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Tuesday

26. A Pass to Naples and Softball Games

Sunday, April 9, 1944
Schuster hauls French troops. I have day of rest. Sunrise Easter church service, but I don't get up in time. Six men transferred, Ambrosh, Milroy, Paghsite, Pytel, McClarrity and Malody. Radio reports Russians in Czechoslovakia. Starts raining in afternoon and is still raining now 9:30 p.m.

Monday, April 10, 1944
Work on truck in forenoon. Cloudy weather.

Tuesday, April 11, 1944
Rain last nite. I go on ammo run 0410 to 0424. Leave 3 a.m., get back at noon.

Wednesday, April 12, 1944
Truck is out. Warm weather. See movie (Frank Sinatra). Our company wins softball 9 to 8 over 55th Q.M.

Thursday, April 13, 1944
1,000 mile check on truck. Wash truck. Weather same.

Friday, April 14, 1944
Rain last nite. I got on trip at 7:15 a.m. Aversa to Q 422. Back in camp at 3 p.m. Blanton backs into my truck and bends grill. Our company defeats 55th Q.M. in softball 3 to 0, then our second team loses 5 to 1. After game, I go to 175th Engineers and see movie, Eddie Cantor in "Thank Your Lucky Stars."

A driver's accident report had to be filled out and submitted with any type of damage to our vehicles.



Thank Your Lucky Stars, starring Humphrey Bogart, Eddie Cantor and Bette Davis. [courtesy: www.45thdivision.com]

Saturday, April 15, 1944
Weather the same. Idle today. Play ball. See good newsreel in evening, but don't stay for main feature.

Sunday, April 16, 1944
I make haul, Aversa to 0422. Start at 12 noon, get back after 8 p.m.

Monday, April 17, 1944
Rigsby goes home. We see Pat Lane in person.

Tuesday, April 18, 1944
I go to Naples on pass, my first pass since I have been in Italy. Buy souvenirs, our company loses in softball to 55th Q.M., score 10 to 4.



Photos taken while on pass in Naples, April 18, 1944.


Wednesday, April 19, 1944
Clean machine gun, see show. Our company beats 56th Evac 11 to 3. Send package home.

Thursday, April 20, 1944
Truck goes out. I received two packages from home. I get my head shaved (for fun). Company loses ball game 9 to 1 to shower units. Radio broadcast from our battalion theater (5th Army Expenditionary Station).

Friday, April 21, 1944
Our company wins 9 to 6 in softball over 95th Evac. Lose volleyball game to 56th Med.

Satuday, April 22, 1944
I make trip Q55 Sparinese to Q 525. All done at 1 p.m. Softball team loses to 56th Med., score 4 to 1. See movie "Submarine Base."

Submarine Base, starring John Litel and Alan Baxter. [courtesy: www.cduniverse.com]

Sunday, April 23, 1944
Truck is out. Our company wins ball game from 3330 Q.M. company (colored), score 1 to 0 (8 innings). First league game.

Monday, April 24, 1944
Idle day. Windy weather. Ball team wins from shower unit 1 to 0. Air raid over Naples 9:20 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Plenty fireworks.

True Story: I knew a soldier who was very fond of eggs. He found a native who had some chickens and he could buy some eggs. He always kept them in his helmet so they wouldn't break. One day we suddenly had an air raid. He made a mad dash for his tent, grabbed his rifle and slammed the helmet full of eggs on his head. After that he kept his eggs in a different place.

1 comment:

Wendy said...

Keep up the good work here, Sam. I love the addition of personal pictures.

The Original Diary

The Original Diary
Here is the inspiration and primary source for this entire blog. Note the year for these entries was actually 1943, although Howard was using pages from 1942, as evidenced by the mention of the cities of Morsot and Tebessa and the fact that Howard was still in basic training in Texas in March 1942. He had to be creative with his limited resources and use whatever paper was available, which made researching this project somewhat of a puzzle at first.