At any time during training
you could be sent to something else if they decided you wouldn't make
it as a pilot. In most cases you would be sent to navigator or
bombardier school. After graduating from Maxwell, I was sent to
Primary training at Orangeburg, South Carolina. Every time we made a
few friends we would be sent to different places and have to start an
once again. At Orangeburg we were a small group and this is where we
saw our first airplanes. They were P17's, a biplane. Things began to
get a little easier for us here and the food got much better. The
only discipline we got here was the GIGS we got for anything wrong
that we did, like getting in late at night or not being in the right
place on time. For each GIG we had to carry a rifle and march around
the square in the center of the base for one hour, usually at night
as you were too busy during the day. I had to do this several times
myself.
We were allowed off bass on our free time and it was about five miles
to the small city of Orangeburg. There was a man who drove his car
and would take six or seven guys at a time at $2 a piece, and he
would just drive back and forth all day and most of the night. I
don't know when he ever slept but he must have made a fortune during
the war. When we didn't have the money we would jump on the freight
train that went right by the main gate. It was an uphill grade and
the train was so slow that we could hang on the ladders and steps if
a flat car was not available.
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