Basic training is over and after a month driving my car to New Jersey I was assigned to Company Z at Camp Leonard Woods. It was an old German Prisoner of War Camp. Long tar-papered shacks with two coal pot-bellied stoves. I am awaiting assignment to go to the Signal School at Fort Monmouth, a few miles away. Almost the first day I was assigned to be the fireman for the company. My job was to keep the coal fires going all night and to start the fires in the mess hall in the morning. Quite a ridiculous job for as kid who had never even seen a lump of coal. They told me to bank the fires at night and I had no idea what that meant. The first night all fires went out so they decided to teach me about coal stoves. After that I did fine. Here I am standing in front of my barrack wearing the outfit I generally wore when I went to Asbury Park for fun. Rumor had that the German Prisoners complained about the camp as being unfit and they were moved as the result. We were not in a position to complain so American soldiers were put in there. I only stayed there for a short while and than was transferred to Fort Monmouth to go to school.