The Personal Diary of
PFC Herbert Bernard Ragsdale
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September 27 Secured a leave of absence and quit working today. I certainly hate to leave. September 28 Stayed with Gladys all day. September 29 Went to Evansville today for Army exam. Passed easy. Cuss it! September 30 Came home today to spend my two weeks furlough. October 7 Giving Madisonville a last look over these few days left. October 13 The fateful day arrives. I left home today on the 10 A.M. train for Henderson. Left Henderson this afternoon. 1:30 P.M. changed trains at Evansville. October 14 Arrived Ft. Harrison midnight last night. Got to bed at 2 A.M. Spent the day at lecture. October 15 Fine meals here. We were issued clothes today. More lectures. October 16 Boy I got a rotten detail today. Built a firing range, and had to level the ground off with spades. October 17 The fellows from Henderson are leaving now, a few at a time. Not more than ten of us left. October 19 I'm on the alert now. Ordered to stay close to my quarters. October 20 Received my call today. Left Ft. Harrison 9 A.M. Arrived in St. Louis at 6 P.M. Left at 6:30 P.M. I was Corporal in charge of the 16 men enroute. Best accommodations. October 21 Arrived Bringhurst, Louisiana at 2 P.M. Army trucks carried us to camp. My first look at camp almost made me vomit. 
October 22 
Editor’s Note October 23 Sand and more sand. Drill all day long in it. Wind blowing like a demon. November 17 We moved to hutments today. They're much better than tents. November 28 Had a poor Thanksgiving dinner today. Worked all day, too. This Army's nuts. December 1 Hiked about 7 miles out in the woods today and set up bivouac. Looks like we'll sleep in pup tents tonight. December 2 These pup tents didn't help much. Almost froze tonight. Sleeping right on the ground. December 12 Took my truck driver's examination today. Passed with flying colors. It's fun driving these Army trucks. December 20 Getting along pretty good on gold-bricking. I'm getting tired of working my heart out and not getting any credit for it. December 21 Put on alert yesterday. Can't even leave Bivouac now. December 23 Took the fellows into the show tonight in the company truck without tickets. That's off the record, though. December 24 Only way to get into Camp is to slip by the guards. That's not hard, though. December 25 Christmas Day. Not much of a Christmas for us, though. December 26 Getting more equipment now and having our bags stencilled. Looks like we'll be going overseas before long. December 29 Turned in our cots and mattresses tonight. Sleeping on the ground, ready to pull out at any hour. December 30 We boarded a troop train this morning at 6. Feels good to be on a train again even if it is taking us to an embarkation port. December 31 Riding through Texas now. Looks like we're going out to the West Coast or maybe Mexico.
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