Hot Water

LA Fitness keeps its pool water heavily chlorinated. This is a good thing for general health, but it is a bad thing for 75 year old skin. I must shower after my daily swim.

Under the soothing warm water stream today, I remembered less-soothing showers of my past. Hot water is a wonderful thing and it is easy to take it for granted. Anyone who served in the military overseas does not take it for granted in the least.

After a day or two (or sometimes three) working under the hot Korean sun, body odor was a problem even among rough, tough GIs. “Crotch rot” (contact dermatitis in a sensitive area) was an even bigger problem for those who failed to bring fresh underwear. We could not “swim” in the nearby rice paddies. We saw the farmers emptying buckets of human waste there every morning. The Godzilla of all “crotch rot” waited for anyone foolish enough to bathe there.

The key to military success is improvisation. We had a very limited supply of drinking and cooking water in five gallon “Jerry Cans”. If we ran out, we went thirsty or hungry. Showering seemed out of the question. We also had our ”Water Buffalo”, a canvas bladder filled with water mounted on a truck bed. “Good” water is a necessary component of “good” concrete. If we used the crap from the rice paddies, our concrete would crumble. The “Water Buffalo” had signs all over it “Non-Potable. Do Not Drink”.

The signs did not say “Do Not Shower” and the Buffalo had plenty of water. Thus it was that the brave men of Alpha Company, 802d Engineer Battalion stripped off their body salt-encrusted garments and assumed “the plank” position under the Water Buffalo spigot while a buddy soaped and scrubbed them down. That was a scene that the Army would not use on a recruiting poster (except possibly in certain neighborhoods).

Of course, the water was cold. The canvas bladder allowed evaporation to keep its contents below ambient temperature.

Experiences like this bring an appreciation of modern plumbing and especially hot water.

By Ed Dufton