Obertin Letter to Dr. Watkins - February 18, 1972

              New London, Wisconsin
February 18, 1972
Dr. Charles Watkins
LSU Medical Center
New Orleans, I.a.
Dear Doctor Watkins,
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Well, here we go againl Many thanks for your kind letter of Feb. 7,1972:
it's good to hear that the 64th's history is taking shape and that many of
the old gang are contributing to it, and I trust, supporting my statement
in my first letter, that it was a good outfit.
The photos I sent are yours to keep: they are duplicates I had made of sGme
I came across lately and you are most welcome to them. And about the committee
on the hE tory of the 64th- I have a very vague recollection of something along
that line but it seems to me this came to be at about the time the 64th was
in its sad decline - and this too, must be part of its history. Same months
before the shooting stopped in Italy, the military higher-ups got the bright
idea that there were a lot of rear eschelon people who could be taken out of
their units and sent up as replacements in the combat units at the fronto This
would save the time and expense of sending replacements from the states or from
other theatres. The guys taken away would be replaced by GI's released from
hospital who might no longer be fit for front line duty but could do limited
duty behind the lineso So about half of the 64th's enlisted complement (and
maybe some doctors and nurses) were reclassified to combat status and trans­ferred
out. Naturally, morale as well as efficiency went to pot and anyone who
knew only this part of the history would have little good to say about the 64tho
You mentioned in your first letter that one of the high lights of the officers'
recollections involved the hikes at Ft. Jacksono This has a humerous angle that
I'm sure it is safe to mention now •• ooAll of us were required to go on these
conditioning hikes, working up to a sixteen-lp.ile marathon with full field packs,
gas masks, helmets, the works 1 We had an assistant detachment commander whose
name I can't recall although I should, a young, Regular Army bantam rooster,
short, wiry and freckle-faced, who knew a few GI cute tricks and enjoyed pulling
them on higher eschelons. When it was his turn to take the guys out on a hike,
we would shape up and march out in the morning looking as military as a crack
Marine outfit. Well, almost. The Colonel standing on the hill top where head­~
rters was located would puff up with pride as he watched his men troop out with
heads high and spirits soaring, toughening themselves up for the ordeals aheado
Well out of sight of the Old Man, our leader would order us to halt and fall out
for a break. This meant a siesta until close to lunch time, sacked out on the
warm sands under the pine trees of South Carolinao Then he would get us back on
our feet and we'd struggle back to camp, pretending to be all dragged out from
our exertions. And our Colonel could plainly see how hard we were working at
becoming a hardy outfit he could be proud ofl Of course, when this officer took
the medical officers out on a hike , the game was played for keeps and they got
a real hateful workout from him. I suppose this was routine in the never-ending