11. Daily Life

Royal G. Jackson: Any epidemics like measles or anything?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Not that I know of. I never had any cases to take any place or there wasn't quarantined that I know of, so I would say no. I didn't have to sit in an infirmary; I had a barracks to go back to, and like I said, if I wasn't doing anything I could go down to the PX and just loaf around there and just waste my day.

11. Daily Life

Royal G. Jackson: Did any of the boys ever bring liquor on that base?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Well, if they did they brought very little, and they weren't drunk.

Royal G. Jackson: They were really careful about that? That was forbidden, wasn't it?

Edward Sekermestrovich: That was forbidden, yes.

Royal G. Jackson: They never did have any beer parties or anything?

Edward Sekermestrovich: [Laughter]

Royal G. Jackson: Not officially anyway, did they?

Edward Sekermestrovich: How come we're all laughing? [Laughter] Not supposed to have. But that happens in the best of places, even over there.

Royal G. Jackson: Tell me about a typical day as you can recall it. What time did you get up, and what did you do? Did you wake up by bugle call?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Yes. And we had roll call.

Royal G. Jackson: So there would be a bugle that woke you up?

Edward Sekermestrovich: That woke you up.

Royal G. Jackson: And what time was that?

Edward Sekermestrovich: You had to be there at 5:30 a.m. and by 6:00 a.m. had to be out there in front of the mess hall, and they'd take roll call.

Royal G. Jackson: So you'd dress quickly, go stand out there and take roll call in formation, like the military.

Edward Sekermestrovich: Yes, that's right.

Royal G. Jackson: And the military was in charge at that point? Is that right?

Edward Sekermestrovich: I don't think so, but they called it military. They weren't harsh on you or anything like that. They didn't put you in jail for anything you done bad.

Royal G. Jackson: Didn't have to salute anybody then?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Well, yes. You salute your commanding officer. That's the only one you saluted.

Royal G. Jackson: You'd fall off for roll call and that would occur 6:00 a.m., and then what would you do?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Well, then you'd go and eat; that's your next step.

Royal G. Jackson: Was it cafeteria style?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Yes, it was, you just put your plate down there and the guy would fill it up and you go down the line. But they had their own fellows taking care of you -- you didn't have to take a spoon and take out as much as you wanted or something like that, you could ask for another spoonful if you wanted to, anytime; they would do it.

Royal G. Jackson: In other words, you could have all the food you wanted?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Oh, yes. They never, never stopped you.

Royal G. Jackson: Was it good food?

Edward Sekermestrovich: It was very good, yes.

Royal G. Jackson: What would a typical meal have been like?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Typical meal? Well, I like that stuff on the shingles myself. I always like that.

Royal G. Jackson: Was it chipped beef?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Yes, chipped beef, with gravy. I like that very much. And we had our beans, and everything else, and had chicken; we had everything.

Royal G. Jackson: Was it 3-C boys who were serving the meals and cooking it?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Yes, even the cooks.

Royal G. Jackson: Then some of the jobs the boys signed up for were to cook?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Yes, that's right.

Royal G. Jackson: Like you were a truck driver.

Edward Sekermestrovich: Yes, but see, all the fellows here in the whites, they're cooks. There's three cooks and the rest of them are officers' men; they take care of the officers' payroll and bring in the food and stuff like that, and they make their beds, they take care of the officers' quarters.

Royal G. Jackson: Were there some jobs in the camp that were more desired than other jobs? Did a lot of people want to be an ambulance driver?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Well, nobody wanted my job. [Laughter] But I would do everything else, you know. If you worked for the Forest Service, in the mornings at 8:00 a.m. you'd load the truck with axes, scrub hoes, and stuff like that. One crew would make roads or trails, another one would have saws and they'd cut down trees, and they'd pile wood on the side of the road, stuff like that.

Royal G. Jackson: Hand saws or chain saws?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Chain saws. Even had a buzz saw on wheels with a motor, and two guys who'd split a log up there; just slide it through there, and one ends off and puts it over there.

Royal G. Jackson: So, let's see, in the typical day would be, wake up around 5:00 a.m. be at roll call at 6:00 a.m. go to chow and be on the job by about 8:00 a.m.?

Edward Sekermestrovich: That's right.

Royal G. Jackson: And did you have a crew leader that assigned you a task?

Edward Sekermestrovich: That's right. Each one had a crew leader, and so many men. Twenty-five, thirty men, it all depends.

Royal G. Jackson: And that was a crew?

Edward Sekermestrovich: That's a crew, yes.

Royal G. Jackson: You were a leader of one of those crews?

Edward Sekermestrovich: No, I never had a crew. Why I got the assistant leader deal was I had a special job. See, I would work with the Forest Service or the Army. That's what we called it. Which the Army started this whole thing I guess, I don't know for sure, never did find that out. But we had an Army officer as head of the camp, so I always figured that that part of it was Army. And as far as the ambulance concern is and the supply truck, that was Army licensed, you see. This is a Forest Service truck [pointing to picture. BZ]. Now this is a place, see, they were up in the woods, they were cutting wood now. Now we could see some of that wood down at camp, in some of our buildings.

Royal G. Jackson: You heated with wood, did you?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Well, some of the places, yes. And in our barracks, yes.

Royal G. Jackson: What did you have, wood stoves?

Edward Sekermestrovich: No, we had what they called fifty-five gallon drums made into stoves, planed down.

Royal G. Jackson: Wood heaters? So you'd got out and work on one of these projects, then let's say, until about noon? And then break for lunch, would you?

Edward Sekermestrovich: That's right.

Royal G. Jackson: So you'd break around 11:30 a.m. for lunch?

Edward Sekermestrovich: 11:30 a.m.

Royal G. Jackson: Would they have brought food out to you, or did you carry sacks?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Well, if you were too far away, like we were at the Capitol building in Salem, we would eat at the Forest Service headquarters, across from the State Penitentiary. And they had cooks over there. Now, I don't know where the cooks came from. They were 3-C boys; they might have a special bunch of cooks just for them there at the Forest Service -- men working there, too. We'd go there at 11:30 a.m., eat, and we wouldn't have to be back on the job until 1:00 p.m. Then we'd quit about 3:30 p.m., came back home again from Salem every night.

Royal G. Jackson: Now what if you were up in the forest, what would you do for lunch?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Well, let's say you had a forest fire you can't leave, they'd bring it to you in kettles.

Royal G. Jackson: You never did carry sack lunches, they always brought the food to you?

Edward Sekermestrovich: No, we never did.

Royal G. Jackson: What kind of food was it at noon? Cold cuts or things like that?

Edward Sekermestrovich: No, it was always hot. It was made at the camp and put in a certain truck, and they'd come up there with all the big kettles, no matter what it was -- peas, beans, potatoes, meat.

Royal G. Jackson: So you had pretty solid food, huh?

Edward Sekermestrovich: It was very good. Yes, very solid.

Royal G. Jackson: So then you'd return to camp at 3:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m. or whatever?

Edward Sekermestrovich: In that hour, yes.

Royal G. Jackson: What would you do then?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Well, you'd have to go clean up, then you'd have roll call, then you'd go eat again. Then the rest of the day is yours -- that's if you're allowed out of camp. We weren't allowed out of camp every darn night; you got to have a pass; and if you done something wrong you didn't get a pass. [Laughter]

Royal G. Jackson: But you don't remember the military as being too hard on you?

Edward Sekermestrovich: No. They were wonderful fellows.

Royal G. Jackson: We've noticed in some of the old reports someone would come by and inspect the camp and make a statement such as the camp seems okay, and there's no communist activity; this was put in the report. Do you remember any discussions about communism?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Never heard of it, no.