I served in Korea in 1950 in the 514th Medical Clearing Co. My MOS was 55G3N

My first tour I was stationed at Oberursel Germany in the 513th Military Intelligence GP 1953 to 1956.

During my second tour in Germany I served in the 525th Ord Co in 1964, the 64th Ord Co in 1965 and the 9th Ord Co. from 1965 to 1967.

I went to Sandia Base for nuclear weapons assembly course Class Number 72 from Fort Sill Oklahoma in 11 June to 24 August 1962; back to Ft Sill in support of the Arty School. Back to Sandia Base 9 Jan to April 15, 1964 for advanced maintenance specialist course army Nuclear Weapons.

From there I went to 525th Ordnance Co near Heilbronn, Germany in June of 1964. In late 1964 due to promotion I went to 64th Ordnance Co at Fischbach, Germany where I stayed for about four months. I was a crew chief. My warrant officer went to the States on courier duty and never got to where he was going so the crew was disbanded and I was assigned to 9th Ord in 1965. I stayed there until June of 1967.

My tour was up in Germany and I returned to the States to Ft Campbell Ky. where I was assigned to 52nd Ordnance Co. We were stationed at Ft Campbell but our barracks were at Clarksville Navy Base Tenn which was inside Ft Campbell Ky.

I visited Munchen a few years back (perhaps 15) and had trouble finding places that had been important or memorable. I found a McDonalds downtown where the Spatenhoff used to be, found the Deutsches Museum and a few other places, but never got oriented around McGraw Kaserne.

I arrived at Rhein Main AB and was picked up by car and taken to Camp King, Oberursel where, after some interviews and discussion, I was moved to a place near the I.G. Farben building in Frankfurt. I had quite a bit of training there after which I was deployed to Bavaria.

The 66th MI Group provided our security and some operational capability, but loosely and on request. The separation between us and them was pretty rigid and I don’t know much about them or their mission beyond what they did for us.

I was thinking about the arrangement of things at and around McGraw Kaserne. I’ll do the best I can, but you have to remember and make allowances – it was fifty years ago.

I recall 513th MI ops were in Building 7. The part I was involved with was mostly on the ground floor and had windows facing the center courtyard. There were several activities other than mine and each of them seemed to have its own restricted-access space. I had one promotion ceremony in there.

Building 19 had the commissary on the ground floor. There were theatres on the second floor, and the University of Maryland was all over it. My UoM courses were in classrooms on the second floor. I think there were at least four floors, and most of the University’s full-time student effort was above the 2nd floor

The evening classes at UoM were great. I took four courses involving two different instructors. They were both very good but one of them, Dr. Richard Srb, was the best teacher I’ve ever had for anything anywhere.

There was a library and some USO activities in there. My wife worked in the library. I’m not sure, but I think those activities were in Building 10 or maybe 11.

Coming from or going to my quarters involved the opening at the South end of the center court, near Building 13 – the exit path with the two arrows in it. If my day was at McGraw I usually walked to work. Where my day was depended on our activities which came with quite a bit of diversity.

I recall there being vehicle dispatch and maintenance in the area marked as Building 8. There was also a military police unit somewhere back in there. All that was behind the building that faced the courtyard. I recall having to go there and wait in line to draw or return a special use vehicle. Everyone in our activity tried to avoid the place for reasons I really didn’t understand, other than the inconvenience.

I recall people mentioning using a laundry in there somewhere. Most of the time my day job involved the all-green BDU of that day. I had mine done somewhere but just can’t remember where. As best I recall, there were washing machines in our living area complex where we did all the non-uniform laundry.

I don’t recall what was in the space surrounded by Buildings 1, 3, and 4. That feels strange to me.

McGraw Kaserne seemed very busy all the time – it was full of activities that seemed to result from force consolidation and repositioning. Office space in Buildings 4 and 7 seemed to be at a premium. The 513th had several quasi-independent activities and an effort was made to provide each one an isolated and limited-access space.

Walking South on the major street along the West side took you into the German economy. The first place we lived there was a studio apartment above a pizza parlor on the West side of that street. There was the constant smell of cooking pizza and not much room, so moving to quarters was a blessing.

There was a park with a Friedensengel monument near there. I remember the park being on the Isar. We went there often but I don’t recall if we just walked or if public transportation was involved. For a special dinner or to celebrate some special event our favorite place was the Spatenhoff in downtown Munich. It was easy to get there on public transportation. That place was the flagship enterprise of the beer enterprise of the same name. Their specialty was “roast pig’s knuckle” and I never missed an opportunity to order one. When I was last there (about 15 years ago) it had become a McDonalds and the name had migrated to a beerhause sort of place nearby.

The second housing area (Chiemgaustrasse) was within walking distance of McGraw Kaserne.

Above is a picture of the quarters I was provided in Munich in 1967-1968. I think this is the southeast end of the building, looking west. To get into my apartment I would pass through the door and turn left. There was a small room for a maid on the right (west) of the entry hallway. There were two bedrooms in the back (against the south wall). In between, there was a kitchen on the left and a sitting room on the right. Most of the complex was to the west – this building was the one that defined the southeast corner of a group of perhaps 6 or 8 buildings like it.

U.S. Forces had just pulled out of France and there were a lot of adjustments going on in Germany so quarters like mine (essentially a three-building apartment complex) was thought to be headed back to German ownership, but it was there for us as long as I was there. The best and most poignant Thanksgiving I’ve ever had was there, together with people from the unit.

This was taken with a Pentax SLR (which I still have) using whatever film we could get at the PX (but taken 50 years ago).

I have to say, especially considering the times, the Army took good care of us. The work, on any given day, was somewhere between interesting and fascinating and the people were fantastic. Despite my day-job, I finished 12 college units while there and did a number of very technical projects. While I could be irritated with college being interrupted for this interlude I have to say that, all things considered, this was one of the best and most timely experiences of my life.

After making Sp/6 & receiving the Army Commendation Medal, I was reassigned to Viet Nam in 1969.

Never did go to Oberursel (former home of HQ 513th MI Gp). I was (billeted) at Patton Barracks for 2 months until my wife arrived. The CO was Col. Brewster, the Exec was Lt. Col. Case who shortly after I went to Nam was transferred to the 513th in Saigon as CO. CWO Cummings was head of programming. He also went to Nam right after me, but to another unit at Long Bien.

The data processing center was in an old "tank barn" at the back right-hand corner of the Kaserne (Campbell Barracks) in Heidelberg.