April 1, 1944- Fort Butner,
NC
From ‘Terrain
Features' Column-
At the 110th Medics Show at Service Club
No. 2 last week, one of the best features was the song "The Butcher Boy", sung
in Italian, and the audience grinned appreciatively at this humorous version.
Halfway through the song, however, gales of laughter were heard coming from the
door of the cafeteria. We looked over there and saw several Italian prisoners
clustered at the door, teeth flashing in wide smiles, the men holding their
sides as they laughed uproariously. If the POWs liked it, the version must have
been really good!
Sick Call Every
Day Keeps Medics Busy In
Sp. Troops Dispensary
This
isn't a ‘great' story. It's merely the story of a group of hard-working,
conscientious, efficient men who quietly perform their tasks in the 35th
Division Special Troops Dispensary. But it's an important story because the work
of the individual army dispensary is an eloquent affirmative answer to the
question of whether the unglamorous GI in this unpublicized job is important to
the units which he
serves.
The Special Troops
dispensary handles the sick call of Div. Hq. And Hq. Co., Recon. Troops, Signal
Co., QM Co., 735 Ordnance, MPS and the band. The neat green building on "E"
street has a faint clean odor of disinfectant and the orderly composure of a
hospital. About 50 men appear each morning at sick call time (more on long hike
days). Major Matson, MC, in charge of the dispensary and 11 enlisted men handle
the administration and "healing" of the sick in a manner which denotes long
experience in this work.
To
T-Sgt Frank Peonio, chief of the enlisted section since August 1943, sick call
has been his daily bread ever since the days when his work was conducted in the
110th medics dispensary. He's 30 years old, stocky, dark and handsome, and was a
farmer in Broad-water, Neb., before his induction. Sgt. Peonio finds that in one
way it is easier to treat the ailment of a human than of an
animal.
"You can ask a human
what's wrong," he says.
OPEN 24 HOURS
The dispensary
is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At night at least one man (equivalent
to a CQ) is always on duty. An ambulance is on tap at all times, a 4x4 equipped
to haul seven sitting patients or four litter
cases..
The first aid men
assigned to guard the health of troops on the march must take these hikes with
the foot soldiers as well as their own training "strolls".
The men have been
busier than usual lately due to the routine but important physical examinations
that required much record keeping and long hours. Even ordinarily the
dispensary keeps busy with the filing and checking of Form 52A (the soldiers
individual register) and Form 81 (record of immunization). The garrison
dispensary has many advantages for its personnel that are not duplicated in the
field. At present, medical supplies are plentiful, and easy to obtain. Modern
facilities for injections of may kinds, blood plasma treatment and simple
surgery are available. But in the field, the increase of patients, difficulty in
obtaining supplies and the number one problem of combat- evacuation- makes the
job of the medical man on of the toughest in the army.
THE ARMY WAY
T-5 Roy
Ritchie and Pvt Sposeep are the only two men in the dispensary with previous
medical training, but they had to learn first aid "the Army way" as well as
everyone else in the section. Pfc. Herbert Stetser has been through four
maneuvers as a medical man, and Sgts. Peonio and Tvrdik have seen three
maneuvers. All of the men have confidence in themselves that comes with ling and
successful experience. When this reporter entered the dispensary, one man was
taping the side of a soldier with a bad rib. Another man was bandaging the hand
of a GI who had suffered severe cuts. Sgt Peonio was checking records of men had
passed through the doors of the building that morning. In the pharmacy, medicine
was being prepared to fill prescriptions. All this work was performed quickly,
but without the frantic bungling haste that marks nervous
workmanship.
In the dental clinic, Capt. Berger, DC,
assisted by a T-5, was handling the dental ailments of a score of aching Santa
Fe soldiers. The captain and his assistant are part of the dispensary staff, but
conduct their work in the clinic. In the field, Capt. Berger must use more
limited equipment, but the dental treatment must be carried on just as
efficiently.
The ratio under
which the medical personnel operates is one man to 100 GIs. Reversing the
"odds", its 100 to 1 that combat will prove the worth of the men in the 35th's
dispensaries.
Pill Rollers Give Variety Show At Service Club 2
The thespians of
110th Medical Bn. Played to a packed house at No. 2 Service Club on Wednesday
eve, March 22nd. Backed by the mellow music of the 35th Div. "B" band, the
medics minstrels put on a performance of sky-high
quality.
Included in the
talent-packed program were a black face team comprised of Pvts. Frank Chiraldi
and Morris Selkow, Sgt. Yona Circo singing nifty numbers ("I Heard You Cried
Last Night", "Tangerine"), agile acrobat Sgt. William Burstyne, and Pvts. Howard Benner and Pat
DiPinto in a hilarious hat
skit.
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| Sgt. W.N.
Burstyne |
Pfc. Earl Fischer
of the band contributed his golden voice to evening's entertainment with
his stirring rendition of "Besame Mucho," and pretty Pfc. Pat Wilkins, a WAC
with a warble, came back for curtain calls with her show stopping "My
Heart Tells Me" and Shoo
Baby."
The 110th's show was
one of a series of planned Wednesday evening variety programs
presented by
the various Santa Fe units at Service Club No. 2. All performances
have been thus
far "sold out".
110th Medics
by Pvt. Charles Peters
Well, well, what's
happened to Hqs Det? It seems that every one is going girl-crazy. Yes, the
unbelievable has actually happened. Ola Jones is collecting pin-up girls! Better
get busy Ola, Sherman is way ahead of you. Is it because he has more space, or
has he had too great a start on
you?
Now for the main
attraction. Cpl. Owings has done it again. He came from the PX the other night
in a daze. We don't know whether it was the suds that did it or not, or could it
be Red? Anyway, Col Owings. It's customary to take off your shoes and socks
before taking a shower. You know, it must be fun to eat marshmallows under the
street
lights.
Congratulations to
you, Cpl. Turk, on your recent engagement. Tell us, when is it going to be?
Say, Sgt.
Brodfuehrer, we know you are a slave driver, and all that, but instead of
throwing a hammer at a guy, why don't you use a whip? Maybe you could borrow
Sgt. Reed's?
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|
Private
Joe Toth |
Every one is
excited about our party coming up in the near future. All of us are anticipating
a big time. With Ben on the food committee, I know we won't go hungry. Guess
who's hustling the fairer sex? Maybe we could find out down at battalion Supply.
Of course, don't let it be said that a medic can't get his own date. How about
that, Van and Nippy?
Pfc
Harry Hebb, from Company A, looks pretty rough after spending his furlough in
West Virginia. See, that proves that people do live
there.
Speaking of West
Virginia, the following men were volunteers for mule training. Sgt. Washko, Sgt.
Diosdado, Pfc. Lubbers, Pvt. Toth, Pvt. Forte and Tec5 Griemel. Maybe they had
other reasons for going
back.
|
MULE TRAINING IN WEST
VIRGINIA - MARCH 1944
Photos Courtesy of John Harakal & the Toth
Family |
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TEC3 Robert
Washko |
Sgt Cesario
Diosdado & TEC3 Robert Washko |
Sgt Cesario
Diosdado |
PFC Henry Lubbers
&
Sgt Cesario Diosdado |
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TEC5 Anthony
Griemel &
PFC Angelo Forte |
PFC Henry
Lubbers, Sgt Cesario Diosdado,
& Private Joseph
Toth |
Toth, Washko,
Diosdado & Forte |
Toth, Washko,
& Diosdado (standing),
PFC Angelo Forte
(seated) |
Out on the
range the other day, several fellows were shooting at the wrong targets. They
could see alright, they were only helping out their
buddies.
Seriously, "A"
Company is looking for checker players to compete with Harold
Freyer. Not that
we think anyone can beat our boy, but we feel he should be kept in condition.
Check up on it boys, he's only ranked Number Four in the country. Do we have any
challengers?
Roll Call will
soon be held in the WAC
Dayroom.
Members of Co. C
report complete recovery from their party. The affair was enjoyed by all,
including some 35 members of the WAC detachment who were
guests.
Ask Sergeant
Creathbaum to tell you about his furlough. And only one gear
too!
Did we hear you guys
moaning because you can't go back to W. Va.? Or was that Ruff howling, as he
comes back from his
date?
What three fellows
enjoy playing football in cold weather at 3 o'clock in the morning. Could they
be training for athletics in the
Aleutians?
Our most sincere
sympathies to Bill Knaggs, who has gone home to attend his mother's
funeral.
Charles Fruewirth is
about to step into the realm of married men. Congrats and best of luck to you,
Brooklyn.
Better watch your
step, merchant. Although the first booby trap didn't find it's mark, the next
one might.
Well, as Bob Stone
sighs about his girl back home, I'll call it a day. Yawl be good, hear?
