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RALPH HOLSINGER WRITESOccupation Duty Not Bad DespiteInroads of Military Intrusions(Editor’s Vote: This is another in the series of articles written by Pfc. Ralph Holsinger of Covington, with the LS Armed forces in Europe. It is used by special permission. Of interest to Daily Call readers will be the announcement that Pfc. Holsinger has been erolled at an English university under the Army Educational Plan and will remain there until receiving orders to return to the United States.)Schw ab Gmund, Germany July 14, 1945 How is occupational duty? Despite the intrusion of a few military irritations, not bad At least it hasn’t been bad for us in this signal battalion. Maybe that’s because were still doing the same 300 we did all through the war. Only our 30b is not complicated by constant moving nor is the Durden of work as great for most of us As the old soldiers says, “We have made it ”But for the great majority of the trooos, the infantrymen, the artillerymen, the anti-aircraftmen and some 0: the engineers, occupation means guard duty, training, and more free time than they ever had before. What is more important, it means freedom from fear and it means far better living conditions than they have had any-whtre else overseasLive In Buildings In tins vicinity, nearly everyone 15 living in buildings So many homes have been taken over by troops that I often wonder where the German civilians live Our company is living in a neatly arranged group of brand new, small, stucco homes which crown a wooded hill overlooking Gmund All of them have electric lights, running water, wood-burning cook stoves, and laundry facilities Each home is surrounded by an abundant garden which is carefully tended by its displaced owmer All we have to do is keep the inside of the house in reasonable order and some of the men have even persuaded the former owners to do that for them.When hostilities ceased, our ration allowance was cut ten per cent but we still eat well enough to make a civilian envious Yesterday I had steak for dinner and{%I]•fc*cratteam rosters It is interesting to, note that many of the amateurs | are gn mg the professionals a fignt i for tneir positions These leagues might well be a source of futurebaseoall material Before hostilities ceased it was arounced that an educational program would help make occupational time less boresome. So far that program has not amounted to much In our battalion one hour a week has been set aside for what the army calls “information and education'” What it actually has been you may decide for yourself, for I have been doing all the lecturing Plans are being made for a battalion school which will go into operation as soon as our present job iscompleted! We did not anticipate occupational duty with any great amount cf relish. We dreaded the army “chicken” (and I’m not referring to anything edible) we were sure to get. We have been pleasantly surprised.For awhile a rookie first sergeant with only nine months overseas tried to treat us like a bunch of recruits He w as going to make us live according to book but an old outfit amends the book to suit itself and the sarge is gradually learning to read those amendments We do have an inspection of weapons and quarters every Saturday It’s supposed to be formal We aren’t supposed to leave the area unless we go out on business or go m conducted groups for a specific purpose, but the woods are full of men every e\ emng We are supposed to carry a weapon wnen-ever we leave the area, but that has already become a matter of individual discretionA New Uncertainty An effort has been made to improve the appearance of the individual soldier and make him wear the uniform properly This has succeeded to a cerxain extent We wear ties now whenever w’e go out and most men keep their O D’s clean and in fair state of press But it is also obvious that Americans are still individuals and that a uniform is still a uniform The uncertainty of combat has been replaced by a new tyne of uncertainty. All of us in this outfit have more than 85 points Twice in ten days large groups of the highestpoint men have been told to pack roast beef for supper but I had to up ancj g0 home. No one knowsireeat with different companies to do it. For breakfast this mormng we had Danish eggs and California oranges. Every third day we have as much ice cream as we can eat The free time, I mentioned is largely being used for recreational purposes Our battalion swimming pool is a popular spot on hot afternoons However, almost constant rains have limited its use The two theaters m town show a different picture every night Recently the quality of the films has improved and there has been a decrease in the number of show’s that we previously saw m Naples or m Saverne. Several live show’s either American U S O groups or European entertainers, come to the corps auditor’’um each week “Information Please” is appearing here this week-endBaseball Tops Baseball has become a popular sport m Germany. Seventh Army has two Division leagues which play a pretty good brand of ball And its no wonder that they do for many ex-major and ex-minor league players are included in thewhen the next quota will come or how large it W’lll be.Occupational life is not bad— when you know that you have a pretty good chance of getting home before you lose all your hair, or teeth, or hope.MEN WHO DROPPED(Concluded, from Page One)lieve what we saw.“Below us, rising rapidly, was a tremendous black cloud. Nothing was visible where only minutes before xhe outline of the city with its streets and buildings and waterfront piers were clearly apparent.“It happened so fast we couldn’t see anything and could only feel the neat from the flash and the concussion from the blast,“There were a couple of sharp slaps against the airplane. It felt like close bursts of flak I jelled a warning to the crewmen, but we were all
Newspaper Details
Piqua Daily Call
Piqua, Ohio, US
Wed, Aug 08, 1945
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Richard E.
OH, USA 28 Jun 2023
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