Regimental mirror. (Fort Benning, Ga.) 1943-194?, May 04, 1944, Image 3

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Regimental mirror., May 04, 1944, Page PAGE THREE, Image 3

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Newspaper Page TextThursday, May 4, 1944 Eisenhower Likes Hot Biscuits, Says Africa Battle Cook “General Eisenhower’s favorite food.” says Sgt. Ray Crabtree, of F Company, Academic Regiment, who cooked for the general during the African campaign, “was hot bis cuits with butter. And no matter how good or had the food was the general always had a kind word for the meal.” During the three months that he was on detached ser vice as personal cook to the ‘ corymanding general. Crabtree also cooked for Gen. Mark Clark and all of the dignitaries who visited the “stars.” “1 enjoyed the assignment, naturally,” says Crabtree, “but whenever the generals came back from tours of the front I got a bit lonely for my own out fit, which was in the thick of the fight, and 1 finally asked to be sent back to the lines ” Crabtree’s heavy weapons com pany, with which he had landed on the African invasion coast early in November, was on its way to Gafsa in late January when he resumed his job as mess sergeant at the front KITCHEN KNOCKED OUT “We caught 14 parachutists while on patrol and then we went to El Guettar, where one afternoon my whole kitchen got knocked out. Four kitchens in all were bombed as the Nazi planes came down the line The mess sergeant on the right of us lost a few men. But believe it or .not, we all had new kitchens the first thing in the morning— the Quartermaster Corps was on the ball " Ln the daytime the eight men in his kitchen were subject to constant bombing and strafing and at night they ran the gamut of fire to take food up to the lines. SNIPE AT KPs “I always detailed one man to cover us while we carried the food forward. He’d keep the snipers down so we'd get through all right. Back in Algeria we sometimes had to go as far as 15 or 20 miles to take a hot meal to the company—we carried the rest of the supplies, too. using mules and jeeps over the goat passes at night ” A mess sergeant in the field has to do a lot of “improvising,” Crabtree recalls. “You don’t know from one minute to the next what you’re going to do or get Often I served British field rations or even captured food, if it was in sealed containers MEN LIKE PASTRY “I tried to serve the men in Russ Swimming Pool To Open Saturday Picturesque Russ Pool will open its season Saturday. May fith, for the enlisted men of the Academic Regiment and the post. AAale Call by Milton Caniff Creator of Terry and the Pirates AAetl Sometimes Go NIITS In Tho Army r i HAVEN’T SEEN AROUND T WHY, EURE XMIES LACE,I JUST XZ WHY-AH- B^WELIX 'DON’T WANTA PEEL YLEMME GIVE Y' A TIP... MAC, CjnX l MISS LACE, CAUSE I GOT I GENERAL... 1 GOT MY STRIPES- XOF COURSE, GENERAIXw TOO BAP, MAC... NO MORE / THE FIRST TIME YOUR OUZTEP AND CONFINED TO PARDON ME X I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT ) - BUT WEIL HAVE '■ RESPONSIBILITIES...YOU ONLY \ COMPANY COMMANDER CALLS VTi""® BARRACKS.' I THOUGHT /-THERE’S THE 1 LIKE TO HELP MF /TO MAKE IT A HAVE ID WORRY ABOUT YOUR j YOU IN, GET THE CONVERSATION \ V YOU MIGHT HELP ME X DOOR BELL... CELEBRATE' THREESOME -I \ V OWN SELF-AND NOT EVERY J AROUND TO WHERE YOU SAY'WAS I Pt K—« MOURN ... rrrtX XL -d 7 HAVE A GUEST IHL GOLDBRICK IN THE OUTFIT.. / THAT THE WAY YOU DIP IT AT V / M I ■RES4HP I \ FROM THE IS th- / . . -X WEST POINT, SIR'? 7 .. CHANCES ARE / — , J 1 I r V ^X * '/ c 7HE NEVER SAW TH'PL ACE- BUT / ' KSw J® IT'LL TICKLE HIM SO HE'LL AX 1 SESH \ Be? -LHii v ',’7s V ... \ put y'in hjs goop book Bj Pl o the lines a piece of pastry at least once a day. You’d be sur prised how they always wanted pastry—they'd really complain if some doughnuts or pie or buns didn't come up with the coffee. They liked soup, too. especially when they were back for a rest Whenever we showed up with chow we always got a good re ception—you could see in the men’s faces that they were hap py to get the food .” American morale was very high all through the campaign, Crabtree says. “We went there for the purpose of winning and we won.” But German morale was good, too, even though it was clear that all Germans did n't believe in Nazism “The Germans are tops as sol diers,” Crabtree recalls. “They have great self respect and pride even when captured. When we asked them why they didn’t quit sooner they said ‘Why don't you quit? For the same reason -you’re soldiers ' “You could always tell which of the prisoners were Nazis and which were Germans. The older Germans knew they were lick ed -the arrogant teen-agers were usually the Nazis They actu ally seemed like two different nationalities Most of the Ger mans. incidentally, just don’t be lieve in the ‘superman’ theory. When we'captured them, they hadn’t eaten for four or five days, and we had to feed them too while cooking for our own men ” “IN” FOR GOOD NOW Crabtree, a native of Abing don, Va., learned how to cook when he served an enlistment in Hawaii during the twenties. Back in civilian life he worked in hotels and restaurants in Vir ginia until 1940. when he reen listed as a regular—this time he's decided to stick it out as a “thirty year man.” Action started for him on No vember 7th. 1942, when his ship was torpedoed in the Mediter ranean and had to be towed to port by British destroyers When the Yanks landed, Crabtree set up his kitchen under fire and from the initial invasion to the end of the campaign in May he was on active duty in the Afri can theater. Returned recently to the States under the policy of rotation of troops, he is now understudying S. Sgt. I. Bensoni, mess sergeant of F Company. Academic Regiment. REGIMENTAL MIRROR SGT. RAY CRABTREE, WHO COOKED FOR GENERALS EISENHOWER AND Clark during the African campaign, prepares dinner for the men of F Company, Academic Regiment, where he is now assigned tinder the policy of troops rotation. (Official U. S. Army Photo—The Infantry School. I POR Breaking Up "That Old Gang" In Co. C By Sgt. M Kehoe Hang out the Rooms To Lei sign and add 17 more stars to the ser vice flag, for hot or cold out they went to tile casual company last Friday afternoon. Among the re cently farmed-out surplus from Co. C, who have joined their brothers already in Co. F were ten from the heavy weapons group, six from the supply crew and one lone eagle from the chairborne unit at the main of fice. (Remember back in the good old summer of '42 when the heavy weapons regulars number ed almost 100 men? Well, at this writing there are only 14 left and six of them expect to leave before the deadline. The POR is certainly breaking up that old gang of ours!) To mention a few of the lads who left Friday: T Sgt Hughie Martin -on duty behind the sup ply counter at Bldg. 8; T. Sgt. John Tidmore—he kept the anti- tankers on the ball at the store room at Bickword Range. From out of the Yankee Vilage went Sgt. Nolan Barfield, Cpl. Adrian Oakley and the pretty boy him self, the pride and joy of Noonan Ga.. Cpl. Don Visco. The Irish were well represented by Sgt. John “Patrick” Lohan and Cpl. Joe Daly. Joe hopes those cooks at Co. F know how to prepare that boiled child he’s so fond of! Cpl. Paul Sealy left armed with a stack of cross-word puzzles, but we doubt whether he'll get much AC time to work an them. Sgt. Bob Wilson—one of the first draftees to enter the I.S.D. in January '42. Tec 4s Joe Simard and Joe Karasek, Sgts Felix Lewis and Alex Zuraw, Cpls. PAGE THREE Belock and Ernie Bedrick, “the best dressed field soldier in Ben ning,” along with Sgt. Marion Jones rounded out the contin gent Since Co F has no columnist and a few of the lads come in for an occasional visit (practically every nite) here's a few notes we picked up in the rumor clinic; Sgt. Ray Buzek is the happiest man out in the casual unit. Just say, “Good morning, Ray, how you doing?” and note the cheer ful and colorful response you get for an answer. Sgts John Sutton and Vince Kirby are due for a new address within a week. Who was that lady I saw you with last nite? Arthur Murray may teach’em dancing in a hur ry but for the more steady, de pendable type of ball room, or is it brawl room dancing, just watch Pfc. Joe Lachick trip the light fantastic and cut a mean rug.