1944 Apr 22: Shelby to Virginia
When the last board had been nailed across the last latrine door on April 22, 1944 the Combat Team boarded trucks and rolled down to the mixed assortment of Pullmans and coaches waiting to take them to Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia. The trip was uneventful, except for large quantities of folding money which changed hands en route. Staggering wearily off the trains at the staging area, officers and men were greeted by a barrage of instructions from a loudspeaker mounted on the station platform. Quickly they formed ranks and marched to their assigned barracks.
When the men left Shelby they were told that all the things not available in the Post Exchange there could be bought in the staging area Post Exchange. Accordingly everyone made a beeline for the PX, only to be told that the stuff wasn’t available there either; it was all being sent to the Post Exchanges overseas.
Processing at the staging area was in the nature of going through an assembly line. Men and officers stood in line for everything from final shots and a very brief physical checkup to shoe polish and razor blades. One of the greatest things the Army ever did for its men was the long distance telephone service from the staging area to anywhere in the United States. There were no 6-hour delays, even though you had to wait in line a while before you could put in your call. Once your call was placed with the clerks at the desk, it was usually only a matter of minutes until you were talking to the folks at home. And if you talked a little over your five minutes, the operators and the other GI’s in the line were strangely patient with you.
Camp Patrick Henry was probably a long time forgetting the 442nd Combat Team. The GIs took over the Post Exchanges, drank more beer, and sang their Hawaiian songs. This time though the songs weren’t quite so lively as they had been. Hawaiian music fits most any mood, and the mood was changing now. The officers went down and took over the Officers’ Club, lock, stock, and barrel; some of them headed for the camp hospital and the nurses; Some of them spent a good many long hours writing letters and staring into space.