The barracks we were assigned to were the kind that had walls with spaces in them to allow the wind to whip your bedding around. There were also gallon sized butt cans with water in them hanging on the posts supporting the second floor. these were where you were supposed to place the remnants of your cigarettes to ensure you did not burn the place down.
We awoke that first morning to a short, fat, PFC (Private First Class) yelling to get out of bed as he proceeded to kick the butt cans off their poles all over the floor. Several of the draftees that were in the transient company yelled back at him.
Him - "All right, you maggots, get your asses out of those racks and clean this pigsty up!" the PFC yelled.
Groans came from some of the beds, and then the comments...
"Aw, man! Get outta here and leave us alone!"
"We're tired!"
"We got to bed late!"
Back to him - "You got 10 minutes! After that, no breakfast!"
Little by little, we got up. Then came the call to reveille. We made our way out of the barracks and waited to see what would happen next.
They lined us up and walked, or tried to march, us over to the 'mess hall', which is where we ate our meals.
We took a tray and began to work our way down the food line. It was like a cafeteria, with the different offerings along the line. There were things like oatmeal, eggs, bacon, ham, potatoes, and toast. I was never a big on breakfast. At that time, I was allergic to eating eggs and oatmeal, so I passed on those. I passed on most of the rest because I couldn't understand how anyone could eat things like ham and potatoes for breakfast. By the time I reached the end of the line, I had a glass of water, and a piece of toast. Needless to say, the next morning I knew why one ate meat and potatoes for breakfast!
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