It was in about May 1944 when it looked like I was not going to be drafted because I had an exempt job with the Union Oil Company and my daughter was born before Pearl Harbor so I was pretty well exempt from the draft. I always was reminded that my dad seemed to regret not being in WW1 and there seemed to be something unpatriotic not to be in the military so I wrote the draft board to go ahead and draft me. The fast response clued me in that they were having a difficult time finding anyone to draft without it being a terrible hardship on that person or his family or relatives. So the response was immediate and I got the draft notice right away. The first picture here was about the third day at Ft. Lewis just before shipping out to Camp Roberts north of San Francisco. When we arrived at Camp Roberts someone asked what we were going into. The driver of the truck said if were the infantry we would be walking. So we got a ride in the truck to the barracks. Lucky for me because I had a corn on my foot I had to put up with all the time I was at Camp Roberts. I could not get the army doctor to do anything about it. Now you know if you have ever had a corn and had to walk on it is next to torture. Some how I made it through basic training but it was miserable.
For some reason the Army decided I should be a radio operator so I was trained as radio operator, and the other means of communication of the day. Semaphore was one other means of communication.
The picture of me alone is my first picture of me in the ill fitting uniform. I carried the picture of Dianne (below) all the time I was overseas. It was and is my favorite picture of her.As a narrative this is all backwards as Google makes the latest post on top and I cant make a post at the bottom so you can just start at the top. I'm writing as I go so bear with me.
