Word: cramers
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They would work hard, General Cramer had told his men. There would be little time to see their families. The 43rd got to work rebuilding the camp. There were few mops, little soap, few towels, not enough garbage cans. The men put in requisitions, but they bogged down in red tape. There were few recreation areas. The supply sergeants never had enough uniforms. Men lived out of footlockers which they bought themselves, wore civilian shoes, frequently ate food prepared by ill-trained cooks, supervised by ill-trained mess sergeants...
...General Cramer, obviously determined to give the division a military air, issued orders for everyone to carry rifles or sidearms and wear steel helmets. He also canceled all passes for the division except for 36-hour passes every other weekend. Even the division's staff officers could only see their families in nearby Blackstone (pop. 3,500) for a few hours every other weekend. "We really thought we were going to have a mutiny on our hands," recalls one officer...
Back in Harness. Then Cramer made an exception about dependents on the post: he moved his wife into his quarters. She took her meals, and still does, at the staff officers' mess, the only woman to do so regularly. Men whose families lived in overpriced, ramshackle off-post homes two miles away spent their evenings in overcrowded barracks, playing poker and cussing General Cramer...
...prosperous Hartford, Conn, coal dealer, Kenneth Cramer, 56, has been a part-time soldier in the National Guard since 1917. He has also, like many National Guard generals, been active in his home state's politics; he served four terms in the state legislature. A veteran of World War I and a brigadier general with the 24th Infantry Division in World War II, he had an excellent combat record, won four Silver Stars for gallantry in action. In 1946, after demobilization, he was made commander of the 43rd when it was returned to National Guard status. A few months...
Orders went out to clean up Pickett. In Washington, Lieut. General Van Fleet, then Second Army commander, told a Congressman that he had ordered Cramer to straighten out his division, that if Cramer didn't get busy within 24 hours, he, Van Fleet, would issue the orders under his own name. Things got a little better. The leave-policy was eased a bit and some overage officers were relieved of command. But Cramer stayed on and the barracks were still unpainted. "Our day room looked so grimy," said one company commander, "that we painted it ourselves. It cost...