"A SHORT SUMMARY OF THE YEARS FROM 1934 TO 1945 WRITTEN FROM MEMORY IN 1996-7" by Howard Jamison Raabe

A SHORT SUMMARY OF THE YEARS FROM 1934 TO 1945
WRITTEN FROM MEMORY IN 1996-7

(ed. note: this was written by my grandfather, who always typed with the caps lock key on, I am keeping it written this way.)

I LEFT COLLEGE WITH A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN 1934 AT AGE 19. JOBS WERE SCARCE, AND I WAS HARDLY AN ENERGETIC JOB SEEKER, HAVING NEVER GONE JOB HUNTING IN MY LIFE. AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS OF LIVING AT HOME, DOING NOTHING, AND NOT SHOWING ANY EVIDENCE OF WANTING OT DO ANYTHING, MY MOTHER FINALLY TOLD MY DAD THAT HE HAD BETTER ASK ME TO GO TO WORK FOR HIM. HE DID AND I DID. I WAS OFFERED MY ROOM AND BOARD AND $10.00 A WEEK. AT THAT TIME DAD OWNED FORD DEALERSHIPS IN DELPHOS, VAN WERT, AND OTTAWA, AS WELL AS HIS ORIGINAL BUSINESS IN FT. JENNINGS, RAABE HARDWARE AND AUTO COMPANY. ALSO HE AND UNCLE RUDOLPH OWNED RAABE STONE COMPANY IN FORT JENNINGS, AND HE, RUDOLPH AND JIM SHROYER WERE THE OWNERS OF THE RAABE STONE COMPANY, A CORPORATION, AT CLOVERDALE OHIO.

MY FIRST ASSIGNMENT WAS TO WORK AT THE HARDWARE IN FT. J. WITH GEORGE BRENNER AND ANNA LEE. GEORGE WAS AN OLD AND TRUSTED EMPLOYE WHO HAD PERHAPS NEVER WORKED FOR ANYONE BUT MY DAD. ANNA LEE WAS A WONDERFUL AND TRUSTWORTHY LADY WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF THE OFFICE. SHE DROVE TO WORK DAILY FORM RUSHMORE IN A MODEL T UNTIL SHE WAS FORCED TO RETIRE DUE TO HER ARTHRITIS.

I WAS GIVEN AN OLD MODEL T TO GET ME TO WORK. A FEW MONTHS AFTER I STARTED WORKING THERE, MY BROTHER RALPH, WHO WAS THEN OPERATING THE VAN WERT AGENCY FOR DAD, WAS DROWNED ALONG WITH ONE OF HIS SALESMEN (NAMED PLACE) WHEN HIS CAR WENT THROUGH THE ICE AT DEVIL'S LAKE IN THE WINTER OF 1935. THIS WAS REASON ENOUGH FOR ME TO BE TRANSFERRED TO THE AGENCY AT VEN WERT, WHERE WALTER PUTNAM WAS THEN IN CHARGE. WALTER DROVE IN FROM OHIO CITY EVERY DAY AND HAD BEEN THE BOOKEEPER FOR MY BROTHER. WHEN I GOT THERE HE WAS KEEPING THE RECORDS BY A SYSTEM, EITHER OF HIS OWN, OR INHERITED FROM A PREVIOUS OWNER, I KNOW NOT WHICH. I WAS THEN NEW BOOKKEEPER, UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF WALTER.

BOOKKEEPING WAS ONE OF MANY THINGS ABOUT BUSINESS OF WHICH I WAS IN COMPLETE IGNORANCE, SO THE ONLY EXPLANATION FOR PUTTING ME IN THAT JOB COULD BE THAT I WAS THE BOSSES SON, AND WAS BEING PAID $10.00 A WEEK WHETHER I DID ANY WORK OR NOT. ALSO, BEING THE BOSSES SON COULD BE THE ONLY REASON I WAS ALLOWED TO QUESTION THE WISDOM OF THE SYSTEM IN USE AND MAKE A DECISION TO CHANGE OVER TO THE FORD DEALER'S UNIFORM ACCOUNTING SYSTEM (FDUAS) AS RECOMMENDED BY FORD MOTOR COMPANY. AS SOON AS THE NEEDED SUPPLIES COULD BE OBTAINED, ALONG WITH THE FDUAS ACCOUNTING MANUAL, I SCRAPPED THE OLD, SET UP THE NEW LEDGERS AND BLUNDERED INTO THE FUTURE. UP TO THIS POINT WALTER WAS SUPERVISING MY WORK AND HELPING ME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT I HAD DONE, SO HE KNEW HOW IGNORANT I WAS. I'M SURE NOW THAT WALTER PUTNAM WAS AGHAST AT WHAT I HAD DONE. FIRST I CHANGED THE SYSTEM, AND THEN I TRIED TO LEARN HOW TO KEEP BOOKS. IT WAS EASY ENOUGH FOR ME TO BALANCE A JOURNAL, AND I SOON LEARNED THAT PROPER TRANSFER OF JOURNAL FIGURES TO A LEDGER WOULD RESULT IN A BALANCED LEDGER. HOWEVER, THE NEW ACCOUNTING SYSTEM USED ONE LEDGER AND SIX OR SEVEN JOURNALS TO KEEP TRACK OF TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN PROBABLY 150 ACCOUNTS, WHEREAS THE OLD SYSTEM HAD ONLY ONE JOURNAL. I WORKED UNTIL MIDNIGHT AND LATER NIGHT AFTER NIGHT AND WAS FALLING HOPELESSLY AND DESPERATELY BEHIND BEFORE I FINALLY BECAME AWARE THAT THE REASON I COULD NOT BALANCE ANYTHING WAS PERFECTLY SIMPLE. EACH JOURNAL WAS INTIMATELY CONNECTED TO THE OTHER JOURNALS, AND IF PROPER ENTRIES WERE MADE AND IT WAS IN BALANCE, ALL WOULD COME OUT BEAUTIFULLY IN THE LEDGER.

I STILL REMEMBER MY FEELING OF RELIEF WHEN IT DAWNED ON ME THAT I HAD FINALLY DISCOVERED THE PRINCIPLE OF KEEPING BOOKS, JUST BEFORE TOTAL DISASTER HAD STRUK. IT WAS EXHILARATING AND I KEPT WORKING UNTIL MIDNIGHT OR LATER UNTIL I HAD THINGS UNDER CONTROL. MY BOOKKEEPING EVOLVED FROM THAT POINT UNTIL, A FEW YEARS LATER, I REALLY KNEW WHAT I WAS DOING AND HAD CHANGED MY DAD'S THREE AUTO AGENCIES ALL OVER TO THE FDUAS, AS WELL AS ADAPTING THE BOOKS OF THE HARDWARE TO IT ALSO.

IT WAS STILL SOME YEARS BEFORE I MORE OR LESS PERFECTED A FAIRLY ACCURATE SYSTEM OF CHARGING OFF DEPREDATION AND OTHER FIXED EXPENSES MONTHLY SO AS TO ARRIVE A A MONTHLY PROFIT AND LOSS FIGURE THAT COULD BE HELPFUL IN OUR OPERATION. I THINK I GRADUALLY EARNED AND RECEIVED THE RESPECT OF MY DAD, RUDOLPH, JIM SHROYER, AND ALL OF THE EMPLOYEES AT THE VARIOUS DEALERSHIPS. I GOT TO KNOW ALL OF THEM QUITE WELL, SINCE I MADE MONTHLY TRIPS TO AUDIT THEIR BOOKS. SOME OF THE BOOKKEEPERS WE HAD WERE A BIT LESS THAN PROFICIENT!

IN 1939 MY BROTHER KENNETH, WHO WAS AT THAT TIME IN CHARGE OF THE AGENCY AT OTTOWA, LEFT THE BUSINESS AND MY DAD, NOT HAVING ANY OTHER CHOICE, SENT ME OVER THERE TO RUN IT WHILE HE WAS MAKING EFFORTS TO CLOSE IT DOWN. I FOUND THAT I ENJOYED THAT KIND OF RESPONSIBILITY, AND WAS INDEED ABLE TO SHOW A PROFIT AT TIMES, EVEN THOUGH NONE OF THE AUTO AGENCYS HAD SHOWN A PROFIT FOR SEVERAL YEARS. I WAS DISAPPOINTED WHEN DAD WAS ABLE TO CLOSE OTTOWA, BUT DID NOT TRY TO DISSUADE HIM SINCE I WAS NOT YET SURE ENOUGH OF MY MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES.

I THEN WENT BACK TO FT. JENNINGS. GEORGE BRENNER WANTED TO RETIRE, BUT COULD NOT DO SO UNLESS SOMEONE WOULD TAKE OVER. DURING MY TENURE THERE THIS TIME, I BOUGHT JIM MAY'S GROCERY AND MOVED HIS STOCK ACROSS THE STREET FROM HIS STORE TO THE HARDWARE, WHRE IT WAS SEGREGATED IN A LOOSE WAY FROM THE HARDWARE INVENTORY. NEW NAME WAS "JENNINGS HOME STORE". THIS BUSINESS THEN CONSISTED OF GROCERIES, HARDWARE, NEW AND USED CARE SALES, AUTO REPAIR SHOP. EMMPLOYED WERE MYSELF, WILMA BRENNER, BOOKKEEPER AND LOUIS GOOD, SLAESMAN. IN THE SHOP PAUL WITTLER WAS THE CHIEF MECHANIC, ASSISTED AT VARIOUS TIMES BY CHICK HUNT, BUD ASKINS, AND OTHERS. PROFITS WERE FAIRLY STEADY, BUT TOO SMALL TO PROMISE A GOOD FUTURE, SINCE PROSPECTS OF IMPROVING THEM SIGNIFICANTLY DID NOT SEEM BRIGHT.

DURING ALL OF THESE YEARS, HITLER WAS CAUSING A LOT OF TROUBLE IN THE EUROPEAN THEATRE. FRANCE HAD FALLEN AND ENGLAND WAS TOTTERING. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT WAS OBIOIUSLY SYMPATHETIC TO ENGLADN'S PLIGHT AND WANTED TO ASSIST THEM IN ANY WAY WE COULD, BUT WAS LIMITED BY A MAJORITY IN CONGRESS AND THE ELECTORATE WHO WERE DETERMINED TO STAY OUT OF WAR. THEN, ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, DECEMBER 8, 1941, WHILE I WAS WORKING AT THE GROCERY IN FORT JENNINGS I HEARD NEWS OVER THE RADIO THAT CHANGED MY LIFE AS WELL AS THE LIVES OF MANY MILLIONS ALL OVER THE WORLD. JAPAN HAD BOMBED PEARL HARBOR. I IMMEDIATELY KNOEW THAT ALL ANTI-WAR SENTIMENT WOULD BE OVERCOME AND THAT I WOULD BE DRAFTED. EVEN THOUGH I HAD OPPOSED ENTRY INTO THE WAR, I WAS SWEPT UP IN THE EXCITEMENT AND PROBABLY WOULD HAVE ENLISTED, EXCEPT THAT MY DAD HAD NO ONE TO TAKE OVER THE STORE AT FR. JENNINGS. IN THE ENSUING WEEKS, HOWEVER, AGREEMENT WAS REACHED TO SELL THE FT. JENNINGS BUSINESS TO LOUIS GOOD, SO THAT WHEN MY NUMBER CAME UP I WAS DRAFTED IN MARCH OF 1942.

I LEFT VAN WERT EARLY ONE MORNING FOR INDIANAPOLIS WHERE I WAS INDUCTED AT FT. BENJAMIN HARRISON. WE WERE TRANSPORTED IN ONE OF THE OLD GREYHOUND BUSSES--THE KIND THAT STILL HAD THE ENGINE UNDER A HOOD PROTRUDING FROM THE FRONT, RATHER THAN A REAR MOUNTED ENGINE SUCH AS BECAME MORE POPULAR SOON THEREAFTER.

TRAVEL LOG WHILE IN THE USAF
MARCH 2, 1942 TO DECEMBER 2, 1945

3/2/42 INDUCTED AT FT. BENJAMIN HARRISON, INDIANAPOLIS
3/5/42 ARRIVED AT JEFFERSON BARRACKS, ST. LOUIS
3/10/42 AR CHNUTE FILED, RANTOUL, ILLINOIS
9/10/42 AR SHAW FIELD, SUMTER S.C.
10/21/42 AR CAMP MILLS, HEMPSTEAD, NY (LONG ISLAND)
12/11/42 LV HEMPSTEAD VIA URAGUAY(29000 TONS) IN CONVOY
12/24/42 AR CASABLANCA, MOROCCO
1/2/43 AR YOUKS LES BAINS, TUNISIA, VIA ALGIERS
4/24/43 AR AIN M'LILA, ALGERIA
5/20/43 AR RABAT, MOROCCO
9/9/43 AR CONSTANTINE, ALGERIA, VIA FREIGHT TRAIN
11/13/43 AR ALGER, L'ALGERIE (ALGIERS, ALGERIA)
11/23/44 AR ATAR, FRENCH WEST AFRICA (MAURITANIA)
NAY 45 MAND OVER NIGHT TRIP TO DAKAR TO VISIT ROSIE ROSENKRANTZ AND WILLIE RABERN
6/12/45 LV ATAR, AR CASABLANCA
6/14/45 LV CASABLANCA
6/15/45 AR TUNIS, TUNISIA
8/15/45 TEMPORARY DUTY TO ROME, PISA, NAPLES, VESUVIUS, CAPRI, WITH RBB AND CLAWSON
8/28/45 AR TUNIS
9/21/5 AR CAIRO, WITH INDICATIONS OF JAUNDICE
9/24/45 HOSPITALIZED IN CAIRO WITH HEPATITUS
11/1/45 TRANSFERRED TO HOSPITAL IN CASABLANCA, VIA PLANE
11/21/45 LV CASABLANCA VIA CRISTOBAL (10000 TON)
12/2/45 AR NEWPORT NEWS, VA AFTER 10 DAYS OF STORMY SEAS
ADDS UP TO 3 YRS, 9 MONTHS

AFTER A SHORT STAY AT BEN HARRISON, WHRE I TOOK AN IQ TEST, I WAS ASSIGNED TO THE USAF AND SENT TO JEFFERSON BARRACKS IN ST. LOUIS. A FEW DAYS THERE AND I WAS CALLED IN TO TALK TO A PERSONEL SGT, WHO OFFERED ME A CHANCE TO GO TO CHANUTE FIELD WHERE A CLASS WAS STARTING FOR WEATHER FORECASTERS. I TOLD HIM I HAD PLANNED ON APPLYING FOR OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOL, BUT HE CONVINCED ME THAT I WOULD BECOME A TOP NCO AS A FORECASTER AND THAT I MIGHT FIND THAT MORE SATISFACTORY THAN A COMMISSION.

I ARRIVED AT CHANUTE FIELD MARCH 10, 1942 FOR A SIX MONTH COURSE IN FORECASTING. THESE SUMMER MONTHS WERE EXCITING. I ENJOYED THE SCHOOLING, BUT EVEN MORE I ENJOYED THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A FEW TRIPS TO CHICAGO WHERE MARIAN WAS ENROLLED FOR A TERM AT NORTHWESTERN TO GET HER MASTERS DEGREE IN MUSIC. I THAINK I SAW HER THERE THREE OR FOUR TIMES, ENOUGH TO KEEP OUT ON AND OFF ROMANCE ALIVE DURING THE YEARS I WAS OUT OF THE COUNTRY.

I ARRIVED AT SHAW FIELD, SUMTER, S.C. SEPTERMBER 10, 1942 FOR MY FIRST ASSIGNMENT AS A FOREVASTER. SHORTLY AFTER ARRIVAL, I RECEIVED MY FIRST PROMOTION WHEN ORDERS CAME THROUGH MAKING ME A STAFF SERGEANT. THIS WAS A TRAINING FIELD FOR PILOTS USING PRIMARY TRAINERS--BI-PLANES THAT COULD LAND AT SUCH A LOW SPEED THAT THEY HARDLY SEEMED TO MOVE IF THEY CAME DOWN INTO A STIFF HEAD WIND. IT WAS PLEASANT AT SHAW FILED, AND I GOT WHAT WAS TO BE MY ONLY FURLOUGH WHILE THERE TO RETURN HOME FOR MY PARENTS 50TH WEDDING CELEBRATION--OCTOBER 12, 1942. I DROVE TO WELLSTON TO SEE MARIAN A FEW DAYS LATER. THEN I HAD A CALL FROM DELPHOS THAT A TELEGRAM HAD ARRIVED ORDERING ME BACK TO SHAW FILD IMMEDIATELY FOR FOREIGN SERVICE. I DROVE MARIAN BACK TO HERE TEACHING JOB IN SANDUSKY, THEN WENT HOME AND "RETURNED IMMEDIATELY".

LEFT SHAW FIELD AND ARRIVED AT HEMPSTEAD, NY TO FIND MYSELF GROUPED WITH ABOUT TWO OR THREE HUNDRED OTHER WEATHER FORECASTERS AND OBSERVERS TO FORM THE 12TH WEATHER SQUADRON. WHILE WAITING TO SHIP OUT, SOME DESULTORY EFFORTS WERE MADE TO KEEP US BUSY. I REMEMBER A CLASS OF SOME KIND TO ATTEND, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER MORE THAN ONE SESSION. WE WERE DEVIDED UP INTO TEN OR TWELVE STATIONS AND ASSIGNED ONE OR TWO OFFICERS TO EACH STATION. WE WERE ARMED WITH TOMMY GUNS--LEFT OVER FROM A PREVIOUS GENERATION OF SOLDIERS, I PRESUME. THEN WE WERE LEFT FREE TO CATCH THE LI RR IN TO MANHATTAN, ALMOST ANY TIME WE WANTED TO GO. SINCE MY SISTER, ALIDA, WAS WORKING THERE AT THAT TIME I VISITED HER WITH MY FRIENDS MANY TIMES, AND WE ALL ENJOYED HER ADVICE ABOUT THE BIG APPLE. WILLIE RABERN, ONE OF THE BEST FRIENDS I MADE WHILE IN THE SERVICE, WAS MY MOST CONSTANT COMPANION FOR OUR TRIPS TO TOWN, SOME OF WHICH CONSISTED OF NO MORE THAN A VISIT TO ONE BAR AFTER ANOTHER.

ON DECEMBER 4, 1942, WE LEFT HEMPSTEAD AND WERE TRUCKED TO STATEN ISLAND WHERE WE BOARDED THE URAGUAY (29000 TONS), ESTIMATED BY ALL OF US TO BE CARRYING ABOUT 10000 TROOPS. WHERE DOES AN ESTIMATE LIKE THIS ORIGINATE? WHO KNOWS? IT WAS BIG, BIG. WE SAILED A FEW HOURS AFTER BOARDING, AND JOINED A LARGE CONVOY. THE WEATHER WAS VERY BAD, AT LEAST SO IT SEEMED TO ALL OF US. FOR 3 OR 4 DAYS IT WAS VERY BAD, AND MANY CASES OF SEA SICKNESS WERE OBSERVED. THERE WERE SHOWERS AVAILABLE, BUT IT TURNED OUT THAT THE WATER WAS PUMPED INTO THEM DIRECTLY FROM THE OCEAN. ONE EXPERIENCE WITH THAT WAS ENOUGH. I DID NOT SHOWER A SECOND TIME, AND THINK FEW DID.

THIS CONVOY WAS A BIG ONE. WE NEVER COULD MAKE A GOOD COUNT OF ALL THE SHIPS, SINCE THEY EXTENDED ALMOST TO THE HORIZON. WE WERE PROBABLY SOMEWHERE NEAR TEH CENTER, AND COULD SPEND HOURS JUST WATCHING ALL THOSE SHIPS PLOWING ALONG. TWO SHIPS ON OUR PORT SIDE WERE PARTICUARLY INTERESTING. ONE, AN OIL TANKER, WAS, OF COURSE, FULLY LOADED AND RODE VERY LOW IN THE WATER. WHEN IT FELL INTO A TROUGH OF THESE VERY ROUGH SEAS, IT WOULD VIRTUALLY DISAPPEAR FROM SIGHT. THEN IT WOULD REAPPEAR AND SLOWLY RISE TO ITS FULL GLORY, ONLY TO IMMEDIATELY START ANOTHER DESCENT. I NEVER LOST INTEREST IN THE RISE AND FALL OF THAT TANKER. ANOTHER SHIP OF INTEREST WAS A LARGE NAVAL VESSEL, WE LABELED IT A CRUISER, IN ALL IGNORANCE, SINCE WE DIDN'T THINK OUR NAVY HAD ANY BATTLESHIPS THAT BIG. IT CARRIED AN OBSERVATION PLANE WHICH WOULD BE LAUNCHED BY A CATAPULT, CIRCLE AROUND OVER THE CONVOY FOR A WHILE, AND THEN LAND ON THE WATER AND TAXI BACK UP TO MAMMA TO BE WINCHED ABOARD. WE HAD A NUMBER OF DESTROYERS CONSTANTLY CIRCLING THE OUTER LIMITS OF THE CONVOY, AT TIMES SO FAR OUT THAT THEY WERE PARTIALLY BELOW THE HORIZON.

AFTER SOME DAYS OF STORMY AND COLD WEATHER, WE CAME TO CALM SEAS AND WARM AIR. I DON'T REMEMBER WHEN WE LEARNED THAT OUR DESTINATION WAS CASABLANCA, BUT THE WARM WEATHER WOULD HAVE TIPPED US OFF, IF WE HADN'T BEEN TOLD SOONER. THESE WERE DAYS OF LEISURE. SITTING ON THE DECK PLAYING HEARTS. LEANING OVER THE RAIL. WATCHING THE CONVOY. SEA SICKNESS MOSTLY GONE. THEN ONE NIGHT THE ENGINES ON OUR SHIP STOPPED, AND WHEN DAWN CAME, WE WERE ALL ALONE. NO CONVOY, NO EXPLANATION, NOT EVEN A RUMOR. WE SAT THERE ALL DAY AND THE NEXT NIGHT OUT ENGINES STARTED UP, AND THE NEXT MORNING WE WERE BACK IN PLACE WITH OUT FRIENDLY CRUISER AND TANKER ON THE PORT. ALL IN ALL IT WAS A WONDERFUL AND MEMORABLE TRIP.

WE ARRIVED AT CASABLANCA ON CHRISTMAS EVE AND IMMEDIATELY WERE LINED UP FOR A MARCH INLAND TO FIND A PLACE TO PITCH OUR TENTS. RAYMOND EDIC AND I HAD AGREED TO SHARE A PUP TENT. A SHELTER HALF HAD BEEN ISSUED TO EACH OF US, AND A PARTNER WAS IMPERATIVE IF ONE WAS TO SET UP A PUPTENT, SHELTER HALF MEANING JUST WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE--HALF A TENT. WE GOT TO OUR BIVOUAC AREA AFTER MIDNIGHT, ONLY TO FIND THAT THE TRUCKS THAT WERE HAULING OUR BARRACKS BAGS HAD NOT ARRIVED. LET ME INSERT A WORD ABOUT BARRACKS BAGS. THEY ARE A LARGE CLOTH BAG EQUUIPPED WITH A DRAWSTRING AND ARE DESIGNED TO CARRY ALL OF ONES POSSESSIONS WHEREVER ONE GOES, IFONE CARRIES THE BARRACKS BAGS. ONE TIES THE DRAWSTRINGS TOGETHER AND THEREBY MANAGES TO CARRY BOTH BAGS DRAPED OVER THE SHOULDERS, UNTIL ONE COLLAPSES. THEN ONE GETS UP AND STARTS OUT AGAIN. ONE HAS ALL HIS CLOTHES IDENTIFIED WITH HIS MARK--IN MY CASE IT WAS R1431-SO THAT ONES PROPERTY CAN BE PROBMPLY RETURNED IF ONE MISLAYS ANY OF IT. THAT MARK DERIVES FROM A SHORT FORM OF RAABE 35041431, MY NAME AND SERIAL NUMBER. ONE WILL NEVER FORGET LIVING OUT OF BARRACKS BAGS.

FROM CASABLANCA, OUR VARIOUS STATIONS WERE SHIPPED OUT VIA AIR TRANSPORT TO STATIONS ACROSS MOROCCO, ALGERIA, AND SOUTHER TUNISIA. WE LEFT ON NEW YEARS DAY AND FLEW TO ALGIERS WHERE WE LANDED AND SPENT THE NIGHT IN A HANGAR. THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO PLACE TO LAY ONES HEAD, EXCEPT THAT CONCRETE FLOOR, SO WE HAD TO SPREAD A BLANKET AND MAKE A TRY AT IT. A NIGHT THAT GOES DOWN IN INFAMY. THE NEXT MORNING WE AGAIN GOT ON THE TRANSPORT AND FLEW WITH A FIGHTER ESCORT OF P-51S TO YOUKS LES BAINS IN SOUTHERN TUNISIA, ABOUT 50 MILES FROM GENERAL ROMMEL AND HIS AFRICA CORPS. THERE WAS ONLY ONE AIR BASE FARTHER UP, AND THAT WAS AT TELERGMA, PROBABLY 20 MILES CLOSER TO THE FRONT. CONDITIONS WERE ABOUT THE SAME, I SUPPOSE, SINCE NO PLACE COULD HAVE BEEN CLOSER TO NATURE THAN GOOD OLD YOUKS. WE GOT OFF THE PLANE, UNLOADED OUR BARRACKS BAGS AND OUR WEATHER STATION EQUIPMENT AT THE SIDE OF THE RUNWAY, AND THEN AS USUAL IN THE ARMY, QUIETLY SAT AROUND WAITING FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. JUST AT THIS TIME SOME GERMAN PLANES FLEW OVER AND BOMBED THE RUNWAY. LUCKILY THERE AIM WAS GOOD, BUT WE GOT THE SCARE OF OUR LIVES OUT OF THAT EPISODE. SHRAPNEL WAS FLYING ALL AROUND US, BUT NO ONE WAS HIT. WE PICKED UP THE PIECES AND IT WAS UGLY.

AFTER THAT RAID IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF MINUTES UNTIL WE FOUND A SUITABLE HOMESITE AND STARTED DIGGING A HOLE TO SET OUR PUP TENTS OVER. THESE HOLES WERE PUP TENT SIZED AND ABOUT TWO OR THREE FEET DEEP. WE COULD KEEP ONE BARRACKS BAG APIECE IN THE V FORMED BY THE TEND, AND OUR OTHER BAG WAS KEPT IN A PYRAMIDAL TENT ALONG WITH ANOTHER DOZEN OR SO BAGS AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. AFTER DIGGING OUR PERSONAL HOLES, WE DUG IN FOR YOUR WEATHER STATION. PROBABLY ABOUT 8X10 FEET AND ALMOST HEAD HIGH. PILING THE DIRT UP AROUND ALL THE EDGES SAVED GOING MORE THAN 3 OR 4 FEET DOWN. WE EVENTUALLY DUG ANOTHER HOLE FOR A DAY ROOM, MAKING THIS ONE DEEP ENOUGH TO STAND IN COMFORTABLY, BUT STILL RATHER CROWDED FOR 15 OR 20 MEN TO SPEND THE EVENINGS.

YOUKS LES BAINS, AS YOU MIGHT TELL BY THE NAME, IF YOU HAVE STUDIED FRENCH, WAS THE SITE OF AN OLD ROMAN BATH--THE FIRST OF MANY RUINS FROM ROMAN TIMES THAT WE WERE TO SEE IN EASTERN ALGERIA AND TUNISIA. THIS BATH WAS BUILT OVER A SPRING OF WARM WATER THAT IS PROBABLY STILL BEING USED BY THE LOCAL POPULATION. WE DID GO DOWN THERE ONCE AND TOOK A BATH, BUT CONDITIONS WERE NOT OF THE MOST SANITARY, AND WE DIDN'T FEEL MUCH CLEANER AFTER WE GOT OUT.

FROM THEN ON FOR ABOUT 2 MONTHS, NONE OF US BATHED, ALTHOUGH AS THE DAYS BECAME WARMER, WE WOULD HEAT UP SOME WATER AND DO A SPONGE BATH OCCASIONALLY. THERE WERE MORE COLD AND RAINY DAYS THAN I WOULD LIKE TO ADMIT, BUT I DID LEARN THAT ONE CAN LIVE DIRTY AND LIKE IT WHEN ONE HAS NO CHOICE. THERE WAS NO LAUNDRY SERVICE, NOT EVEN FACILITIES. IT WAS UP TO US TO DO OUR OWN, AND AMAZINGLY ENOUGH, WE WERE ABLE TO COME UP WITH A SOLUTION. THERE WAS A HUGE PILE OF 5 GALLON GASOLINE TINS IN WHICH FUEL FOR THE PLANES HAD ARRIVED. MAKING A STOVE OUT OF ONE TIN, AND A TUB OUT OF ANOTHER AND USING GASOLINE FOR A FIRE, WE WOULD BOIL OUR CLOTHING UNTIL WE FELT IT WAS AT LEAST STERILE, IF NOT EXACTLY CLEAN. IT WAS AT YOUKS THAT SOME OF US DECIDED TO CUT OUR HAIR, AND AFTER MUCH BICKERING ABOUT WHO WOULD CUT OR BE CUT, FIRST, WE ARRANGED TO TRADE CUTS. I WILL LET YOU CUT MINE IF YOU WILL LET ME CUT YOURS. A PASSING CATHOLIC CHAPLAIN PAUSED TO GIVE SOME ADVICE, EXPLAINING THAT THEY HAD TO CUT EACH OTHERS HAIR IN SEMINARY.

THE RAINY, COLD DAYS BECAME LESS FREQUENT BY THE END OF FEBRUARY, AND ABOUT THAT TIME A PORTABLE SHOWER WAS CONSTRUCTED OVER NEAR THE END OF THE RUNWAY. WE WERE NO LONGER DEPENDENT ON STANDING OUT IN THE OPEN TO WASH DOWN AS FAR AS POSSIBLE...UP AS FAR AS..AND NEVER REALLY GETTING POSSIBLE CLEAN. AS TEH DAYS WARMED UP THE RAIN ALSO CAME LESS FREQUENTLY, AND WE THOROUGHLY ENJOYED OURSLEVES. EVEN HAD A VOLLEY BALL COURT.

SPRING BROUGHT MANY PERFECT DAYS. WE WENT TO MESS ONE DAY AND WERE SERVED CHERRY COBBLER. WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS THE EUPHORIA OF THAT MOMENT. IN LATE APRIL WE MOVED FROM YOUKS TO AIN M'LILA, RECEIVED ANOTHER SHELTER HALF APIECE AND DID NOTHING BUT LOLL AROUND FOR A MONTH. THEN GOT ORDERS TAKING US TO RABAT IN MOROCCO, A LOVELY CITY NORTH OF CASABLANCA. GONE WERE THE PUPTENTS, THE REST OF MY YEARS IN AFRICA WERE SPENT EITHER UNDER ROOF OR IN PYRAMIDAL TENTS.

WE SPENT THE SUMMER AT THE RABAT AIRPORT AND ENJOYED WEATHER WHICH COULD ONLY BE EQUALED BY THAT OF SAN DIEGO. EVERY MORNING AT 10 AM A SEA BREEZE CAM UP WHICH LOWERED THE TEMPERATURE FROM NEAR 90 DEGREES TO ABOUT 80 FOR THE REST OF THE DAY.

THEN, IN SEPTEMBER, THE BRITISH TOOK OVER THE AIRPORT THERE AND WE WERE TRANSFERED TO CONSTANTINE, ALGERIA, PERHAPS 1000 MILES EAST. WE TOOK OUR WOODEN BUNKS FROM OUR BARRACKS IN RABAT TO THE RAIL YARDS AND NAILED THEM DOWN IN WAITING FRENCH 40-ET-8 FREIGHT CARS, THEREBY GAINING ALMOST ALL THE ADVANTAGES OF A PULLMAN CAR. THE TRIP TO CONSTANTINE TOOK US OVER THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS AND THROUGH THE HEARST OF MOROCCO AND ALGERIA. WE REALLY HAD A GREAT TIME ON THAT FREIGHT CAR. OUT NEW WEATHER STATION WAS RIGHT IN THE CITY IN A SCHOOL BUILDING. ANOTHER LOVELY CITY AND MOST INTERESTING. WE HAD A PRIVATE TELETYPE LINE TO THE FRENCH WEATHER STATION AT THE AIRPORT, AND ALTHOUGH I NEVER GOT OUT TO MEET OUR COLLEAGUES THERE, I HAD A LOT OF FUN SENDING THEM MESSAGES IN MY BROKEN FRENCH (WITH A GERMAN WORD THROWN IN HERE AND THERE). OUR OBSERVERS MADE A DAILY TRIP OUT TO TAKE THEM OUR COPY OF THE FORCAST, AND REPORTED TO ME THAT SOME OF MY MESSAGES HAD THEM ROLLING IN THE AISLES.

TWO MONTHS LATER, IN NOVEMBER, I RECEIVED ORDERS TAKING ME FROM MY BERY GOOD FRIENDS IN CONSTANTINE AND TRANSFERRING ME TO MAISON BLANCHE AIRPORT AT ALGIERS. I FELT DEVASTATED TO BE SEPARATED FROM THOSE GUYS, BUT AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS AT ALGIERS, OF COURSE, I HAD NEW FRIENDS AND ALL WAS WELL ONCE MORE.

I REMAINED AT ALGIERS A LITTLE MORE THAN A YEAR, AS STATION CHIEF OF OUR LARGEST WEATHER STATION. DURING THIS YEAR I BECAME QUITE FAMILIAR WITH THE CITY AND A BEACH JUST EAST, AS WELL AS HAVING AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A DAY TRIP TO BLIDA, AND A FOUR DAY TRIP TO BOU SAADA, PERHAPS 100 MILES TO THE SOUTH.

THE TRIP TO BOU SAADA IS WORTY OF COMMENT. IT ALL CAME ABOUT WHEN DAVE KULSTEIN CAME TO ME ONE DAY WITH THE INFORMATION THAT HE HAD FOUND A COOK'S TOUR OFFICE IN ALGIERS AND WE COULD BUY A TOUR TO BOU SAADA, IF WE COULD GET PERMISSION TO MAKE THE TRIP. DAVE AND I WERE FRIENDLY COMPETITORS AT THE CHESS BOARD, BUT I SUPPOSE MY MAIN ASSET WAS THAT MY RANK MIGHT BE HELPFUL IN PERSUADING THE CAPTIAN TO LET US GO. HE DID AND WE DID. WE TRAVELED BY BUS, WHICH WAS THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME. SHARING A BUS WITH NOTHING BUT ARABS AND THEIR PRODUCE AND LIVESTOCK REMAINS VIVIDLY IN MY MEMORY. TWO DAYS SPENT AT BOU SAADA IN A VACANT RESORT HOTEL, WITH AND ARAB GUIDE FULL TIME WAS ALSO QUITE EMORABLE, ESPECIALLY THE DANCING GIRLS THAT OMAR--OUR GUIDE--TOOK US TO SEE ONE NIGHT.

BOU SAADA IS IN DRY COUNTRY, REALLY AN OASIS, I SUPPOSE, ON THE VERY NORTHER FRINGE OF THE SAHARA, AND IRRIGATED BY A RESERVOIR. VERY NICE IN PEACE TIME, I SHOULD THINK, BUT SORT OF DESERTED WHEN WE WERE THERE, EXCEPT FOR THE NATIVE POPULATION. WHILE AT ALGIERS, I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO FLY TO GIBRALTAR. I WAS THE ONLY PASSENGER THAT DAY, AND WHEN WE WERE APPROACHING THE LANDING STRIP, THE CO-PILOT CAME BACK AND INVITED ME INTO THE COCKPIT TO WATCH THE LANDING. HE RIGHTLY THOUGHT I WOULD BE INTERESTED. THAT STRIP STARTED IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND ENDED IN THE ATLANTIC (OR VISA VERSA, I SUPPOSE), THE ONLY PLACE IT COULD HAVE BEEN BUILT. THERE WAS A QUEASY FEELING THAT WE MUST BE SURE NOT TO OVERRUN, AS I HAD KNOWN OF PLANES DOING A FEW TIMES. THIS RUNWAY WAS AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE ONLY ROAD FROM SPAIN INTO GIBRALTAR, AND ALL TRAFFIC WAS HELD UP WHILE PLANES WERE LANDING OR TAKING OFF. I WAS ABLE TO WALK UP HILL AND THROUGH A TUNNEL IN THE BICK ROCK FROM THE ATLANTIC SIDE ALL THE WAY TO THE EAST SIDE. COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING IN THE TUNNEL, SINCE ALL THE DOORS TO SIDE PASSAGES WERE LOCKED AND OFF BOUNDS. AND I DON'T RECALL EVEN MEETING A BRITISH SOLDIER UP THERE. THEY MUST NOT HAVE HAD VERY STRICT SECURITY, AS I REMEMBER IT. PROBABLY IT WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TODAY IN PEACETIME. BUT I DID IT ONCE AND AM SURE I'LL NEVER AGAIN HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY.

SHORTLY AFTER RETURNING TO ALGIERS, I AGAIN RECEIVED ORDERS TO TRANSFER TO ATAR, MAURITANIA, IN FRENCH WEST AFRICA. THIS WAS ONE OF A CHAIN FOR AIRFIELDS STRECHING DOWN FROM FLORIDA TO SOUTH AMERICA, THEN ACROSS TO DAKAR, AND NORTH TO CASABLANCA, USEFUL TO GET PLANES WHICH HAD LIMITED RANGE ACROSS THE OCEAN. I GET EXCITED EVEN YET JUST WRITING ABOUT ATAR. THERE WERE ONLY ABOUT 100 AMERICAN PERSONEL THERE--MAINTENANCE MEN FOR THE PLANES, WEATHER MEN, SIGNAL CORPS (WE USUALLY HAD SIGNAL CORPSE DETACHMENTS WITH US AT OUR WEATHER STATIONS). ATAR WAS TRULY IN THE SAHARA. A LUSH OASIS WITH PLENTIFUL WATER FROM A RIVER THAT WENT UNDERGROUND MOST OF THE YEAR, ONLY RUNNING IT ITS BED DURING THE INFREQUENT SHOWERS DURING AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER. FRENCH TROOPS WERE STATIONED THERE, ONE OF WHOME, ALBERT SOULANET, BECAME OUR FRIEND, INVITED US TO PLAY TENNIS ON THEIR COURT, HAD US IN FOR A GLASS OF WINE. ATAR WAS ALSO A BASE FOR A DETACHMENT OF THE FRENCH CAMEL CORPS, WHICH RECEIVES MANY ACCOLADES IN A BOOK I HAVE --"SAHARA" BY JOHN JULIUS NORWICH. ON ONE OCCASION WE WERE IN TOWN WHEN THIS CORPS PUT ON A COLORFUL DISPLAY BY RACING DOWN THE MAIN STREET IN FULL DRESS UNIFORM, FOUR ABREAST, ON THEIR WHITE CAMELS. WE ROAMED THE TOWN, FASCINATED BY THE IRRIGATION SYSTEM FOR THEIR GARDENS ANDOTHER SIGHTS. WATER WAS BROUGHT UP FROM WELLS VIA DONKEY POWER. WEATHER WAS AN INTERESTING ASPECT OF MY TOUR IN ATAR. IT WAS WARM AND BALMY ALL DURING THE WINTER MONTHS. WE HAD ONE PERIOD WHEN HIGH WINDS WHIPPED THE SAND UP AND INTO EVERYTHING--OUR CLOTHES, STATION, EYES, EVEN OUR FOOD. MOSTLY, HOWEVER, THERE WAS LITTLE AIR MOVEMENT, AND ON THOSE QUIET DAYS WE WOULD USUALLY HAVE DUST DEVILS FLOATING AROUND. DUST DEVILS ARE A SMALL TO MODERATE WHIRLWIND CAUSED BY THE SUN'S HEAT. THEY WILL DO THIER THING IN ONE SPOT FOR QUITE A WHILE, AND THEN WILL SLOWLY MOVE OFF, PICKING UP DUST AND SMALL PARTICLES AND CARRYING THEM UP TO A HEIGHT OF PERHAPS 50 TO 100 FEET. ONE DAY WE HAD ONE OF THEM MOVE OVER OUR WEATHER STATION, AND FOUND THE SUDDEN DROP IN PRESSURE AT THE CENTER RECOREDED ON OUR BAROGRAPH. ANOTHER PHENOMENON WHICH WE OFTEN OBSERVED WAS A HAZE OF DUST HANGING IN THE AIR, RESTRICTING VISIBILITY TO PERHAPS 2 MILES OR LESS. WE CALLED IT TROPICAL AIR HAZE, AND IT IS MY THEORY THAT IT IS THE SOURCE OF YOUR HAZY SUMMER DAYS IN OHIO, AS A RESULT OF ITS LONG JOURNEY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO, AND THENCE NORTH UP THE MISSISSIPPI AND OHIO VALLEYS. I HOPPED A PLANE RIDE TO DAKAR ON ONE OF THOSE HAZY DAYS, AND WAS INTERESTED TO NOTE THAT, ALTHOUGH WE COULD ALWAYSE SEE THE GROUND STRAIGHT BELOW US, A HORIZONTAL VIEW WHEN WE WERE FLYING ABOVE THE HAZE WAS MUCH LIKE LOOKING AT DIRTY CLOUDS.

BY THE TIME I LEFT ATAR, IN JUNE, DAILY TEMPERATURES WERE REACHING 105 DEGREES, ALTHOUGH WE WERE SLEEPING OUTSIDE AT NIGHT UNDER BLANKETS. THERE WERE NO MOSQUITOS.

MY NEXT STATION WAS TUNIS, WHERE I WAS STATIONED FOR THE SUMMER OF 1945. THIS WAS ANOTHER POSH ASSIGNMENT. THE ENLISTED MEN HAD THEIR OWN BEACH CLUB AND ICE CREAM WAS AVAILABLE DAILY IN THE HALLWAY JUST OUTSIDE OUT WEATHER STATION. RABB AND PETERSEN WERE WITH ME HERE AGAIN (HAVING LEFT ATAR BEFORE I DID) AND WE DID A LOT OF ROAMING AROUND, INCLUDING A VISIT TO THE RUINS OF CARTHAGE.

WHILE AT TUNIS, I WAS AFFORDED AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A TRIP TO ITALY, ALONG WITH RABB AND CLAWSON. WE SPENT 13 DAYS IN ROME, PISA, NAPLES, CAPRI, AND CLIMED VESUVIUS WHILE THE ASHES WERE STILL HOT IN SPOTS FROM AN ERUPTION THAT OCCURRED SOMETIME DURING THE WAR.

A FEW WEEKS AFTER OR RETURN FROM ITALY, I RECEIVED ORDERS TO GO TO CAIRO TO CATCH A RIDE HOME TO THE US. HOWEVER, I WAS NOT FEELING VERY WEL, AND HAD TO CHECK INTO THE MEDICS WHEN I ARRIVED AT CAIRO. IT WAS HEPATITUS AND I WAS HOSPITALIZED, THEREBY MISSING A RIDE HOME ON THE LIBERTY SHIP WHICH TOOK MANY OF MY OLD FRIENDS ABOARD.

I SPENT OVER A MONTH IN THE CAIRO HOSPITAL, THEN VIA PLANE TO BE HOSPITALIZED AT CASABLANCA. WHILE IN THE LATTER, I WAS OFTEN VISITED BY FRANCIS HARPER, ONE OF MY FRIENDS WHO WAS THEN STATIONED AT THE WEATHER STATION THERE. HE WOULD COME IN WITH A SACK OF ORANGES AND PLAY CHESS WITH ME. ABOUT 20 DAYS IN CASA, AND I HAD A CHANCE TO GET A RIDE HOME ON A 10,000 TON SHIP, THE CRISTOBAL, STARTING ANOTHER MOMENTOUS 10 DAYS. IT WAS NOT A LARGE SHIP AND THE ATLANTIC WAS SORMY AT LEAST SEVEN OF THE TEN DAYS. A VERY ROUGH RIDE!!

DECEMBER 2, 1945 ARRIVAL AT NEWPORT NEWS, VA. A CHANCE TO SHOWER, GET INTO CLEAN UNDERWEAR. THE MESS HALL THAT NIGHT SERVED FILET MIGNONNE--AS MANY AS YOU COULD EAT. THE NEXT DAY I WAS ON A TRAIN TO INDIANTOWN GAP, PA WHERE I WAS DISCHARGED WITH A NEW SET OF WINTER OD'S, INCLUDING AN EISENHOUR JACKET. WE HAD NEVER HAD OD'S IN AFRICA, WEARING SUN TANS FOR NEARLY 3 YEARS.

EXCEPT FOR OUR MEMORABLE TRAIN RIDE, ALL TRAVEL WAS BY PLANE WHILE IN AFRICA AND ITALY. IT WAS ONLY NECESSARY TO HITCH A RIDE TO THE AIRPORT AND THE FIRST PLANE WITH EXTRA ROOM WOULD TAKE US ON. WE NEVER KNEW WHERE WE WOULD BE GOING UNTIL WE FOUND A PLANE TO TAKE US THERE, WHICH MADE FOR SOME INTERESTING SIGHTSEEING. WHEN WE GOT THERE, WE COULD ALWAYS FIND AN ARMY OR AIRFORCE DETACHMENT WITH A MESS HALL AND A PLACE TO SLEEP. I MIGHT ADD THAT SLEEPING IN PISA WAS SHEER TORTURE, SINCE WE HAD A BED AND BLANKETS, BUT NO MOSQUITO BAR TO PROTECT US. OTHER THAN THAT, WE ENJOYED PISA. I HAVE A PICTURE OF RABB HOLDING UP THE TOWER, WHICH TURNED OUT QUITE WELL.

WRITTEN BY HOWARD RAABE OVER PERIOD OF MONTHS IN 1996-97