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Upstarts
I believe it was in Oberesch that Sad Sack fell from grace. Sad Sack was a cute
puppy who joined the 915th on the beach in Normandy, having debarked from an LST.
The pup originally belonged to one of the liaison parties, but it soon turned out to be
impractical to take a dog up near the front lines, so they would leave Sad Sack with the
Headquarters Battery kitchen. Inevitably the puppy became mascot to the whole battery.
and stayed with us throughout the war, eating whatever the troops ate and enduring
caresses or kicks from anyone around. The adult Sad Sack turned out to be a strain of
purest mongrel, of medium coloration and size.
One day Capt Jacobs commented, "I used to think Sad Sack was a smart dog, but
now I know he's a dumb dog."
"What makes you think so, Jake?"
"Yesterday he attacked a goose. The goose beat hell out of him. So today what
does he do? He takes on two geese. That Sad Sack in a dumb dog. "
Dumb or not, it was Sad Sack who brought disgrace to the battery by
"fraternizing" with a German Shepherd. The affair was not even clandestine - half the
battery watched and cheered them on. Nor was there any official action, except that Sad
Sack's name was changed to the more appropriate one of "Lady," and members of the
battery started bickering about who would get the pups.
Sometime that fall the troops had been issued combat boots to replace the high
shoes and canvas leggings they started out with. These new boots had to be seen to be
believed. The bottom part, up to the ankles, was leather with the rough, or flesh, side out.
In wet weather it would soak up water thirstily and keep the feet damp unless it was
saturated with a thick grease called dubbing. The top part of the boot, reaching half-way
to the knee, was of right-side-out leather, and could be adjusted to the size of a man's leg
by means of a couple of straps with buckles.
I don't know whether it could be blamed on the boots or just the weather, but there
was an epidemic of trench foot, primarily among the infantry. I suppose trench foot is a
mild form of frostbite; at least the maladies are related. It results from wearing cold,
damp footwear for long periods of time without moving the feet enough to maintain the
circulation. The feet turn numb from lack of blood, and in the worst cases, gangrene sets
in and requires the amputation of toes.
A month or so later, high command got sufficiently alarmed to make a stringent
campaign against trench foot. A clean pair of socks was issued each day to every man, no
matter where he was, with instructions to warm and dry the ones he took off by carrying
them inside his undershirt, next to the skin. More important, each man was paired off
with a buddy, whose duty it was to massage his feet several times a day-and vice versa. If
your buddy got trench foot, you could be court-martialed for neglect of duty.
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