Lt. Lawson Reichard’s WWII Diary – April 4, 1943 by Lt.Reichard (04/04/09).
Lt. Reichard’s WWII Diary Project : On January 1, 2009, WorthPoint began a three year project following the life of a WWII soldier through the daily pages of his diary.To read about the inception of this project, or to add your own comments, click here.
Sunday, April 4, 1943
April 4, 1943 Diary Page
Furlough – En route to Maryland
Well this morning I got up at seven-thirty and went over to the mess hall. I met a pilot going to S. Dakota and it was a risk. We took off at ten and headed across the mountains. It was beautiful. I sat up in the plastic nose of the B-17 and it was fascinating. It looked like I was up in a glass ball. The pilot was a hedge hopper by birth I think so he ducked in and out of gorges and canyons making it all very interesting to say in the least. About an hour out we had to put on oxygen masks and we were about fourteen-thousand feet up. I sat up in the glass nose nearly all the way. We dropped down to almost on the ground when we came over the Rushmore Memorial. That is the huge carving of Washington Jefferson Teddy Roosevelt and I think Madison. It is a beautiful sight and we buzzed it three times. At two we pulled into Pierre, S. Dakota. It is a ______ town of the first _____ and is stuck out in the middle of nowhere. I would hate to judge the rest of the towns in S.D. by this capital or the country by what I have seen flying east. One train a day pulls out at 2:30 A.M. Well this pilot and myself, Name of Bill Smith, killed time the best we could and that wasn’t much. We took a room at the hotel ate dinner then wandered around. God! what a country. The lower end of town was nearly flooded out while the other end was nearly obliterated by a dust storm. A nice place to get stuck in. We went to bed about ten.
January 1943 Recap: We first met Lt. Reichard in January, stationed at McClellan Air Base in Sacramento, where he was in charge of a motor pool unit. Expecting to be sent overseas, their orders were changed and they became restless to see action. Lt. Reichard’s sweetheart, Ginnie, would write frequently, and he would go to dinner and movies with local girls – Dorothy, in Sacramento, and Marie, when the unit moved to Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho. The men have spent their days in lectures, and physical demonstrations to try to keep sharp mentally and physically. But they are getting increasingly restless.
February 1943 Recap: The unit continues to be restless as they still haven’t any orders for overseas. The days are kept busy with lectures, physical demonstrations, and frequent hikes in the mountains above Boise. Lt. Reichard receives a promotion to Lieutenant First Class and continues to write to Ginnie back home, though her letters are becoming more infrequent. February 1943 comes to an end with the unit still feeling bored and discouraged.
March 1943 Recap: March brings uncertainties in weather and daily life to Gowen Field. Still no word about overseas orders, the outfit must now share quarters with another unit. There is now time to begin a photo album, collecting pictures from times with the outfit. Letters from Ginnie are becoming more infrequent but there is no shortage of dates with the local girls in Boise. March comes to an end with everyone in the outfit anxiously awaiting word of upcoming furloughs.
Production Credits:
Diary transcription: Kathleen Long
Diary photos: Claudia Forbes
Video production: Alison Harder
Narration: Mountain Vista H.S. Theater Department
Jeremy Goldson, Department Chair; Bryan Smith – voice of Lt. Reichard
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