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It was rumored that we were going to move, but of course,the " moving "
rumor is standard in our repertoire.This " rumor " insisted that were moving;
to ltaly, and sure enough. the morning of December 9, it was confirmed.
We were scheduled to leave El Aouina at 8: 00 a. m. so with the usually
orderly 3l2th manner we got started about l0:00 a. m., surprisingly fast
moving, considering past performances.On truck convoy, wo passedthrough
Tunis and Mateur and by mid - afternoon after much tiresome re - routing
and detouring reached Bizefie, our former port of entry and now our port
of embarkation. Ships were not ready for us, so we were taken outside Bizerte
to a newly d,rg turnip field and told to bivouac for the night, Tents were
hastily erected; the necessary eighteen inch by ten feet excavations and
king size fox holes were dug. It is well it was not necessary to use these
fox holes for during the night some were nristakenfor the afore- mentioned
18 inch by 10 footers. After noon C raticlns on December t0 we received
orders to break camp and tnove to the docks. As usual it began to rain as
soon as our tents were packed and all of our equipment was lying exposed
to the elements. We arrived at the docks, late afternoon, boarded British
's. The boats stayed at dock tlrat night,
manned LST's and American LCI
but about mid-morning of the lt th, hoisted anchor and joined a convoy
inthelrarborattdsai1edoutintlreMediterran€antowarc1Sici|y.
Inasmuch as the ouffit had broken up into small groups and assigned
to various boats the boys enjoyecl varied experiences during the crossing.
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The vay-age,b;e-ganon the,-morning."of ,D*eqqsbei11 _andunder an ovelc-qqJ
rkt, we staried,otT=intothe.Mediterraneai. The trip was made without in-
cident, but there are little things about it we will all remember. The gang
that rode the LCI' s can tell you it was quite an experience." Sitting one out "
in the cold darkness while the spray splashed playfully about their ankles.
Trying to keep a messkit steady on a dancing deck was quite a trick, too,
especiallyif one wasn't inclined to be a goorl sailor. The first d^y out was
quite choppy as we ploughed across the open sea, but we were off the coast
of Sicily the next d^y and the going from therein wasn't too bad.
We caught sight of the Volcano, Stromboli that night, it's red glow
standing out in bold relief against the dark background of terra firnra. The
Isle of Capri greeted us the next morning. That much storied isle was a
disappointmentto a lot of us. Perhapsit was just the wrong tirne of year
foi it to be appreciated,for its barrennessdid little to spur our imaginations.
We passeclthtbugh th'b straits between the isle and the rnainland ind no\M
had a better view of Naples, nestled at the base ,of VbsuVius,' one of the
world,soldest.and'.mosttalkedofvoIc|.o,..]:.
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College. The college boasted a very moCern series of buildings, but in ther
present condition were quite airy. Most of us were reminded of the songr
,, I dream' t I dwelled in rnarble halls " after the first night there. We cer-
tainly did - literally, and marble is certainly not the ideal bed. Our diet for
the inost of that week was C rations, urost of the time cold. After a few
clays our cooks rigged up fires outside and heated them for us hot or
cold the;r were still C rations and many a meal of Spaghettiand beef was
downed outside of camp in Bagnoli. We weren't in camp long before we
were given a " fatherly talk " from Lt. Swedberg. He had been. on DS in
Italy for soffre time before us and consequentlyhad learnedthe ropes.Vino,
senoritas,and correct bargaining for store items were the leading topics for
discussion.Sonre of us took his advice.
2c)
remarkable state of preservationin the City of Pompeii just outside the site
of the 1uins, there is a Roman Catholic Church that we are glad we clidn't
miss seeing. The interior of it is done for the most part in nrarble.Columns
of matched marble line the hallways, the blending of the grain a picture,
of perfection. Over the altar there is a painting of the Ave Maria with
actual cliamonds set into the halo and necklace. A gold organ graced a
balcony toward the rear of the hall and the inside of the dome was
covered r,vith an angelic nrural that must have taken months to do. This'
was one sight in our travels that will rernain in our memories for a long
time. It is needlessto say that true to the spirit of the 312th, skulls "found"
in the ruins at Pompeii began to adorn some of the boudoirs back at the
college.
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swell turkey dinner ancl a flock of letters,
Now we hacl a job tlo, and for' the time being it tracln't much to do
with aircrafr. Living conditions had to be inrproved ancl roadways were
needed in the hangar area. It wasn't too long before hand rnatJe 'l
stoves
were provided for us, and followed shortly by local frames. he area
began to shape up nicely. Next came the days on the rock pile, or pick
and shovel work at the hangars. We began to think we werea " Repair
Depot Outfit " but along came another break which eased our griping. We
won the toss this time ancl moved into 4 school in town. Our comfortable
dty' rooms, a place to hang our clothes mess hall in the same building,
plunrbing in the latrines it was heaven to us our first building
after months pup tents, shacks and improvisations. With the arrival of the
B-24's, shovelswere discarded and tool kits opened, Skilled men worked at
their own jobs the 3l2th was putting ships in the air again.
This isn' t the end of the story for the 312th. There are pages yet to
be written. We'll be in there plugging with the hope that our next an-
niversary will find us back in the " old country'" our good ole USA.
R"agmoncl rWlanning
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