Radio School

I was told I was picked to attend radio school and where would I like to go for the training? I chose to go to Boulder,CO or San Diego,CA, so they said no to both and set me up for Farragut Radio School Training. I had been forewarned to pick the other schools so I could be closer to my fiance in Seattle. Like I had been warned, if you wanted to be someplace else the Navy didn't want you there; they wanted your complete attention. Marianne was pleased and so was I.
First, I attended electrician classes so I could have a rudimentary knowledge of basic "101 Electrician". Thank goodness I didn't need it because I was only average, or less.
When this was completed I started Radio School. The dots and dashes were sort of fascinating and Morse Code was served up all day, except when they trotted out the Royal typing machines and we would practice typing. I could type 57 wpm in Jr. High, with no errors and 62 after being penalized and I sat at the number one position for some time. Then I got scarlet fever, with a high temperature, and had to be hospitalized. Excellent care; but at first they thought I had meningitis! This was no fun, what with one or two spinal taps, but I came around with sulfa (penicillin was just being tested for safety) and finally joined radio school again. It was a new ball game now though, I had lost some instruction and had to catch up, which I finally managed to do, plus I lost my first position and was now at the lower- middle part of the class, plus I was still weak. As an added note, Marianne's Cadet Nurse class was among the first on the West Coast to use penicillin.

More End of Boot Camp

In the evening of the first seven to ten days of boot camp a cowboy from Montana would pull out his guitar and sing sad cowboy songs; that is until someone from the back of the barracks told him to shut up! He did. Most of us were homesick.
About half way through boot camp a new group came into the adjoining barracks. Brand new, they didn't question when one of our "jokers" managed to get a doctors white coat; then went into their quarters and ordered about fifteen raw trainees up and marched them over to our area and proceeded to order them to drop their pants while he gave them a "physical inspection" like we had received when we were new. The new guys followed his orders to "stand away" while he walked back and forth; then he ordered them to spread their buttocks while a snickering audience grew larger. When the laughter finally subsided these new guys knew they had been set up by us old "veterans" of about three or four weeks!
We were told to go to the gym where we would shadow box; as it turned out for the Navy Boot Camp boxing squad. Then they approached me and I declined their invitation to box for the team. I wanted to fight the Japanese, not Americans. I don't remember any extra persuasion to box.