Click to enlarge BASIC TRAINING - 1942
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CHUCK LOUIS' STORY

In 1942 I received a greeting from the President of the U.S.A. inviting me to report to the U.S. Army at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. After nine days there I was sent to Jacksonville, Florida for training and then on to Kreans, Utah for more training. There we lived in a tent with a pot-belly stove. If the fire went out you froze to death!

After training I was sent to Pittsburg, California and the ship that took me to India. The thirty day voyage took us to Perth, Australia, Wellington, New Zealand, Ceylon and finally India.

Our first night in India we slept on a race track. Then it was on to Bombay and Karachi. Ten of us were put on a train to Calcutta that took four days. What a ride! The last leg of my trip was back 100 miles to Ramgarh, India, where I spent two and a half years as an MP with the 118th Military Police Co. at Ramgarh Training Center.

My first duty was guarding Italian POWs (Ramgarh was the site of a British POW camp prior to being converted for training). After a while my CO put me in charge of five men to patrol the road between Ramgarh and Ranchi (about 30 miles). In my group in India were John Becthel, Paul Greenwell, Bill Adam, Richard Halpin, William Cubbage, Marshall Eliason, Edward English, Howard Erickson and Russell Mommer.
 Click to enlarge JOHN BECTHEL (LEFT)
MY BUDDY OF 2½ YEARS

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At Ramgarh I met John "Red" Sweeney, my best friend. He could fight anyone. One time they sent him to Calcutta and no one could beat him. To this day Red and I still talk on the phone and we see each other about every two years. One hell of a man.

I made all reports to the CO as all reports had to go to headquarters because the Chinese would damage trucks, tanks, and anything they could get their hands on. The night was bad for them, they would go out on the firing range and if there was a dud there (most of the time they were live ones) they would sit in a circle and take turns trying to hit it with a few rocks, then we had to take them to the Field Hospital. What a mess.

After my time at Ramgarh I was sent to over the Hump to Kunming, China and from there to Chungking and Shanghai. After the war ended I was sent home on a small aircraft carrier via Pearl Harbor to Seattle, Washington. From there, a four day train ride to Camp Atterbury, Indiana and finally a bus ride home to Cincinnati, Ohio.

I spent 30 years working as an electrician. My wife Lillian Grace and I were married for 55 years. She died five years ago after a long illness and many years on oxygen. We have two daughters, Nancy and Linda. Nancy and her husband Tim gave us two grandchildren, Michelle and Christine.
 Click to enlarge WITH FATHER SEEFELDT - 1944
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Three years ago something special happened to me. I met a lady that I had dated in 1937 and 1938. After the war we both married someone else. Her husband died seven years ago. In the last couple of years we go out to the Senior Center for the dance and dinner. Just think, after 65 years we got back together, her name is Esther. I heard of this happening to other people but I never thought it would happen to me.

I still go to the CBI meetings once a month and at 85 I still play golf and go bowling. I have a garden and a wood shop.

I guess I was lucky to have stayed at Ramgarh all that time and not be sent to the front line fighting. We had a good group of men that knew how to train the Chinese and we all got along together and did our job.


 CHUCK LOUIS
 August 2005

Contact Chuck at:  LOUISCLL  [at]  ZOOMTOWN  [dot]  COM



Places I "visited" during the war:
Fort Thomas, Kentucky     Jacksonville, Florida     Kreans, Utah     Pittsburg, California     Perth, Australia     Wellington, New Zealand     Ceylon (Sri Lanka)     Bombay, India     Karachi, India     Calcutta, India     Ramgarh, India     Ranchi, India     Kunming, China     Chungking, China     Shanghai, China     Seattle, Washington     Atterbury, Indiana


 Chuck Louis CHUCK LOUIS AT RAMGARH - 1943

 Tiny Lanze CHUCK WITH JOSEPH P. "TINY" LANZE, JR. - 1943

 Birthday CHUCK CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY WITH GOOD FRIENDS AT RAMGARH - 1945



 118th Military Police
THE 118th MILITARY POLICE CO. AT RAMGARH   (Chuck standing 4th from left)




 Thanksgiving  Thanksgiving MENU FOR THANKSGIVING 1944




 Christmas Greetings from India
CARD CREATED BY CHUCK'S FRIEND WARREN JONES




 Chuck Louis

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