PANAMA CANAL ZONE
Ft. William D. Davis
Troops arriving at the Canal Zone are greeted with shouts of "23 and a Butt" to welcome the start of the their two year tour in Panama.
Taking Five on the trail.
New 37mm anti-tank guns replacing the WWI "One Pounder's" they had until the late1930's.
Units on patrol in Campaign Hats bearing "Golden Dragon" - 14th Infantry Insignia.
14th Infantry Troops after being initiated in the "Order of Cerro-Bruja" - 1933
Service Company on Maneuvers - note the wool shirts!
MSG T. P. Gates at his field desk on Maneuvers. He later became an officer prior to WWII and retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1952, after 33 years of service.
A Poem Written By Gtant N. Gilray on Service in the Canal Zone. From September, 1939 thru the war years, Mr. Gilray was a part of the "Massive Transit Guard" in which he provided security with the 14th Infantry on over 350 ships going through the Canal.
"Hitch in Hell"
Down on the sun-baked isthmus
Where a man can raise a thirst,
Live the victims of civilization,
Foreign service at its worst.
I joined up in this man 's army,
Took the oath we know so well,
And got aboard the Leonard Wood,
A ship right out of Hell.
We sailed the seas for seven days,
And finally sighted land.
T'was just a line of palm trees
Standing stately in the sand.
That day we docked in Colon,
And I heard a 'dogface ' yell,
"Get on down the gangplank, man,
This here 's your hitch in Hell! "
Since I came on down to Panama,
It seems like a hundred years,
When I checked in at Davis
And joined the Jungleers.
Now I'm sittin ' here and thinkin '
Of the things that are behind,
And cannot put on paper
What is running through my mind!
But there is one consolation,
Listen closely while I tell,
That I know I 'II get to Heaven,
Cause I've done my hitch in Hell!
I built a thousand "wickies ",
Better beds cannot befound,
But never got a wink of sleep
That high up off the ground.
I sprigged 9 miles of gramma grass
For the Colonel 's new golfcourse,
And hiked across the isthmus
While the colonel rode his horse!
I stood guard at San Lorenzo
And on the S.S. United States,
So when Iget to Heaven
I want to guard the Pearly Gates.
I saluted all the officers,
The mean ones and the best,
And a couple of old soldiers
With that "Big Medal " on their chests.
I was harassed by Second Looies,
Who didn 't know the score,
And a big old red-haired officer,
Who 's name was Captain Moore.
When final taps are sounded,
And Iput aside my cares,
I 'II stand my last inspection
On those shiny golden stairs.
And all the crazy duties
That I recall so well,
I won 't have to do in Heaven
Cause I 've done my hitch in Hell!
I'll step up to those pearly gates,
Present arms, and ring the bell,
Then march right in among the saints,
They 'II know I came from Hell!
When the Big Man calls "Front and Center. "
I'll step out proud and yell...
"I don 't have to stand parades._
I've done my hitch in Hell!"
