Robert Porter
Senior Master Sergeant
My fathers uncle, my namesake, was an army cook in WW2 in the pacific theatre. Apparently they rarely saw direct enemy action as they were usually on islands that were considered rear area and largely pacified. Occasionally they would suffer air attacks and the odd sniper or two so they were not completely out of the action but it was rare.
He used to love telling a story about a young fellow cook from Alabama that was highly ticked off at being a cook and wanted more than anything to be a front line soldier. This fellow carried around a rifle he had acquired everywhere on the odd chance he would encounter an enemy soldier. He constantly reassured his fellow cooks that he could and would protect them should they come under attack.
Well one night after a rare daylight sniper attack my uncle got together with some friends and thought they would have some fun with him. They slept in these wood framed canvas tents with 4 bunks one in each corner. They had rigged a flour bag up with a rope and some pulleys along with a small bucket of water placed strategically over the young fellows bunk.
After lights out, they started to pull the rope which made the bag slither across the top of the tent. The young fellow in a most intense whisper stated there was an enemy sneaking up on them on the roof! He intently tracked the noise as it came closer and closer to him, his trusty rifle at the ready. Just as the sound stopped above him the bag knocked the bucket over and water began leaking onto the poor fellow.
With a bellow he exclaimed "He's pissing on me!" and emptied the clip of his rifle through the tent peak causing flour to fly everywhere! It also apparently woke the camp and caused no end of extra kitchen and guard duty for my uncle and his cohorts!
He used to love telling a story about a young fellow cook from Alabama that was highly ticked off at being a cook and wanted more than anything to be a front line soldier. This fellow carried around a rifle he had acquired everywhere on the odd chance he would encounter an enemy soldier. He constantly reassured his fellow cooks that he could and would protect them should they come under attack.
Well one night after a rare daylight sniper attack my uncle got together with some friends and thought they would have some fun with him. They slept in these wood framed canvas tents with 4 bunks one in each corner. They had rigged a flour bag up with a rope and some pulleys along with a small bucket of water placed strategically over the young fellows bunk.
After lights out, they started to pull the rope which made the bag slither across the top of the tent. The young fellow in a most intense whisper stated there was an enemy sneaking up on them on the roof! He intently tracked the noise as it came closer and closer to him, his trusty rifle at the ready. Just as the sound stopped above him the bag knocked the bucket over and water began leaking onto the poor fellow.
With a bellow he exclaimed "He's pissing on me!" and emptied the clip of his rifle through the tent peak causing flour to fly everywhere! It also apparently woke the camp and caused no end of extra kitchen and guard duty for my uncle and his cohorts!
