Tannenberg Kaserne

We left Southampton at dusk. There wasn't much to see as we left but as soon as we left the estuary and headed for the channel all the watertight doors were closed and we couldn't get from compartment to compartment. We could up on deck and back down again but the forward part of the ship was darkened and it was difficult to get around. The watertight doors were supposedly close because of leftover mines but could have been a routine for the channel due to collision possibilities. We arrived in Bremerhaven which had been knocked about quite a bit and the railway yards still had bombed out locomotives and other wreckage from allied bombing. It is hard to be specific after more than 50 years but I think we were loaded into freight cars at dockside and then down to troop trains traversed the British Zone to Tannenberg Kaserne in Marburg. At Marburg for processing. This consisted of briefings on the country, warnings about VD, scams and other information. We got our EUCOM I.D. cards which were on local issue. Wasn't much to it - just a picture and some information on a card. It would be interesting if someone had a copy of one of them. We also had to had to change our unit patches to our assigned units. Not much variety there as I only recall the Big Red One (First Infantry Division), U.S. Constabulary (Circle C Cowboys) and the EUCOM Patch (Flaming Butter Knife). It was later called the SHAPE patch but I don't think SHAPE had been established yet.

Could add that they had a band playing at Brooklyn Army Port. Ended up playing "So long - It's been good to know you" and upon arrival at Bremerhaven the band there played "I wonder who's kissing her now?". Also, it must have been the Rose that lost the propeller as it had two screws.

Being a young trooper I couldn't wait to get to town. Another trooper who was a bit older than me went with me to town to sell some cigarettes. He had been in country for a while so he knew the score. Got offered every useless notes in German history but finally got a decent price. Drank a lot of beer, landed up in a DP camp with a bunch of Ukranians, and lost my virginity.

Ed Goss who was captured by the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge and had a wicked understated sense of humor. I remember him telling me about him bravely throwing a grenade threw a window and he missed. He had to run when it bounced back on him. He also had the choice of freezing to death or surrendering when he was cornered. He was a real gentleman. There was one fellow who had genital warts (name withheld) and we thought that it was a real joke that he had a built in french tickler. Sounds cruel but we did not know any better and it was relatively rare in those day. Sgt Mahoney was the First Sergent and he was a mixture. He could raise hell with you when you screwed up or drink a beer with you. There was Mosby the typical southern gentlemen straight out of "Gone with the Wind" Bowling was much the same. There was a fair proportion of people who were of the Jewish religion looking back on some of the names but so far as I know it never was an issue. If anything it was a "so what" issue. Because it was a technical unit better family attitudes to education may have had something to do with this.They don't get much of a mention in the next section as they were not notorious drinkers.

We had some wild parties in those days. I remember the First Sergeant and I going into a brewery in Hanau on a regular basis. I would be pulling a quarter ton trailer and the brewery workers would load it up while both of us sat in a waiting room. No hardship as it was equipped with steins and a faucet in the wall which was tapped into a keg of beer. The First Shirt could hold his beer better than me so he drove back to the depot. At one stage we had our own bar in the building. On the top floor which was actually an attic a previous unit had build a bar and stage out of runway matting (pierced steel planking for instant runway) Officially that area did not exist as it was never inspected. I think that the company bar was initiated by the Commander in an effort to keep the men out of trouble. If they stayed in the company area they would get in less trouble than going to the club on the depot or hitting the other fleshpots off the base. The volunteer barman got free beer as we sold it for 10 cents and it probably only cost 3 cents when we bought it off the brewery. They also served balony (bologna) sandwiches with mayonaise. Some of our more sophisticated types (Jermolowitz and someone else) were into French music and bought records in France which played on a company owned phonograph. To this day when I hear Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet, or Mauroce Chevalier, it reminds me of beer and bologna sandwiches. I think that due to a combination of the bar going broke because the volunteer bar tender got drunk too often and gave credit or free beer. Another reason was that someone put the heat by snitching about an illegal "Blind Pig" which was competing with the NCO/EM club.

We had several company party's while I was in the company. The entire company went partying including the officers but the officers, if they were smart, left early before it got too rowdy. The big ones were usually held off post and I remember one where girlfriends and camp followers also attended. Another one was held at an officer's club in Offenbach next to the river. That was pretty notable since there was to be a floor show complete with strippers. Being a photo company there were plenty of cameras and the show was punctuated by the popping of many flash bulbs. The unwritten custom was that all ranks were equal at a company party but it didn't apply the next day. Anyway there were pictures of people helping the girls strip and someone (I know not who) bribed two of the girls to put on a very blue show and that's when the cameras really started grinding away. What with sex shows available in most western cities these days that does not sound like a big thing. Getting caught arranging something like that in 1950 could cost an officer or NCO his career and or get him some stockade time. About a week after the party the word got out that the CID (Criminal Investigation Division) got wind of the value added exhibition. There was many prints and negatives, still and movie, that were destroyed out behind the barracks. Nothing came of it as far as I know.

These were the days when most of the troops were single, divorced, or couldn't bring their wives over. Captain Mears who was married to an English woman and they had their first child while in the unit. Having a baby born in the company was an event and I remember that we all chipped in to buy an engraved silver cup for the baby. Some of the Sergeants had their wives with them and they lived on housing on the base. I think that there was a long wait for housing and you had to be an E-4 with seven years service to be elligible. Some of the women couldn't handle some of the perks of occupation life. Occupation duty for some was better than they had ever experienced before. Booze was cheap and each housing unit came with a German maid paid for by the army or the Germans. I don't know how true it was but some NCO's and Officers managed to have their girl friend hired as the maid. Talk about having it both ways.

In the early 1950's there were a couple of murders when dependent wives got rid of their husbands. They were tried by courts-martial and I think got life sentences. On appeal, the convictions were dismissed by the Supreme Court as the military did not have jurisdiction nor did the Germans under the rule of the Occupiers. They could not be tried in U.S. courts either as the crime was not committed on U.S. soil. I think that this has been remedied under the Status of Forces Agreements but for a while there were a lot of accompanied docile husbands.

It was not all fun and games though. We had various duties in and out of the company. There was Charge of Quarters in the company being on call as duty photographer. Being a Signal Supply Depot we also had our fair share of guard duty. I only remember being on the front gate and at the entrance to the supply section. There were a lot of German workers on the post and the guards were supposed to check their i.d. when they came through. When they came out of the supply depot we had to check their bags to ensure that they did not have any stolen items on them. The important fellow with the brief case was only carrying his lunch. There was one post that I always was curious about which was manned by the Military Police. It had a double cyclone fence about 8 foot high with barbed wire and a red box in the center. The MP was in the center section and the dog roamed between the fences. I was duty photographer when a call came from the guardhouse that the O.D. was picking me up. It was a beautiful summer day and the sun had just come up and the MP was sound asleep with his M-3 grease gun cradled in his arms while the dog just looked at us. The Lt wanted me to shoot a picture for disciplinary purposes. With the two fences I could not get a clear shot but I didn't want to anyway and I told him so. He suggested that I climb the fence to clear the wire. I just cocked the camera and handed it to him. I was not about to surprise a sleeping man with a magazine of 45 caliber bullets. About this time the guard woke so I never did find out what happened to him nor what the function of that post was.

Our official sources of news were AFN and the Stars and Stripes. There was also the New York Times which was printed in Paris. AFN and the Stars and Stripes were run by the army so there was not a lot of editorial freedom. I doubt if a reporter or photographer would last very long in either unit if they made the army look bad. We were also told to not shoot pictures which showed people in unsoldierly positions for publication. e.g. hands in pockets, slovenly appearances etc. However it was sometimes impossible to shoot Ike without a hand in his pocket so it was usually disregarded. However here comes the clanger. The Overseas Weekly came on the scene and the battle was on. As I recall the OW was privately owned and made it's money on advertising and the cost of the paper. The Army tried to block it but eventually the Overseas Weekly had a lot of buyers. It was a raw, rough, and ready tabloid paper and they did not pull any punches. An unfair commander or someone who was screwing the troops soon got unwanted publicity. It also offerred a chance for the troops to break with the party line. I don't know how long it lasted but created quite a stir then.

When a photographer stayed on the depot, life was pretty routine so far as photographs were concerned. Pictures of damaged supplies, local sports, parades, and the inevitable charity drive. Once when they were doing a stunt about Thanksgiving the Post Commander was holding a large, lively and nervous turkey. I caught a good shot of Colonel, Turkey and turkey crap dribbling down the Colonel's pinks. Had to reshoot that one. We also had the job of duty photographer for any serious incidents that occurred during the night. I didn't mind that job as if you worked past midnight you got the next morning or day off. We covered traffic accidents, suicides, deaths of all sorts. Now with all modern gear doing the thinking anyone can do this type of work with a minimum of training. Point and press is about all there is to it.

On an unofficial basis other units would have a company party and want a photographer. We furnished a photographer, shot the pictures, and processed the negatives and gave them to the unit. They could then take them to the PX get as many prints as they want. The photograph was always treated pretty well with drinks and food so it was a good idea to shoot early. I remember enjoying the hospitality of an MP company at Hanau Engineer Depot I was half full of beer when an MP on duty drove me home about midnight. Next thing I knew was the CQ pounding on my door telling me to get ready to go out. Dawn was just breaking and I was not feeling too great. The same MP that brought me home too me over to a rail line where one of the SP's (usually Polish Guards) had been run over by a train or two. He was scattered for a hundred yards down the track and the MP with me got sick. Not the best time to have a hangover but I had work to do. Things like that were more exciting than working in the lab which I hated (probably because I was not very good at it) or captioning or cataloging prints which I found boring. That why I was readily available when a driver was required. Got qualified up to the company semi and trailer.

There were some interesting assignments which gave us a lot of freedom. J.W. Treadway and I had a 6 or 7 day trip to Italy for the opening of the U.S. Military Cemetary at Anzio-Nettuno. We stayed at the Excellsior Hotel on one of the main streets leading to the Vatican. It was a pretty posh place as I think that the Aga Khan had a floor there while we had a room. We ordered some wine and we tipped the bellhop more than the wine cost us. We also worried about how we were going to pay for the room but the Embassy took care of that. With per diem we made money on that trip. We also saw our first douche bowl but we were not sure what it was for or how to use it. J.W. pulled a cord in the bathroom to see what it was for and all hell broke lose. It was an emergency alarm and staff came rushing in to make sure someone hadn't fallen in the bathtub or something. Very embarassing. Then there was a problem with Italian soldiers. We were only one strippers at the time but they saluted all NCO's and to them a PFC was an NCO. We got worn out returning salutes. The day of the opening ceremony the two of us sat in the back seat of an embassy staff car complete with flags on the fenders. From Rome to Anzio each crossing was manned by Carabiniere (Italian Police) dressed in full dress complete with cockades and plumes. As we passed by we had to return their salutes. We were really enjoying the fact that they probably thought we were passing Generals who rated a salute rather than two 19 year olds. We shot pictures of the opening and afterward went to have a beer in a hotel on the beach with our escort who was a MSgt from the embassy. Wasn't impressed with Italian beer. Although we went down by train we had to come back by plane for quick processing of our pictures. We had a surplus of Italian Lira and money was not easily convertable in those days so we had to spend it before we left. There was a bar near the AF flight at Chiampino Airport and we tried to drink up the money. Could not do it and catch the flight so we hopped in a cab and went to a wine shop and spent all the money on bottles of wine. We must have had 30 or 40 bottles with us. We travelled with B4 bags then for our clothes and other gear but had no place to put the wine. The AF section there had a post office and APO to APO mail was either cheap or free so we put our clothes and other gear in cardboard boxes and mailed it back. We had two bags full of cheap wine. We travelled in an old C-47 with bucket seats and the lot. There was also a couple of g.i. mattresses in the back so I decided to get some sleep. Bad idea! We hit turbulent air over the Alps and I bounced back and forth like a ping pong ball between the mattress and the ceiling. Arrived at Rhein Main slightly bruised but the wine was lashed down. Arrived back at the company to warm greetings. Not for us. It was almost the end of the month and everyone was broke. All that cheap wine went that night.

Some of the assignments were pretty quirky. Two of us were sent down to one of the R&R hotels in Bavaria. I think it was Lake Chiemsee in Berchtesgaden. A day down on the train and two or three days in the military hotel there waiting for the cows to come home. The cows were taken across the lake in barges and sent up into the mountain for the summer pasturage. Then in the fall they would come back again. It was a celebrated event as the cows were decoration with ribbons and flowers and it would have been good to record the event even as just a tourist event. Unfortunately from a photography perspective it was a disaster. I mentioned before that film speeds were slow and someone had the bright idea to disable the range finder on the camera so that we would learn to guesstimate our distances. On an overcast and foggy day the cows came home. The light was so poor that exposures had to be as long as 1/10th of a second which is too long for anything moving. Given that the f. stop on that camera was around f4.5 in poor light the lens had to be wide open. For a close up shot of one of the decorated cows, if one focused on a cows nose the rest would be out of focus. No depth of field. Anyway we had some damn good food, good quarters and entertainment. Having to pay a surcharge of 10 cents for meals was pretty good for being waited on and even having a string orchestra playing while we ate.

Speaking of the R&R hotels photo company got a quota to send people down to them. It was the best deal in town and I got to go once. Two of us headed down to Garmisch to stay at the enlisted hotel. I think that there were other hotels for officers and dependents. I’m not sure about the rent but I think we had to pay 50 cents a day for quarters and 10 cents per meal. No transport costs either as we travelled on rail warrants. Being away for seven days holiday and not even being counted against leave time made it even better. Both of us were a bit short of money but we made do. Went for a walk one day and bought some fancy bread and landed up struggling up the Wanks mountain through knee deep snow. There was a fancy restaurant up top and the tourist were treated to two G.I.s in O.D.s pushing their way to the top complete with large camera cases. In the hotel bar at night there were G.I.s from all different units from Germany, Austria, and Triest. Story was that they had room number tags you could pin all. If you got too drunk they would ensure you were put to bed in the right room. May be just a war story as I did not have enough money to get that plastered.

However back to photo assignments. Some were better than others. Guys made it to Paris, Vienna, and other places but I didn’t get those assignments. Two of us went to the British Zone for a couple of weeks working for British intelligence. Our job was to shoot movies and stills of most of the German radio transmitters in the zone. We were based in Hamburg and stayed at a British transient camp where we paid 5 shillings (70 U.S. cents) a day for our keep. They had four meals a day and in the mess beer was less than 10 cents a pint. We were doing pretty good as our per diem was $5 so we were doing pretty good. We left Hanau but stopped in Kassel where we stayed in a Gasthaus where I celebrated my 19th birthday. Next day we headed up with two frauleins in the back of our 3/4 tonner movie truck. From the armies standpoint doing that particular job was a disaster. The Corporal was in charge as I was only a PFC so I went along with whatever he suggested. No military controls up there in the zone so we landed up in gasthauses most nights. The truck took a beating as we got sideswiped by a British Lorry but the spare tire took most of the damage as well as knocking me around in the back. Then the Corporal backed it into a swamp covered in ice. The truck landed up on a thirty degree angle and slowly filled up with icey water in the rear compartment. Had to wait until morning to be hauled out. Then on the way to Cuxhaven I fell asleep against the door and fell out when we were going about 35mph. Went skidding down the road and lost a lot of skin. The Corporals solution was to pour raw cognac on the burns and then the sulfa from the wound pack. Worked like a charm as I recovered quickly. Then while we were in Hamburg we parked the vehicle in a guarded parking lot and went on the town where we split up. Sometimes during the night all my stall camera gear went missing and I was in trouble. With all the accessories I could have been up for $500 on a statement of charges. On $100 a month that would have been a major disaster. Luckily it got surveyed. I still have my doubts as to why none of the motion picture stuff was stolen. Maybe some German newspaper man was now in possesion of a nice Speed Graphic. We also had a great time with some great people. The Royal Welch Fusileers usually had a sing song in the NAAFI (British PX) and there was a lot of beer drinking.

Being in the British Zone meant that we were as free as the birds. For a while we thought that the BAOR (British Army on the Rhine) off limits signs were recomendations for the action. We also were issued BZD coupons for fuel. They could be exchanged for fuel or money at German gas stations. That 3/4 got terrible mileage as some of it went on beer. We finished up our part and they sent another crew up to finish the job. This time they rolled the truck and had a few injuries. A bad luck assignment.

Another interesting assignment was shooting pictures of the bridges over the Danube. Got sent down to Stuttgart to Hq 7th Army Engineer where I picked up a driver and new orders. Those orders were a soldier’s dream. Read something like "PFC Doyle and Pvt. so and so are on a classified mission and are authorized to proceed to any part of the 7th Army for a period of so many days. When the MPs stopped us to look at the trip ticket we just pointed out the orders and said we were not going to put classified materiel on a trip ticket for them to read. For part of the assignment I dropped off the driver and went down to Garmisch to see a fellow in the photo section there. On the way out of Augsburg I dropped an rear axle on the jeep and thought my little sightseeing trip was over when I got to the motor pool. I was in a hurry and while the Sgt was in charge his leading hand was a German who did the supervision and the work. I gave him a couple of packs of cigarettes and said that I was in a hurry. He and a couple of workers unhooked the front universal and pulled the entire read end out including diff wheels and tires. Got a brand new set. It was marvellous what a couple of packs of Pell Malls would accomplish.

We used to photograph the VIPs when they came to Germany and some of the conferences in the I.G. Farben Building in Frankfurt. Had to go there often on courier runs and ride those weird elevators that ran on a loop with sets of little box continually moving up or down. Took a bit of timing to get on and off. Rhine Main Air Base was the main entry point for VIPs and I remember Ike coming through as Commander of NATO. It was the middle of winter and all the wheels jumped into staff cars with MP escorts and roared off at high speed. I was supposed to catch up with them in EUCOM Hq in Heidelberg. With a jeep that maxed out at around 55mph I didn’t have a hope. Gave up and relaxed in the warm snack bar on the Autobahn at Darmstadt. This was a time when troop strength was being built up with new divisions coming over as well as a lot of individual replacements being brought through Marburg and later Sonthofen. I got sent up to Marburg as cadre to help process EUCOM I.D cards which were issued to the troops as they arrived. Believe me Marburg was better as Cadre than as a replacement. We also met some of the trains coming into Camp Y-79 and as I recall it Baumholder. The 28th Division came in and a lot of the photographers clustered around Vic Damone and got pictures of his arrival. I went the other way and shot pictures of some guy that looked totally out of it and looking like he had slept in the baggage rack all night. I didn’t believe that all soldiers had to be glamorous and if his picture got in his hometown paper he would probably appreciate it more than a celebrity.

Other changes were taking place as well. There was a movement of zone around with the French giving up some areas around the Saarland like Kaiserslautern and Baumholder and taking over places like Marburg. I think it was a case of shifting of zones around so that supporting elements would be able to move behind the Rhine. Kaiserslautern was just being opened up around 1951 and it still had French Army elements in it. They had a smoky cafe with cheap wine, beer and cigarettes across from the Hauptbahnhof. In the winter it was so smokey, funky and foggy you could hardly see the bar from the front door. Something that reminded me of WW1 estiminets. There was also a Gasthaus called Griesedicks on Spital Allee. Wonder combination which was referred to as Greasy Dicks on Spit Alley in the Kaisers Latrine.

Photo Company was changing though. Sometime in 1951 we started to get our first draftees in as well as recalled officers. Contrary to popular opinion about the army many of these people not only were assigned photographic duties but had civilian backgrounds in the field. Many of the regulars had only service experience. These new people came from places like Ansco, Kodak and from movie studies in California and New York. They improved the skill level in the photographic area but field skills and scrounging techniques were still in the expertise of the regulars.

On a personal level I was also eager to jump in a jeep or grab a ride on a tank or what have you to shoot pictures of troops in the field. Started to think about heading for Korea where the action was. Was getting tired of being half soldier and half technician. Decided to transfer to the infantry, finish up my tour, and head out to Korea via Japan. Didn’t work out in the long run. Transferred out to 3rd Battalion, 12th Regiment which was about five miles down the road in Hanau. Went through the 4th Replacement Company in Frankfurt while waiting for an assignment to the 12th. Was offered Staff if I stayed with them and worked in supply. Turned it down. Another bad move.

Got assigned to a mortar team and we did the usual training in Grafenwoehr, Wildflecken, and on the border forward of Fulda. Since I was not in that unit for a long time I’ll let some one else describe their experience in a line company. On memory though was our instant integration which took place around thre middle of 1952. The 4th ID had two white regiments and one black regiment. 12th and the 8th were white and the 22nd was black. As I recall it the 22nd was split into three sections. 1/3 of the troops when to the 8th. 1/3 went to the 12th while the rest stood pat. The 8th and the 12 sent 1/3 each of their troops to the 22nd. I think it took only a couple of days to happen. Again I don’t remember too much friction about when it happened.

Can’t remember exactly how long I was with the 12th but we did things that all infantry units do. Weapons training, squad movement, platoon etc.etc. up until the Generals had their turn moving regiments and divisions around. When the orders came from above company level the troops on the ground rarely ever heard the "why’s or reasons" we were doing a particular thing. Spend half the night or day digging in and setting up the weapons and fields of fire and then get the order to fill it all in and move. Or charging down the road on trucks or crushing gravel to get to a certain point and then sitting and waiting for the next movement. The fog of war also applied to the cold war.

With the Korean war going on Europe got second best in regards to equipment from what I could see. And rightly so, as the guys who were doing the fighting deserve the best. However I think in many cases they were short changed as well due to a lack of commitment to the forces. When I got back in late November 1952 it would seem that life in the U.S. was pretty good. Unless they had someone personally involved it was business as usual. Most of our equipment was left over from WW2 and some of it was pretty worn out. I had a 60mm mortar that was worn to where you could get a 20 mil change by tapping on the right or left side of the bipod. I also think that the design dated from 1917/1919 or somewhere around that time. I’m not sure but I think we still had the 2.35 rocket launcher but it was being gradually replaced. Didn’t think much of the galoshes and combat boots for cold weather use. Shoepacs would have been a lot better. By some fluke I got to exchange my army blanket sleeping bag for a down filled mummy bag. That was marvellous. They were in demand and when I left the unit in November 52, another trooper gave me $5.00 to let him know when I was going to turn it in. He had his old bag ready for trade in when I turned it in. Don’t know where the M-47 tanks went though as the tank battalion still had M-26’s and the recon company’s had M-24s. Circle C types still had the M-8 armoured car with a 37mm popgun. After all these years it is amazing to see the newest gear for the infantryman. When I got out and went to work at the tank plant in Flint Michigan one of my first jobs was unpacking and cleaning off the cosmolene from the 90mm cannon. Thought I’d never do that again.

Anyway we did the usual. Our forward positions were somewhere east of Fulda up in the Hartz Mountains and I think near the Wasserkuppe. It was a place call Bad something or other and I think we were basically a screening force. Sacrificial lambs to buy time until reinforcements could set up a line behind the Rhine. A mate of mine who was in an armored infantry battalion is of the opinion that not many of us would have made it back that far. I do remember setting up a position and then falling back through other forces who held the line until they could fall back on us. Although it was all practice it wasn’t fun and games. I’m awfully glad the crap didn’t hit the fan.

Who can forget the glories of Grafenwohr’s tent city with one latrine for the battalion. Guys lining up to go to the toilet and getting up at 0300 to have a hot shower. Or forget the times when on a road march and someone had to piss off the back of the deuce and a half. Trying to heat up a can of C-ration hash and it always burnt. Chocolate that had to be shattered with the butt of a bayonet. Getting Marvels or Wings cigarettes instead of Luckies or Camels. Ham and Lima Beans, Spaghetti and meatballs, Pork and Beans (pork fat only), Hamburger and Sausage Patties, (I could hardly tell the difference without reading the label) and other delights. The instant coffee and powdered cream that took ages to dissolve. Or the lemonade powder that would have made battery acid taste good. Personally I enjoyed the compressed cereal bar with powered milk and sugar. You were supposed to add water to make some kind of mush out of it. I always had a lot of them to eat dry as no one else wanted them. A forerunner of the Muesli Bar which is probably part of todays rations.

Remember the dubious joy of walking into the woods, rifle slung, fully armed with your entrenching tool to dig a cat hole, to have a quick squat while a blizzard was howling between your legs. The other happiness to be able to use a German outhouse even though it was freezing. Ultimate joy was getting into a heated room with a flush toilet but that never happened in the field.

Do you remember? Trading C-rations with a German farmer for some eggs, bacon, or potatoes and both of you thinking that you got a good deal. Or trading cigarettes for hard cider out of the cellar. Raiding the orchards for fruit or scrounging the wood in the forest for fires or construction. Sending the German teenagers who came to your position down to the town to bring back beer. How they liked the chocolate from C rations. Carrying "brot" and salami in your gas mask case.

Finding shelter in a barn with the cows or in bombed out building in the middle of winter and how it felt so good. Tying a string to your Zippo and dipping into the gas tank of a vehicle. Syphoning gas out to help start a fire when the wood was wet. How the smoke always drifted into your face from the fire. How your face was burning up from the fire and your butt was freezing. Rain dripping down from the trees in the pine forest and its been raining for days. The happiness when the sun came out, things dried, and you were told you were going back to the Kaserne.

Remember? Getting back to garrison to find that you’ve got a field day for cleaning your gear and passes will be issued at 1700. The quick shower, polishing up your brass and shoes and off to the Gasthaus for Bifstek mit ei, kartoffel und salat, flushed down with a few beers. Who could ever forget some of the floor shows that came through the clubs? Ivy Benson and her all girl orchestra. I believe some of them got married to G.I.s and she was always looking for replacements. The Travelling Magician called the "Gully Gully" man.

Enough of the memories. Mine may not be the same of yours but I’m sure that a lot of us have memories of this sort during those years.

Time to come to an end. I was getting anxious about going home as I was expecting regiment up in Gelhausen to tell me that my rotation date had been moved back but no word came from them. Hitch-hiked up there and they told me that I should have been released two months ago. I was on the next shipment. My buddy from 4th DivArty Aviation Section was still over at Fliegerhorst but he had to come over to Hutier to get home. We started pub crawling in Hanau and to hell with bed check as the trucks were leaving the next morning. Boots and I were in an upstairs gasthaus after curfew trying to impress the barmaid with the MP’s came to check the place out. One stairway and no back entrance. She pushed us under the bar as it was the only place to hide. We took our bottles with us and were busting our guts trying not to laugh. The MP was leaning on the bar and trying to make out with the barmaid and she was trying to get them to shove off so she could get us out and she could go home.

The next morning we made reveille. Grabbed our duffel bags and were loaded into a 6X6. For the younger people who are reading this I must mention that in those days if you could not carry it you did not keep it. I think they hauled us to the railhead at Hanau where we caught a train to Frankfurt and then to Bremerhaven. Don’t remember whether it was a train carrying only troops or a regular train with cars for us. Anyway we got to Bremerhaven Port of Embarkation where we got assigned to normal barracks with only four or six to a room. Others were not so lucky. I remember seeing some troop accomodation in what appeared to be an aircraft or Zepplin hangar. Row on row of double deck banks and I think that the individual was issued a tag with something like "Section B, Row 12, Bunk 42 Upper". If he lost the tag the CQ had a roster of who belonged where. There was a lot of people in that room and it probably was worse than the hostels for homeless people in big cities. There was not much to do while we were waiting to load on the ship as I don’t remember any details. They were extremely efficient when it came to chow time. We could step out of our barracks which was a couple of hundred yards from the messhall and join in the line. At a walking pace not much slower than an ordinary walk we arrived at the messhall where it split into two lines. One right and one left. I will always remember the sign above a large can that said "Leave your pfennigs and marks here to support German orphans -- After all they’re probably yours". And they probably were!

Two occupation jokes. The first one was before my time but came up because of the non-fraternization order. Is copulation without conversation fraternization? The second was told to me by a British soldier who asked me if I knew the difference between the occupation armies. Told me that when it came to the German women the Russians raped them, the French seduced them, the American’s bought them and the British married them.

This large movement of troops came about because of the draftees coming to the end of their two years as well as some of the National Guard being released. As a sideline there were a lot of illegitimate children floating around which were leftovers from the war and the occupation by various armies. Some were in that status because of marriage restrictions placed on G.I.s. I knew one Sgt who met his future wife before fraternization was lifted when he was with the Big Red One just after the war. I think they had three or four kids before they got permission to marry. That was around 1952. It seems that she was a member of the Hitler Youth (which was pretty well mandatory for young people in the Third Reich). Never having going through the process at that time it must have taken a lot of paperwork to get married in the years between 45 and 52. In 1959 I applied to to marry an English girl and it still took three or four months of before the paperwork was complete. Both single, no criminal records and I was a Staff by then so it was one of the simpler cases. Gave you time for second thoughts but in my case there were no second thoughts and we were married for thirty nine years. I wonder if the military still have any say as to who or when you can marry.

I don’t remember the name of the ship that carried us out of Bremerhaven but it was an all troop ship. The officers and NCO’s even had cabins. With no dependents on board movement was fairly unrestricted. My best memory of that ship was that I did not get caught for any details and having a few swigs of whiskey in the cabin of an NCO from my regiment. The trip this time was shorter and we came into New York past the Statue of Liberty on a clear morning. There were trains alongside the dock and there were civilians waiting for their men to get off the boat. We unloaded by compartment and it was a case of hurry up and wait. We were supposed to walk off the gangplank and unto the trains but that did not happen for some of the men who had wives or family at the pier. They broke ranks and headed for their people. The MPs tried to push them back into line which stuffed the whole thing up. The troops on deck howling insults at the MP’s and the troop nearby were obstructing the MPs as much as possible. Finally an officer from the Port Transport office came up an agreed that the men could have some time with their families and board the train at the last minute. They could join their companies later at Camp Kilmer. Common sense prevailed and the train loaded up without any further incidents.

Kilmer was one massed stuff up so far as I was concerned. We were only to be their for a couple of days and were to go to discharge centers close to our home of record or enlistment. I was scheduled for Camp Custer at Battle Creek, Michigan. I remember going to the mess hall and looking forward to breakfast. Into line expecting bacon and eggs and what did we get - heated up C ration cans from a garbage can full of hot water. The poor KP got most of them straight back from the troops who had their fill of C’s. We were told to turn in our bedding, pack our bags and report to such and such quadrangle. We were also issued box lunchs which consisted of a couple of sandwiches and an apple or orange. There was a couple of thousand of us out in an open field in a cold November day waiting for transport that never came. The people in charge were on the upper deck of the two story barracks and they had a P.A. system installed. They kept telling us that the buses were coming to take us to the trains so we couldn’t leave the area. This went on for two days before we caught buses to the train. The first night we were just told to find a bed somewhere but by then other troops had moved in. A lot of us ended up sleeping on the floor. Tension was running high and as soon as the organizers finished an announcement they would retreat off the balcony. Again the troop were reacting and the occasional orange was thrown at the people on the balcony. A couple of week after I had been discharged I read that there was a riot or near riot there.

Finally got on buses to the trains. It was a civilian train and the porters assigned seats and compartments. The porter on my car saw my lack of stripes and put me in a compartment with a PFC and we were living it up. We were routed through Canada and then down into Michigan. We were assigned provisonal companies, given physicals, attended briefings about insurance, the GI Bill and mustering out pay. $100 on discharge and $100 for two months thereafter.

They were also asking the troops to give blood which I did. Told the duty sergeant for the barracks that I was not feeling too good after that (not true) and he let me hang around the barracks for a couple of days. However as soon as he left to go home I recovered quickly and headed for town. After all those months overseas I could not buy a drink as I wasn’t 21. Would go to town with my buddies and have to order a coke while they drank beer. Some drank slower than other so there was always that extra beer for the coke drinker. The coke lasted all evening and the beer went down whenever the waitress had her back to us. Probably drank more that way than if they had just served me.

Discharge day came up and I was probably the only Private in my provisional company. I had a hash mark denoting over three years service but that was it. As out names were called out we had to go up on stage where the officer shook our hands, thanked us for our service, and handed out a discharge in my case. I got a lot of flak over that as the rest of them got little certificates of service and three or five years in the reserve. I was out completely. To top it off it was my 21st Birthday.

A man from Detroit had picked up his car and he offerred me a lift from Battle Creek. Headed out the gate and abused the MP standing guard there. He took it in good stead as it probably happened every time a bunch of discharged people came by.

When I got to Detroit I checked in the bus station and found that I had a three or four hour wait. Still in uniform I went next door to a bar and ordered a beer. The bartender asked for I.D. so I showed him my DD214 with my birth date and he could see the discharge envelope but that wasn’t good enough for him. He wanted a Michigan Drivers License so I told him where he could stick his bar and walked about 50 yards down to the next bar. Again I was asked for I.D. and showed my discharge papers. This bartender annonced to the bar that it was my 21st and had been discharged that day. Then he told me that I couldn’t buy a drink. They wouldn’t let me. That evening was on the house! Nice homecoming and I was feeling no pain when I got on the bus.

This ends the recollections of Germany. The next time I was there the peace treaty had been signed and I had switched over to the Air Force.

I enlisted in the Army at 17 years old in Sept. 1959 (basic at Fort Ord, CA.), then spent 8 month at Fort Monmouth N.J. (at the photo lab school); then assigned to Germany, leaving from there in July of 1962 as a Sp/4. (at the ripe old age of 20).

They were great times. I still proudly wear the USAREUR rainbow/sword patch on my veterans hat. I will see my granddaughter sworn into the U.S. Navy the 25th of February.

The unit's main labs, photographers, motion picture lab etc were located in K-Town. I don't remember the name of the kaserne (Webmaster note: Kleber Kaserne). Also, the lab was within walking distance of our billets.