**SHRILL BLAST** "ALRIGHT YOU MAGGOTS! GET YOUR BUTTS OUT OF BED! HIT THE DECK!!"

Now that you're out of the sack and on your feet, wait for your number to be called up so you can use the latrine. In groups of five, you file into the washroom, where you see five seats, five sinks & unused showers.
        Before you can figure out why the showers aren't used, you hear the command, "Fall in!" You line-up in front of the barracks and march in formation to the Mess Hall.

US Navy photo

        The Mess Hall is teaming with people. Even though the building is good size, it seems too small for the number of people waiting to be fed. Standing with your unit like sardines in a can, your tin tray is being filled with glop. At the front of the line you read a big sign, "Take what you want, eat what you take!" At the end of the line there's another sign, "Food will win the war." Penciled underneath it is, "But how will we get the enemy to eat it?"
        Amidst the din of hundreds of men, snarfing their grub, you can hear the juke box blaring over and over the only song in it's registry, "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition." Your first look at  military dry scrambled eggs, Spam, bread and a side of jelly makes you instantly home-sick. It's a new world now. A farm-boy sitting next to you can't hold back his sobs any longer. He's never been this far away from home, and he regrets now, having lied about his age. There is some sense of comfort knowing that everyone is in the same boat...but not much.

Back at the barracks, the duty roster is posted, it assigns you to the classroom for intelligence testing and training lectures.

To the classroom