WWII Soldier's Pay (with responses from the vets themselves)

[Walt's Daughter]

Okay, here are some actual comments from WWII veterans-

 

 

Hi Marion,

 

We had a paymaster who visited our area with cash. We lined up, moved up to his desk (which sometimes was just a stack of boxes,) and he counted out the cash, you signed for it, and that was that. Complications came when you were in combat or on patrol or somewhere the paymaster couldn't go. Then things got backed up and when he did show up he had to explain what he was giving to you. I recall one stint of about three and a half months that we weren't paid. The paymaster really had a tough time figuring the right amounts. No calculators or computers in those days. They usually did have a hand cranked adding machine. Our pay wasn't much, but the paymaster traveled with quite a bit of cash and appropriate security. Guys with sidearms were all around the pay table.

 

I remember my first pay in China. We also received a sheet of paper telling us what to pay for various services. The going price for a prostitute was the Chinese equivalent of 10 cents American. The Navy messed that up because they were only ashore for a short time and usually didn't go to a currency exchange. So they gave the girls $1. That was really inflationary. We weren't very popular when we tried to give the girls Chinese money that equaled 10 cents American. It wasn't long before the girls were demanding an American dollar.

 

Bob, WWII/U.S. Marines

 

 

More from Bob...

 

 

 

Should be interesting.

Some time after I was discharged, they found a mistake in my final pay (@ Great Lakes Navy Base), and I received an impressive looking envelope from the Dept. of the NAVY, with a check for 10 cents. On the written line of the check it said ***ONLY 10 CENTS***. I never cashed it, but carried it in my wallet for years. Don't know where it is right now but it's somewhere in my papers. I probably messed up the Government bookkeeping. It's still messed up only now it's trillions instead of a dime.