Hellcat News, (Godfrey, Ill.), Vol. 39, No. 7, Ed. 1, March 1986 Page: 2 of 32
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Page 2
HELLCAT NEWS
March 1986
HELLCAT NEWS
PUBLISHED BY THE 12th ARMORED DIVISION ASSOCIATION
Official Publication of the 12th Armored Division Association,
1913 Jerome Drive, Godfrey, IL 62035
Writers submitting articles for this publication are solely responsible for
their contents, not this Association nor it's Editor.
OFFICERS
PRESIDENT Forrest Smith (Hq/23)
108 Falls Creek Rd., Pisgah Forest, NC 28768, (704) 884-5682
1st VICE-PRESIDENT Robert J. Schwartz (C/495)
4345 Purdue Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90066, (213) 839-9460
2nd VICE-PRESIDENT John M. McNaull (A/134)
699 County Road 1775, RR #6, Ashland, OH 44805 (419) 289-3944
TREASURER John S. Cassella (A/134)
5309 Dover Dr., Godfrey, IL 62035 (618) 466-6424
PAST PRESIDENT Gilbert Heine (C/66)
1706 N. Second St., Seward, NE 68434, (402) 643-4625
DIRECTORS AT LARGE
Robert G. Kridner (C/92), 7850 Chandler Rd„ Elsie, Ml 48831 (517) 862-5330
Robert Kampling, (C/66) 7221 Bel Air Drive, Corona, CA 91719 (714) 737-8009
Jack Miller (Sv/494), 2535 - 1 75th N.E., Redmond, WA 98052 (206) 885-7515
UNIT DIRECTORS ON COUNCIL
ARTILLERY BATTALIONS:
Frank J. Czeiner (C/493), 3225 Landsdowne Dr., Wilmington, DE 19810 (302) 478-3462
INFANTRY BATTALIONS:
Marvel B. Rowland (B/56), 471 Bernhard Rd., Columbus, OH 43213 (614) 231-5749
TANK BATTALIONS:
James E. Stone, (D/43) 309 Chestnut St., Woodstock, IL 60098 (815) 338-6952
ENGINEERS - MEDIC - RECON:
Charles Kotula, (B/82) Box 35, Jackson Rd., Medford, NJ 08055 (609) 654-4776
ASSIGNED UNITS - ORDNANCE, SIGNAL, DIVISION GROUPS:
Howard J. Bullwinkle (C-134) 721 E. Fifth Ave., Monmouth, IL 61462 (309) 734-6274
APPOINTED POSITIONS
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY AND EDITOR Norbert H. Bruemmer (D-43)
1913 Jerome Drive, Godfrey, IL 62035 (618) 466-3949
HISTORIAN Kenneth G. Bradsteet (A/494)
1018 Prairie St., Emporia, KS 66801 (316) 342-8373
ASSISTANT HISTORIAN Harold E. Durst (A/17)
1114 Congress, Emporia, KS 66801 (316) 342-6641
CHAPLAIN Rev. Robert A. Miller (A/494)
5323 S.W. 89th Ave., Miami, FL 33165 (305) 271-4530
SERVICE OFFICER Fred "Mike" Gorman (C/l34)
9190 State Route 762, Orient, OH 43146 (614) 877-9263
REUNION CHAIRMAN Robert E. Head (Hq/71 4)
2000 W. Roberta Ave., Fullerton, CA 92633 (714) 526/6964
MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN Warren A. Maue (A/1 7)
4320 Germantown-Liberty Rd., Germantown, OH 45327 (513) 866-5004
gruff and rude - it's written in 0n the base. Government checks
every gaze you meet - "Who ($50.00/month?) are held up
needs this army riff raff?" The because of the move. A daily
beds are creaky and lumpy and diet of coffee and A & P dough-
it's raunchy - but you're young nuts saves a few pennies for the
and you're together. Week after weekends when her Hellcat
week this routine is repeated - comes to town to relax. It proves
work - stand all night - love - to be a lonely and desolate life
return in time for work Monday surrounded by unfriendly, re-
AM. sentful strangers. Three other
One weekend these young- girls strolling around town, win-
sters decide they can't live apart dow shopping, sitting in the
any longer - the future, what's park . SOme are pregnant, some
that? There may not be any! are homesick, some are sick,
Answering an ad in the local some are fighters, some are
newspaper, a kindly southern abused, some timid and scared,
lady shows her an upstairs aruj some seek excitement be-
front bedroom - rent $5.00/week. cause they're bored.
Better than the hotel.
One large boarding house just
Basic training keeps the men nGrth of downtown arranges
m6mamamnmamn.amamomamamn.omamnmomam theh> roomg Uke dormitories and
The Hellcat News (UPS 350-210) is ,i • i u l
published monthly for the subscription rate the girlS Share sleePlnS <JUar"
of $6.00 per year by the 12th Armored ters and everything else. When
Division Association, 1913 Jerome Drive, God- their husbands Come to visit
frey, IL 62035. Second Class postaqe is , , rm
paid at Godfrey, Illinois and additional the^ have nowhere to go. There
Mailing offices. are "house rules" while the
ch.„'g?,!„\"AHSELTLCAV?EWSdf^ Pr°Pelty °WnerS g°Ug<! tHeir
Jerome Drive, Godfrey, IL 62035. tenants. One girl lives in a lean-
to that was originally a wood-
shed. A wooden plank is nailed
against one rickety wall full of
cracks through which daylight
streams, to form a bunk bed.
Across from that is a wood burn-
ing stove - no water, no bath-
room - exhorbitant rent. Her
family back home would have
died if they only knew how their
little girl was living.
One Easter Sunday, she and
her friend attend church and go
back to the lean-to home to
bake two potatoes on her stove
for Easter dinner. She was one
of the few who occasionally
accepted a date just to get a free
meal. The majority were faith-
ful - it would be unpatriotic to
compromise - and besides, eve-
ryone said "there was a war
going on" and didn't everyone
have to sacrifice?
There were some who man-
aged to land an office job at the
camp hospital. They fared bet-
ter than those without jobs.
Hopkinsville was not the place
to find yourself pregnant. Only
one old decrepit "doctor" would
serve army wives and he was a
menacing deviate - everyone
agreed that once you escaped
from your initial appointment
with him, you felt lucky to get
away and never went back
again. In the meantime, there
were the quarantines and man-
euvers, etc., going on at Camp
Campbell. There were no lines
of communication between vul-
nerable wives in town and sold-
ier husbands in camp.
Then came Camp Barkeley in
Texas. The housing in Abilene
was one mg. upgraded from
that in Hopkinsville. Old
shabby motel rooms were rented
as "apartments". Gravel out-
side the doors. No place for
children to play, no launder-
ettes. How many of these girls
rode trains or buses (coach) for
days (remember in those days
nothing was heated or air con-
ditioned) with children so they
could just be sure they wouldn't
forget their daddies and then
arrive back home flat broke?
Occasionally there were milk
bottles to return for deposit
money - enough to buy the
baby's milk. How many recall
not even having the price of a
3<F stamp to mail a letter to their
soldier? Who had a car? In fact,
had bus fare? Walking is now
in vogue - but in those days it
was a necessity.
I guess all Hellkittens remem-
ber the good times - picnics,
ADDITIONAL
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
MRS. PAUL E. PARR - S-B/23
810 West "C" Street
North Platte, NE 69101
MRS. WILLIAM R. COMFORT
3041 N. 62nd St. S-Hq/23
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
MRS. GEORGE A. BONCI -
270 East Ave. S-C/494
Greenville, PA 16125
MRS. GEORGE W. ELLESS,
JR. - S-A/493
1618 Country Club Rd., Nt. 6
Crawfordsville, IN 47933
UNIT DESIGNATION
CHANGE
ALTON R. OVIST (from A/56
to A/17)
14958 Sherman Way
Apt. 210-D
Van Nuys, CA 91405
movies, lake swimming - bussed
weekend leaves to Madisonville
or Nashville - but can she ever
forget picking up raw tobacco
leaves in the street that fell
from the tobacco carts in Ken-
tucky and taking them to her
room to roll up and smoke? Can
she forget the frozen diapers
and clothes on the wash line
that had been scrubbed by hand
on a scrub board? Shampoo?
what's that? Toothpaste? salt
or baking soda must do. Make-
up? A burned match makes a
good eyebrow pencil. Stockings?
They had so many sewed up
runs they looked like road maps.
Steaks - these were discovered
after the war.
These girls who are now mar-
ried to their G.I. Joes for 40 to
50 years, kept the faith, had
high moral standards - they
were and are gutsy, hang-in-
there gals. How many of today's
18 olds could do what they did?
LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE
GIRLS!!
/s/Jean Beltrame (92nd
Recon., C/Co.)
What can one add to Jean's
memories but to say thank you
Hellkittens for those early days
when the world little noted the
hard times endured by those
ever loving wives of our future
fighting men. And then there
were those who shared these
hardships and lost their part-
ner to a grave "over there",
never again to feel him arms
around her. Yes, fellows, we
have a lot to be thankful for in
having been lucky enough to
have been paired up with our
Hellkittens. - Editor.
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News, (Godfrey, Ill.), Vol. 39, No. 7, Ed. 1, March 1986, newspaper, March 1986; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410666/m1/2/?q=lumber+does+its+stuff: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.