We arrive by train at Patchogue New York about midnight on Sunday. Patchogue is about half way out on Long Island. Camp Upton was about 15 miles out of Patchogue. We arrived at the camp just shortly past midnight. We had not had anything to eat so they took us to a mess hall that was closed. The only thing they could find for us to eat was some chow mein left from the Sunday meal. This was my first stab at eating chow mein and vowed never to try it again. To this day it has not been a food that i would consume. On Monday we spent getting processed and situated in our barracks. Camp Upton was a base designed for wounded soldiers to convalesce. The base had all kinds of equipment foe the wounded, even outdoor bowling lanes. Camp Upton was a base that was active back during WW1. Irving Berlin wrote the show that was later done in 1943 titled This is The Army. The movie had actors like Ronald Reagan, Geroge Murphy, Kate Smith and Irving Berlin and others. The original was written during WW1 and as i recall it was titled Yip Yip Yaphank. Yaphank was a town near camp Upton I had the occasion to go there several times. In fact during my stay there i visited all over the island.
Well, my first day at the Bakery School was a day of getting acquainted and learning about the daily activities. The instructor was a man of German descent. All the other workers were 9 German Prisioners of war. There was another person besides me who was assigned to the school. I knew from the very first day that i was going to like it here. There was nothing formal about the operation since there were only two of us that were military. Our instructor was a civilian. I don't recall ever seeing very often any one of any rank coming by the bakery. From the very onset our instructor told us that in order to be a good cook or baker you had to have imagination. He didn't use recipes he just told us how much to use in what ever we were baking. He was big into chocolate eclairs. I must say, the pastries etc that was put out were first class because of giving the wounded military the very best. There were not a large number of military personnel assigned to the base as compared to other bases. Our section had a captain in charge and the base commander was a Brigadier General. I had the pleasure of meeting him. As i was walking to my barracks one afternoon after work, i saw this car pass but paid it no attention. It stopped and someone called me back. It was him and he ask me if i had a problem with saluting. When i recognized who he was i saluted and told him "No Sir" Anyway, i knew that you saluted a person if the tag on front of the vehicle showed who it was. We also had a Lieutenant in our group that had been a Lt Colonel. He was a fighter pilot and had flown his plane under the Brooklyn Bridge and was busted. We understood he had been assigned at Upton as a CID person. He always hung out with the enlisted men and a lot of fun to be with. This was a good army base and not a whole lot of pressure. Everyone done their job. I have always tried to be content with every job i have had and always ( I think) done my best.