The Fortunate One

When my Dad, Walter John Wipperfurth, got his hastily hand-typed, "greeting" notice, it was dated December 8, 1941, one day after Pearl Harbor was bombed. He was assigned to Fort Sheridan, Chicago, Illinois, but didn’t have to report until six weeks later, January 20, 1942, eight days before his twenty-second birthday. There were so many enlistees and draftees; they couldn’t handle all the incoming soldiers at once. At Fort Sheridan, he received his first G.I. haircut and was issued his first uniform. They didn’t have all of the things he was supposed to get, so he was issued many of the WWI, 1917-1918 things. He had leggings with a canvas covering from ankle to knee. He got the "pie tin" type helmet which he later gave back and never got another. He had the belt with holes to carry a first aid kit and grenades with hooks to fit on the belt. He was issued a mess kit with folding silverware. He was chosen to be in the Medical unit purely by chance. They counted down and all the 1’s were in the same unit, all the 2’s, all the 3’s and so forth, on up to 8. When they left Fort Sheridan, the train cars were full of Wisconsinites. Medical, Gunners, Supply…all the number 1’s, all the number 2’s, all the number 3’s etc.

Dad and Jim Mauel in "pie tin" type helmets

In February 1942, he was transferred to Savannah Army Air Base, Georgia. He calls this base Tent City. Because of the shortage of barracks, many soldiers were required to camp in tents. They put them in tents in alphabetical order, so he got to know Joe Starr, Wilbur Talley and a Larry Wipperfurth. (One of four that he knows.) For four weeks, there was Medical training crammed in between eight hours of Basic training. Basic training consisted of throwing pop can grenades, aiming broom stick rifles at the "enemy", hiding in fox holes and running obstacle courses wearing a gas mask. He did fire one real round of ammunition on the rifle range with an M1 Rifle. Next he was moved to the Hospital barracks for more intensive Medical training. First trained as a Ward boy in the Hospital and finally graduating as a Nurse. Here again luck was running with him – as a Nurse, he had access to the hospital kitchen and managed to eat better than most.