Army Times

1st Assignment, Hq&Hq Troop, 3rd Recon Sqdn, 8th Cav, 8th Inf Div. 1958 - This uniform is better than those of today.

 
2nd assignment: A Troop (Airborne), 3rd Recon - 1959
We Were the first airborne troops in Germany since WWII.   We received in country training at Gablingen Kaserne, Augsburg, Germany 1959.  There was our Recon Troop, an Infantry Company, an Artillery Company and I think a Combat Engineer Company.   When moving on the ground we were regular Recon Cavalry.  When in the air we were joined by the other three companies and formed a battalion of Airborne.  It was our job to secure bridge heads, and disrupt behind the lines, until ground forces arrived.   When Airborne I was half of a 30 Cal light MG crew.   I ran across my gun team partner again in Vietnam - what a surprise.  
As I remember sometime after we established, the 504th and 505th Airborne came over.  Many units were coming in what was called "operation GYRO" - where entire units were brought in to fill gaps or relieve other units returning to the states.  That was a soon, either abandoned or completed.  When I left the latter part of 1962 there were no more units coming our way.
 

    Page 1 is First and second assignment
    Page 2 is River Crossing, C-119 - I jumped this one, Me testing the XVIIA
    Page 3 is Fuel Stop, Our Tank Recovery Vehicles.
    Page 4 is Example of equipment we wore
    Page 5 is The weapons I have qualified to use.
    Page 6 is The second award for Border Guard duties.

Promotions: PFC - 1 Mar 1958, SP4 - 31 Oct 1958, SP5 - 11 Apr 1961, SSGT, SP6, SP7, SFC

Badges: Expert - Rifle M1; SMG Cal 45; Pistol Cal 45,  Marksman M14;  Parachute Badge

Awards:  Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal - 5th award, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Ribbon, Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/palm, Vietnam Campaign ribbon.

Training:
Graduate: Four months induction, basic infantry training, waiting assignment.
Graduate: Sixteen weeks at the Wheel and Track Vehicle Maintenance school, Ft. Knox, Ky.
Graduate: Four weeks at the Army Airborne School, Augsburg, Germany.
Graduate: Three weeks at the Tank turret maintenance school, Vilseck, Germany. Training included repair of the electrical and hydraulics main gun control and targeting systems as well as servicing the 30 and 50 caliber Browning Machine Guns.
Proficient in conversational German and have more than twelve years in USAREUR (Europe).

Assignments:

1957:  Basic Training at Ft. Riley (Big Red One), Kansas  -  16 weeks training as a Track and Wheel Mechanic at Ft. Knox, Ky  -  then on to Germany.

Four years six months with the 8th U.S. Cavalry, 3rd Reconnaissance Squadron,  H&H Troop and about two years (Airborne) in A Troop 3rd Recon.  This first tour was 4 1/2 years.  A normal tour was 4 years max but many of us were extended 6 months because the East Germans (read Russians) decided to shut down ground access to Berlin again.  This time the US said nope, it's not going to happen.  I received the alert at about 0300 and by the time I arrived the 18th Infantry (also in Coleman Barracks, Sandhoffen) was moving out the gate.  I realized this was no drill because all their external mounted 50s (the M2s) were loaded with live ammo.  The 18th went to Berlin thru a gauntlet of T35s or newer stuff, all along the way.  I don't think many people in the states have a clue about this.  This is also during JFK's time when American came really close to full scale war with the Soviet Union.  Seems Russia would poke JFK in the eye and JFK would kick them in the balls.  We have never been friends with Russia, we may never be, but we could always trust Russia to be an adversary in control of their stuff.  Today, who knows?

Nine months with the 5th Battalion, 33rd Armored in support of the Army Armored School, Ft. Knox Ky.

Three years with the 3rd U.S. Cavalry, I and HQ Troop Germany, and CMMI Inspector attached to V Corp.  During this time we were armed with Battlefield Tactical Nuclear Weapons.  The maintenance environment became a nightmare, we had people from V Corp crawling up every orifice they could find.   Some of their demands were totally ridicules.   For instance if a  vehicle which hauled the weapons seeped a drop of oil from any oil seal, any time it was checked, the seal had to be replaced.   On the trucks that hauled the weapons there could be no exhaust pipe leak, to the point we would mount the exhaust system, mark the connections, remove the pipes and weld them shut - normal clamping was not good enough.

One year six months with H&H Troop and E Troop, 2nd Sqdn, 6th ACR, Ft. G.G. Meade, MD, as Motor Sgt.   This was another interesting assignment.  We were on the streets of DC twice during the black riots of that time. 

First time we rendezvoused at the Old Soldiers Home, from that vantage point it looked as if all of DC was on fire - it was H Street only, but the last time I heard most of the shops there have never reopened - They may have enjoyed the riot but they sure messed up the neighborhood. 

The second time we had the riot totally under control when the 82nd came in the relieve us - The news papers went wild about how the 82nd took control of the streets.  In fact by the time they got there all they had to do was patrol.  Our Squadron Commander wrote a good essay of what happened that was printed in the Cavalry news paper.  We never received any recognition from either of these duties. 

Something I did receive recognition for was security duty for President Nixon's inauguration - it was so cold, when it was over,  we all had to check our drivers licenses to assure our gender.

I was also assigned a short time to the 1st US Army DPC FGG Meade

After a tour in Vietnam, I was assigned to the US Army PC in Ft. Lewis, WA. That was from May 71 to Apr 72.  Then to a supply unit that I don't remember the name of, also at Ft. Lewis.  I spent a lot of time hunting alone in the woods there - it took a while to get over Vietnam.   Then (after a lot of night classes at a local college) I was routed thru the Computer Programming school  in Ft. Ben Harrison, IN  -  Then on to a five year tour in Germany  -  Last assignment was at the Air Defense Board, Ft. Bliss, El Paso, TX where I retired.
 

B L O O D     O N     T H E     R I S E R S
To the tune of ?Glory, Glory, Hallelujah?)

"Is everyone happy"?, cried the sergeant, looking up,
Our Hero feebly answered "Yes", and then they stood him up,
He leaped right out into the blast, his static line unhooked,
HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!
(CHORUS)

He counted long, he counted loud, he waited for the shock,
He felt the wind, he felt the clouds, he felt the awful drop,
He jerked his cord, the silk spilled out and wrapped around his legs,
HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!
(CHORUS)

The risers wrapped around his neck, connectors cracked his dome,
The lines were snarled and tied in knots, around his skinny bones,
The canopy became his shroud, he hurtled to the ground,
HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!
(CHORUS)

The days he's lived and loved and laughed kept running through his mind,
He thought about the girl back home, the one he'd left behind,
He thought about the medics and wondered what they'd find,
HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!
(CHORUS)

The ambulance was on the spot, the jeeps were running wild,
The medics jumped and screamed with glee, they rolled their sleeves and smiled,
For it had been a week or more since last a 'Chute had failed.
HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!
(CHORUS)

He hit the ground, the sound was "SPLAT", his blood went spurting high,
His comrades then were heard to say, "what a helluva way to die".
He lay there rolling round in the welter of his gore.
HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!
(CHORUS)

There was blood upon the risers, there were brains upon the Chute, Intestines were a dangling from his Paratrooper boots,
They picked him up, still in his Chute and poured him from his boots.
HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!
(CHORUS)

CHOURS
GORY, GORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE
GORY, GORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE
GORY, GORY, WHAT A HELLUVA WAY TO DIE
HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!
 
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