September 7th, 1943
Camp Croft, South Carolina
Hi Folks,
Nothing much happening lately, although it isn’t boring in the least. Sunday I went to town and had a steak dinner. Then I came back to camp and saw Bob Hope in “Let’s Face It.” It’s just as funny as his other pictures.
Yesterday morning we started studying the light machine gun. Now, there is a neat little weapon. Then half the company went out to the Mortar Range & shot some mortars. After we finished, the rest of the company came out & we marched back to camp. They took one squad of our platoon for K.P. to relieve the regular K.P.’s. They couldn’t very well do anything with 3/4 of a platoon, so they told us to go in the barracks. It was about 2:00 & we didn’t know what to make of it. This had never happened before to us. We kept very quiet in hopes that they would forget us. They probably did because we didn’t have to fall out again. Boy, it felt swell to get off in the middle of the afternoon.
Today we spent the whole day on the machine gun. Setting it up & taking it down. Trying to see how fast we can do. It’s very interesting work, & we have speed trials in it. Tomorrow I think we go on an attack problem, but I’m not sure. I’ll write you more about it.
As I’ve told you before, this practical work is 100 times more interesting than the preliminary studying. We don’t worry about the problems, we just try to compete with one another.
What kind of a position is it that Bob was interviewed for? Send me more details. I got a letter from Uncle Leo and he seems to think that Bob is in the Army. I’m going to write him tonite & tell him all about it, as much as I know. I forgot to mention in my other letter that I received the box Saturday & that the fruit was in excellent condition. I bought a pair of “ropies” at the P.X. so don’t bother sending any. My pen’s been acting up lately, too, so I think I’ll buy a Shaeffers for about $8.75 at the P.X. I had $10 left over from last months pay but the P.X. is out of money order blanks so I’m going to take a chance & send it in this letter. Notify me when you get it. That’s about all,
Love,
Ben
About Me
- Pfc Benjamin Kaplow
- In 1943 I was drafted into World War 11 right out of Madison High School, Rochester, NY. This is my story as told in the letters I wrote home. They’re all here, all 192 of them. Spend some time with me as I describe my experiences in basic training and then off to war. They were written in an attempt to help me feel close to my family and to let them know what was going on in my life. It’s the first time I was away from home and I have to confess that I was homesick. My folks were Esther and Jacob Kaplow. We were four children in this order: Arnette, Ruth, Bob, and myself.
Machine Gun
Ben is adjusting to Army life. He finds the daily practical work with weapons more interesting than the preliminary study.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment