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Two '42 ROTC Men See Duty in North Africa

Lt. E. J. Reilly '42 Writes of His Experiences in Landing

NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED

At least two Harvard ROTC graduates who received their degrees and commissions only last summer have already seen action in Africa, according to a letter received by Colonel F. A. Doniat, head of the Mil Sci Department. Lieutenant Eugene J. Reilly '42 wrote that he had taken part in the first landings in North Africa and that a second '42 man, Lt. George L. Snow, had recently joined the battalion.

A Cadet Lieutenant in last year's ROTC regiment, Lt. Reilly was chairman of the Dudley House Committee and a leader in House athletics, and lived in Jamaica Plain. He had been at his first post, Camp Pickett, Virginia, only two weeks when orders for Africa came through.

Crowded conditions and rough weather were the only troubles on the trip, Lt. Reilly said. "We got there finally and, as you all have probably read, accomplished our mission."

French courses taken at Harvard proved "of immense value" to the Field Artillery officer, and he advised men in the ROTC to brush up on that language of Spanish, but made on reference to Javanese. He concluded, "To us overseas, the issue is no longer in doubt," but "it won't be as soon or as easy as some people think."

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