WEBVTT

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 Yeah,

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it seems weeks since last goodbyes
were said and I started on what will

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undoubtedly be the greatest adventure
of my lifetime. I was a week to the

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hour almost managing a departure for
the pacific from Arizona processing

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in san Francisco and at Hamilton's
field, which I mentioned to you in a

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special broadcast recently was simple
compared to the complications

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involved in securing passage. Once the
last signatures were added to vital

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documents, there began a tedious
period of waiting for transportation. I

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remained in san Francisco during the
first part of this period. It was

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handier in a lot of ways and then two.
I must confess that I was eager to

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maintain contact with the things of
home as long as humanly possible.

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Following my first alert, I left the
city on scarcely two hours notice. I

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was as excited as a boy with a new air
gun and last I was away for the

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orient and the war in the pacific you
can imagine how disappointed I was

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to arrive at the Hamiltons field poor
control office and learned that the

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flight for which I had been called had
been canceled, hoping that another

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would be set up in a matter of hours.
Being very anxious to lose no time

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in reporting for it. I decided to
remain at the field. It was an

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experience I'll never forget because
it was my first introduction to the

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daily life of an army post. To me, it
seemed quite rugged, but I learned

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from the many with whom I talked at
Hamilton's Field was a country club

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existence in comparison with
Regulation Army life sitting in the club

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provided for the visiting officer
personnel. One evening I found two young

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infantry lieutenants reading the
latest issues of time and fortune

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character of the magazines and the
makeup of the boys prompted me to open

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a conversation with them. As the
opportunity came around, they were

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California boys, graduates of the
University of California, they had

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finished their training at camp
roberts and we're leaving immediately for

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the pacific as officer replacement.
After the usual small talk, one of

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them challenged me with this question,
What do you think about compulsory

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military training after the war? I
told him why I thought it might be an

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excellent idea and from there the
discussion was underway for a time. It

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was just the three of us, so to speak.
And then a third and the fourth

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were added for 1/4 and 1/5 I should
say

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Two of the deliberate ear's produced
three in favor of the idea and one

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decidedly opposed. And as a final
argument in the direction of the

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opposition, I said, what about the
results of ROTC and National Guard

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training? Have you found it an
advantage to those whom you have been

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responsible for training? This boy who
had been objecting, came back with

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the generalization that he had never
been particularly impressed with the

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class of reaction received from the
average ROTC National Guard trainee.

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His words had hardly had time to echo
through the room and they were

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softly challenged by a big raw bone
first Lieutenant who's worked with

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these, sir. If it hadn't been for the
National Guard trained men who

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joined us in the pacific in the very
beginning of the fight, we might

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still be at Port Moresby. And then he
apologized for butting into the

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conversation, but insisted that having
overheard the lieutenant's

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reference to the Guard, he couldn't
resist coming to their defense. He

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explained that he had just completed
about 40 months of combat in the

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Pacific, and he felt that he was more
or less qualified to know what the

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guard trained units had accomplished,
where others had not only been

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slower. but in many cases it actually
failed. I asked if he had had any

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contact with Arizona's 158th Infantry,
and he quickly replied, they're one

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of the best, And he went on to say
that his outfit had supported the 158

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in a number of tough actions and not
once did the 158 show any weakness

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whatsoever. I felt very proud. As I
remember general to till and the men

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who in peacetime days had given of
their time and energy to make the 158

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something worthy of the pride of every
Arizona, needless to say the

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remainder of the conversation that
evening at Hamilton's was given over to

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the experiences of this return combat
veteran withdrawing a little from

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the conversation, I was given a
wonderful opportunity to watch the untried

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with whom I had been talking, reach
for the AIDS and helps that we're

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willingly passed along by this man of
many battles. I had the feeling that

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the lives of these young officers and
the men whom they would soon be

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commanding were much safer for their
having met this friendly young man

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whose words proved over and over that
he had been there, that he knew what

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it took to survive against the cunning
japanese. I have a feeling to that

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everyone present that evening left the
circle pretty well convinced that

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compulsory military training after the
war has more good points than bad

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ones, although it must be admitted
that the bad ones are generally very

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bad and must not be overlooked in our
planning for the future. There were

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many highlights in my short stay at
Hamilton Field as headquarters for the

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famous Air transport Command. The
traffic through the place alone is

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enough to intrigue even the Dallas
visitor By the hour, great C54

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transports move on and off the field
as though they were coming and going

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from Los Angeles or Seattle Instead.
The cargo, the passengers and the

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supplies alike which they load and
unload are destined for some of the

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remotest places on earth or have just
arrived from them. The atmosphere of

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the place during these hectic days is
a strange combination of excited

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anticipation and obvious melancholy.
Men and women from all parts of the

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United States are being funneled to
Hamilton's field for the earliest

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possible too departure for the pacific
front replacement they are offering

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for men who have already served out
their time and are entitled to return

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to home. Most of them haven't seen for
more than three years. So at

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Hamilton's, you see the returnee who
realizes that the war is behind him

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home and loved ones are waiting for
him and his spirits are high. And then

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there is the soldier who looks
westward with a lot of reluctance. Not that

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he isn't eager to do his part, but
because he knows that his tomorrow's

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will be packed with danger and
possible death behind him is lee he's

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leaving the dearest things in the
world for how long he has no way to tell

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for the veteran. You feel the urge to
welcome him home with the heartiest

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kind of congratulations. The outgoing
combat man. You wish for something

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that would make they're going a little
easier and their return more of a

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certainty. The latter is hard to find.
In fact, almost impossible.

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Tragically enough. There are too many
times when the folks at home don't

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make it too easy. In a way they aren't
to be blamed in another way from

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some source, they should force
themselves to command the situation with

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cheerfulness

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and hope. These things being based on
prayers sincerely and earnestly

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uttered should be remembered. that
soldiers are human beings, they aren't

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made of steel, though their training
may have toughened them almost beyond

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belief. I'm thinking of that combat
veteran of whom I spoke a few minutes

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ago as he talked to us of his life and
death experiences in the wilds of

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the pacific. He was waiting for a long
distance call to be completed. His

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wife several times the telephone rang
and he dashed to it as though it was

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the last thing he ever expected to
hear. Finally one of the rings was for

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him. Shortly he returned to our circle
with a very queer look on his face

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. I waited for an opportune moment to
inquire if he had completed his call.

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Yes, he said. And you know what she
said when I told her who it was, The

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best she could do was oh, you're back
again. No enthusiasm. No, sure

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feeling just oh, you're back again.
Well, I did my best to convince him

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that 40 months had probably given her
a feeling of numbness that he

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couldn't expect her to overcome in an
instant. He agreed. But just the

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same 40 months hadn't made him feel
that way. So he couldn't help but be

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disappointed that she hadn't shown
more relation over hearing from him.

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Friends. We have a notion that the war
has altered our boy. I'm not so

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sure that they are the ones who have
changed true months of isolation from

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the finer things of life, A touch of
gentle hands and daily contact with

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the mutually interesting items of
living tends to produce an awkwardness,

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but that awkwardness is not
necessarily permanent when the ones you love

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come home, don't look at them as
strangers unless you want them to be

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strangers. Show them your most
understanding qualities and as subtly as

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possible. Everything else will follow
into your core. It may take weeks or

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even months for everyone to feel
natural again, but it will come with

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cultivation if that cultivation is
honest and sincere and earning.

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Remember, the greatest piece to come
is not the one brought about across

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the table by opposing military
commander, but the one that you and some

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boy who has been to the wars can call
out of hearts and minds that want

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things to be the same again. When your
turn comes, be worthy of all he has

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done to deserve the p of a happy
return to the things of home and now fred

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Macpherson.

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Mhm.

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Yeah.