George Dudley

We arrived in Port Deposit or Perryville, Maryland as we called it at about 10:30 P.M. from 13th & Market in Philadelphia. We got on a bus and soon realized we were in the Navy. We went to O.G.U. area and ate our first meal which was S.O.S. I enjoyed it as I was hungry. The next morning we registered, went to a one story building and were issued two mattress covers. The mattress cover was soon filled with our Navy equipment and there was a very long line of recruits, snaking down the main road about thirty feet apart, headed for the First Regiment , barrack number 132 which would be our home unit. December 28th 1944.

We met out Company Commanders and soon settled in after we were shown how to make up our bunks. Everything else was left for the next day. By the end of the week everything had been stenciled, rolled and placed properly in our lockers. Also our hair had been shaved and were officially "Skinheads." We soon got in the swing of things and went through three weeks of quarantine and learned how to be a sailor. I met a lot of nice guys and made lasting friendships. I was assigned to the boiler room so I did not get too much guard duty. I did my time in the mess hall now and then. I was lucky and was assigned to the bakery room where I handed out the baked goods for the meal. All in all I really enjoyed boot camp and learned my lessons well.