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September 17th Journal Entry


Sept 17th Shower in combat Eng. tent  (

Combat Engineer)

Lu from interview transcript with Ray Hight: About the most we could to out in the field, in regards to bathing and laundry, was use our GI helmets as "wash basins." If we could get that full of hot water, that was luxury. First we'd wash our face. I kept a wash cloth with me, as clean as I could. What I wanted to do, when I could, was just get my face clean. Then we'd do just a "spit bath", and then, we'd wash our shorts.

Ray: This discussion brought great laughter as we thought about the scene. Humerous, now, sixty years later. Frustrating then, in the midst of wintertime cold and snow. 

Lu continues: By this time, that water was pretty well used. Although sometimes, we could get our socks rinsed out that way too.
Once in a while, if they knew we would be in one place for a day or two, and not have to move, they would pull the whole unit out of the line. We were treated to "shower points," which were huge tents that had special stoves for heating water. A plumbing system was set up, with shower heads and everything. We'd usually be in a field somewhere, that was muddy as all "get out," so they'd lay down "duck board" pallets. Even with this, the mud would "ooze" right through them.

We'd step into the tent and take off all our clothes. We'd have to be sure to save all the stuff we didn't want to lose, because we'd turn those clothes in for laundering. After our shower, we'd pick up fresh, clean clothes. These were clothes that had been washed from the week before, by someone else. You tried to get as near to your size as you could. You never got your own back. Oftentimes, you'd have shirts with the wrong names on them. They actually stopped printing names on the uniforms, because you wouldn't have the clothes (hopefully) for more than a month. But there were often times when you were in the same clothes for a month at a time. They got pretty stiff.

Ray: Absolute, delightful laughter. Again humor over memories that must have been anything but fun, at the time...the gift of time. 

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