I was stationed at the Giessen Quartermaster Depot for 1 year 9 months (1960 - 1962), assigned to the AG Corps Personnel Division. CWO Carver was our Personnel Officer, Colonel Charles Shaunessey was Commander and I worked in the Payroll section. I paid few hundred personnel located around USAREUR. It was an easy job, and left plenty of time to take leave. I especially liked the fact that I could take a day's leave, and get a day of travel before, and a day of travel after. That meant three for one, and when you got 30 days leave a year, you could have quite a lot of time off.

The barracks we lived in were old two story German officer quarters in good condition. We were a combination of personnel from Finance, Personnel, and Unit Police. There may have been others, but I don't recall. What I remember most about the facility were the beautiful wood floors in the rooms. I was quartered with a spit and polish Staff Sergeant who was a great guy but loved to keep the floor unbelievably polished. We never wore shoes/boots on the floor (except for inspections). We used razor blades to clean any spots of dirt off the floor, polished it profusely and the shine was the most impressive in the building. Our inspections always went flawlessly. Needless to say, that Sergeant instilled in me the desire to always look and be my best. I was even selected as Soldier of the Month, one month.

I was able to get my wife over to Germany with our new daughter a few months after I arrived. I moved off base and rented an apartment in a local German home. It was very nice living on the economy. I bought an old 1953 Studebaker, and then bought another one. One had a good engine, the other had a good transmission. I combined them into one good car, left a terrible oil spill on the driveway of the German landlord, tried to clean it up, but my landlord never forgave me for ruining his driveway - I don't blame him. Most Germans were unbelieveably meticulous about their homes. That old Studebaker worked pretty well and I drove it all around Germany, including a trip to Paris with my wife and child. It was a trip of a lifetime, through the Loire Valley, the Chateaus, Versailles, and Paris. I still remember it well.

Eventually, dependents were sent home due to Cold War concerns, and I moved back onto base.

Going to Mainz for Fasching was an annual event around Easter that I loved. Lots of us would take road trips there and party with everyone. Lots of parades, women, wine, beer, and of course good food. Seems like we did a lot of partying at the depot.

I had several part time jobs after duty hours. The first one was as a driver for a female Warrant Officer. She had a beautiful new Mercury and I had permission to use it any time. She paid me $1.00 a day to drive her, and her friend, a female Nurse Major, on weekend trips. Of course, she also paid my expenses when we were on the road. It was quite a pleasant arrangement. Had I not been such a dingbat at the time, the job would have lasted longer than it did, but one night after stopping at a local lover's lane, the car became stuck in the mud and I had to leave it in there stuck in the mud. I was going to retrieve it the next day, but the MP's discovered it there and who it belonged to, and shortly thereafter, I lost the job.

Another great part time job I had was across the street from the depot at the Giessen Civillian and Officers Open Mess (GOCOM). A friend told me they were looking for a bartender. I thought that would be a fun job, so I applied and surprisingly got the job -- I had never tended bar before. There was a Capain in charge of the club, a Sergeant who drank too much and ran the club, and a beautiful German blonde (whose name I don't remember) that also tended bar and tried her best to keep the Sergeant out of trouble. One of the nights the Sergeant had too much to drink, became a little violent and we had to call the MP's in to calm him down.

It was a fun and exciting place to work. I used to pride myself upon seeing one of the regulars come in the door to the bar, that I would have their drink waiting for them by the time they got to the bar. I heard lots of great stories from officers and civilian depot employees at that bar. I especially liked the promotion parties. Many times when an Officers made rank they would throw a party at the club. We would mix the dirinks, make lots of tips, and have a lot of fun. The dollar was worth much more at the time. The exchange rate was like four marks to a dollar. I remember you could buy a beer for a nickel. My how times have changed.

The cold war was upon us at that time, the Berlin wall had not gone up yet, and I was fortunate to take a trip to Berlin and see the city, both East and West. Going to Berlin from Giessen meant you had to cross through East Germany and of course the East German soldiers checked our papers thoroughly and made us feel quite anxious. Crossing over into East Berlin was easy at that time, we were on a tour bus, and going through the Brandenburg gate was without event. The city seemed cold and granite. Cars were few, and it seemed that we were transformed to everything in black and white, instead of color as in West Berlin. It wasn't long after that trip when the water cannon matches started in Berlin and then they started construction of the wall around August 1961.

My experience at the depot was one I will always remember, Hopefully others will tell us their stories.

(Source: Email from Larry Ross)
That building was also the home to HHB, 42^nd Artillery Group in the mid ‘60’s. It housed the office of the commander (a Colonel), command SM, S-1, S-2 offices and the personnel division (which I was in).  It sat at the top of a gentle hill and overlooked the vast material center.  There was a huge conference room, which in retrospect, must have been the passenger waiting area.  That can be seen as the rectangular windows on the ground floor in the photo.