After Johnnie’s regiment completed training at Camp Howze, they moved to western Louisana to participate in two months of war games known as the Louisana Maneuvers. The maneuvers put the soldiers through a series of problems designed to prepare them for battle. The Louisiana Maneuvers were first held in the summer of 1941 and involved close to 500,000 men. General Lesley McNair and Leuitenant Colonel Mark W. Clark selected the Louisiana location, bound by the Red and Sabine Rivers, Shreveport, and Lake Charles.The maneuvers included various types of military vehicles such as tanks, motorcycles, jeeps, trucks, as well as a horse cavalry, parachute troops, planes, and boats. In addition to mock battles, soldiers had to deal with all Louisiana had to offer—swamps, bugs, snakes, hurricanes, lightening, and even snow and ice. The maneuvers were judged by Major General George Patton, General Walter Krueger, and Colonel Dwight Eisenhower and viewed by Generals Omar Bradley and George Marshall. There were 26 casualties the first year, including men killed in vehicle accidents, drowning, lightening, and by a heart attack. The 1941 maneuvers were the largest ever conducted. They were last held in 1944.
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Senior officers during the Louisiana maneuvers. Left to right: Mark Clark, Chief of Staff, Army Ground Forces; Harry J. Malony, Chief of Staff, Second Army; Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chief of Staff, Third Army; Ben Lear, Commander Second Army; Walter Krueger, Commander Third Army; Lesley J. McNair, Commander Army Ground Forces. US Army, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. |
On September 16, 1943, a tropical storm that formed in the western Gulf of Mexico became a Category 2 hurricane, the sixth of the season. By the time it reached Louisiana, it had weakened to a tropical depression. Johnnie mentioned the storm in his September 17, 1943 letter to Lucile written “somewhere in Louisiana.”
My Darling,
Well here it is another day about gone, and also missing you that much more. It started raining yesterday at noon and it hasn’t stopped yet. The wind is getting up and an order just came down from headquarters for us to tighten our tent down. They say it is a storm off the coast. Darling, I received a letter from Kate today and she is on the down grade again. She has been sick in bed the last two weeks and she owes some bills. I answered her letter today and told her I would try and help her pay up on her bills. I know she needs help but she is too proud to say so. I also told her that you would try to help her, also. Darling I know we owe money but I was thinking about her two kids going hungry. Don’t you look at it that way? Well Darling I guess this is all the news for this time, except I miss you and also, I love you very very very much.
So, lots lots love, Johnnie
P.S. Honey see if you can get me a cigarette holder and a cheap flashlight with the batteries. Love, Johnnie
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Atlantic hurricane 6 track (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) |
It was still raining when Johnnie wrote Lucile on September 18, 1943. Probably after spending so much time out in the rain, he had caught a cold.
Dear Darling,
Just a line tonight to let you know I am thinking of you and hoping you are doing the same for me. I had most of my hair cut off tonight. You should see it now. I think everybody in the company cut some of it. So, you can see it is really a mess, Ha Ha. Say, will you send me a six-cent stamp so I can mail a letter to Demp? I could send it free, but it takes so long getting there. Darling, how are you? As for myself, I have a pretty dose of a cold. It has settled in my eyes and I can’t hardly read now. I don’t believe we will have to worry about water because it has rained every day we have been here, and I believe it is a rainy season down here now. How are all the folks? OK, I hope. Tell them all to write me and tell Doc I said he shall know better than to go fishing when I am not there because all he has is bad luck, Ha Ha.
Well Darling, I guess this is all the news for this time so Lots Lots Lots Love, Johnnie
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Johnnie and his friend Demp |
Training is hard work. On September 19, 1943, Johnnie shared that they were starting a 100-mile hike that night. And, it was still raining.
My Dear Darling,
Well here it is Sunday and we are starting on that hundred-mile hike tonight. In other words, from tonight on I am not going to have much time to write to you but every chance I get I will write. I want you to write me as often as you can, because I am so lonely for you. Darling please excuse me for being mad at you at times when we were together. But I haven’t been myself lately as you could see that. I am often sorry. I assure you it won’t happen again. It is still raining and my cold isn’t no better but don’t worry about me because I will be alright. The happiest day for me will be when I am back with you. That is all I am thinking of at all times. Well Darling, I have to get my things ready to move out. So be as you always have been to me, sweets and such a good and faithful wife.
Lots lots lots love Johnnie
P.S. Tell the folks all hello for me. Love, Johnnie
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