New River, NC
December, 1942
Dear girls,
Well, I’m all set – in our hut here, that is, but we don’t start work until tomorrow. There has been so much wild scuttlebutt that you don’t really know what to believe, but from all soundings I’ve been making, the setup sounds very much as I thought it would be. We have a bunch of rookies, I think, though I haven’t seen them yet. And we will probably stay here at least two months training them. In fact, I am giving a series of lectures on chemical warfare – about which I know very little as yet.
The place is cold as the devil, and expensive eating, and way out in the middle of the pine and Spanish moss swamps; but they all seem to like it pretty well – especially for its informality – wear dungarees and boots all the time.
Sabini is shipping out tomorrow. Roy Wood is, strangely enough, in charge of the platoon next to mine. Shattuck bunks next to me, but will soon be with his wife. There are four others of us in here, none of whom I knew very well before, but they seem like swell guys.
My train ticket down cost me [$] 6.08. How, I don’t know – but I didn’t get in here until eight last night, what with late trains, standing four hours for the bus and etc. It is late.
Love
Phil
Phil had finished his required studies as a second lieutenant, and was on his way to his first command: a platoon of Company A, First Separate Battalion (Reinforced), which was being assembled at New River, North Carolina.
He was quartered with Howard Francis Shattuck, who went by Frank and was an officer in Company B; Theodore K. Johnson, who went by Ted and was executive officer of Company C, and Ed Keyes, who eventually transferred out of the battalion. Close by were Roy Wood, who would have a rifle platoon in Company A, and Fred Stott and Joe Swoyer, both platoon leaders in Company D. He would become very close with each of them in the coming months.
Phil did not record his first meeting with his platoon, though his initial guess that they were "rookies" was mostly true - with the exception of a few seasoned NCOs, many were straight out of boot camp and none had seen combat before. Even so, a first impression was important, and Phil certainly left one. One of his new machine gunners, George Smith, remembered their meeting in December of 1942.
"Now let me tell you about the meeting of Lt. Philip E. Wood and his Weapons Platoon. First, a little background. Our recruit platoon had its training cut short and the entire platoon (with very few exceptions) was sent north to New River in December, '42. Shortly after arriving, we were told we were to be the nucleus of a new (Special/Super) unit that became the First Separate Battalion, Reinforced. Our recruit platoon formed "A" Company, with twenty-four of us making up the weapons platoon. The only officers for the better part of the week were the Captain (Buck Schechter) and the First Sergeant [William Dolly]. We were quartered in oblong pasteboard/flakeboard huts (great for perfecting our knife throwing technique), unfinished on the inside with exposed the framing, and heated by a kerosene stove - when it worked. On Friday of that first week, Buck called for a Field Day (General Housecleaning) to be ready for Saturday inspection by our newly arrived "Battle Hardened" officers. Just [having left] Boot Camp we were aware of what was required. Saturday morning our 14 man hut sparkled and at 0900 the bugler sounded inspection call. Shortly after, we heard the inspection party approach.... Every time I think of Phil Wood, this is the picture that comes to mind. A fresh-faced long drink of water in "New" officer greens and "WHITE” gloves squares himself in the hatch, shoes barley inboard the threshold, raises his arm over his head and passes his hand along the door sill, brings his hand down to eye level, stares, and then says loudly "DUST!" He steps back and is gone, leaving half of us laughing hysterically and the other half dumbfounded. Of course we all thought any chance of liberty was nil. But when Liberty Call sounded and some brave soul checked the liberty list, he found we were all on it. We all agreed we weren't to sure about our Lieutenant being "Battle Hardened," but we were damn sure we had a good one. AND WAS HE EVER!"
Phil Wood's original roster for the Weapons platoon at New River in late 1942. With only a few exceptions, these were the men he would lead into combat.
Between December 1942 and August 1943, the platoon lost:
Robert McCabe
Alfred Facchiano
Joseph Mastrangelo
Peter Wenghen
Richard Allen
Ezra Skolfield
Ross DeLucca