Homw. I used my Model A Ford for great advantage. I renewed my relationship with Margarete Berryman.. Basic training was difficult for me. I was not in good physical condition. The obstacle course and the long marches with back packs kept me puffing. Dorm life was very unpleasant because of the alcohol problem. There was a nightly bed check so your bed had better not be empty. I escaped a lot of the week end dorm life because of my week end passes.
A the end of my basic training I had a choice before me - Where to go next. I could have stayed on for training as an officer or go on to Medical Technicians School. I selected the latter because I thought I would become a Lab technician. I was sent to Lawson General Hospital in Atlanta, but I did not get what I wanted either due to the present needs or not enough Chemistry courses. I was enrolled as a Medical Technician which was a Nurse’s training course. We had classes much like those in college - Anatomy and Physiology, medications and a variety of diseases. We also attended autopsies which were very disturbing to me.
My older brother Lawrence and his family lived in Pleasant Hill, Alabama about three hours from Atlanta. When I received a week’s delay in route from Camp Pickett to Atlanta I took my Model A Ford to my brother’s home to use on week end passes. I visited them regularly and also visited Talladega several times. I renewed some of my old relationships there. Norman Behr (Grizz) had joined the Air Force, Sam Fisher the Coast Guard, Walter Heacock the Navy.
We had several Wienie roasts at our old gathering place on Talladega creek. My relationship with Dorothy Belk and Miriam Williams were renewed and they wrote me weekly letters.
After finishing my course in Atlanta I was shipped to the Medical Corps pool at Fitzsiummons General Hospital in Denver, Colorada. We worked in the hospital there during the week. On week ends I learned horseback riding with some friends riding in the mountains nearby. My friends were shipped out to hospital units and hospital ships, but I was retained and sent to ASTP - Army Speicalized Training Program. I went to the Univeristy of Nebraska to await assignment. I remember I spent Christmas there and then went to Texas Tech in Lubbock Texas for training to be an Engineer. It was just like college except we marched to classes. One of the higher math courses proved difficult for me. After one semester the ASTP
A the end of my basic training I had a choice before me - Where to go next. I could have stayed on for training as an officer or go on to Medical Technicians School. I selected the latter because I thought I would become a Lab technician. I was sent to Lawson General Hospital in Atlanta, but I did not get what I wanted either due to the present needs or not enough Chemistry courses. I was enrolled as a Medical Technician which was a Nurse’s training course. We had classes much like those in college - Anatomy and Physiology, medications and a variety of diseases. We also attended autopsies which were very disturbing to me.
My older brother Lawrence and his family lived in Pleasant Hill, Alabama about three hours from Atlanta. When I received a week’s delay in route from Camp Pickett to Atlanta I took my Model A Ford to my brother’s home to use on week end passes. I visited them regularly and also visited Talladega several times. I renewed some of my old relationships there. Norman Behr (Grizz) had joined the Air Force, Sam Fisher the Coast Guard, Walter Heacock the Navy.
We had several Wienie roasts at our old gathering place on Talladega creek. My relationship with Dorothy Belk and Miriam Williams were renewed and they wrote me weekly letters.
After finishing my course in Atlanta I was shipped to the Medical Corps pool at Fitzsiummons General Hospital in Denver, Colorada. We worked in the hospital there during the week. On week ends I learned horseback riding with some friends riding in the mountains nearby. My friends were shipped out to hospital units and hospital ships, but I was retained and sent to ASTP - Army Speicalized Training Program. I went to the Univeristy of Nebraska to await assignment. I remember I spent Christmas there and then went to Texas Tech in Lubbock Texas for training to be an Engineer. It was just like college except we marched to classes. One of the higher math courses proved difficult for me. After one semester the ASTP
