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MN: And then when you finally got to Shelby, what did you think of the place?

KM: Well, the artillery were placed in the newest unfinished section of Camp Shelby. The infantry were moved into areas which were already fully built and prepared. But in the artillery, our latrines were not finished yet. We had old-fashioned outdoor sewage type latrines, and one of the first duties that was assigned to the unlucky ones was so-called real latrine duty. When you got your regular flushing toilets and whatnot, latrine duty was very simple. You could get involved cleaning, but the old type for, I don't know how long we had it, but when we first moved in, it was open air latrine. And once a week it had to be pumped out, and so people were assigned to the pumping detail. And it was no high pay. That was the worst latrine duty, it was really so-called punishment, latrine duty. But that's the kind of area that the artillery was moved into.

MN: So like in terms of the bathroom facilities, you folks had the most primitive. You had outhouses.

KM: Yeah.

MN: How about the living quarters itself?

KM: There were regular, the huts were ready, the huts were ready. Each hut had about fifteen, I think, fifteen of us to a hut, I think. And there were two stoves, two wood stoves, charcoal stoves Although at that point we didn't need it. When winter came, we had to have it. But in April, May that we arrived at Shelby, there was no need for stoves, but the huts were ready.

MN: And by the time you folks reached Shelby, you were already assigned to artillery?

KM: No. We got there, and within the first, in the first week, I think, I stayed where I was because that particular place was artillery, and I was assigned to B Battery. Later on I found out it was Battery, 522 Artillery. But from the regional group of Company 11, there were just a handful of us that stayed where we first came. The rest of them all scattered all over the place.

MN: How were the assignments made?

KM: Absolutely have no idea. We had no idea. We have no idea. All I remember is that during Schofield, there were all kinds of tests. One was IQ as I understand it, and one was in mechanical aptitude test, and I had heard that in the case of the artillery groupings, part of the selections were based on the mechanical aptitude test. Other than that, there were others chosen on the basis of their background. Because artillery you had to have these co-called, fire direction center where you have people who knew how to do survey work. So you had to have a good mathematical background. And so these people, I think, were selected based on their IQ test. And I heard the others were selected also, through the mechanical aptitude test. Because artillery required handling of the guns, big guns, not the rifles. And so mechanical aptitude came into play.

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