Manuscript of Ordnance Expert Who Rose from Private to Captain By the End of World War II

143 pages typed manuscript (unsigned) of a private from New York who rise to the rank of Captain as an Ordnance Officer under Brig. General Alfred B. Quinton. His detailed diary begins with his induction in December 1941 as Private First Class and the problems typical for the new inductees and details his quick rise due to his intelligence and thorough knowledge of ordnance. After his OCS training at Fort Knox. pages 25-31 show the weapons he was to become expert in servicing up to 75 MM's as well as the rigorous training while in the 699th, finally, he speaks of leisure time and dates where he gives names such as Helen B. and others Meanwhile his specialty was Light and 130 Medium Tanks as well as all types of Wheel Vehicles. After being told they would be kept in Louisville, they were nevertheless sent off to England where he describes the homes, the general lack of bomb damage in his area, and the girls. The rule for officers was they could see women in their rooms but they must be gone by 8 AM. As he discusses life in the English countryside outside of Portsmouth, he talks about the Limey sailors who were angry that we were going out with their "mothers, wives, sweethearts and sisters" plus we had money to give the English girls a fancy date though if she liked you she would not go to bed with you until the second date. What he then describes is disgust that they were not prejudiced against Negro soldiers. "Every time I saw a big, black, buck, n------? come walking down the street with a white girl, I saw red." He and Lt. Lowe visited London and went to examine the damage and what remained of V-1's and V-2's. After D-Day he is sent to France where he writes about the open performing of urination in the public while the man is still talking to the woman. Again he notes his hated seeing "the Negro American Soldier [who] was in his glory, for to the French girl sexual intercourse was nothing more than a business." While he apparently was fairly restrained, he notes the openness of most libertine American G.I.'s who became connoisseurs of sexual variations. At Cherbourg he notes the cemetery with the newly white crosses with an occasional star of David. "sacrifice for what? That I will let you answer." He then went to Brussels where he said the girls were even more bold. they had to watch as looters were trying to steal their bags. They often stole US Gasoline and sold it back at 40 cents a gallon (though the normal price should have been 9 cents). It was difficult to use the toilet facilities for privacy since there were women plying their trade in the johns.. It finishes with his trip from Germany to Post-War Japan. He has become a Captain under the legendary General Alfred B. Quinton (later to be in the controversial case of the atom spies that he helped identify). A fascinating item with details which give a personal picture of life of a G.I. who was successful though still had the typical prejudices against blacks and was not immune to the charms of at least the nicer females. Many of the names in the manuscript can be identified though we could not determine the given name of Peters.