Induction

Train trip from the twin cities to Camp Pickett, Virginia. Basic training, Army clerk school, marching, etc..  I arrived at this camp as a raw recruit along with several hundred other men.  The staff of noncommissioned Officers was in place for a number training sessions of 10 week duration.  These men were from the eastern part of the country; the first sergeant was from New York city.  At every chance they could they would be collecting money for some cause and most of us gave what we could which was not much because our pay was only $20.00 a month.  One time it was to decorate the day room which we never saw because they had us busy day and night in training.  Another time the 1st Sgt.'s dog was sick and they collected money so he could take the dog to a vet in Richmond, Va.  Some of us complained to each other, but we did not know how to do this "through channels" as you are expected to do when you are a private.  However, someone must have gotten this message to a higher authority, because when I arrived at Fort Benning, my immediate "buck sergeant" arrived there with no stripes; he had been "busted" along with the rest of crew at Pickett.

Transfer to Camp Rucker, Alabama, Assignment to registrar's office under 2nd Lt. Herman C. Needles; we were together during our entire training period and the 33 months we were overseas.  We are in touch with each other to this day; both of us are retired Army men.

Transfer to Fort Benning, Georgia.  More training in hospital matters, ward duties, office work, etc.. Here also was the parachute training facility for the military; there were three large towers from which the men were released to prepare them for jumping.  On Saturdays, many of these men jumped from planes and we got a lot of fracture cases in the hospital.

On December 29, 1942, the unit arrives at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, BY TRAIN (ALL SHADES HAD TO BE PULLED DOWN ON THE CARS; TO KEEP TROOP MOVEMENTS OUT OF SIGHT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE) in preparation for the boat trip overseas.  This camp was a sea of mud and the temperature was close to freezing with no heat in the barracks.  We all knew we were to be shipped out somewhere; so several times a day we were called out of the barracks with all our equipment for inspection. This was the routine until we boarded the U.S.S. Ancon which left the N.Y. port at 05:15 hrs on January 14, 1943.

The Ancon before the war, operated between New York City and Cristobal, Canal Zone, via Port au Prince, Haiti under the ownership of the Panama Railroad. The Ancon was built by the Bethlehem ShipBuilding Company, Fore River Yards, Quincy, Massachusetts and was to be five hundred feet long and have a gross tonnage of 10,000 tons.  The keel was laid at Quincy, Mass., October 25, 1937, and the ship was launched on September 24, 19 38.  This ship was christened by Mrs. V. Woodring, wife of the Secretary of  War.  Mr. D.H. Swanson, our present Executive Officer, was then Captain.  The Ancon was fitted to carry 202 first class passengers and a crew of 125.  It was put into service in June 1939 at a total cost of $5,000,000.   The Ancon has two sister ships, namely the Cristobal and the Panama, one of which is with us on this voyage.  On January 11, 1942, the  Ancon was taken over by the UNITED States Army Transport Service and made two voyages between San Francisco, California and Australia, visiting Brisbane, Adelaide, and Sidney during the trip.  On her return from the second trip to Australia, she was sent to the East Coast for conversion for use of the United States Navy.  The Ancon was placed in full commission by the Commandant, Navy Yard,  Boston, Mass., on August 12, 1942 and became the U.S. S Ancon.  Captain P. L. Mather, U.S.N. is now the Commanding Officer.

Feeding several thousand men in closed quarters on a rolling platform became a real challenge.  Breakfast was served at seven A.M. and supper at four P.M. and it took about three hours for each meal, about 600 men at a time.  Meals were served on metal trays cafeteria style, but each men was required to carry his own canteen cup, knife, fork, and spoon.  When seas were rough, one had to hold onto his own tray or it would slide left or right and you could be looking at someone else's tray if you did not hold your own.  Smoking was permitted on open decks during daylight hours, and in protected areas up to nine o'clock at night.

     Another enlisted man, Lloyd Benore, and the writer put together a show while we were enroute.  See the schedule of events on the program immediately below: