My CCC Camp Experiences by Thomas W. (Bill) McKee I was born on November 13, 1919 at Ferris, Ellis County, Texas. My parents were William Ernest McKee and Mary Harlen Couch McKee. They were farmers in that area until World War II began. My dad then went into the aircraft building industry. I had one sister that was five years younger than me and a brother who was born in 1942. I went to grammar school at Sterret and graduated from high school at Waxahachie in 1939. The only thing I really remember about the Great Depression was that all the farmers borrowed money from the bank every year and in 1929 everyone more or less had a crop failure and couldn't pay the bank back. In 1930, we didn't register the car. We set it up on blocks and used the horses and buggy for several years. Later, after things improved, we got another car. We raised mostly cotton, corn, oats, wheat and hay for the stock. We had chickens and cattle and raised a few horses. Cotton and wheat were the money crops. In 1940, I read an article in the local paper, the Waxahachie Daily Light, that they were accepting people for the CCC camp. The previous winter I had worked a little for the County Superintendent doing survey work. I contacted the lady at the unemployment office and asked her about joining the CCC, if I could stay at Waxahachie. She called the camp and talked to the Captain and he was agreeable. The money could help my folks keep the hogs and cattle business going. I don't remember filling out forms but I went straight to the camp which was located on private property just outside the city limits on the west side of town. I was processed and Captain Robert Evans remembered me. While we were taking our shots, me being a farm boy, he had me working around shrubbery and walkways and spreading gravel. I went in and took my shots. I didn't have to but I went back and spread the load of gravel. The next morning the other boys could hardly move and were sore but I had worked all the soreness out and wasn't affected in any way. For about the first 10 days we weren't assigned any specific duties and the Captain escorted me to the kitchen and introduced me. They had big iron stoves and he assigned me to the stoves that week. I'd get up early every morning and start the fires. Also, I had to polish them and keep them clean. Later I was sent to the field. It started raining and we were sodding grass to keep the land from washing and we terraced it. After a couple of days of carrying that wet sod I decided the kitchen was a better job so I wound up back in the kitchen and spent the rest of my time there rinsing dishes and taking care of the supply room which was the best job in camp. Trinity University was located in Waxahachie then (it was later moved to San Antonio). We had two night watchmen who went there. Also, David Sandlin was finishing his high school at the time. Later he was to leave to go to college at Weatherford. He later married my sister. The designated number of our unit was CCC Co. 878, SCS 37- T. The SCS stood for Soil Conservation Service and I think the rest of the designation meant it was the 37th such camp in Texas. We also built a six strand barb wire fence and chopped brush, in addition to sodding and terracing. I believe the farmers and ranchers furnished the materials and we did the work. We were paid $8 a month and $22 was sent home via allotment. We had script (canteen books) that you used for your laundry and to buy things at the PX. You could also purchase your movie tickets there. There were three movies in town, all on the square. The Empire Theater cost ten cents and showed old western cowboy movies. The Ritz was a quarter and the Texas was thirty-five cents but they showed the latest movies. The camp was located about a mile and a quarter from town. You could wear your uniform or civilian clothes. We had fatigues that we worked in - just like the Army. We had an Army Captain, a Lieutenant, and a Sergeant who were the Army people assigned to the camp. The foreman in the field (for the work crews) were Soil Conservation Service and LEMs )Local Experienced Men) who were the Leaders. The physical layout of the camp was copied on an Army setup. There was a headquarters and supply room, library, dispensary, mess hall, latrine, tool shed and motor pool area, and of course the small six man barracks. If I remember correctly they were covered with tar paper and each one had a pot bellied stove. There was always a good relationship between the townspeople and the enrollees. During the week we could go to town after supper unless you were on some special work detail. There was a bed check at 10:30 PM and you had better be in bed. On the week end you had to get a pass. I did go home sometimes for my parents lived only eight miles north of the camp. I met my wife about this time and we started dating. We were married on October 31, 1941. My daily routine was a little different from the boys that went to the field. We had to get up early and get breakfast started. After I finished rinsing dishes I was in charge of the supply room. Also, I had to help make sandwiches for the boys to carry to the field. We had to hustle to make 250 sack lunches. Between breakfast and dinner we would clean up our barracks. The work crews had to get up and make roll call and reveille and do exercises and all those things. The kitchen personnel were privileged and we made up our bunks and had time off between 9 and 10 AM. Then we would make lunch for people in camp. Then we would hustle to make supper and clean up the dishes afterwards. We weren't required to make formation or anything like that. The cooks ordered all of the supplies. We used coal burning stoves. Eggs and perishables were kept in refrigerators and the dry good all stacked on shelves nice and neat in one big room. We had a first, second, and third cook. We had a softball team but I didn't participate in sports that much. We had a radio on the kitchen and a radio, newspapers and magazines in the library. The fellow that took care of the canteen went to high school in town and got his diploma. The food was good and as a general rule we had a big breakfast with eggs and hash browns, lunch was light because the boys were in the field, but there was always a good supper with different kinds of meat and beans and always some kind of dessert. Usually it was a loaf or big pan cake sliced up. We had plenty of fruit to serve such a pears and peaches, etc. We had coffee every morning and usually tea at night. We had family service type meals with a bowl of everything on each table. There were lasting benefits from being in the CCC. We learned discipline and military style and it was good training. It prepared us for the future. Our young people today could use it again to combat some of their problems.   Copyright © 2005-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:30:27 MDT