 |
| George Buster Singleton |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Memories of Camp Shelby: always
hot, dry or wet,” was originally published in the Oct. 8, 1987 edition of The
Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
Camp Shelby, Miss. is a unique place. There are things to be
found there that cannot be found anywhere else on the face of the earth – such
as red bugs and small ticks that can bite like an alligator. Also, no where
else can the humidity stay at an even 99 percent for days at a time.
Camp Shelby came into being during the great military build
up just prior to the Second World War. What started out in a scrub-oak and pine
thicket in the days before the war turned out to be the largest military base
east of the Mississippi River.
Camp Shelby boasted of over three quarters of a million men
during the height of the European-theater action. Camp Shelby was the
debarkation point for all of Europe and North Africa.
During the heavy fighting across Belgium and Holland, as
many as six troop trains a day departed Camp Shelby, carrying thousands of
soldiers to their date with destiny. Many who boarded the troop trains there at
Camp Shelby never returned.
In the closing days of the war, Camp Shelby became a
mustering-out point for the soldiers returning from the war. Many who were
fortunate enough to make it back to the shores of America were released from
the Army at Camp Shelby.
As the huge Army post was gradually phased out, the scrubby
pines and the palmetto claimed the land once again. Then someone had the wise
idea that it would be profitable to bring the many National Guard units to Camp
Shelby for training. This would help the local economy and bring much-needed
funds into the area. This is where my story begins.
As administrator for the Army National Guard, I was destined
to go to Camp Shelby many times. My visits were always at the hottest, driest
or wettest time of the year. There have been no in-betweens.
Always, just prior to my arrival, the largest, meanest
redbugs come out of hiding. Each is like a great bear that has been asleep all
winter and wakes up, eating everything in sight.
Then there is the weather. Always it rains and the humidity
skyrockets. Some years back when Hurricane Camille hit the Gulf Coast, there I
was, at Camp Shelby. That Sunday afternoon and night were among the longest of
my lifetime. Several times that night, I thought it might all end here, right in
the middle of the place that I disliked so much. What a shame, I thought. Of
all the many places in the world that I had been, the end might come right here
in the pine and scrub-oak thickets of South Mississippi.
I have returned many times since that frightful Sunday
night, each time battling the ticks, redbugs and horseflies. Always looking
forward to the day to pack up and move out.
But all is not in vain, June 27 marked my final departure
from dear old Camp Shelby. If all goes well, before the time comes around again
to return to this garden spot deep in the heart of Mississippi, I will have
stood my last roll call and retired from the military.
With this thought in mind, as I approached the south gate of
the reservation, I stopped and proceeded to kiss the gatepost a final farewell.
The military policeman on duty there looked at me awfully strangely. I guess I
should have explained to him what the occasion was.
As I headed toward Alabama and home, the words of this little
known poet kept passing through my mind.
Pass in review all the memories
That dwell within my soul.
For the time has come to bid
Farewell, and the voices of the
Past cry out to be remembered.
And if I should, by mistake, remember
This place, may I be kicked in the
Head by a mule, and the fleas of a
Thousand camels infest my armpits.
(Singleton, the
author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the
age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born on
Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County and served as the administrator of the
Monroeville National Guard unit from 1964 to 1987. He is buried in Pineville
Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns
are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County
Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week
for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work
and memory alive.)
No comments:
Post a Comment