Stateside Service: Camp Butner, North Carolina-89th Infantry Division


The day finally arrived when we packed up our tents, were trucked back down to Camp Roberts and were soon loaded on troops trains (after a short arm check, of course) for the long trip to North Carolina. We went down the coastline and then across the Mohave dessert, stopping at the familiar Needles for exercise outside the train cars, all the way to New Orleans and then up the east coast right into Camp Butner located between Hendersonville and Raleigh North Carolina. Something happened of interest on that trip that later on had significant ramifications for me. When at B Btry in Hunter Liggett I became friends with an ex-ASTPer who we called "Red" for obvious reasons but, unfortunately, I can't remember his name at all. He was very cultured gentleman whom I respected immensely. Again, we passed through breathtaking and interesting country giving me an even larger prospective of the makeup of our large and beautiful nation. In a long and continuous letter to my mother, I was inspired to describe in great detail what I saw and how and why it impressed me. At one point Red asked what I was doing and I let him read it. He told me he was impressed with my writing capability and should think about becoming a writer, a journalist, or something of that nature. Because of my respect for his education and maturity, this impressed and stayed with me, as we shall see if you stay with my story.

Ready to Go (l-r) Andy, Me, Tony, Reed

Indians at Clovis, NM		Needles, CA

Troop Train		Fort Worth, TX

Butner was a huge, sprawling army base typical of the times with rows upon row of barracks, mess halls, and offices supplemented by a hospital, space for artillery and vehicles, movie houses, USO, recreation hall, chapels and what have you. It was relatively flat with plenty of space for maneuvers and firing exercises. It was located fairly close to Raleigh and Durham, which proved to be good "liberty" towns and we quickly learned to covet those lovely southern belles.

Two Belles

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