Personal Recollections of Camp Adair, continued

This post continues the recollections of Camp Adair in 1943 by James K. Robbins that are in the archives of the Benton County Historical Museum. He was a member of the  the 70^th Infantry “Trailblazer” Division. He begins:

“In an infantry company, one of the first things a soldier learns is how to clean and take care of his rifle. He learns to tear the gun completely apart, oil and clean it, and put it back together again. During regular inspections, the inspecting officer may check a rifle at any time.  We had been issued M.1 rifles and learned how to thoroughly clean these in a hurry.

Inspection at Camp Adair.  Note the inspector
on the right checking the rifle.

“We had a private from New Jersey named Hornsby who did not like the army.  He was a general foul-up doing nothing right, thus he often had extra duty. One Saturday morning we were to have inspection. Our captain came through the barracks to see if everything was in order.  Everybody has ready but Hornsby, who was still trying to put his rifle back together.  The captain spotted Hornsby and gave the following order: “Hornsby, you should have learned that job the first week you were here.  I am going to give you one minute to put that rifle back together or the extra duty I am going to give you will be four times what you have had. I have never seen a rifle put together as fast as Hornsby did that one. He did it in at least 30 seconds!”

“I remember going to the range for the first time to fire our rifles.  We had a young private by the name of Wong from Portland, Oregon.  When shooting, if a rifleman missed the target completely, a red flag would be waved above the target to let him know the target had been missed.  The flag was called “Maggie's Drawers.” When Wong's turn came to fire, he got a red flag every time he fired. He turned to me and said, “Look what a fine score I made---100 points.” Wong was wrong! He was firing at target #100.

This photograph appeared in the  "Camp Adair Sentry," of November 25, 1942 with the following caption. “An expert gridiron star and a graduate doctor, Lt. Dennis G. Emanuel is just a rookie when it comes to the intricacies of the rifle. He was caught, in this shot, taking 'basic training' so if you eagle-eyed readers see any mistakes in this picture, don't call the Sentry but just gloat on your wonderful powers of observation."

Not everyone was as clueless as private Wong.

This photograph shows a 70^th Division Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) team made up of identical twin gunners Raymond and Richard Ferrell and  ammunition bearer Benny Lawhon. They scored 227 points out of 250 possible.  The “Camp Adair Sentry” also noted that “ Richard is also an expert on the BAR with 176 points, and both he and Lawhon are sharpshooters on the M-1.”

In addition to training at the rifle range, they troops trained in the field and in a mock German village

 Robbins concludes, “Somehow with all the trials and tribulations the men of the 70^th were molded into an efficient, crack fighting infantry division.  The proof of this is the fact that the Division received a Distinguished Unit Citation.  Thirteen men were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, 228 men the Silver Star, 430 men the Bronze Star, and 10 received Air medals.  In addition, the citizens of Philippsburg France erected a monument to the 70^th.  The plaque on it reads "IN TRIBUTE TO THE MEN OF THE 275TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, U. S. 70TH DIVISION, WHO IN DEFENDING ALSACE STOPPED THE GERMAN "OPERATION NORDWIND"" ATTACKS AT PHILIPPSBOURG AND BAERENTHAL, 2-5 JANUARY, 1945, AND IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE BATTLE.” A portion of that monument was replicated in glass and given to the 70^th.  It is now on display in the Benton County exhibit in the Corvallis Museum. 

By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon