PICKERELL, GERALD

MEMBER: Gerald "Jerry" Pickerell

EMAIL ADDRESS: pickjerry@inebraska.com

HOME ADDRESS: NA

TRAINING: NA

CORRESPONDENCE: My name is Gerald Pickerell. I live at Hastings, Nebraska. I was an Infantry sergeant stationed at Camp Fannin, Texas before being sent to Italy as an Infantry replacement in late 1943 in World War II. I trained men at the camp.

When I arrived at Camp Fannin, there were just those large yellow barracks buildings sitting there on that red Texas soil. We had to help finish building the camp before getting troops to train. We hauled manure by the truckload from Texas cattle and horse farms to spread on that red clay, trying to make grass grow. We also constructed "brick" sidewalks out of blocks of wood, soaked in creosote, and spread sand between them. They had to extend the length of the company area and be wide enough to accommodate four ranks of men standing at "open ranks" formation, for rifle inspection.

I remember one detail which I had was to build a "mop drip" at the end of our barracks. This was accomplished by making a bed of large rocks (about the size of a baseball) inside a framework of 2"x10" boards. The rocks and boards had to be painted white. Each barracks had six mops issued to it and when not in use, these had to hang from hooks over the rocks. We had an Infantry colonel inspect this facility on a regular basis. I always wondered what this had to do with winning the war!

I remember going to a honky-tonk, called the Greentop, which was located just outside Smith county on the road to Gladewater. Smith County was "dry", but you could buy liquor in Tyler from any taxi driver if you gave him an extra $1 per bottle.

At the Greentop, there was a liquor store at one end of the building where you bought your booze. Then you walked around to the other end, and into a large dance hall, with a soft drink bar, which also sold ice and lemons.

The place had what we called "B-Girls" (bar girls) working there. They would help you drink up your liquor and dance with you to a juke box. But they could never take a walk outside with you. The drinks were mostly rum and coca cola. Bourbon was hard to get.

Another feature of the Greentop was a corner where they kept a pile of broken up furniture, tables and chairs, that had been victims of some bar brawl. The Texas state police visited this place pretty often and, at the end of a night of partying, they would escort the B-Girls home or to their cars.

Being an after-hours joint, we GI's would chip in a couple of bucks apiece and hire a taxi to take us back to Camp Fannin. The taxi driver knew a way in the back door where we would not be checked at the front gate by the MP's.