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110 6 1944 Invasions and Frustrations There was no question that Marshall wanted something done about the state of morale activities in the Pacific theater, and General Osborn returned to the area to set a course for morale expansion. Generals fussed and ordered, and colonels scurried about to see that General Marshall or General Osborn did his great work to win the war. No one, however, could have been happier over the emphasis on morale and Special Services work than Corporal Thomas R. St. George, who was part of the American war effort on New Guinea. A writer of some note, St. George had published C/o Postmaster , an account of his arrival as a GI in Australia. The book became a best seller and was a Book of the Month Club selection in 1943. Here was a soldier who could fit in quite well with the emphasis on morale, and he was ordered to Australia to work on Yank. Sitting in an Australian pub, he recalled, “Practically speaking, we were out of the army. Out of the Army! My God.”1 Corporal St. George was happier than any general in the Pacific, or at the War Department for that matter. The year 1944 was a time of bloody invasions and battles as American forces aimed at the capture of the Philippine Islands. The campaigns in the Pacific area could be confusing for the American public and for GIs as well. England and Italy were clearly defined, but islands like New Guinea, Hollandia, New Britain, and the like were not well known. Soldiers with an affinity for clear and coherent writing could help in explaining the war in the Pacific, and soldiers like Corporal St. George were needed and well used. Invasions and Frustrations 111 Generals really did not matter much to Sergeant Robert D. Tuttle of the 499th Engineer Company, which was still struggling through the jungles and blazing heat and humidity of New Guinea. He wrote to his girlfriend back in Marion, Ohio, “Tonite is show nite and I think I will take it in. I suppose it will be some picture I have seen. The place here is now looking pretty good we now have horse shoe cortes [sic], volley ball cort [sic] and a soft ball diamond so it looks like we might have a little recreation. Right now I want some nice cool weather.”2 A half world away in Italy, Sergeant William E. George of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron watched a Special Services company set up a softball game on a playing field with concrete seats that had been constructed by the Fascist government. George and his friends had a good deal of fun “booing the umpire.” After the game they attended the showing of the first-run movie Arsenic and Old Lace.3 Despite the great differences between New Guinea and Italy, the presence of the Special Services contributed to the morale of the troops, many of whom were entering their third year away from their families and homeland. As 1944 progressed, the stresses began to show themselves. There were forty Special Services companies formed and in the field; only two were retained in the United States. It was determined that the Desert Training Center in California needed a permanent company to serve the troops in training in the isolated, harsh desert conditions. Of importance were the four PX and Canteen Sections of the company. Three of the forty companies were designated as colored, staffed by African American GIs and a mix of black and white officers. The 17th Company was formed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, in September 1942 to support African American troops, but in late 1943 it was deployed to the European theater to provide for the numbers of African American troops serving in England. The 29th Company, also formed at Fort Huachuca in 1943, was deployed to the South Pacific, and the 37th Company went to North Africa in 1944.4 As the war moved into Italy, many of the Special Services companies were deployed from North Africa to the Italian campaign , especially after the occupation of Naples. General Byron was a much more proactive director than was General Osborn , who tended to be more reflective. One situation that Byron had to deal with was the quality of the USO camp shows. By mid-1944 the number of shows had grown dramatically, and Byron determined that there had to be a better way of making sure civilian entertainers were...

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