The Way it Was…
…Joining the Army
by Al Eicher

It was a cold day in early January, 1955, when I joined the Army. It doesn't seem possible that 50 years ago, 25 of us "Huron County Boys" left Bad Axe on an Indian Trails bus bound for the induction center at Fort Wayne in Detroit. But now, I am getting ahead of the story.

At this time in our American History the Korean War was winding down. Many Michigan County draft boards still had quotas to fill. President Eisenhower and Congress had not lifted the draft but had approved G.I. loans and the G.I. Bill. The G.I. Bill entitled a soldier to receive two days of college or special training for each day of military service at government expense. The college benefit program interested me as I was already attending a radio and television engineering school in Detroit; today it is known as the National Institute of Technology.

On a weekend in October of 1954, at home from school, one of my friends told me he was going to be drafted for military service. He didn't want to go at this time and needed to help his dad on the farm. I had heard it was possible to take someone's place, so I contacted the local draft board to see if I could do this. My friend was greatly relieved when I told him I could take his place for this draft call. He might have to go later on if the draft continued. I was able to finish my first year of semesters and would be part of the January draft quota for Huron County in 1955. On January 5th, 1955, in Bad Axe, 25 Huron County boys were given a big breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs and sausage, sponsored by the selective service board. Board members gave a few speeches and then we boarded an Indian Trails bus for Detroit.

At Fort Wayne we were given a health inspection along with several hundred high school and college guys. The ear inspection and hearing test took very little time. The doctor looked in my ear, probably to see if I had an ear drum and asked me to cover one ear with my hand. He whispered, "Can you hear my voice"?

"Yes," I said. He then asked me to cover the other ear... since, I could hear his whisper I passed the test.

If we passed all the tests, we then received a few shots. Next, we went to a large room and in a large group gave our oath to serve our country. Also, in a short ceremony we were asked to take one step forward to complete our pledge of allegiance. We were given the rank of "private" and informed we would receive about $89 a month in pay.

On this first day, we didn't have much free time. We did get a chance to crawl around inside several old WWI armored tanks. At noon we had our first taste of Army chow and by 2:30 p.m. we boarded a train bound for Fort Leonardwood, Missouri. Fort Leonardwood was the home of the 6th Armored Division.

The train ride to Missouri was my first time on a train. At Pigeon, where I grew up, freight trains came to town everyday, never a passenger car. The train to Missouri was truly a cattle train. There were at least four or five cars filled with beef cattle, probably going to the Chicago stockyards. The train was powered by one of the last steam engines fueled by coal. Since the engine and cattle cars were ahead of us, as we traveled westward, the smell of coal smoke and cattle manure filled our passenger car. We couldn't open the windows as that would have made it worse. We traveled all afternoon and into the night and about 3:30 a.m. we arrived at Fort Leonardwood. In total darkness, we got off the train and walked a short distance where we could see the receiving center. It looked like a fenced-in prison yard, with perimeter lighting, similar to that of a football field for a night game.

There were at least 800 other inductees already in the compound when we arrived. Roll call was underway as we marched into the yard. The first sergeant, up on a high platform, called out to all gathered, "Who is from New York City, Detroit and Philadelphia?" As they raised their hands, he then told other non-commissioned officers to check them for switch blades. At just about this time, one of the inductees was wondering around, away from the formation of men.

The first sergeant from his high perch noticed the inductee and said, "Soldier are you a lost duck?" The soldier replied, "I can't find my group!" He was quickly told to address anyone of rank with "Sir". The soldier then answered "Sir, I can't find my group." We all started to laugh. The sergeant told him to walk around the large formation of now 1000 men and say "I am a lost duck." This inductee walked around us for at least 15 minutes repeating, "I am a lost duck, I am a lost duck." It was hard to hold a straight face, but I knew at that moment I was in the Army and headed for eight weeks of basic training.

At 6:30 a.m. the mess hall opened for breakfast. After breakfast we were given a kit with a toothbrush, toothpaste, a shaving brush and safety razor plus a shoe polishing kit. Next they marched us to the quartermaster to get all of our military clothing, shoes, boots and helmets. At this time, we have yet to see our barracks or get any time to rest as we did not sleep, sitting up, on the all-night train ride. With my duffle bag full of clothes on my shoulder, a metal helmet and helmet liner on my head, plus boots around my neck, we marched to a seven or eight chair barbershop to get our heads shaved. Some of the guys from Detroit had "Duck Tails" and got a lot of kidding from the field sergeants as they marched us to the barber shop.

After losing our hair, we finally arrived at our barracks, but there were no mattresses or bedding on the bunks. So we marched to quartermaster for those items. On my second day in the Army, I quickly realized that "hurry up and wait" was going to be standard procedure during basic training. Our first training session was held in the barracks to show us how to make up our bunk and foot locker, in order to pass inspections. The sergeant threw a 50 cent piece down on top of the brown blanket and if it bounced it was tight enough to pass inspection.

After lunch at our company mess hall, we got in formation for roll call and "the orders of the day". At this time we were introduced to our company Commander and other non-commissioned officers...plus the four platoon sergeants. Next we marched to the supply room to get our M-l rifles and cleaning equipment. A few moments later we were in a classroom to learn how to care for this rifle and eventually take it apart blindfolded.

All of the barracks had pot belly stoves fueled with coal. The walls inside had no drywall, only the bare studs with no insulation. My bunk was 50 feet from this coal stove. Missouri in January can be nearly as cold as Michigan. The roads were icy and when it thawed, the mud on your boots added five pounds to each foot.

We got about four hours of sleep that first night as we had several inspections during the night. They got us up early to scrub the barrack's floor with a wet mop. We did this before breakfast. After breakfast, we gathered in formation for roll call and to receive our orders for the day. We had about 140 men in our company. Some were from Ohio, New Jersey, New York and about 40 guys from Michigan.

Watch for the continuation in next month's issue.

Al and Dave Eicher provide television production services to corporations, ad agencies, and nonprofit organizations. They also create Michigan town histories and offer lecture services on a variety of Michigan History Events. You may contact them at 248-333-2010; Email: info@program-source.com; Web site: www.program-source.com; Address: PSI, P.O. Box 444, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303.