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Following up his recent talk before an assembly of University athletes in the Stadium on Thursday, April 24, Colonel Blanton Winship, officer in charge of the C. M.T. C. affairs, has written a letter to the CRIMSON in order to further the plan of getting a large representation from Harvard. Colonel Winship told a reporter at the Army Base in Boston that an unfortunate idea had grown among college men all over the country that the training camps catered more to young boys than to them. This as he explains in the letter, is an absolute misconception.
The letter goes on to give a few of the general details of the training camps and Coach Fisher's opinion of them.
The letter in part follows:--
To the Editor of the CRIMSON:
"As the officer in charge of the Citizens' Military Training Camp Affairs for the New England states, may I take the liberty of correcting through your columns, an erroneous impression that has gained wide circulation through the colleges of New England to the effect that the camps are for "boys". We have found college men glad to take advantage of the camp and training when the proposition is explained to them accurately. At Williams College, for example, where a faculty member is aiding us in a proper presentation of the matter, we already have a good enrollment for this summer's camp. At Harvard we have just started a movement to secure a similar delegation through the candidates for the athletic teams.
Government Pays Expenses
"All expenses to and from camp are paid by the Government. Recreational facilities at the camp include swimming, horseback riding, small arms and pistol practice, with a competition for selection of fifteen men to represent New England in the national matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, a little before the opening of college next fall. All expenses of this team are paid by the Government. The training courses cover the usual Army branches, Infantry, Field Artillery, Coast Artillery, Cavalry, Engineering, Signal Corps, the latter providing instruction in the various means of communication, such as radio and land line telegraphy, telephony, and various means of signalling. Exceptional students may be recommended for commissions in the Reserve.
Fisher Praises Work
"Of course there is a lot of soldiering to do, but the work puts a man in shape for football and the other fall sports. As Robert T. Fisher, the Head Football Coach at Harvard said, 'Many young men wonder what to do during the summer months in order to prepare themselves for football in the fall. In my opinion nothing could be more beneficial than a month spent at a Citizens' Military Training Camp at Camp Devens. It has been my observation that good military men always make good players. It is easy to understand why training and discipline as well as initiative and quick thinking are vitally essential to both.' Football and track athletic coaches all over the country are strong supporters of the camps."
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