TRANSCRIBED FROM THE BENTON COURIER AUGUST 8, 1918 P. 6
As I have been asked by some of my friends to tell them something of "The Navy and Its Ways," I have decided to use the columns of The Benton Courier for that purpose.
I enlisted on October 5, 1917, and arrived at Great Lakes on the night of the 6th and started the navy life with about twenty thousand men. Our bedding was issued to us--twenty-six of us in all--the night of our arrival, but we had to wear our civilian lothes almost a week and, of course, that made us a little blue to see the other fellows dressed in uniform.
We had to spend twenty-one days in what is known as "detention period." During that time we were issued the proper amount of clothing and given our vaccination. They tried to teach us to drill, but had poor success, for we were all afraid to move for fear of getting into trouble. We soon recovered from our fright and tried to do as we were instructed. I remained at Great Lakes eight months, and during that time several new camps were built and quite an increase took place. When I left that camp there were seventy-six thousand men there.
A bunch of us fellows were sent to a gunners' school and at the completion of our course there were sent for submarine duty. Twenty-three of us were sent here and we had a real nice trip coming up. We were met at Chicago, Battle Creek, Detroit, Albany and Boston by the Red Cross, which served us hot lunches and many different kinds of refreshments. We appreciated this very much.
We also had the pleasure of seeing Niagra Falls on this trip.
We arrived here at 12:00 m. on the 16th of June and found this place to be quite different from Great Lakes. There are only three thousand men here and we found it quite lonely at first. We have been receiving instruction here during the past six weeks and will finish our course this week. Then, look out Huns, for we are coming.
The eats we get here are fine. We get all kinds of vegetables, pie, cake, ice cream, wheat and corn bread, tea, coffee, fish, cocoa, and all kinds of meats.
The climate here is quite a bit different from that of Arkansas. The summer weather here did not arrive until about two weeks ago, but it is pretty warm now and dust is no name for what we see around here. We are having some rain today for the first time in three months. I guess the dust will disappear for a few days, at least.
We have plenty of exercise, both physical and mental. The best part of it all is washing our clothes which is an every day duty, for we wear white suits, at least they are white when we put them on. They don't stay white very long.
The commander grants us "liberty" every other night and forty-eight hours "liberty" at the end of every first and third Saturday in each month.
This place is located near New York and Boston and we can visit either place if we care to.
Hoping to be with my friends when peace again prevails. I am,
Bruce T. Byers.
U.S. Submarine Base
1st Section Submarine School, New London, Conn.
NOTES: Bruce Thompson Byers was born on January 4, 1900 in Benton, Arkansas and died on October 17, 1945. He is buried in the Pipkin Cemetery in Salem, Arkansas. His military headstone identifies him as an Arkansas CEM serving in the US Navy during World War 1 and World War II.
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD
As I have been asked by some of my friends to tell them something of "The Navy and Its Ways," I have decided to use the columns of The Benton Courier for that purpose.
I enlisted on October 5, 1917, and arrived at Great Lakes on the night of the 6th and started the navy life with about twenty thousand men. Our bedding was issued to us--twenty-six of us in all--the night of our arrival, but we had to wear our civilian lothes almost a week and, of course, that made us a little blue to see the other fellows dressed in uniform.
We had to spend twenty-one days in what is known as "detention period." During that time we were issued the proper amount of clothing and given our vaccination. They tried to teach us to drill, but had poor success, for we were all afraid to move for fear of getting into trouble. We soon recovered from our fright and tried to do as we were instructed. I remained at Great Lakes eight months, and during that time several new camps were built and quite an increase took place. When I left that camp there were seventy-six thousand men there.
A bunch of us fellows were sent to a gunners' school and at the completion of our course there were sent for submarine duty. Twenty-three of us were sent here and we had a real nice trip coming up. We were met at Chicago, Battle Creek, Detroit, Albany and Boston by the Red Cross, which served us hot lunches and many different kinds of refreshments. We appreciated this very much.
We also had the pleasure of seeing Niagra Falls on this trip.
We arrived here at 12:00 m. on the 16th of June and found this place to be quite different from Great Lakes. There are only three thousand men here and we found it quite lonely at first. We have been receiving instruction here during the past six weeks and will finish our course this week. Then, look out Huns, for we are coming.
The eats we get here are fine. We get all kinds of vegetables, pie, cake, ice cream, wheat and corn bread, tea, coffee, fish, cocoa, and all kinds of meats.
The climate here is quite a bit different from that of Arkansas. The summer weather here did not arrive until about two weeks ago, but it is pretty warm now and dust is no name for what we see around here. We are having some rain today for the first time in three months. I guess the dust will disappear for a few days, at least.
We have plenty of exercise, both physical and mental. The best part of it all is washing our clothes which is an every day duty, for we wear white suits, at least they are white when we put them on. They don't stay white very long.
The commander grants us "liberty" every other night and forty-eight hours "liberty" at the end of every first and third Saturday in each month.
This place is located near New York and Boston and we can visit either place if we care to.
Hoping to be with my friends when peace again prevails. I am,
Bruce T. Byers.
U.S. Submarine Base
1st Section Submarine School, New London, Conn.
NOTES: Bruce Thompson Byers was born on January 4, 1900 in Benton, Arkansas and died on October 17, 1945. He is buried in the Pipkin Cemetery in Salem, Arkansas. His military headstone identifies him as an Arkansas CEM serving in the US Navy during World War 1 and World War II.
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD