jul - aug 1943
camp maxey, texas
Training [12]
Except for the Nurses, who were not assigned to the unit until it arrived at the staging area in England later that year, the personnel received their technical training at Camp Maxey, assisting in the operation of the Station Hospital. Field training consisted of road marches, overnight bivouacs and simulated exercises of a tented hospital in a theater of operations.
Other activities included dismounted drill, physical training, military courtesy and discipline, care of clothing and equipment, shelter tent pitching, army orientation courses, identification of aircraft, defense against chemical warfare, anti-personnel mines and booby traps, mass athletics, camouflage, treatment of gas casualties, transportation of sick and wounded, medical aid, splints and bandages, fire prevention and control, inspections, ceremonies, convoys, professional training and duty assignments.
For being temporary duty, that was a lot of training in a short amount of time but Carl continued his fast track for deployment to the front.
By August 1943, the table of organization had been filled (with the exception of the Army Nurse Corps personnel) and for the next five months, the unit underwent additional intensive training in preparation for overseas duty.
Carl was not involved in the transition from a training hospital to the eventual forward operations in England in December 1943. His next stop was Fort Jackson, SC. He may have caught wind of a new training program that would enhance his ability to train on subjects in a high intensity environment and open the doors for potential excellerated advancement to be an officer. That program was called the ASTP Program.
Temporary Duty with the
232nd Station Hospital
The shoulder patch on the left is the 232nd Station Hospsital unit patch worn on wool and service uniforms. This patch was not assigned to the unit until the reorganization in July 1943 and for the transition from a training hospital to theatre hospital in December 1943.
The patch on the right is the patch Carl wore as he was technically under Patton's 3rd Army Corp since his enlistment to the reserves at Camp Custer. He wore this patch throughout all his training to this point but soon would find himself stitching on a different shoulder patch after leaving Camp Maxey.
The 232d Station Hospital was officially activated on 25 February 1943 at Camp Maxey, Paris, Texas (Infantry Training and Division Camp)
For training and administration purposes, the organization was initially under the supervision of the Surgeon, Station Hospital, Camp Maxey.
In the first few months of its existence, the unit underwent several reorganizations as follows:
25 February 1943
Official activation as 250-bed hospital
Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. Marcellus A. Walker, Jr., MC (ASN:O-264537)
24 June 1943 Reorganized from 250-bed hospital to 500-bed hospital
Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. Samuel R. Terhune, MC (ASN:O-302300)
14 July 1943
Reorganized from 500-bed hospital to 750-bed hospital
Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. Leonard F. Wilson, MC
The Robe is a 1942 historical novel about the Crucifixion of Jesus, written by Lloyd C. Douglas. The book was one of the best-selling titles of the 1940s. It entered the New York Times Best Seller list in October 1942, four weeks later rose to No. 1, and held the position in 1943 for nearly a year. The Robe remained on the list for another two years, returning several other times over the next several years.
Married in PARIS!? Marvelleux!
Paris Texas??
The First Wedding Held At Camp Maxey-Paris News [13]
Lt. Joseph Craton Bates of the 405th Infantry Regiment, 102d Infantry Division hadn't snagged a local but he and his bride, nee Katherine Margaret Edgeworth, set the trend. The tsunami of weddings to hit Paris, Lamar County and surrounding Texas counties as well as Hugo, Choctaw County, and surrounding Oklahoma counties began with this one.
The opening of Camp Maxey was a raid on the single female population of the area by the thousands of soldiers that came to be stationed there. Add into this mix the hundreds, maybe thousands, of girlfriends that came to Paris to visit their sweethearts and wound up getting hitched like the Bates.
The invasion to capture the locals was so successful after the activation by the 102d Infantry Division in 1942 that one almost has to feel sorry for the thousands of 99th Infantry Division and the estimated 70,000 IARTC soldiers that followed. It had to be tougher to find female companionship. But it appears those succeeding waves of soldiers took full advantage of the remaining available population of single women to find marital bliss.
Add into this mix the hundreds, maybe thousands, of girlfriends that came to Paris to visit their boyfriends and wound up getting hitched like the Bates. The demographics were perfect for the soldiers. Most of them were under the age of 25. Most of the young Paris men had been shipped out to other parts of the country and were, by all probability, courting the population at their assignments as hard those young soldiers did in Paris.
Camp Maxey had six chapels and there are reports that these chapels were 100% booked several times a day. The USO in Paris would help the young women coming from afar in making arrangements for the weddings. Every local church opened their doors and aisles to keep the wartime brides happy.
I’m sure the local conditions propagated many a “Dear John” letter to some Paris bloke that was taking care of Uncle Sam’s business. After all,
for the women this was one big party. With the encouragement of the Camp Maxey commanding officers, the local population organized the eligible young women into a group known as the Maxey Command. Their official function was to provide support for the young soldiers as dance partners, dates to local social functions, and to boost a soldier’s morale. Several times a month the young Paris women, under the watchful eye of chaperons, would hop buses in Paris and head out to the camp for an evening of dancing or movies. Or they would go to of the local USOs located in Paris and Hugo where dances were hosted weekly.
The young ladies and their families were encouraged to invite soldiers they met to dinner, or join them at church, or just get together for a picnic.
The end result the was the youth of Paris being spread from sea to shining sea and raising their families in lands afar. I marvel today that my Google searches turn up so many obituaries from other states that report the deceased female to been from Paris, Texas and she met her husband at Camp Maxey. There are endless chapters to a book to be written on this topic.