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ALEX MILLIGAN
(Source: Email/The Internet) |
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I was stationed in Camp Reynolds in
the summer of 1944. I was drum
leader in the Drum and Bugle corps
during that summer. |
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PAUL L. GENEREUX 20th
Field Hospital
(Source: The Internet) |
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I was drafted into the US Army on
16 September 1943
and sent to
Fort Lewis, Tacoma, Washington
(Army Ground Forces Training Camp –ed).
Once there, I was outfitted with
military clothes and gear and was
put on a troop train for a seven-day
trip through Oregon, Wyoming and on
to Camp Barkley, Abilene, Texas
(Medical Replacement Training Center
–ed) for basic medical training for
a duration of 6 weeks or so, then on
to Brooke General Hospital (Army
General Hospital activated 29
October 1942 –ed) located at Fort
Sam Houston, San Antonio Texas.
Going from Camp Barkley, which I
considered a hell hole compared to
Fort Sam, was like going to heaven.
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In mid-January 1944 I was assigned
to go overseas with the
“First Provisional Replacement
Battalion” in
England. From Fort Sam, I went to
Camp Reynolds, Greenville,
Pennsylvania (Army Service Forces
Replacement Depot –ed) which was an
Army Camp where soldiers bound for
overseas assignment were given
additional training, including
anti-gas warfare, live fire
training, weapons shooting and so
forth. After several days there, a
number of us were shipped to Fort
Slocum, New York. |
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Sid
(Source: The Internet)
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In 1943 Sid graduated
from Indiana University after spending
exactly one month short of three
calendar years on campus. On December 6,
1943, Sid began intensive officers training
at Camp Reynolds in Victory, Pa.,
and then on to Fort Slocum, NY and later
was shipped to Europe. |
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The
Otsego Farmer
(Source: The Internet)
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The Otsego
Farmer -
Friday, October 27, 1944 Mrs. Webb's
Nephew Is Killed In Action. Pfc. Gano H.
Jewell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold G.
Jewell of No. 13 Cromer Avenue,
Schenectady, NY previously reported missing
in action, was killed August 4th while
serving as a field medical man in France
the War department informed the parents.
He was stationed at Camp Reynolds, PA
before going overseas in May, 1944. |
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Wally Nadel
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Camp
Shenango -
PA
(Source: The Internet) |
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A
temporary facility for the transfer and
replacement of "trained" soldiers to where they might be needed.
From there,
you could be sent North, South,
East, or West. It was
an isolated and uneventful place with no
one ordering you to march or
exercise. This
is where we put back the weight we lost
in basic training. |
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Unknown
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Camp
Reynolds
(Source: The Internet) |
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Quite a
few of us were transported here by truck
from Aberdeen Proving Grounds (APG),
Maryland a few days after finishing
basic training and graduating from
Ordnance School. |
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The Quartermaster personnel
issued new G.I. garb and duffle bags
upon arrival to Camp Reynolds. Some of
us had to report back a couple of days
later because we were issued mostly
cotton-made clothes instead of wool.
Hmm? I didn't know why. Another delay. |
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Once we were
processed, assignment documents were
issued to some of us selected to report
at a specific date to Camp Hood, Texas
after a 15-day furlough. |
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The 15-day furlough was great
news but the outcome was not so great.
It was a catastrophe for me. Getting
home to Philadelphia was a problem. The
empty convoy of 3/4-ton trucks that
brought us here were returning to
Aberdeen, Maryland driving through the
outskirts of Pittsburgh and those on
furlough going in that direction were
allowed to hitch on for a free ride but
had to get off and manage other means of
transportation from there on. I was the
only one going to Philly. They let me
off at a highway crossroad heading
toward Philadelphia. |
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Hitchhiking was not
a problem in those days, specially for
soldiers and sailors. I was lucky to
hitch a ride all the way in to a
trolley-car terminal southwest of
Philadelphia I was familiar with. |
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Robert Blesson |
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After completing basic
training at Ft Bragg, NC 5 of
us in the I & S Battery who
were unwanted were shipped
to Camp Shenango and arrived there
on June 1, 1943. I was
assigned to an office where
I spent the month of June
working on AWOL records.
That was quite an
experience. At the end of
June I was on a Troop train
headed for Camp Taunton MA.
At the end of July I was
sent back to Camp Shenango
arriving July 31st. I served
guard duties which ended
August 2nd
at 6 am. Upon returning to
the barracks a guy told me I
was assigned to a group that
was going to New York city which
was where I was from. |
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Ken Kulp |
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I
enlisted in November 1942
after working at Bethlehem Steel
in Pottstown, PA. I did Boot
Camp at Fort Meade in
Baltimore, MD. I started out
making
$21 a month and $70 a month
when I was Discharged in
January 1946. |
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I was 1 of 24 men & 1
Warrant officer who rode the
Baltimore/Ohio deluxe train
from Washington DC to Youngstown,
OH and then bused to Camp Shenango.
Upon unloading at the camp I was given a pair of
articles, rubber boots (1
size fit all), due
to the cold and the snow.
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I remember big buildings at
the camp (warehouses maybe) by the railroad that held
trucks. I was
paid in cash monthly while
at the
camp. Laundry was $1.50 a
month at the camp. I also
remember we did marches to
Greenville and back. |
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During my stay at the camp I
recall a
POW strike where their dishwashers
went on strike. They only
hurt themselves because they
could not eat due to no
clean dishes. No dishwashing
equaled No eating, the
strike lasted about a week. |
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My buddy stole/snuck a
turkey from the mess hall on
a holiday. We cooked it on
the heater-coal stove in the
barracks, the head guy
smelled it & all the fellas
had to pull guard duty of
the POWs with unloaded guns. |
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I also recall seeing Judy
Garland faking eating a meal
at one of the Mess Halls. |
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Smoking was only allowed in the
daytime due to being seen by
airplanes at night. 7
gallons of gas was $1. |
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I made my own cards and
played cards and Ping Pong
at the Day Room. |
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I never forgot the dances at the
service clubs and hitch-hiking
to Franklin to the clubs
(we could get in for free). |
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John A Trussler
I have many pleasant
memories of
Camp Shenango plus the people in
Greenville and Sharon. The
citizens
could not do enough for the
soldiers. I was one of the
original Cadre sent in from
Fort Benning to open up the
camp. When we arrived the
barracks and the mess
facilities were not quite
ready for us to move into. |
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