Basic training was not very much fun at the start due to the cold weather and not being use to the routine. All extras outside of training came hours before daylight. During our innoculations we woud be rousted out at 4:00 am and go to the infirmary for shots so we didn't have to miss any training. It was several weeks before we got our rifles. During the meantime we done our exercises with wooden look a like rifles. I suppose this was much better than having the real ones to crawl in the mud with. However, when we got the real ones they were covered with cosmolene (spelling?) It took several days to get all that junk off. Finally we got to learn how to take it apart and put it back together, even blind folded. The target range was an experience also because we had some of this while it was snowing.
Finally, we got passes to go into town on some Saturdays. In Alexandria they had a real nice USO and we could go there for entertainment and also enjoy some non military food. This also made it better to visit some of the sites in DC. At the end of our training we had the week long trip to AP Hill Military Facility for the end of our basic. It was an exercise in defending an area from troops landing from LST's. They used dynamite to set off charges as the troops landed and came up the hill toward our stronghold. We had done this nearly all day on the Saturday when everything was stopped. Oneof the fellows setting off the charges accidently got some wires crossed an set off a charge next to him, killing him. This ended our training and we were put on trucks to go back to Belvoir. The trip was welcomed but there were about 50 of us on each truck standing for the long trip back. The showers back at the barracks really felt good. The next week we took the test to help determine what our MOS number would be and where we would be assigned. I was assigned to go to Camp Upton on Long Island New York, to Bakers School. At the time i didn't realize it but this would be better than the infantry or artillery where some of the guys were going. The picture is me with my Mother In Law on one of my furloughs back home. The next post will be after i get to Long Island