SHEFFLOE, M. C. (MORT)

SERVICE: I WAS AT CAMP FANNIN FOR BASIC TRAINING STARTING ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF JULY 1943. OUR BATTALION (68th Training Battalion) WAS MADE UP OF DRAFTEES, ALL AGCT TEST SCORE QUALIFIED TO GO INTO THE ARMY SPECIALIZED TRAINING PROGRAM (ASTP).

AT THE END OF OUR 13 WEEKS OF INFANTRY BASIC AT CAMP FANNIN IN THE HOT SUMMER OF 1943, WE BOARDED TRAINS AND WERE WHISKED OFF TO TEXAS A & M ETO BEGIN OUR COLLEGE EDUCATION. NATIONALLY THERE WERE 150,000 ARMY PERSONNEL ENROLLED IN ASTP AT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. ASTP WAS MOSTLY AN ENGINEERING PROGRAM BUT AT SOME SCHOOLS THERE WERE SMALL MEDICAL AND VETERINARY DETACHMENTS AS WELL. ASTP WAS A GOING CONCERN FOR SEVERAL MONTHS AND THEN THE WAR DEPARTMENT COULD NO LONGER JUSTIFY BRIGHT, YOUNG, HEALTHY MEN SITTING OUT THE WAR ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES SO THE PROGRAM WAS ABRUPTLY ENDED (EXCEPT FOR MEDICAL AND VETERINARY) . THE SAME FATE BEFELL 70,000 AVIATION CADETS WHEN THE AIR FORCE DETERMINED THEY HAD ALL THE PILOTS THY WOULD NEED. MANY UNHAPPY CADETS HAD A SUDDEN CAREER CHANGE AND FOUND THEMSELVES IN THE INFANTRY, MOST OF WHOM HAD NOT HAD BASIC TRAINING OF THE TYPE WE GOT AT CAMP FANNIN. FROM STEPHEN AMBROSE'S BEST SELLING BOOK CITIZEN SOLDIER , THESE WORDS ARE FOUND ...."SUDDENLY THERE WERE 190,000 OF THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST OF THE ARMY'S INDUCTEES FROM 1942-43 AVAILABLE FOR ASSIGNMENT". CADETS AND ASTPers ALIKE WERE SHIPPED OUT TO INFANTRY DIVISIONS. MOST JOINED HIGH-NUMBERED DIVISIONS IN VARIOUS STAGES OF BATTLE READINESS SO BASIC INFANTRY TRAINING AT COMPANY, BATTALION, OR REGIMENTAL LEVEL BECAME THEIR FOCUS FOR WEEKS OR MONTHS.

I LEFT A & M IN EARLY WINTER OF 1944 BOUND FOR CAMP POLK, LA, WHERE I JOINED THE 97th DIVISION AT THE END OF MANEUVERS. IN A FEW DAYS THE DIVISION WAS ENTRAINED FOR FORT LEONARD WOOD, MO, FOR FURTHER TRAINING. AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS MOST OF US GOT SEVEN DAY FURLOUGHS AND WHEN WE RETURNED WE FOUND COUNTLESS UNHAPPY AIR CORPS PEOPLE FILLING OUR DEPLETED RANKS. SOON THEY STRIPPED THE DIVISION OF ALL THOSE WHO HAD BEEN THROUGH INFANTRY BASIC AND SENT US TO CAMP MEADE, MARYLAND. IN A FEW DAYS AND AFTER SOME PROCESSING THEY PUT US IN PACKETS OF 250 MEN AND FIVE OFFICERS AND MOVED US UP TO CAMP SHANKS, NY. WE LEARNED THAT WE WERE REPLACEMENTS FOR UPCOMING EVENTS, LIKE D-DAY, AND WOULD STAY TOGETHER AS A PACKET UNTIL WE HAD ALL FOUND A NEW HOME.

AT CAMP SHANKS WE TRAINED ALL DAY AND THEN, MOST EVENINGS, CAUGHT THE TRAIN INTO NEW YORK CITY FOR A NIGHT ON THE TOWN. WE WERE 18 AND 19 YEAR OLD KIDS FROM ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES, IN NEW YORK FOR THE FIRST TIME AND MOSTLY AS PURE AS THE DRIVEN SNOW. ON MAY 10, 1944, OUR PACKET LEFT CAMP SHANKS FOR A SHORT BUS RIDE TO A DOCK ON THE HUDSON RIVER. THERE WE BOARDED A RIVER FERRY, THE TYPE PLYING THE HUDSON AND EAST RIVERS EVERY DAY, WHICH TOOK US RIGHT TO THE USS BORINQUIN , A PUERTO RICAN BANANA BOAT, BERTHED IN THE NEW YORK HARBOR . IT WAS TIED UP NEXT TO THE QUEEN MARY AND ITS SMALLNESS BECAME APPARENT WHEN WE WERE ALLOWED UP ON DECK BEFORE SAILING. WE DEPARTED DURING THE HOURS OF DARKNESS AND EARLY ON THE MORNING OF MAY 11th WE WERE AT SEA, BOUND FOR POINTS UNKNOWN. AT SEA, IN CONVOY, WE SOON LEARNED WE WERE BOUND FOR SCOTLAND.

ON MAY 24th, AFTER TWO DAYS AT ANCHOR AT GREENOCK, WE DISEMBARKED AND BOARDED A NIGHT TRAIN IN GLASGOW. THE NEXT MORNING WE ARRIVED AT THE MAIN TRAIN STATION IN THE CENTRE OF BRISTOL, ENGLAND. AS THE MORNING PACE OF THE CITY PICKED UP WITH PEOPLE ON THE WAY TO WORK, BY FOOT, BIKE OR BUS, WE WERE TRUCKED TO A SMALL CAMP OR REPLACEMENT DEPOT ( FORMER ORPHANAGE ) IN THE HEART OF THE CITY . AT THE MOST, THERE WERE TWO OR THREE PACKETS AT THIS QUAINT STONE WALLED FACILITY. OUR DAYS WERE SPENT EXERCISING, HIKING, FORCED MARCHES, KP AND CLASS ROOM TRAINING. THEN INTO TOWN EVERY EVENING BUT WE WERE YOUNG AND IT WAS EASY TO GET ALONG ON LITTLE SLEEP. IN JUNE-JULY DURING THE WAR WITH DOUBLE DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME, IT DIDN'T GET DARK UNTIL 11 OR 11:30 AT NIGHT AND OUR PASSES WERE GOOD UNTIL MIDNIGHT. WE WOULD GO TO A MOVIE OR SPEND TIME IN A SERVICEMEN'S CLUB AND AS AMERICANS, IT WAS EASY TO MEET YOUNG ENGLISH LASSES . I DON'T RECALL MUCH DANCING BUT MORE STANDING AROUND TALKING, KIDDING ABOUT OUR GI HAIRCUTS OR JUST DOING WHAT WE HAD DONE A YEAR EARLIER AT HOME IN HIGH SCHOOL. IN MY WARTIME LITTLE BLACK BOOK, YET TODAY, I HAVE THE NAME KITTY JONES, BRISTOL. SOMEONE I MET ON THE LAST EVENING IN BRISTOL BUT NEVER SAW AGAIN BECAUSE WE MOVED OUT.

WE WERE ON THE ATHLETIC FIELD IN BRISTOL ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 6, ABOUT TO START OUR CALISTHENICS WHEN MOST OF US FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS D-DAY. SOME WERE AWARE OF IMPORTANT HAPPENINGS DURING THE NIGHT BECAUSE BOMBERS AND OTHER AIRCRAFT HAD BEEN VERY ACTIVE, BUT I SLEPT THROUGH IT ALL . A DAY OR TWO LATER WE WERE MOVED TO A REPLACEMENT DEPOT AT YEOVILLE WHERE OUR DAILY TRAINING CONTINUED UNTIL JULY 10th. ON THAT DAY, A SUNDAY, WE BOARDED BUSES AT THE CAMP AND WERE TAKEN TO A TRAIN FOR OUR TRIP TO SOUTHAMPTON TO BOARD A SHIP TO CROSS THE CHANNEL TO NORMANDY. AFTER AN OVERNIGHT VOYAGE, WE AWOKE TO A VAST ARRAY OF SHIPS AND BOATS, MANY WITH BARRAGE BALLOONS AT TETHER. WE GOT OUR FIRST VIEWS OF FRANCE WHILE WE WERE AT ANCHOR OFF UTAH BEACH. WHEN THE TIME CAME, OUR PACKET MOVED UP TO THE DECK AND WE WENT OVER THE SIDE AND DOWN LANDING NETS INTO LANDING CRAFT FOR THE SHORT RIDE TO THE BEACH. THERE WE FORMED UP AND MARCHED SEVERAL MILES TO THE HEDGE-ROWED FIELDS OUTSIDE STE. MERE EGLISE. IT WAS CALLED A REPLACEMENT DEPOT BUT IT WAS JUST ANOTHER HEDGED-ROWED FIELD. THE BAD NEWS WAS THAT IT WAS LOCATED NEXT TO A TEMPORARY CEMETERY WITH TRUCKS ARRIVING TO LEAVE COTTON MATTRESS BAGS CONTAINING BODIES OF DEAD SOLDIERS WHO WERE BURIED IN A COMMON GRAVE BULLDOZED FROM THE EARTH.

AFTER A FEW DAYS IN OUR NEWLY-DUG HOLES AROUND THE PERIMETER OF A SMALL NORMAN FIELD, WE WERE CALLED OVER TO A GATHERING OF OUR 250 MEN AND WE LEARNED THAT WE WERE IN DEMAND. AN OFFICER FROM THE EIGHTH DIVISION NEEDED REPLACEMENT RIFLEMEN SO AFTER SAYING, YOU, YOU AND YOU COME WITH ME, A DOZEN OF US WERE LOADED ON A 6X6 AND HEADED TOWARD THE FRONT ( PERHAPS LIKE A SLAVE AUCTION OF OLD). THE TERM "REPLACEMENT" HAD A BAD CONNOTATION AS IT IMPLIED THAT SOME ONE WAS DEAD OR GONE SO AT SOME POINT THE ARMY, IN ITS INFINITE WISDOM, BEGIN USING THE TERM "REINFORCEMENT". THE TWELVE OF US WERE ASSIGNED TO COMPANIES AND PLATOONS NEEDING REPLACEMENTS. I AND A COUPLE OTHERS ENDED UP IN COMPANY E, 121st INFANTRY REGIMENT. A FELLOW REPLACEMENT AND I BECAME FIRST AND SECOND SCOUTS IN OUR SQUAD OF 12 MEN. HE WAS DEAD A MONTH LATER BUT I SURVIVED ANOTHER MONTH, THE SECOND MONTH I WAS PROMOTED TO SQUAD LEADER AND THEN BADLY WOUNDED ON SEPTEMBER 10, 1944, ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BREST FRANCE.

I SUFFERED A GUN SHOT WOUND TO THE CHEST, COMMONLY CALLED A SUCKING WOUND. WITH EVERY BREATH, ONE HEARS A SOUND LIKE THAT WHEN ONE ATTEMPTS TO GET THAT LAST BIT OF MALTED MILK OUT OF A GLASS BY SUCKING ON A STRAW. MY PLATOON MEDIC WAS THERE TO GIVE ME IMMEDIATE FIRST AID BUT BECAUSE WE WERE IN THE SHADOW OF A CONCRETE FORT, WITH ONLY FIRING SLOTS EXPOSED TO THE WORLD, IT WAS FAR TOO DANGEROUS FOR ANYONE TO COME AND GET ME. BUT AFTER FOUR HOURS IN A BOMB CRATER, THANK HEAVENS SO MANY AIR FORCE BOMBS MISSED THEIR TARGET, TWO MEDICS BRAVELY MARCHED IN , ONE CARRYING A RED CROSS FLAG AND THE OTHER A FOLDED LITTER. NOT A SHOT WAS FIRED WHEN THEY CAME IN NOR WHEN WE LEFT. I WAS CARRIED OUT TO THEIR JEEP A FEW HUNDRED YARDS TO THE REAR AND DRIVEN TO THE BATTALION MEDICAL FACILITY. AFTER MINIMAL MEDICAL TREATMENT SUCH AS PLASMA AND NEW VASELINE GAUZE BANDAGES TO STOP THE SUCKING SOUND, I WAS OFF BY AMBULANCE TO A FIELD HOSPITAL FURTHER TO THE REAR. THOSE WITH CHEST WOUNDS HAD TO WAIT SEVEN DAYS AT THE FIELD HOSPITAL BEFORE BEING FLOWN BACK TO ENGLAND, PERHAPS A POLICY BASED ON MANY NOT SURVIVING THAT LONG. ON THE SEVENTH DAY I WAS DRIVEN BY AMBULANCE TO A LANDING STRIP WHERE A C-47 WAS BEING LOADED. BECAUSE I HAD A LITTER WITH A RACK WHICH KEPT ME SEMI-UPRIGHT, I WAS THE LAST ON THE PLANE AND REMAINED IN THE AISLE. IT WAS MY FIRST AIRPLANE RIDE BUT I CAN'T SAY I REMEMBER MUCH ABOUT IT EXCEPT THAT WE LANDED AT YEOVILLE AND RETURNED TO THE SAME CAMP I WAS AT IN JULY BUT NOW THE BARRACKS HAD BEEN CONVERTED TO HOUSE THE 14Oth GENERAL HOSPITAL.

WE WERE THE FIRST PATIENTS IN OUR WARD OF 23 BEDS AND I CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT IT HAD RECENTLY OPENED FOR BUSINESS. FOUR DAYS LATER I HAD MAJOR SURGERY, AGAIN SURVIVAL WAS QUESTIONABLE BUT YOUTH AND BEING IN GOOD SHAPE PROBABLY HELPED. A COUPLE WEEKS LATER I WAS MOVED TO THE 121st GENERAL HOSPITAL, ONE SPECIALIZING IN CHEST WOUNDS, AND AFTER SEVERAL MORE OPERATIONS AND MONTHS OF TREATMENT I WAS READY FOR RETURN TO THE USA. WITH A CHEST WOUND ONE HAD TO REACH A CERTAIN PLATEAU BEFORE THE SHIP RIDE HOME. I DIDN'T REACH THAT POINT VERY FAST BUT WAS FINALLY SCHEDULED FOR THE TRIP HOME ON

OUR SHIP, THE LINER USS BRAZIL, APPROACHED THE GOOD OLD USA IN EARLY EVENING AND AS WE APPROACHED NEW YORK WE COULD SEE CARS DRIVING ALONG A HIGHWAY ON SHORE. THEN THE BEAUTIFUL SIGHT OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY CAME INTO VIEW AND SOON WE WERE BEING EASED INTO A BERTH, BUT I DON'T RECALL WHERE WE LANDED. A BUS TRIP TOOK US TO HALLORAN ARMY GENERAL HOSPITAL ON STATEN ISLAND WHERE I STAYED FOR A WEEK OR TEN DAYS. THE ARMY POLICY WAS TO SEND ONE TO A HOSPITAL CLOSE TO HOME BUT NOT IN MY CASE. A HOSPITAL TRAIN WAS MADE UP AT HALLORAN AND A COUPLE HUNDRED OF US SHIPPED OUT FOR McCAW ARMY GENERAL HOSPITAL IN WALLA WALLA, WASHINGTON. I GREW UP IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA AND AT ONE POINT I WAS NINETY MILES FROM HOME BUT THE TRAIN STEAMED ON FOR ANOTHER 1200 MILES. ALL-IN-ALL, THE SIX DAY TRAIN TRIP COMPLETELY ACROSS THE COUNTRY LIVES IN MY MEMORY AS A GREAT EXPERIENCE.

AFTER TWO WEEKS AT McCAW GENERAL HOSPITAL I WAS GIVEN A 60 DAY CONVALESCENT FURLOUGH WHICH I SPENT AT MY HOME IN CROOKSTON, MINNESOTA. WHEN THE 60 DAYS WERE ABOUT OVER, THE FIRST ATOM BOMB HAD BEEN DROPPED ON JAPAN AND THEN THE SECOND. I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE NICE TO GET MY FURLOUGH EXTENDED AND REMAIN AT HOME FOR A FEW MORE DAYS WHEN THE WAR ENDED BUT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN AND IT DIDN'T HAPPEN SO I SET OFF ON MY RETURN TRIP. AS I APPROACHED SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, THE WORD CAME TO US ON THE TRAIN THAT THE WAR WAS OVER. MY FURLOUGH WAS UP ON AUGUST 14, 1945, VJ DAY. MY FURLOUGH WAS OVER AT MIDNIGHT BUT IT WAS EIGHT THE NEXT MORNING BEFORE MY TRAIN REACHED WALLA WALLA BUT IT WAS OVERLOOKED IN THE EXCITEMENT OF THE MOMENT. TWO WEEKS LATER, ON AUGUST 30th, I WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY WITH 100 PERCENT DISABILITY. THUS ENDS MY STORY WHICH STARTED AT CAMP FANNIN.