(Army 7) Six weeks of glorious Hawaiian vacation with jungle training thrown in, no charge.

On June 26, 1944 the Lurline dropped us off in Honolulu. We were taken to a tent camp on a hillside over looking Pearl Harbor. This picture is the view that we had.

The island in the middle of Pearl Harbor is Ford Island. It is a navy air base. On my next trip to Honolulu, later in the year, I was to visit Ford Island.  My brother Warren (Navy Air) had transferred to Ford Island Navy Base while I was on a tour of the South Seas getting shot.

The hillside we were on was covered with pineapple plants. We ate many pineapples. Our bayonets got some use.

Over this hill and down to Pearl Harbor was one of the routes used by the Japanese planes on December 7. 

I remember taking a trip to Waikiki Beach. Vaguely remember a stage show with Hawaiian music. A highlight of our stay on the hillside was the Jack Benny USO Show. A stage was set up in the middle of the tents. It was a good show.

Then came Jungle Training. The Army had built a large installation on the other side of Oahu. It was called the Unit Jungle Training Center. It was a big deal and heavily used. It was visited by FDR. 

We had a busy several days at the UJTC. The days were long and hard . Some items I remember. We ran in formation to everything. After a training segment we would fall in and run to the next site. We shot every gun that it was possible for a man to hold. The 50 caliber air cooled machine gun is a big heavy gun. A strap was tied to the barrel and handle. The strap was put over your shoulder and you could hold and shoot the gun from your hip. 

One item I really remember. We took off all our clothes (down to the skin) and put them, and all our equipment and rifle in a raft that we pushed across a river. We built the raft from our field pack. Every pack included a large piece of canvas that was used as half of a pup tent. It was called a shelter half. It was used for the floor and sides of the raft. Some troops had everything they had dumped into the water. I made it across ok.

On August 12, 1944 we loaded onto an attack transport, the USS Sumter, for a tour of the South Seas.  The tour turned into a combat landing in the Palau Islands. We did not know that we were also facing the dreaded initiation rites for those who cross the Equator for the first time.