World War II Army Adventure (60-1) – Dear Dad And All Concerned – I Finally Got My Orders – September 17, 1944

Service Club No. 1, Camp Crowder, Missouri

Service Clubs

SPECIAL SERVICE – U.S. Army

Camp Crowder, Missouri

Sept. 17, 1944

Dear Dad and all concerned –

Well, I finally got my orders. Alas – I guess I’ll get my discharge in about five years from good old Camp Crowder. I’ve been assigned to the Sig. Trng. Bn. (Signal Training Battalion) over at the New Area. You see, Crowder is divided into a number of different sections. First of all there is the Replacement Training Section, which I’ve been in all these months; then there is the Team Training Section, which teaches us to work as units – something like we did out on C.P.X. – the Teletype man work with the Radio men and Sig. Cen. Clerks (Signal Center Clerks) and all the other various jobs, each man doing his own part but all working together; then there are units which are activated over there (in the new area) and are sent overseas right from Crowder – the men who train together go overseas together; and then there is the part of Crowder that has been devoted to the Sig. section of the Second Army. They are just biding time until the Gen. Staff in Wash. decides what they are going to do with the Second Army.

I will be assigned to a company ( Co. E, I think) of the 847th, Sig. Trng. Bn. for Team Training. In other words, I’ll work with the other man as a team. I don’t know exactly what my address will be except that I’ll still be in this XXXXXXXXXXXX camp! As usual, there are all sorts of rumors as to what we will do, and how we will be treated. It’s rumored that we will get Class A passes which would mean that we are entitled to be off the post any time we are not on duty. Up till now, we always had to go over to the Orderly Room and ask for our passes which were good only until 11 o’clock that evening, but now we will have passes which will be good until reveille the following morning. Also, our life over there is not supposed to be so strictly regimented as it was in the RTC (Replacement Training Center). And there are a lot of other things flying through the air now – such as getting furloughs every six months without fail, etc. – stuff which I believe only when I see it.

Here is the big news though; I went to Joplin last night – the first time I’ve been there since I went on furlough, I think – and I ran into Jack Feldman (a friend from Trumbull)at the Connor Hotel ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connor_Hotel_(Joplin,_Missouri) ). he was with a WAC and I was with a buddy, so I didn’t talk with him very long – but he greeted me and said, “Dave, you’re moving over to my company in the 847th.” He is a Tech. Sgt. – and although I don’t like pulling strings and playing politics – I find that’s the only way to get anywhere in the Army. And if you’ll think back over the different things I’ve told you that Jack has wanted to do for me, I think you can see that I’ll have a pretty good set-up over there. I don’t know what he’s doing there or how long he’ll be there – but it should all be worth while.

Tomorrow I will post the rest of this letter from Dave to friends and family in Trumbull.

Judy Guion