Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
The Selective Service System (Draft Board) in the Fleming, Colorado area was close to being aggressive in late 1944 and into 1945. Maurice J. Schaeffer turned eighteen in March 1944. Before the year was out he was drafted. The Draft Board allowed him to complete high school but they would need his service in January 1945.
Maurice passed the physical examination and headed to a small training facility named Camp Fannin, Texas. This place was actually an infantry training center as well as a replacement center that sent needed troops to Europe. It’s in the area of Tyler, TX.
Getting to Camp Fannin was by troop train from Fort Logan, Colorado. There was no welcoming committee where the troop train stopped. Maurice remembered Drill Sergeant Bigee as being his first Drill Sergeant.
The recruits went to the usual places for haircuts and clothing issue. At the Clothing Issue Point, (CIP), he was handed a big duffle back and told to walk along the line of tables. The people on the other side of the tables must have eyeballed him long enough to grab gear for him. Everything, including boots, fit!
Housing was in a two story barracks. It was one of about a hundred similar buildings. Maurice learned new words too. He found out that the bathroom was called a latrine. It was not a center of privacy. When it was time to eat, the group marched to the chow hall.
The Drill Sergeants talked to the trainees about going to war and being strong as well as tough. The rifle ranges were ten miles away. The first march was rough on him. When asked about being glad his boots fit, he said he was happier that the ten mile march was over! Maurice knew his service number and recited it.
There were no issues in basic training that Maurice couldn’t handle. After eight weeks, the graduation went smoothly.
Maurice got a few days to go home to see family, then he reported for duty at Denver. Here another troop train was waiting. The three-day, non-stop trip took the men to Fort Lewis, near Seattle, Washington. The next adventure was aboard the USS Drew, a troop ship taking them to Osaka Japan.
The ship was equipped with bunks stacked four high and little room for passage through aisles. The key to getting through this was spending as much as time that was possible on the top deck. If one stayed below, the chances of getting sick increased dramatically. The route was 3 or four days.
Subscribe to the Sidney Sun-Telegraph to read the rest of the story.
(308) 254-2818
817 12th Ave. Sidney, NE 69162
Reader Comments(0)