1/29/44 Sorry this letter is so damn messy ---
Dear Dad,
It's finally come -- at 1:00 A.M. Monday, we start on that goddamn two week bivouac.
Monday [last week], we ran (or marched) four miles in 45 minutes -- with full field packs and rifles -- in the rain.
It gets tough at times, but I guess in a while I'll have wished that it had been tougher.
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| Franklin at Camp Roberts, December 1943 (tallest in back) |
We had quite a bit of combat practice this last week. One course was a type of obstacle course -- we ran through it, and fired at targets that jumped up (controlled by wires from one point) along the route.
Another was a village fighting course. This consists of a French village which a squad of men "capture". And it is a village -- barns, fences, cafes, church, houses, taverns, stores -- everything. As we go through it, we again fire at and bayonet targets that jump out at you. Also, as we go through we throw hand grenades (simulated), climb into 2nd story windows and run along roofs. The buildings all have booby traps and other exploding devices. And to make it even more realistic, machine guns are raking the streets as we go through and "capture" the buildings. It was quite an experience.
A Lt. takes two men through -- 16 men and 8 Lt. each trip. Guess the officers have quite a job keeping the men from accidentally shooting each other -- every man must be at a certain place at a certain time.
In the squad tactical course, we were supposed to wipe out enemy snipers and machine gun nests -- we also did a little mountain climbing. As we were going up a 60o hill -- with the aid of ropes -- there was a gas attack; it was only tear gas, so I didn't bother to put my gas mask on. We also went up and down another hill of about 60o -- but without the aid of ropes.
Then there was the combat reaction course -- two scouts on a mission. We were fired upon (by blanks), but we went through the "motions" -- assuming it was actually true. Also, we charged and bayoneted dummies, "cleared" a village, and tried not to set off booby traps.
We had the opportunity of throwing live hand grenades. I was about 125 yards from the area, acting as a road guard. I could hear the pieces falling all around me -- one of them landed about six inches [yards?] to the rear of me -- but they don't have much effect at that range.
Friday we went thru the infiltration course -- crawling for about 50 yards under machine gun fire. We crawled (on stomach) under and over certain obstacles -- such as double apron barbed wire fences, over logs; -- then there was simulated mortar and artillery blasts -- there were "fenced off" areas in the course -- the blasts did nothing more than make noise and throw up considerable dirt.
That night, we went thru the course again -- it was almost like the 4th of July. In addition to the machine gun fire (the machine gun fired tracers) and mortar and artillery blasts, there were flares, rocket grenades, rocket flares, a type of flare that would burst and throw off light (the object to attempt to discover enemy patrols) -- it was quite a show.
Although we are required to crawl the entire distance, I don't suppose the machine gun fire is any lower than 1 1/2 - 2 feet. At the end of this course, we rolled into fox holes, threw a grenade, and charged and bayoneted a dummy.
~~~
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| With some friends, January 1944 |
Went to a dance last Saturday. My buddy's gal introduced me to a cute little thing -- had quite a week-end. Believe it or not, they were all school teachers -- at 20.
~~~
It's raining this week-end. Not a very good way to start a bivouac. ---
Love, Franklin
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