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Not So Fast Buster
In the army, like the good soldier he would describe later in his letters as “Joe private,” he followed orders. Today we would say he stayed in his lane.
But another motive force, and maybe the laws of inertia came into play. Newton wrote centuries ago that a body at rest tends to stay at rest while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. At the age of 28 years young, Abe Sacks was the body in motion. And the direction of that motion pointed toward Officers Candidate School.
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The youngest of five kids in his family he both benefited and suffered from that last born child syndrome. He writes about it in a letter from June 1942: I SAW some of the boys that came out of that school and they are swell. They’ll make good officers. It’s a tough struggle, but there are two reasons for me to make every endeavor to succeed. “One reason is that I made a promise to Mom, and my grandmother that I’d get ahead in the Army. The other reason is that I’m in love with the grandest little girl and I want her to be proud of me.” |
Initially, he had committed himself to serving one year in the army. But after December 8, 1941, when Congress declared war against Japan, that one-year commitment became elastic, and open-ended.
By December 11, 1941, Congress had declared war on Germany, and the United States was officially at war with two powerhouse nations. Life In the United States was markedly different. Rationing was invoked and was in place that spring. You couldn’t buy gasoline, groceries, shoes, or cement without presenting ration coupons at the store. Homes on the East and West Coast of the United States had blackout curtains, to disguise and protect them from Japanese and German bombers.
For Abe Sacks, the first year of service stretched into the second year and he started to investigate the pathway to move up from Joe Private to becoming a ranking officer.
He arranged to start the O.C.S. admissions process. The two years he spent in Brooklyn College most likely smoothed the way for him to get a preliminary interview. “Not so fast Buster,” is the lesson he learned.
On June 1942 he wrote his girlfriend, Bea. You can see the handwritten letter below. Here is the deciphered text, as decoded by Ann Sweet:
“I have tried for O.C.S., but was turned down. I put in again for it and was turned down again.
I took stock myself and found out what my faults were. I was too easy going, which is definitely wrong.”
He wasn’t used to this, to failing. It kept to him up at night.
Soon after that he wrote home:
“There was no sleep on Friday and Saturday because of the shock.
Up until last Friday, every time Officers Candidate School was mentioned, I’d wince, because this was the first time I had ever failed to sell myself. But a good salesman is never discouraged if he wants to succeed. Or am I wrong?”
Right or wrong, he sought another chance to apply, a third time now, and he was accepted into the program. He was on his way. Ever so casually declaring to his girlfriend,
“I’ll be here for a while yet, until we are transported to school up at Fort Knox.”
Yes, the Fort Knox.
By December 11, 1941, Congress had declared war on Germany, and the United States was officially at war with two powerhouse nations. Life In the United States was markedly different. Rationing was invoked and was in place that spring. You couldn’t buy gasoline, groceries, shoes, or cement without presenting ration coupons at the store. Homes on the East and West Coast of the United States had blackout curtains, to disguise and protect them from Japanese and German bombers.
For Abe Sacks, the first year of service stretched into the second year and he started to investigate the pathway to move up from Joe Private to becoming a ranking officer.
He arranged to start the O.C.S. admissions process. The two years he spent in Brooklyn College most likely smoothed the way for him to get a preliminary interview. “Not so fast Buster,” is the lesson he learned.
On June 1942 he wrote his girlfriend, Bea. You can see the handwritten letter below. Here is the deciphered text, as decoded by Ann Sweet:
“I have tried for O.C.S., but was turned down. I put in again for it and was turned down again.
I took stock myself and found out what my faults were. I was too easy going, which is definitely wrong.”
He wasn’t used to this, to failing. It kept to him up at night.
Soon after that he wrote home:
“There was no sleep on Friday and Saturday because of the shock.
Up until last Friday, every time Officers Candidate School was mentioned, I’d wince, because this was the first time I had ever failed to sell myself. But a good salesman is never discouraged if he wants to succeed. Or am I wrong?”
Right or wrong, he sought another chance to apply, a third time now, and he was accepted into the program. He was on his way. Ever so casually declaring to his girlfriend,
“I’ll be here for a while yet, until we are transported to school up at Fort Knox.”
Yes, the Fort Knox.
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