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messed with those things. So the Sergeant or somebody that was in charge said, "Take one of those big wash tubs and put some water in it and pour all of those in." Goodnight we poured that in and they came out and they were all over the floor, jiminy Christmas, we never could catch up with all of those potatoes and all those onions. He wondered what had happened. Some of the best feeds we had were overseas. That calls to mind; we used to go out with the natives fishing in the surf. Those guys had a stick that they would stick down and catch those fish but they were eating them raw. I couldn't bring myself to eat raw fish. Then they would get some for us and say, "Fix them how you like them." We would take them back and those were really good. I couldn't march particularly well. When they marched you out I didn't keep time, they would march you out to Camp Matthews to go on the rifle range; you had to keep up or practically perish. The DI Sergeant was back there with his swagger stick and he would hit you across the legs and you'd yelp. If you yelped too loudly he would hit you again. I don't remember how far it was. It must have been ten or twelve miles out there. I can't remember on that thing. But that was that. In boot camp I think that's about it. I can't think of anything else right now. Mr. Misenhimer Then where did you go when you finished boot camp? Mr. Finley
After taking all those tests and they offered me the chance to go to Fort Benning and I said, "No, no." They said, "We have to send you some place." So I ended up going to radar tech school. I went to radar tech school back in Chicago. That's when I learned how nice the folks in Chicago were. From there I went to Logan, Utah to Utah State Agricultural College. From there they sent me down to Camp Miramar. The reason they
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Albert Finley. Finley joined the Marine Corps around December of 1943. He provides vivid details of his boot camp experiences. He served with Headquarters Company, 4th Marines, as a radar mechanic on Corsairs, repairing radio and radar gear. Beginning in September of 1944 they traveled to Guam, Kwajalein, Pearl Harbor and Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Finley shares a number of anecdotal stories, including working with POWs. He was discharged in the fall of 1946.
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