t
Vol. 1
No. 45
CAMP ABBOT, OREGON
Post Talent
To Appear on
Portland Show
A contingent of talented
entertainers w i l l present
Camp Abbot on two thirty-
minute programs to be held
in the Meier-Frank Audi
torium in Portland March 31
in connection w i t h “Camp
Abbot Day” on t h e “Four
Freedoms” show, Capt. V.
G. Henderson, special Serv
ice officer, has announced.
Camp Abbot Ore., Mar. 25, 1944
Post Suffers
Damage
In Windstorm
i
Included in th e Cam p Abbot
portion of the show will be se-
lections by th e 14-piece Camp
Abbot dance band, directed by
S /S g t. Jack H ayes; vocal selec
tions by Pvt. Jim m y Stillwell,
form er P ortland singer; violin
num bers by Pvt. John Paskek,
and concert piano selections by
Pfc. W illiam Sum ner. M aster of
ceremonies for th e show will be
Sgt. Buddy Hyde of the Morale
Division.
Cam p Abbot’s program is un- ^
der the direction and supervis
ion of Lt. C harles Frucht, and
Gordon Barde of th e Morale
Branch. The “F o u r Freedom s”
show is sponsored by the Meier-
F ra n k departm ent store and will
fea tu re exhibits and en tertain
m ent program s of a num ber of
arm y posts in the state.
At least two automobiles
and half a dozen buildings
were smashed by uprooted
trees as Camp Abbot experi
enced the worst windstorm
in its history Thursday. A
shed was lifted from the sal
vage yard and two tons of
paper was blown across the
motor pool. An estimate of
the damage was not avail
able.
U s in g a g a r b a g e c a n lid a s a sh ie ld , S g t. J a c k Is r a e l o f th e C h e m ic a l W a r f a r e B ra n c h a t C a m p A b b o t
d e m o n s tr a te s th e p r o p e r te c h n iq u e in c o n tro llin g a t h e r m ite b o m b d u r in g a c la s s in in c e n d ia ry c o n
tr o l held re c e n tly . In p e rio d ic d e m o n s tr a tio n s th e b ra n c h te a c h e s so ld ie rs m e th o d s ot c o m b a t tin g
th e h a z a rd o u s m a g n e s iu m bo m b , wliit** p h o s p h o ro u s a n d oil f ir e s — a jo b th e y m ay b e re q u ire d to d o
in t h e a t r e s o f o p e r a tio n s o v e rs e a s .
_____________________________
Faith, T raining Equal Soldiers to Get
In Importance, QI Says Awards in Army
Red Cross Adds
Psychiatrist to
Hospital Staff
Recently assigned as assistant
to M ajor Eisendorfer, post
neuropsychiatrist, Miss Helen
T raiber of the Red Cross has as
sum ed h er duties in the consul
tatio n service.
G raduating as a registered
n u rse from th e Cleveland City
H ospital in Cleveland, Ohio, her
in terests turned to the phychia-
tric t phase. She earned a M ast
ers degree in psychiatiric social
w ork a t W estern Reserve Uni
v ersity of Cleveland, then spent
a y ea r a t the Mount Sinai Hos
pital of M ental H ygiene w here
she w as active in psychiatric
nursin g and therapy. More re
cently, she did this type of work
a t Cam p Callen, California.
Miss T raiber’s w ork here will
be of a dual nature. In addition
to psyschiatric nursing and con-
(Continued On Page 3)
USO Perform ers
Com ing T uesd ay
A USO Tabloid Troupe with
five acts of vaudeville will ar
rive in Camp Abbot Tuesday,
according to an announcement
by the Morale Service Branch.
The cast, made up of profes
sional show people, include
Jack Watson, master of cere
monies and comedian; Val Vol-
tane, magic ami comedy; Anita
Andre, acrobratic dancer; Vir
ginia Etting, attractive bru
nette. singer; and Mary Light-
hall. accordionist.
The following letter, written by a Camp Abbot trainee
who prefers to remain anonymous, was received by Col.
Frank S. Besson, ERTC commander, recently. Since the
soldier’s experiences as he underwent training here closely
parallel those of thousands of other trainees and since his
attitude toward religion and the transition from civil
to military life represents that of many-soldiers here, the
Colonel believes the letter
worthy of publication.
1
“D ear Colonel Besson:
"Six weeks a'feo I came to
Cam p Abbot. W hat I saw th a t
evening when I arrived in 10 de
grees below zero w eath er was
som ething to envy. Several hun
dred men w ere m arching here
and there. They w ere hard. T heir
faces w ere red from o u td o o r
life. M any of them w ere ju st
coming in w ith full field packs
upon their backs. They all looked
like “he-men.” I thought to m y
self: ‘Boy, I would h ate to
tangle w ith one of those fellows.’
My next thought w as; ’How the
hell am I ever going to stand
this train in g th a t these men are
going th ro u g h ?’
“I had spent 9 years behind an
office desk. I t w asn’t long be
fore I began to find out, and be
lieve me, it was plenty tough at
first. I puffed and panted every
w here I w ent ton the double).
The first tim e I tried th e ob
stacle course, I had to be push
ed over the 8’ wall. The first 5-
mile hike seemed like ten. I
thought my bones would break
in tw o when practicing th e posi
tions of rifle shooting. The phys
ical training exercise m ade me
so dam n sore I t first th a t I
could hardly walk.
“B ut gradually, I could feel
m yself building up. The last
tim e I ran the obstacle course, I
did it w ith ease. The five-mile
hike w ith a full field pack was
easy. I cam e w ithin two points
of qualifying for expert rifle
m arksm anship. In other words,
I think this is a fine training
(Continued On Page 3)
Art, Craft Club
Outlines Plans
P lans for fu rth erin g program s
in a rts and crafts a t Camp Abbot
w ere announced this w eek fol
lowing organization of th e Ab
bot A rt Club a t a m eeting at the
Service Club Sunday.
Included in the program will
be preparation of w ork for ex
hibits to be sponsored by the
Service Club library, discussions
of techniques and periods of in
struction for persons interested
in a rts and crafts. T he program
is open to ' soldiers and Wacs,
and wives of soldiers are invited
to attend meetings.
M aterials for a r t and craft
projects will be supplied by the
Service Club. A m eeting of the
new club is scheduled a t 7 :3u p.
m. Sunday in the library.
Beauty Treatment
For Theatre Area
A few bouquets w ere seen to
float through the a ir th is week
and land gently a t the door of
Post Engineer. Reason: The
fine re-surfacing job around the
th rea ter area.
New m aterial—fine, red lava
rock—w as used. It extends com
pletely around the building, and
the area is now sm ooth as glass.
An eye to w ater d rainage was
also exercised.
H urried calls from Service
Company, Supplem ental T rain
ing Com pany C, 33rd Battalion,
Co. CJ, 52nd Bn., and Co. A, 55th
Bn., sent w orkm en scam pering
to scenes wi t h rep air kits. M otor
pool dispatchers w ere besieged
w ith calls for mobile cranes and
w reckers. D etails w ent to w ork
w ith saw s and axes, and as the
last trees fell, dam age caused
by the first already had been re
paired.
Meanwhile, in the field, it w as
“business as usual.” T rainees
- leaned into the gale and m atch
ed along, riflem en read ju sted
their sights and continued fir
ing, and dem olition charges still
could he heard above the howl
of the wind.
Idea Program
Reading Matter
Plentiful Here
M ilitary p e r s o n n e l of the
A rm y Service Forces now’ are
eligible to receive aw ards un
der the W ar Depai-tment S ug
gestion System which provides
for handsome cash g ran ts to c i
vilians whose ideas are consider
ed of exceptional value in the
prosecution of the w ar. Unlike
the civilian phase of the pro
gram , however, the m ilitary set
up does not perm it presentation
of cash aw ards.
Open to m ilitary personnel
are:
F or officers — recom m enda
tions of the Legion of Merit, let
ters of com mendation and con
sideration of promotion.
F o r th e enlisted men recom
m endation for th e Legion of
Merit, letter of commendation,
promotion, preferm ent in assign
m ent and furlough.
According to a Ninth Service
Com mand circular, personnel of
h eadquarters and field units are
eligible to receive non m onetary
aw ards for suggestions p ertain
ing to "doctrine and organiza
tion, new techniques o r now
weapons, or im provem ent of ef
ficiency or increased economy in
the operations o r adm inistration
of any activity in the W ar De
partm en t.” The circular adds
th a t “those officers and enlisted
personnel whose principal as
signm ents require analysis and
recom m endation on suggestions
subm itted fo r consideration are
not eligible for the aw ard as de
term ined by local com m ittees.”
Cam p Abbot's in terest in m ak
ing its soldiers "the best inform
ed fighting men in the w orld” Is
evidenced in the fact th a t units
now are subscribing to nearly
1,000 new spapers and weekly o r
m onthly m agazines for riistrbu-
tion throughout the post.
Renewals and new subset ip-
tions sent in by the libarary re
cently totaled 104 for daily news
papers and 891 for magazines.
Many of the periodicals a rc re
tained by the library, which acts
as a clearing house for u n its en
tering subscriptions, and others
distributed to the 17 recreation
halls and reading room s serving
post personnel.
NEW LIBRARIAN
Miss Peggy W illiams, form er
assistan t librarian, a t Pendleton
A ir Base, joined the Service club
sta ff last week as ju n io r assi-
ta n t librarian.
War's End Only 2 Month's
Away, Henry Ford Predicts
H enry Ford, the aged au to
m anufacturer, has predicted th e
w ar will be over in two m onths,
stated a copyrighted story in th e
A tlanta Constitution last Mon
day. F ord w as asked to give a
reason for his opinion, the p ap er
said, hut th e reply w as ju st a
grin and the statem en t he had
“no reason to believe It.” T he
story w ent on:
“A m om ent later, he grinned
again and said, "I can 't tell my
reasons. I have them , of couise.
T h at's all I care to say on th e
subject.”
Soldiers May Check Out
Archery, Fencing Supplies
A rchery and fencing supplies ob
tained by th e sports d ip a rtm in t
of the Special Service Office re
cently m ay be checked out from
the Post R ecreation H ail by any
soldiers desiring to use them ,
Sgt. Leo F n /zo , athletic director,
announced th is week.