Classification: Limited Service: 4A
I was drafted on February 1943.
On a very cold morning in New York, I left home, alone, with 4 handkerchiefs in the breast pocket of my overcoat. A subway ride later, I arrived at the Selective Service staging area for our departure to Camp Upton.
After two days of being outfitted with gear, I was introduced to the Kitchen Patrol, that is,K.P., and became a repetitive practitioner at the sink, washing pots and pans.
After a week, it was off to Fort Dix and Orientation, in becoming a soldier in the U.S.Army.
Ten cold mornings later, sleeping in tents, I was shipped out to Indiantown Gap, Penn.
My assignment was to a Port Company.
What's a Port Company, you ask ?
Every one in our camp asked the same question.
A Port Company is, a Special Service unit, that is responsible for delivering supplies to servicemen, to support their physical needs for well being, the necessary equipment, to do battle, feed and clothe them properly and to keep their moral at the highest level.
So what are we doing in Indiantown Gap, Penn.?
Except for the four Port Battalions, Indiantown Gap, is a virtual deserted area, some 20 miles east of Harrisburg, Penn.. There are 4 Port Companies in a Battalion and each company has roughly 220 men, a Major in charge of each Battalion and a Full Colonel is in charge of the base.
Our job was to unload Ships.
Who are the men picked for this duty, you ask?
They were the dregs of the draftees.
Many Officers were from OCS, (Officers Candidate School )
without the basic knowledge and the training,
for teaching the complicated logistics of, supply and demand .
We all learned all about these, at the same time.
The hard way.
Really, I can only speak for myself.And maybe a few others.
Lots of military personal are going to be offended when they read this section of my Blog.
When I was drafted, my Classification was 4A.
I was listed as Limited Service!
My eyesight was 20/400 and with corrective lenses they were 20/30. Without glasses the Big E on the top of the eye chart was blurred . Legally blind without spectacles.
My right knee was injured in High School and had lost 30% of its motion. I walked with a limp and could not pedal a bicycle because of the knee restriction.
Limited Service !
So, I assume, I was in a company of peers !
Officers and Enlisted men !
"Limited Service" .
Now!
You tell me!
How in your greatest fantasy, did we wind up, on the
Beaches of Normandy on H Hour on D Day ?
Talk about provocative?
Read on, as I try to unveil this conundrum.
