Ron, your up close and personal information is priceless. I really value it. Thank you for telling us. ----- Original Message ----- From: RonaldS842@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2002 7:01 PM To: KOREAN-WAR-L@raven.cc.ku.edu Subject: Re: dirty clothes and who cared? Yes indeed, cleanliness was an important issue where men were asked to
give maximum effort. This is what Lt. Col. Kenneth O. Schellberg,
quartermaster of the 7th Infantry Division recalls.
"We learned that the quartermaster's shower and clothing exchange was a
great economy in spite of the additional equipment necessary to allow the men
to bathe and to launder their clothing.
"When the clothing exchange began we collected all the duffel bags and
limited each soldier to the clothing on his back plus a change of underwear
and socks. Thus the total number of uniforms per man dropped from three sets
to one and a half.
"There were many advantages to the clothing exchange system. It cut down
the weight the soldier had to carry, it also eliminated duffel bags and the
thirty man detail in each regiment to guard and handle them. This increased
our mobility. The cleaner clothing improved the hygiene of the troops and the
automatic exchange of clothing eliminated all requisitions below division.
Exchange made possible early repair of shirts and trousers before they became
unsalvageable.
We learned that in combat there is no need to publish a shower schedule
because company commanders preferred to send men to showers whenever the
tactical situation permitted. From experience we learned that the shower
units should not be moved farther forward than regiment.
"The shower and clothing exchange was a great morale builder for the men.
After an attack in which a regiment was unable to release men to get showers
we would augment its bathing facilities and see that every man could bathe
and change within four days. Normally the men had a shower once a week.
Company commanders watched their men for signs of excessive fatique and
sent them to the showers when a relief seemed necessary, Often a shower and a
hot meal at regiment were enough to restore a soldier's efficiency. If the
fatique were serious the soldier could be sent to the regimental rest camp
for a day or two of sleep hot meals and regular baths. This was an excellent
way to prevent combat fatique."
Ron
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