Biography of Mathew J. Pacana
CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
M Company, 13th Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, USA
My name is Mathew J. Pacana. I live in Oaklyn, New Jersey. I was born on March 1, 1919. I enlisted from philly in the CCC. I lived in South Philly. There used to be a public school next to a fire station at Fourth and Snyder in South Philly. I don't know if they are still there,we gathered there about 30 or 40 of us and got on a bus to go to the train station at 15th and Market Sts. That's where the train station was in 1939.
We did not train anywhere, we went directly to Arizona. There we joined the company, the camp was there already. Can you imagine yourself going from Philly to Arizona on a sleeper train. The porters made up the sleeper beds through Texas, New Mexico to Arizona and the trip was boring for three days.
I spent 6 months in the CCC's in Arizona in 1939 when I was nineteen years old. My number and division while in the CCC's was Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona. We had a camp, about 200 men in our main camp. Officers that had graduated from West Point ran the camp - they had to put those officers someplace. My brother, Johnny, spent six months in the CCC's and my other brother, Stanley, spent three years in the CCC's in Pennsylvania.
It was run like an army camp, we had reveille, retreat after breakfast and barracks inspection to see if our beds were made and our barracks clean. After that we would fall out for our assigned work detail. We had a side camp of 25 men located about 20 miles from our main camp. We cut down cedar trees, used for fence posts, and strung barbed wire from the posts. Civilians bossed our details, and he inspected our tools before we locked them up for the day.
When we put the fences up it was to keep the cattle on one sie and the horses on the other side,so that the cattle could have the graze instead of the horses. Some of the men dug holes in ground and the ground was slanted certain degrees so that when it rained the water would gather there and the cattle would drink from these water tanks,we called them.
The weather in Arizona was beautiful, warm and dry in the daytime, and cool at night. During the night, we would watch wild horses drink from a creek. It was a beautiful sight.
For recreation we went to town, some guys took a bus to go to Hoover Dam (boulder dam),some stayed in town,some took a bus to see the Painted Desert.
The camp was nice, we had a boxing ring,soft ball field,volley ball court,rec hall with a pool table,ping pong table,checkers,chess and a radio. Television wasn't heard of then. We never had any classes.
The closest town to us was Kingman. We got paid $30 a month, ten dollars went to us and the remaining twenty dollars was sent home. It made for a very nice six months.
I figured six months is enough with what the situation looked like in Europe. Sure enough year and a half later I was drafted.
The CCC's were good training for the Army, since a year and a half later I was in the Army, in 1941. I was selected by my friends and neighbors, I sure would like to meet those friends and neighbors!
I have the pre-Pearl Harbor Ribbon, Combat Infantry Badge, two Purple Hearts, E.T.O. Ribbon with four battle stars, the Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, Victory Medal and a couple others. I was in the Army for four years, in M Company, 13th Regiment, 8th Infantry Division.
----- Mathew J. Pacana
LINKS
Photographs of Mathew Pacana
Goofing Off, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Lake Mead, CCC Men Recreating, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
In The Mountains, CCC Men in The Field, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Side Camp, View of the Camp, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Retreat, Lowering the Flag, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Mail Call, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Arizona Welcomes You Sign, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
CCC Men in the Field, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Our Barracks, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
In Kingman Arizona in the Snow, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Kingman Arizona Sign, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Mathew Pacana, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Chow Time, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Mess Hall, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Boulder Dam, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Civilian Boss, "Cowboy" on Horse, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Setting a Post, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Our Foreman, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
Boat Dock at Lake Mead, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
After Chow in the Field, Mathew J. Pacana, CCCman, Company 340, Division of Grazing, Camp DG-46-A, Round Valley, Kingman, Arizona
BACK TO JAMES F. JUSTIN CCC MUSEUM, BIOGRAPHIES
BACK TO JUSTIN ORAL HISTORY ARMY BIOGRAPHIES HISTORY PAGE
Please Share your Stories! E-mail the Curator to share or discuss or with any questions!