Reaction to the "test" issue of The Drizzle, sent to about 15 service
men on July 15, has been so favorable that we shall
make every effort to "Drizzle" once every month for the duration. Typical
comments are these: "A swell idea," says Dick
Schoonover; Tommy Brusveen: "Most interesting." Bo Woelffer: "Heartily
endorse it. Keep Drizzling." Wally Barlow: "A
swell bit of writing." Wilbert Marty: "Keep 'em coming." P. F. Blumer:
"Like it very much." John Steinmann: "Swell!
Thanks very much." And even Whitey (The Great) Hill weakens just for
a moment to say: "Grand idea."
This issue goes to 75 servicemen. Subscription rate: A letter for each
copy of The Drizzle. Naturally it will be impossible
to quote from each letter every month, but we shall try to rotate the
space to bring you new and interesting news about
your old pals in each issue.
Lieut. "Bo" (Peep) Woelffer, looking fit as a fiddle, arrived
home Sunday on furlough. Has to be back at Ashburn
General Hospital, McKinney, Texas, by the 26th. . Sunday
afternoon Boob Kissling phoned his Dad from Clemson, S.C.,
where he has been taking special exams at Clemson College. Hopes to
be sent to a northern college or university to
study either dentistry or engineering. . John Steinmann, who
receives his commission as a second lieutenant in the army
engineering corps at graduation ceremonies at Fort Belvoir, Virginia,
today, has been appointed to the faculty of the
school of engineering there and will teach classes in graphic statics.
He hopes to come home for a furlough soon and
probably will move his family to Fort Belvoir. . Sgt. Harry Van
Houten is due to arrive back at the Army Air Base at
Harlingen, Texas, today after furloughing ten days at home. Plans to
go in for aerial engineering upon his return. Harry
reports that Staff Sgt. LaVerne Sauer is still at Harlingen.
LaVerne has been transferred from the "bakery department"
and his duties now include some of those ordinarily assigned to a mess
sergeant but he has a staff sergeant's rating.
Colonel J. Arlington Hughes, famous bugle blower, optometrist,
optomist, and legendary hero of the Battle of Bull Run,
has already established quite a reputation for himself (vocally at
least) as a fishing wizard now that he's director of music
in the schools over in Boscobel and Blue River which, of course, are
right smack in the heart of the fishing country where
fish really and honestly do grow as big as this (I'm stretching my
hands as far apart as I can.) The Colonel was in the post
office the other day, nonchalantly announced that he was going fishing
on the morrow, that there was absolutely no
question but that he'd make a big haul of all varieties, and blandly
asked various village natives to place their orders for
any kind, quantity, and quality they wanted. It was all going to be
just as easy and simple as that-something like falling off
a slippery log. Listening rather skeptically to the Colonel was none
other than that eminent citizen, H. Adolphus Becker,
czar of the local temple of learning, who claims to be a fisherman
of some distinction himself (having caught a half dozen
or so fairly respectable minnows in his prime before old age began
to move in on him and ruined his technique.) After J.
Arlington had finished his "blowsting," Beck crumbled the Colonel's
big build-up with this bold, reputation-wrecking
proposition: "Say, J. A., I'll tell you what I'll do. The only thing
I'll bar is dynamite. But you can use all the set lines, nets,
and seines you want to and I'll pay you a dollar a pound for all the
fish you catch." For the first while in quite a while, the
Colonel was buffaloed-but only for a while. Day after the big fishing
venture, J. A. was back in Monticello and apologized
profusely to Beck, saying "I only caught 115 pounds of fish, and since
all of my children and grandchildren are coming
home today, I've just got enough to go around."
RAMBLING AT RANDOM-
Major "Les" Weissmiller, M. H. S. class of '22, force surgeon
of the military hospital on the isle of Aruba just off the
coast of Venezuela where he has been stationed nearly a year and a
half, recently flew with some other officers to the
South American mainland and there tasted his first glass of fresh milk
in sixteen months. And you can wager plenty that
this good, old favorite Wisconsin "beverage" tasted better to the Major
than it ever has since he emerged from his
swaddling clothes y'ars and y'ars ago. . Lieut. "Ot" Blum, U.
S. N., Les's former classmate and partner in medicine
and surgery, has just completed special studies in medicine at Pensacola,
Florida, and is now expected to be located in
the east, possibly in New York City. . Gaylord Miller, now in
naval training at Farragut, Ida., (where Al Moritz is also
stationed) likes the service a lot. His brother, Wendell, member of
a military police battalion, is said to have left for
overseas. . Rex Foster, son of "Fos" Foster, former local
principal and coach, summer-schooled at Platteville State
Teachers to win his degree, has signed to teach science in Cuba City
high. His brother, Roger, U. W. track star, is in the
army air corps at a Texas field. . C. Jacob Dick, silent (for
the time being at least) partner in the prosperous Haddinger-
Dick Trucking Trust, is a hospital registrar at Camp Beale, Calif.
His hours recently have been from 5 p. m. to 12:30 a. m.
In his leisure daytime hours, C. J. and a buddy of his worked for a
time in an orchard loading peaches. Let me hasten to
add that I understand the "peaches" were not of the Hollywood variety,
but really real fruit. . Louie (Tony) Wyss, known
in some society circles as The Nonchalant Lover, writes from somewhere
in Australia that they're having cold
weather there now, that he's "in the pink," and that he's slenderized
sufficiently to enable him to tie his own shoe laces
now. Tony must have been pretty bulgy in spots. His address is: Pvt.
Louis Wyss, 36252207, 3224 Q. M. Boat Co.,
APO 923, %PM, San Francisco. . Emil Leutenegger, veteran of three months
action in the Tunisian campaign in North
Africa as a member of a combat unit, is hospitalized due to an injured
back. His brother, Joe, Marine Corps member, is in
the SW Pacific. . Lieut. Paul Voegeli was recently transferred
to the European Wing of the Air Transport Command
somewhere in England. . Don Willis, the erstwhile Monticello
grocery prince, is now a staff sergeant at Camp Clairborne,
La. . Johnny Zimmerman's still in North Africa, chauffeurs for
a General, and has the use of the car whenever he
wants it. Recently had a chance meeting with Freddie Lionhardt from
New Glarus and they see each other quite often.
They recently attended an annual Swiss Festival there. Johnny says
there's a surprising number of Swiss people residing
in his particular section. He and Freddie were invited to the home
of a Swiss family for dinner, wound up by playing a few
rounds (you've guessed it!) of that great old game of jass. . Lieut.
(jg) Rufus Freitag, M. H. S. class of '24, is
connected with the naval supply depot at Bayonne, N. J. . Lieut.
Fritz Steinmann, deputy paymaster in the
Quartermasters' Depot in Chicago, "homed" over the week-end. He and
Joyce will attend the All-Stars vs. Redskins
game in Dyche Stadium Aug. 25. . From somewhere in the Hawaiian Islands
comes word that Capt. "Doc" Youngreen
is feeling fine and very busy. Whenever he finds the opportunity, "Doc"
takes a dip in the Pacific and is rapidly regaining
his swimming form.
DRIZZLE DISCUSSION DEPARTMENT-
Wherein "The Drizzler" devotes special comment to certain sections of
certain subscribers' letters. Wally Barlow, former
Haresfoot Beauty, writes: "I just got a letter from U. Gunnar Hill
and he states he is enjoying Louisiana swamps and
snakes no end. Also I hear weekly-or is it weakly (?)-from the Kissling.
By the way, Roz, I believe it proper and timely
to tell you that Mr. Kissling, commonly referred to as Boobleberger,
was re-christened by Fred Gage, Johnny
Tennant, and myself while at the U. W. His new and now official-he
gets Army mail under it-name is King Kissling. I'd
thank you to inform all of King's creditors of this change so that
there'll be no misunderstandings in the future. He'll have
grey hair if that gets out." Well, Wally, I'm afraid you've really
started something. Now, just lis'en to this: On the Saturday
evening of Wisconsin's victory over Missouri last fall, our good and
ever genial comrade, "Junior" Kissling, then also a
member of the Badger grid squad, came home, bringing with him such
Wisconsin grid greats as Pat Harder, ol' "Hit-Em-
Harder" himself, Mark Hoskins, Dave Donnellan, and Johnny
Gallagher. Yours truly joined the group and during
the lofty discussion that followed, Pat turned to Boobleberger and
addressed him as "Kiss" and honesty forces me to
state that "Kiss" responded to his new-to-me sobriquet with a nonchalance
that suggested it fit him just as snugly as a kid
glove. You say Boobleberger's new nickname is "King," but not less
an authority than Pat Harder calls him "Kiss." In a
spirit of tremendous self-sacrifice and with my sole objective that
of preventing a bitter dispute between the Barlow-Gage-
Tennant forces and the Harder-Hoskins-Donnellan-Gallagher confederates,
I reluctantly assume the role of mediator.
Therefore I have decided that you are all right. The decision I have
reached is simply irresistible and inevitable. And here it
is: "Kissling, the Kiss King." (And Boob, please don't glower at me
like that.). . From Whitey Hill, the Louisiana Kid
(der), etc., etc.: "Have been on maneuvers for a month and have lost
5 or 10 pounds-just the skeleton remains."
Confidentially, Whitey, how'd it feel when you finally took a peek
at the ol' chassis and discovered that most of your joints
are held together with barbed wire. . Whitey speaks again: "It really
gets hot during the day. Last Sunday we had a 25-
mile hike and our regiment lost 600 men from heat and sun trouble.
I lost my whole squad and came in as our sole
representative." Sole representative, did you say, Whitey? Lis'en,
my good friend, you belong down in Washington in the
House of Representatives where "the boys" get paid ten thousand sinkers
a year for sounding off with a great deal less
"hot air" than you just released in that little fairy tale of yours.
. Now it's Whitey's turn at bat, swinging at The Drizzler:
"Your idea has a faint aroma of intelligence. Now go ahead and try
and convince me that it was all your own brain child.
Another thing, I always knew you had plenty of spare time." (Ouch,
Ouch, Ouch!)
FROM THE PEN-'N'-PENCIL FRONT-
From "Bo" Woelffer: "Since my transfer to Ashburn General Hospital,
I have practically forgotten about soldiering.
However, for the past month we have had a little close order drill
which is fine in that it permits the use of the leather lungs
that were built up in the sands of Camp Barkeley. The last two days
the Colonel has called on me to drill the nurses.
Don't wander now-it's platoon drill and not one at a time." (Gosh,
Bo, you never should have mentioned anything about
those nurses. Think of poor Whitey over there in the next-door state,
wallowing around in Louisiana's swamps with
nothing but snakes and lizards and alligators to associate with. I'm
afraid his morale is gonna crumble to pieces when he
reads about those platoon drills.). . From Boob, written well
before his transfer to Clemson College: "Starting Monday we
go on a week's bivouac. Sleeping in pup tents and I've got the jiggers
already. Well, Roz, I've got some swell news.
There were 50 names sent to the Fourth Service Command Office in Atlanta
for A. S. T. P. and my name was among
them." . From Sgt. Dick Schoonover, 16101874, Co. C, 29th
Sig. Tng. Bn., C. S. C. R. T. C., Camp Crowder, Mo.:
"During the week I've been acting "somewhat" as a drill sergeant should-teaching
basic manual with three other Ex-U.
W. advanced corps R. O. T. C. fellows. We all bunk in the same barracks
and have a sort of hybrid existence-going thru
basic and at the same time instructing our classmates. I expect to
take an advanced course at the end of my month of
basic." . From John Steinmann, Fort Belvoir, Va.: "My class
of officer candidates is now nearly in its 10th week. In three
weeks we become commissioned officers in the Engineers' Corps. My graduation
will terminate six months of really
hard work-mostly physical-six months of taking orders from everyone
or anything that wore stripes or bars and
could talk." . Sgt. Wilbert A. Marty, 589th Bomb
Sqd., 395th Bomb Grp., U. S. A. Air Base, Ephrata, Wash.: Well,
Roz, here I am-gunner in a B-17 outfit. I guess you know my ambition
to become a flier. After quite a bit of trying ever
since high school, I'm pretty close to what I'm after. I'd like to
be a commissioned man aboard, but I'll have to settle for
this now. Don't get me wrong. I like gunnery and it's being able to
fly. This is the place where the crows are rounded up.
This afternoon I will meet most of my crew. I've already met the flight
engineer and he seems like a swell fellow. Boy,
things really must be going to get big as far as heavy bombardment
is concerned. I've met a lot of fellows that were in 3rd
place training in A-20 squads that have had the squadron broken up
and were sent to heavy bombardment. Same with B-
25 outfits and even dive bomber squadrons. Leon Babler is supposed
to be here. It would be swell to have him in my
crew." . Cpl. Tommy Brusveen, 31st Chemical Co.,
Camp Bowie, Texas: "My wife and I have been able to be together
quite a bit now since the latter part of May when I had my furlough.
Incidentally, we have had many rumors of an ocean-
ride and it looks quite promising now. But it might still blow over.
Had a card from Hill, who is on maneuvers, and
according to him, we are lucky we haven't had that. We might even get
that before we go overseas. We just don't know."
. From Cpl. "Erv" Spring, the Peoples Supply Company's outstanding
authority on politics, pickles, and peanuts--
either dipped or unshelled-whose address is, 36237069, Co. B, 198th
Inf., APO 729, %PM, Seattle, Wash.: "We boys
are fine and as usual are kept busy daily. I don't know how we're going
to act whenever we get back to civilization. We'll
probably tear the old town down. I guess there'll be quite a few changes
in the old town by the time we get back, lots of
the old faces gone and a lot of new ones around. I'll have to have
you take me around to get acquainted again." (Okay,
Erv, ol' pal, I'll be right on deck.) . . Pvt. P. F. Blumer,
6834054, Co. A, Bks. 12, 25th Tng. Bn., Camp Lee, Va.: "Well,
they sure have been drilling and marching the stuffing out of me here
at Camp Lee. For the last two days I have been
having what is known in the army as extended order drill-carrying the
full army field pack along with the 30-cal. army
rifle and then creeping and crawling on the ground under live machine
gun fire with the bullets fired at a height of only 30
inches. So, believe me, I keep my old dome plenty close to the ground."
With your suggestions for improving "The Drizzle." I want to make it
just as bright and entertaining as possible. But I need
your co-operation. This will be all for this time. And in the meantime,
here's loads-'n'-loads of good luck to every one of
you!!