"Transportation Overseas..." Part 1

We got on a troop train at some railroad station out in the California desert.  They hauled us there by truck and we loaded in the dark.  For about 10 days to 2 weeks they hauled us in every direction across the United States, mostly in and out of places like West Virginia, Pennsylvania mountains, and places passenger trains don't go.  At first it looked like we were going to Alaska, next it was Canada, then South America.  They had us confused--as bad as the Germans.  Finally, we stopped at Hampton Rhodes, Virginia--near Newport News--with no troop ship in sight.  They had to let us off the train so it could start back for another load, so they unloaded us into a large vacant lot where we waited, and waited.

Finally, they marched us to a dock where we boarded a Liberty Ship.  They had canvas bunks stacked 5 high.  I got one the third from the bottom, which was my home for 30 days.  We were in the center hold of the ship, one story down from the main deck, with the bathroom upstairs on the next level.  Meals were served on our bunk level out in the next compartment.  We had to line up and pass through alley ways.  Garbage cans were placed in the center of the area, above the decking of the next lower hold.  I say all of this so you can imagine what a mess we had when the ship got to rolling during a storm three days later, and the garbage cans turned over.  Everybody was sick and vomiting in their metal helmets.  Some of us were near enough to the stairs to carry it up to the latrine.  Others just emptied them in the nearest garbage can.  I will not try to describe the odor we had to stay in.  If you were not sick before this state, you really were then.