.,. EIGHT THURSDAY, MARCH ZZ, 1931 THE MICHIGAN DAILY MILITARY MATTERS: Draftee Observes Life with the 45th (Editor's Note: This is a third in a series of articles describing life in the "new" Army, as seen by former Daily night editor Pete Hotton, '50. Pvt. Hotton recently completed basic infantry traniing at Camp Polk, La., and is currently stationed at Ft. Ord, Calif.) By PVT. PETER HOTTON IA* fl Y k:. 777 e, S 7 Stt-"Va l To On -4 * * * * * * * ) N t r t After nearly three days of enjoying the scenery of six states through our Pullman windows, we 340 men from Wisconsin and Indi- ana arrived at Camp Polk, La., where, much to our surprise, it wasn't hot or sweaty or even full of snakes, but just miserably cold and windy. And the only animals we saw were armadillos and domesticated hogs gone wild. At Camp Polk, named for a Confederate general and bishop of Louisiana, we were assigned to various companies of the 45th Divi- sion. I was assigned to Company I ("Item" in the army's phonetic alphabet) along with men from Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Connecticut, Alabama, Georgia, Texas and Kansas. IT WAS DURING World War II that the 45th was nicknamed the Thunderbird division in recognition of its distinctive shoulder patch, a yellow Indian thunderbird on a red triangle. Before the war,r the insignia was an Indian swastika. When Hitler adopted the emblem, the division switched to the thunderbird. The nucleus of the 45th Division, comprising all commissioned and non-commissioned officers, is the Oklahoma National Guard, which was called to active duty in September. These men claim they were "drafted" like any other citizen soldier, but the men brought into the division from outside states always remind them that they joined the National Guard of their own free will. The new 45th, a part of the "new army", is a far cry from the old one, according to the publicity boys and the men at the recruiting stations. There are no bad-tempered, leather-lunged sergeants to holler at you. You are addressed by your name and are given a chance to express yourself and to keep your individuality. Barracks life is "just like home," and the non-coms are like fathers and brothers to the lowly recruit. The lowly recruit, who knows better, however, says: "Tell it to the Marines." There are some differences between the "new" and the "old" armies that are actually true. Until recently the lowest dogface was4 called a recruit instead of a buck private-he didn't get to be a buck until he had had four months service. But he got the sarme pay-$75 a month. * r s * ; EVEN THIS DIFFERENCE was removed, however, when last' January 21, President Truman promoted all, recruits to privates be- cause he felt the term "recruit" was not dignified enough for a mem- ber of the United States Army. We soldiers in the "new" army get two types of clothes: Issue clothes and clothes we can keep. But those we can keep we must pay for, and we get an initial allowance for this purpose. Issue clothes include field equipment, such as packs, canteens, overcoats, field jackets, rifles, and equipment not useful in civilian life. One issue item most of us like to take with us is the field jacket, one of the best pieces of clothing the Army has to offer. * s . + ANOTHER FEATURE in the "new" army is the abolition of the soldier's free mail privilege, which was enjoyed during the last war. We now have to use stamps just like everyone else. Furlough time in the "new" army is issued at the rate of two and a half days per month, amounting to 30 days a year. Any emergency leaves taken are subtracted from regular leave time, but three day passes and other short leaves are gratis. The "new" army attempted to provide for closer contact betweet enlisted men and commissioned officers. After a short time this ex- perimpent had to be dropped because it did not further the cause of discipline. Fortunately, many of the officers have a good understand- ing of the recruit's point of view because of their duty in World War II as enlisted men. The non-commissioned officers have closer contact with the men and try to promote more personal relations between the recruit and his superiors. ALTHOUGH MANY of the National Guard sergeants have had no regular army service or have seen no combat, others belonged to the Rangers, Marines or paratroopers in World War II and never let anyone forget about their exploits or that the present army is infer- for to their old outfit. Many of the officers, both commissioned and non-commis- sioned earned their stripes and brass through the National Guard, or Monday-night army, which, before being called to active duty, trained a few hours every Monday night and went on encamp- ments during the summer time. A certain amount of favoritism is obvious in the outfit, and the recruit is a nobody, not only because he is a recruit, but also and es- pecially because he doesn't come from Oklahoma. (To be continued tomorrow) Land Named by Professor As Britain's Great Shortage Founded three years ago by a group of students * * Wilt of the architecture college will be presented at 8 p.m. Sun- day, the last day of the Festival, in Alumni Memorial Hall. After Wilt's talk on the stu- dent art on display a panel will attempt to evaluate the Festi- val through the works present- ed over the three day period. The panel will include members of the faculty who participated in the Festival; Prof. Stevenson, act- ing as chairman, Prof. Marvin Felheim, Prof. Barrows, Prof. Fin- ney, Miss Esther Pease and Wilt. All programs will be open to the public without charge. IAU History Shows Range 'Of Activities With the Student Arts Festival about to open, members of the IAU look back over the last three years and point out the organiza- tion's contributions to campus life. IAU's purpose since its authori- zation in March, 1949, has been "to promote interest and partici pation in student creative art work" and "create audiences for the purpose of securing a real public reaction, appraisal, or criti-- cism of works for the benefit of the creators." "Britain is constantly faced withi one great shortage: land," Prof Lawrence D. Stamp, of London University, asserted yesterday. Spealing on Britain's problem of town and country planning, Prof. Stan p declared that Britain has only one acre of land per person tUVForesters Will Receive Annual Awards The School of Natural Resources will hold an all-School assembly at 10 a.m. today in Kellogg Audi- torium at which time four annual awards and prizes will be present- ed to outstanding students. The General Alumni MIemorial Award wi be awarded to the best all-aerunc senior in the School of Natural Resources, while the out- standing student in Wildlife Man- agement will receive the Howard M. White Memorial Award. The Charles Lathrop Pack Foun- ~,riYin riza u ml p - C - t- 3 t available compared to the United States' average of about 15 acres ier pei son. * * * "OUR PLANNING policy must be guided by three main prin- ciples," he pointed out, "use of each piece of land in the best na- tional interest, using each piece of land in a many ways as possible, and avoidng waste of a single foot of land" "The war forced the disperse- ment of industries in Britain which the planning commissions had been attempting to effect for years," Professer Stamp said. "This plan became desirable when it was discovered that the cities were growing and contri- buting revenue to the govern- ment which was immediately paid out to the unemployed in rural areas." The professor explained that in planning these new industrial areas the planners must first con- sider what sections are most suit-I able for industry and agriculture and plan their city around that. He cited the fallacy of attempting to fit the industries into a pre-con- ceived plan. MHA-FT"DIRGE" WILL BE ONE OF THE NUMBERS PERFORMED MEMBERS OF THE STUDENT QUARTET EXAMINE TlE SCORE OF A QUARTET TO BE PLAYED BY THE MODERN DANCE GROUP AT 8 P.M. SATURDAY TAU RELIEVES that it has ful- filled its inteuntion satisfactorily:; through the Student Arts Festi- val. But the group's activities have, covered a broader field than sole promotion of student art works. The IAU constitution also pledges that the IAU will "contribute to the cultural and social growth of, the students." And IAU feels that it has ful- filled this promise by bringing , to campus a new student arts magazine, "Generation," and outstanding plays and motion pictures. It was the IAU that gave birA. to Generation. The magazine had its start in the minds of a group of students taking creative writ- ing courses, but it was IAU that backed the magazine and received University approval fo it.. ' * * * AMONG THE DRAMA present- ed by IAU on campus can be in- cluded such plays as T. S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral," Sar-., tre's "Closed Session" and Obey's "Rape of Lucretia." These productions were accept., ed as outstanding by most stu- dents and faculty members. The IAU has aided in bringing to campus such movies as Robert Flaherty's "The Titan" and "My . ~aa'~--9ax-a ,-- a .... . - .