plans were Q M C Plans to Open
drawn to allow for the addition
of two future rooms or wings to Modern Camp Bakery
Camp Abbot's modern bakery
be added for library and game
building is nearing completion
room.
and will be placed into opera
tion within a month, according
to Capt. Emil L. Mosheim, sales
r fficer.
The bakery, located in the QMC
area, will supply all needs for
camp personnel. To begin wild
only white bread will be baked,
Banking facilities will be es with whole wheat being consid
tablished at Camp Abbot by the ered for a later date
A t present, "staff of life” serv
Bend branch of the First Na
ed heie is baked in Camp Adair,
tional Bank of Portland on July Ore., and transported daily.
I, it was announced today by Mr.
J. B. Cusick, assistant manager
of the Bend branch who will be
manager.
The bank will ho located ad
Slatisties show that the
jacent to the present camp fi
average head of a corp
nance office on Center street.
oration holds 51 jobs lie-
Operating hours will he from
tore he stands al the top
1000 and 1500 on week days and
of his firm.
until noon at Saturday. Three
A private can become a
civilians will be employed.
lour star g e n e r a l wi t h
The camp braheh will be a
only 21 promotions!
“ limited banking facility,” ac
f nn trikuterl K*
cepting deposits, cashing checks
T Sjff. W i l li a m V
llan>nn
and martdng loans for the con
__________ llg f * MIT*___________
venience of military personnel.
Branch Bank Unif
Will Be Opened
At Abbot July 1st
Think It Over!