Tuesday, Feb. 1, 1944

32nd day – 334 days follow

20           Snow

Snow storm in full swing when I woke up this morning.

Got a letter from Mr. Barden.

My fuel oil arrived from Boston this morning, the driver’s name is McCarty.

“Someone said to me the other day that State Guard training was too strenuous for the older men. That’s an entirely wrong slant. State Guard training is not strenuous – it is not in any form whatsoever of basic training – it is not outlined to be strenuous but rather for military training, where theory and practice join hand in hand on a moderate scale.

One of the most faithful members of 3^rd Company, 25^th Infantry is Jesse Brewer, of Cliff Street, who totes a Tommy Machine Gun on his shoulder at Wednesday night drill. Jesse is more than 50 years of age but indeed a real soldier and there isn’t much that he doesn’t know about the machine gun, let alone drill formations, mechanics of extended order, care and use of weapons and equipment, range practice, interior and special guard duty, military hygiene, first aid, sanitation, individual movement under cover and concealment, scouting and patrolling, special formations, minor field fortifications, field exercises, aid to civil authorities, and special studies in gas, road blocks, and the construction of concertinas and Molotov cocktails.”