European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 7, 1945, Darmstadt, Hesse 1 by Martin Day fort if you have fewer Points than i youll probably be seated across the desk from me one of these Days while i try to hand you some separation counsel ing at the fort Meade separation Center Here in we separation Counselor figure that for us its still a Long i know How ill feel when my Chance for Dis charge lets Cut the ill probably just give me the White paper and let me take equally impatient right one fellow with 74 Points squeezed through to because be had an illegitimate Many men try to dash past us without taking full advantage of the separation Counselor advice and but since Treyve been away so Long from the states and from civilian maybe they ought to listen to almost every getting out on Points has plenty of spam bars for overseas time and has sweated out More than enough time for a hash no one could deny that the great majority of discharges on Points deserve their Many times Ive written about a served As Rifleman in North France and or drove Light tank in Austria and most of these men came into the army in 1940 or and most of them have seen far More than their share of Treyve earned we ago 5355 honorable discharge the hard every army produces its i talked to a radio operator Mechanic gunner on a Liberator who was overseas nine months and collected 60 combat while Many infantrymen overseas three years got Only half that a Buck sergeant drove a re fueling truck on italian airfields and never even saw an air raid but he collected scads and scads of combat Points because his entire Squadron received those Little Bronze on occasion rear Echelon units in age and ask have also picked up some combat Points the easy but it does seem a bit screwy for a Man who never left England to get the ardennes Star and five More Points simply because some planes of his squad Ron got in the one fellow i interviewed had 74 time and combat Points and squeezed through to 86 be cause of an illegitimate he had recognized and supported the child for several but some of the boys around Here were you do what the medics and the chaplain Tell they and you Only Gyp your self out of a very few have sweated out the Points recently i had a top kick who was forced to endure the Rigours of downtown Hono Lulu from 1940 until this summer in order to get his a fortunate t4 spent More than three years in before re turning to the states in Early this year he was shipped to but the Point system tagged him and sent him Back for discharge after Only three weeks residence in a regular army Man beat a peacetime Deser Tion rap and is getting a perfectly White Dis charge that lists More than 900 Days bad men with As Many As 12 court martial Are cop Ping the Lovely White one youngster is getting a Blue discharge because of four awol and a total of 121 Days bad Ive stopped trying to figure this thing if anybody has put this War on a paying i think its the Guy whose feet completely col lapsed in Basic and sent him Back to his wife and three kids after Only one month and 12 Days in in addition to his regular pay he hit finance for in dependency in mustering out pay and 5 cents a mile for the trip Back to upstate new what Are the Odds that the Joe would have been on flying pay if hed stuck it out another week or so Point system separates up till now have been about evenly distributed among regular this kid boosted his age Roget in the aah in two he got 90 Points and is feet collapsed in Basic and he went Home after one month and twelve Days National guard and selective most of them have ranged from 22 to 35 years of theres a Good percentage of youngsters who lied about their age to get into the army a few years we recently had a kid who boosted his age to join the aah in a trifle Over two years he amassed More than Points and is now Back in Corduroy Pant Sand Polo Hes just a few months past his 19th a while Back i used to try feebly to kid Reg ular army discharges by Why dont you a men stay in and let us civilians out Ive Cut out that sickly largely because most of my a plan to one grizzled first sergeant with five hash Marks put it up to me they wont let me take my family to Ive got a baby boy Ive never and i want to get reacquainted with the taking a discharge Means for me a trip h6me and a month for a three month but after that Over ill be in for another talking about family i had one Man going to meet his father for about the first he was the son of an English girl and an Amer ican Soldier of the first world born in he was taken to England by his Mother in 1923 when she left her husband in a after More than one and a half years in the this who was an american citizen because he was born in the transferred to the coming Back to his native land was coming Back to an unknown country and a virtually unknown he had been in the states just four Days when i talked with him in the interview very enthusiastic about his Brave new he remarked in an Oxford you old i was always Quad reling with those English about How much better the states the i is More than usually talkative when he gets to us because he suddenly realizes that for him the army is on the verge of becoming just a so you ought to come around to this office if you want to hear about Bilibio Anzio or older men appear More inclined to want to return to their prewar jobs than younger but 80 to 90 percent of the discharges i talk with seem to want new and different of better the Guy who Howe you Gonna keep pm Down on the farm after Treyve seen Paree want just from what they Tell Only a very Small proportion of Farmers plan to return to the farm for one pfc blurted i never got much More than 15 Miles from the army taken me through 15 countries from Brazil to ice land and from Trinidad to after where Ive been and what Ive i Settle Down on any the number of discharges expecting luscious jobs paying a la Holly Woodis far smaller than at any most men want lifetime and there willing to study and sweat and take average wages to Clinch that per manent this generation seems to think pretty much in terms of army Counselor can offer extensive referrals and perhaps give you the right some vet Erans claim the old runaround is Given them by the multitudinous departments and tempers and time May be and something vital to May be if you talk Over your Job problem with your separation enter the lists him As a vocational Counselor that Means that he should be Able to give you advice on Job surprisingly few of the men Ive talked with expect to use the i Bill of rights for a full time but Many want to take refresher courses a night or other Par time education in the Hope of upping their future earning Many separates dont realize that All the unemployment or educational benefits they claim will be deducted from any future Bonus that May be Given to this really be regarded As a you have nothing More than a raffle ticket on a future do you want the education or the Bonus the education is certain the Bonus at this moment is As unpredictable As a Supply it Hast been universally understood that almost of is entitled to a full year of refresher to be eligible for More than a years education you must be Able to prove that you were under 25 at the time of induction or that your education was interrupted by military your discharge papers Are about All you need to produce to be eligible for the oneyear refresher course at any school or College of your maybe you think in fooling but i recently had in my Booth a staff sergeant who was presi Dent of an alaskan Gold mining now he plans a year of advanced metallurgical study before he follows Spring up into the Yukon in full publicity has pretty Well scotched the hashish dream that everybody could slap the Dis charge Down on the government counter and now lend me youll get a loan Only from a private lending Agency usually a Bank and Only if the Lender is willing to risk his own Cash on you and your Banks Are pretty wary these Days because most values Are now highly Many loan agencies Are backing Only beautifully solvent vet Erans because they dont want a Black Eye in the Community for foreclosing on an there Are plenty of veterans who Are planning to get ahead without take the Case of a slavic t5 from Pittsburgh who owns a plot of ground near his postwar place of ill build a garage with a second he told my wife and i can live in the garage while i build the House in my spare i have a Little Money and11 dont want to owe any Man a this plan work for and the steel puddles family wont Roll in luxury for a while in willing to bet the Blue chips on that the knot Tiest problem for most men seems to be what to do about their National service life Ive talked with men who have been subject to separation orientation everywhere from Munich or Manila to my desk without get Ting a Clear picture of life insurance the Best advice Here is to hold As much of the stuff As you can and thresh out the details with your Counselor and with the veterans administration representative nearest your a very poor substitute for Ive sometimes found myself dropped into the Middle of family not Long ago i talked with a poor Guy who had been pestering personnel officers All Over the he divorced his wife in 1941 and thought he had done with but although she she didst forget her first not this last summer she produced the License issued for her first marriage and claimed an f allotment from his the i complained to but All he got in the Way of satisfaction yeah lets see your divorce sent airmail registered from the those papers crawled after the Guy across four coun through two hospitals and around a handful of reinforcement and casual Hes throwing Over a girl in a wife and baby in fora West Virginia girl staff sergeant 48 years was presi Dent of an Gold mining under he kept paying allotments to an other mans i did my Legal bit in starting action for him to regain what she had mulched from but i dont know How far hell push the suit and that strictly none of my after he Shes the Mother of my int she that was a simple sometime ask me to Tell you about the medical Aidman who has a Fiancee in Iceland and a wife and baby in England but wants to throw the three of them Over for a Gal in West whatever your we Counselor will try to help somehow within the limits of our my desk is getting Bow legged from its piles of books and files of addresses and ill give you All the time you and Ive spent As much As 110 minutes with one interview Here at fort Meade averages 40 to 50 and each Counselor can handle approximately 10 to 12 men but unless somebody pulls Counselor out of a Well have to Speed things up a bit be cause our numbers Arent increasing and the hell Bentfo civvies boys Are really pouring one thing More about your interview with the separation hell fill out the separa Tion qualification record which constitutes the army Job recommendation just As the discharge is the character the form has been used extensively by the United states employment service and other and it might be useful to you when you present it to prospective the interviewer will give you All the Breaks in writing up descriptions of your jobs in the army and in your prewar civilian just because youve sharpened up a lot while youve been in ods and you try to sell the Counselor a Bill of goods unless its on the i Haven had a downright phony but some of the boys who said they were store clerks when they came into the army want the separa Tion qualification record to Call them depart ment store managers when they go even if you fool the interviewer and Hes talked to hundreds of men and be a Complete sucker you probably wont be Able to fool a future employer when youre called upon to pro Duce on the but Ive talked to plenty of gis and in convinced that since Treyve endured the foreign parts and the they can be counted on to meet anything the american future May happen to toss at now ill admit that Ive skimmed Over lots of subjects that might be of interest to men on the Point of getting if you have any questions or just want to kick the subjects around a bit just drop in to see me for some separation and when i finish shooting the Breeze with you and you the Best of Luck in civilian please dont break my heart same to Hope youre out
