Category: Fort Benning

October 3, 1943
Dear Grandparents:

I suppose you know by this time that I am at Ft. Benning, Georgia. This is a good way from home since it took us 27 hours to come from Ft. Harrison. I suppose with good connections I could make it home in 30 hours. I was surprised when I looked on the map to see where Ft. Benning is. It is almost on the Alabama line. If you want to see where it is, it is close to Columbus Georgia.

This will be my home for 14 weeks. After that if everything goes alright I may be sent to school somewhere.

We started at noon on Thursday from Ft. Harrison and got here at about 3 PM on Friday. We came through the states of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. It was dark when we came through Kentucky and Tennessee but when I looked out of the windows I could see high hills against the skyline. I don’t know what cities in Ky. and Tenn. we came through but we came through Indianapolis, Franklin, and Batesville in Indiana, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Athen and Columbus, Georgia. We ate supper in Cincinnati and the rest of the time we ate on the train. 

The part of Georgia that I saw is very hilly. Most of the homes are only shacks and a great many people are negroes. The land here is all red clay or sand. The land around Ft. Benning is all sand. When you look at the bare ground you think that sand has just been hauled there but even the ground that is covered with grass is only sand.

You don’t have to walk around but about ten minutes and your shoes are so dusty that they look as if they never had been polished. There is a little corn grown here but the main crop is cotton. I only saw one field of tobacco and then I am not real sure that that is really what it was. The cotton is now ready to pick. You could see the white bolls all over the field. In many places you would see negroes and sometimes whole negro families out in the fields picking cotton. Your cotton plants seemed to be a good sample of the size of the cotton plants. 

I have not been here long enough to be real sure about the schedule but we don’t have to get up as early as we did at Ft. Harrison. Here we have a mess hall for each company. Since we can all sit down at once we don’t have to wait in line for hours to eat as we did at Ft. Ben.

We started in yesterday to learn principles of marching and by this time next week I expect to know a great deal about it. 

I got to go to church again this morning. I have not missed a Sunday yet since I have been in the Army. We have very nice church services even though they only last an hour. They are short so that one chaplain can conduct more than one service during the morning. I am sending you the program of our service this morning but of course the best part of it, the sermon, is not given.

In Indiana we were wearing our winter uniforms but here we are wearing our summer uniforms again. It gets cool at night but is warm during the day. I could notice on the way down that the leaves of the trees changed from their bright fall colors to green. Here you can hardly tell it is fall except for the fact that the crops are getting ripe.

In Fort Harrison we had about 75 men in each barracks, but here the barracks are much smaller and we only have 6 men to each one. I like it better since things are much quieter and you can do more as you like. In each barracks (they call them hutments) there are 2 single beds and 2 double decker beds. I sleep on the top bed of one of the double deckers. 

I suppose the carpenter work at school house is about finished now and things look pretty nice. I hope that things are coming along OK. I am always glad to hear from you so write whenever you can.

Love 
Donald

My address:
Pvt Donald Tappan 35893186
16th Co. 6th Tng Regt. ASTP
Ft. Benning, Georgia

Note the incorrect year on the dateline :-). This seems to be the first letter from Fort Benning.

Sunday
Dear Folks, 

I have just indulged in a Sunday afternoon luxury. As you can probably guess, it was a nice long nap. After I woke up I took a shower so I feel pretty decent now.

I could have gone to a football game, between the divisions here in which there are some all-star players, but I am not sorry that I didn’t.

This morning I went to chapel again. Chapel for our regiment was held in a theater but we had a very nice service. The sermons in the army are short and easy to follow. I sure can’t complain about the sermons. (I will finish after chow)

I guess about the only territory that I saw in daylight that you do not know about is Georgia. The land in Georgia that I saw was pretty hilly. The only kind of soil there is here is sand or red clay. The land around Ft. Benning is all sand. When you are marching  your shoes are so dusty after 10 minutes that they look like they never have been polished. 

The people down here raise some corn but the principal crop is cotton. The cotton is now ready to pick and along the road you would see negro families in the fields picking. It seems that over half the people that you see are negros (I mean outside, not in the camp).

I was surprised when I looked on the map to see where Ft. Benning is. It is just across the river from Alabama. If you want to locate it it is not far from Columbus, Georgia.

I haven’t been here long enough to be very sure about the schedule but I do know that we don’t have to get up as early as we did at Fort Harrison. Here there is a mess hall for each company and since everyone can sit down at once we have to stand in line for hours to eat. Another thing I like about it here is the arrangement of the barracks. At Fort Harrison there were about 75 men in each barracks. You can imagine how loud and rough this many men got. But here the barracks are only about 15 ft x 15 ft and house 6 men. That is like a private room compared to what it was there. In each barracks  (hut or hutment) there are two single beds and 2 double decker beds. I sleep on the top deck of the double deckers.

It is warm here, except that the nights are cool, and you would hardly know it is fall except that the crops are getting ripe. The trees and grass are green. In Fort Harrison the trees were beginning to turn and since this happens earlier at home I suppose they are pretty about now.
Since it has frosted there, I wonder how the walnut crop is coming.

We had changed to our winter uniforms back in Indiana but down here the summer uniforms are in style.

When we got here we were issued some more equipment. We were given a steel helmet, a half-shelter tent, a gas mask, a haversack (pack), a rifle and bayonet, ammunition belt and foot-locker. You can see about what kind of training we are going to get. Our foot-locker are about like wooden trunks with locks on them. This gives us a chance to lock up some of our things.

The rifles we were issued are World War I rifles. The sergeant says that we will only use these to learn how to handle guns. When we start shooting we will be given others.

We started yesterday to learn principles of marching so by this time next week I expect to now something about it.

So far I have had to buy a free things such as soap and shoe polishing equipment for myself. I would like for you to send me my other glasses (in a case), a clothes brush, a hand brush (to scrub hands and fingernails) and 4 coat hangers. I would like for the brushes to be as small as possible but plenty tough. I could also use a few handkerchiefs, white or khaki.

I have not got any mail for several days so I wonder how things are coming. I suppose I will start getting mail sometime this week. Write me whenever you can. I am always glad to get mail.

Love,
Donald

I am not sure that I gave you the exactly correct address so here it is:
Pvt. Donald Tappan 35893186
13th Co. 6th Tng Reg. ASTP
Ft. Benning, Georgia

Oct 2, 1943

Dear Folks,

I wanted to write last night but I didn’t have time. I may not get finished now but I have a few minutes before breakfast. As you can see I am at Ft. Benning, Georgia and that I am in an ASTP unit. I will first get 13 weeks basic training and then will be sent to school somewhere if everything goes off right. Our 13 weeks does not start till a week from Monday so I will be here a little over 14 weeks.

We started from Ft. Ben at noon on Thursday and got here about 1500 Friday. This made us about 27 hours on the train. We were on the train just about all the time except for about a half hour out for supper in the terminal at Cincinnati. We changed trains too in Atlanta, Georgia but we went strait from one to the other.

We came through Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. I slept through most of Kentucky and Tennessee so I never saw much of their scenery. I did see the Ohio River though. I looked about as wide as from the north side of the yard to the water tank (only a rough estimate). We slept in a day car. The seats laid down and made a solid bed the whole length of the car but it was so crowded that it wasn’t very comfortable.

When we got here we had several forms to fill out and were issued more equipment. I will tell about it when I have more time.

I now have a permanent address so you can send anything you want. Write whenever you can and I will write a long letter when I have time.  (Tell Grandma Carver)

Love, Donald

Pvt. Donald Tappan 35893186
Co 13. 6 Ting. Reg. ASTP 
Ft. Benning, GA.

(Ting. Reg = Training Regiment)