Now that I am of such an advanced age that the Army of the United States or the United States Army cannot call me to return to active duty, there are two matters that I would like to discuss this morning. The first has to do with being a volunteer and the second has to do with, of all things, the Army’s Good Conduct Medal.
Let us start with the issue of being a volunteer. In 1942 I deemed it my duty to become a soldier. I was 19 years of age and I had no impediments such as children, so I went to the Army recruiting office at Twelfth and Market Streets in St. Louis to volunteer. That was my first mistake. A cardinal rule in the American Army is that one never never volunteers to do anything.
I found out about this during the physicals that determined whether or not I could become a soldier. The physicians examining those of us who were about to enter military service gave a much higher priority to examining draftees rather than those of us who had volunteered. We had to step aside as the physicians tried to work their way through examining a truckload of draftees and those of us who had volunteered. As recorded in an essay a good many years ago, it took the better part of two days to get through the physical examination which should have been completed in about three quarters of an hour. There we were at Jefferson Barracks standing around partially unclothed waiting for the physicians to call our names to examine us for such things as whether or not we had gonorrhea.
I did not find out about this injunction against volunteering until the physical examinations had been completed. My next encounter with volunteering occurred early in January of 1943. Our troopship took us from Charleston, South Carolina to Dakar, Senegal. It was a miserable miserable trip. My recollection is that we were aboard a troopship in extremely cramped quarters for the better part of two weeks. When we landed at Dakar, the Army sent a collection of trucks to take us to a small base called Rufisque. Rufisque was simply a holding base until the army could figure out where we were supposed to go in our permanent overseas station.
At this very moment, there was a tremendous battle going on at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia. The Afrika Corps of the German Army had mauled the American First Army in the first battle there. The First Army regrouped and they were again trying to rout the Afrika Corps at Kasserine Pass. Apparently air crews were in short supply at this time, and while we were at Rufisque we were encouraged to volunteer to become involved in the battle at Kasserine Pass. Naturally, I was among those who volunteered for this detached service. The assignment was with the Twelfth United States Army Air Force.
And now the issue is the subject of detached service. After we arrived to start our work as detached service, it became clear that the Twelfth Air Force was giving priority to its own personnel. I did not blame them for giving priority to their own personnel. Those of us on detached service were given the unhappiest jobs. Now the Twelfth Air Force had only sporadic communication with our headquarters in the Air Transport Command which was eventually located in Accra, Ghana. If that sounds confusing, I sympathize with you.
Those of us on detached service were sort of like extras. Seldom did we fly with the same crew from one mission to the next. The officials who directed the affairs of the Twelfth Air Force regarded us as extras. But that is the fate of those who volunteer in the United States Army.
At the end of my service in 1945, I was back at Scott Field in Illinois. When it finally came time for me to leave the army, I found out that the Twelfth Air Force had even overlooked our accomplishments while we were on detached service.
By the time that I finally demanded my discharge papers, it was 7PM and the regular typists had all gone home. The soldier from whom I demanded my discharge papers tried to type them. He tried to copy my discharge papers from that of another soldier who had several medals to which I was not entitled. But he typed them in my discharge papers as well. I figured that if he would just give me my discharge papers, I could straighten this all out later.
Trying to straighten out something with the United States Army was a daunting, next-to-impossible task. I thought that I had made my point clear to the people in Washington, but six months or maybe later the Army issued me a discharge that had none of my accomplishments on it. By that time, I had had my fill of dealing with the Army. It was for this reason that my discharge papers read like those of a recruit who had stayed in this country for the length of the war. That happened in 1945 and I have never been inclined to reopen negotiations with the United States Army. And I hope that any of my descendants who attempt the impossible task of dealing with the United States Army will take their caution from this advance notice.
Well, that is the story about volunteering. It does not pay off well when you are dealing with the United States Army.
Now we move to medals. I am certain that you have seen on television that when a General, for example, goes to testify before some committee of Congress, the left side of his uniform will be covered with so many medals that he has to have help in getting his jacket on. About all that I can say on this score is that soldiers who reach the rank of General seem to have accumulated dozens of medals. If they are all for bravery it is a different matter, but I doubt that they are all for bravery.
One that is not for bravery is called the Good Conduct Medal. I served about three and a half years in the Army of the United States, and I did not ever see a regulation that stated what the Good Conduct Medal would be awarded for. To the best of my knowledge, none of the other soldiers with whom I served were awarded the Good Conduct Medal. Putting it bluntly, I do not know at this late date what the requirements are to be awarded a Good Conduct Medal. I suspect that if you are brave enough to ask one of those medal-laden soldiers of general rank, he would point out a ribbon that signifies that he holds the Good Conduct Medal.
Now, there is a terrible contradiction here. We give medals in the American Army for bravery. Much of it has to do with bravery under very trying circumstances. In effect, the reason for being a soldier is to kill or maim our enemies. There was a soldier named Audie Murphy, who was cited for bravery on several occasions. I suppose that Murphy was responsible for the death of perhaps 60 or 75 enemy soldiers. The question arises as to whether Murphy would qualify for the Good Conduct Medal. I have no idea what the answer to that question would be. But it strikes me that being a soldier would inherently not qualify one for being the recipient of the Good Conduct Medal. Soldiers are paid to kill enemy soldiers. There is no good conduct in killing. Ah, but that is how the United States Army or the Army of the United States works.
These are my thoughts on volunteering and the Good Conduct Medal. I grant you that they are not inspiring thoughts in any sense. Before I “fly away,” as one of the verses in the Bible requires, the injunction against volunteering and the Good Conduct Medal are something that should be reported in these essays. Now that I have made my thoughts known on volunteering and the Good Conduct Medal, I can depart the scene peacefully so that my soul, wherever that organ is located, shall also be at peace.
E. E. CARR
September 27, 2012
Essay 699
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Kevin’s commentary: brand new essay! One away from the big 700. It is worth mentioning here that despite Pop’s stance on medals, he was awarded a number of them. I believe I may have one or two of these back in Austin, in a box full of various Pop-memorabilia that I keep front and center in my closet. It is colloquially referred to as the “Pop box” and I see very little reason not to crack it open and write about some of the items inside the next time I am home. And it just so happens that I’m Austin-bound this Sunday…