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Show ROBERT THAYER D B R , 20 2 ROB: It came right after that. But I'd already had a hunch that I might g t drafted, and I had applied for engineering cadet because there was in the Army Air ore openings for engineering cadets. And I thought, Well why don't I apply for that. o I applied for it, and I never heard a word on it, and I thought I just didn t make the qualifications or whatever because I didn't have a degree. Well right after, I was drafted on April the 2nd, and went up to Ft. Douglas, and up there they gave me a shot for smallpox, and I think I actually got it because I was put in the hospital for about three weeks up there at the Fort. After that, I came out and I was pretty weak; it had kind of taken me down. But they gave me seven days sick leave, and I come home, and about two days after I got home, why, I got a letter, and it said, "you've been accepted as a communications cadet. You will be notified when the orders will come and send you to Scott Field, Illinois." So I went immediately back up to the Fort while I was on leave and told them I had this appointment, and I would certainly like to fulfill it. They said, "Fine, we'll hold you here until your orders come through." So I was up to Fort Douglas for probably about three months, and I did all kinds of things. I drove the garbage truck because they knew I could drive dump trucks. They let me drive those (laughs). Then somebody got a good idea. There were about ten people waiting for cadet appointments to various things, most of them to flying school. Now mine wasn't to flying school; mine was to communications. And so they formed a little group of ten of us, and they took me off the truck and put me in this group, and we had a rigorous physical program that this officer-! can't remember his name-designed for us. And then on top of that, we each had to teach each other certain subjects. The fact I'd been in engineering, I had to teach math. So we had an hour of math, an hour of various subjects, and then the afternoon was 10 |
