I am on duty today and have eaten early chow and am now alone in the office during my lunch hour. The Wac situation has become an annoying and interesting one so I think I should put down a few facts and figures and incidents in order that I won't forget them. The general opinion here about Wacs is that it is a big mistake and wrong to bring them here. The wacs have their own area that was built at a much greater expense than any other area in Hollandia. They have a beautiful day room with music boxes and a place to dance and to hold parties. It takes a whole company of M.P.s to watch them, which is more men than the girls they guard. All in all and conservatively speaking it takes about two or three men to wait on each Wac. The boys naturally swarm all over them. In order to get a date the fellow must know a girl and have her enter his name on the book before a certain time each day. Then he may take her out providing they go two couples at a time and the men have to be armed. It's like taking any other piece of GI equipment except that you could get away without signing a statement of charges if you didn't bring her back. The average girl up here is just here for the thrill of being lost among the ocean of men. The sailors and CB's come up by the jeepload and take them anywhere and give them everything. These girls go out seven nights a week and there isn't any place to go. Most of them are so tired and inefficient that they can't do anything all day in the way of work. We have three Wacs in the office. As far as being efficient in their jobs, they are not. We can use the Wacs for file clerks and typists and that is about all. They are restless and as soon as they stay in one place for about a month they are wanting to move. The biggest trouble is that all the Wacs that come over are loaded down with ratings. Right now A-1 is replacing all but key personnel with Wacs. Many sections are getting untrained Wacs with no intelligence or initiative except to get a man whatsoever. They have more rank than even this headquarters and this headquarters has more rank than any other air force Hq except perhaps the flying personnel. The army doesn't look upon pregnancy in women army personnel (unmarried) as a punishable sin. Rather the latest regulations governing that subject has almost flabbergasted me. Women found pregnant in the army are not to be reprimanded in any way. They will be sent home to an army hospital where they will be taken care of by the government at government expense until delivery and then they will receive an honorable discharge from the army. In other words, the War Department is encouraging relations between women and men because their logistics probably show that the morale of the troops went up 1/10th of a percent when a few hundred women were turned loose to roam and do as they please. In many ways the Army system over here doesn't differ too much from the Geisha girl of Japan or the girls that Germany sent to their troops at different times.
I am now chief BTO of the Care of Flyer Report and the Aircraft Accident Report and the VD Report on the side. They are very interesting because all accidents have to be reported thru me and all names and diagnosis and description of how, when, where, and why the accident occurred along with lists of all casualties and diagnosis. It is pretty difficult to catch onto but I think I can hold it down. This headquarters forbids promotions without sweating time in grade. Even though I spent 9 months as a private while ratings were frozen that doesn't help me a bit in getting a rating any faster. So even though I will have to do another man's job I won't be able to have his rating, probably ever because six months for every stripe would make the war last for 2 1/2 years, which I hope it doesn't. I hope to have a couple kids by then. (If I can talk June into it).
The war is going okay. The invasion of the P.I.s hasn't taken place yet but it should within a week i think. There have been so darn many admirals and generals over across the street that something big is in the making. The war around Aachen is being fought bitterly with the Germans putting everything they have into the defense of the Rhine. With the fall of the territory surrounding the Rhine river I think the war in Europe should be over.
Tomorrow is one year from the day I pulled out of Frisco on the S.S. Ainsworth. Glad that the first year has passed by because now I won't be classified as a rookie anymore.
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