This is one of the themes that I have neglected of late. In the space of about forty-five years since I left home, I have met many people; some memorable for whatever reason and some that just come to mind on rare occasions, drawn out by some event or related memory, or sometimes just by a smell. And I'm sure there are some folks I just don't recall at all. I met Charlie when I came to the 38th Trans in 1967. The 38th was on Coleman Barracks in the town of Sandhofen, just outside of Mannhei...
I was in the garage a little while ago and got distracted. At this age, that can ruin a whole day. It is one thing to go into another room and stand there like an idiot trying to remember why you are there...but to go out to the garage with a real purpose, move the cars out of the way, then see something that steals your attention and crowds out all other thoughts...that's inconvenient to say the least. What got my attention is an old Army poncho hanging out there, a just-in-case precaution su...
I am breaking one of my own rules about blogging this morning. I am writing while I am MAD. I have always felt that the soft voice turns away wrath. Dealing with people of all ilks and stations was a large part of my professional life, both in and after the Army. I learned young, by observation and by intense teaching from the Chief, that people who are screamers turn off their audience. If you scream every time you are upset, subordinates will disregard anything you say in a normal tone of vo...
I came into the support platoon at the end of their fifth month without a platoon sergeant. A young buck sergeant had been named to the position temporarily but in reality the platoon was being run by a committee of junior NCOs with limited experience and no real pull outside the platoon. The political upshoot was that the platoon had become the target for any extra work, blame, or dirty job that came down the pike. So morale was bad, discipline was weak, and performance was sub-standard in al...
In 1989 I was in Grafenwohr with the 68th Armor. It was a normal gunnery rotation, lasted about three and a half weeks. We lived in one of the camps with concrete barracks buildings; Normandy I think it was. The rotation started on the third of January and unbelievably, the weather was balmy. For the first ten days or so the temps were in the high fifties and low sixties and not a drop of rain. For those who are not familiar with the largest training area in Germany, the one thing it is univer...
Yesterday many of us watched the UFO-looking balloon drifting over the flats of Colorado (yes, almost half of the state is flat). The helicopter did laps around it, followed it to its resting place in an open field. We were treated to breathless speculations about the six year old boy who was supposed to be inside the balloon. Experimental Aircraft experts speculated on the volume of helium needed to lift a six year old, if he could be alive, what was he breathing. Witnesses insisted they saw ...
It is a miserable, foggy, drizzly, cold, and sodden day, perfect for a football story. I have to disclose that this is not my story, it was told to me and couple of my friends while we were working with a neighbor. He wanted to build a fountain in his back yard and we were helping to mortar and stack large smooth rocks into place. While we worked, the neighbor told us several silly tales of his youth, he was about twenty years older than us. I know what you're thinking, older guy spinning yarn...
I mentioned previously the fact that Fort Hood was a wild place in 1971. One of the things fueling that was the voracious demand for drugs by young soldiers who were recently returned from Vietnam and the rush to fill that "need" by the local folks. Fort Hood wasn't unique in that respect, I think drugs were prevalent wherever young people were gathering in large numbers. I resent the image of the returned Vietnam vet being a drug crazed, disfunctional, dangerous loony on the edge of a shootin...
After a few days living on one of the piers at Dahran, we learned the ship with our equipment on it was coming into the port of Dammam. We arranged buses to move us up the coast and lived on another pier for a few days while our equipment was processed and staged. Then we had to move to another assembly area to organize into a convoy with other units. Early on the morning of the 22nd of December, we rolled out of town towards the VII Corps Reception area. It was dark when we arrived there, and...
Today marks the 19th anniversary of the reunification of East and West Germany, which marked the end of the partition that was established by the Big Three near the end of World War II. I was in Stuttgart the night the Wall came down in Berlin. I was still there when the Germans voted to become one nation again. It was awe-inspiring to witness such historical goings-on. I am happy for them, wish them well. I have a huge soft spot in my heart for Germany and i...
One thing about the Swirling Epicenter this time of year is the beautiful color all around us as the leaves turn. There are bright yellows, some oranges and a few dark purple; some red, and a lot that stay green. There are a lot of trees in the Swirl; more than most cities. Due to the varying altitudes and temperatures in the area, the trees don't all change at the same time. Seems like some of them change overnight. There is a huge tourist business up the hill; flatlanders drive throug...
It was summer and I was very young, probably about 7 or 8 years old. We were driving from San Diego to Fortuna, the Chief's home town in Northern California. I remember the Chief explaining the timberline to me and how I was facinated with the mountains and rivers and the huge redwood trees. We passed a logging camp where the whole camp had been built from the lumber from one tree. There was another where the cabins were hollowed redwood logs. And of course, there was the tree you could drive ...
In the late months of 1965 and early months of 1966, the Saigon River from the mouth to the port of Saigon, was definite "Injun Country". Ships were unloaded off-shore and barges carried their cargo up the river to Saigon. It was common for the VC to fire on the barges and equally as common for the swiftboats of the USN to jump in and "fumigate" the jungles on the banks of the river. In any case, it was a very dicey trip for a lot of soldiers and sailors. It was also common for barges filled...
It was a fall day in Heidelberg. Trees were turning, air was misty, streets were a little dampish; the kind of day MamaCharlie and I have referred to as a "Heidelberg Day" for many years now. In the same building where Patton died, my son was born. My first son. I remember the first time I saw him, an orangy-peachy color with lots of dark hair. The first time I held him I thought to myself, "This changes everything." And it did. I moved up the evolutionary ladder from resonably responsible you...
I was in the kitchen yesterday, engaged in one of my favorite pursuits: frying bacon. The sizzle, the smell, the whole experience is zen-ish. It is second only to the eating of bacon. Just ask Jim Gaffigen. As we settled into the den with our plates of bacon, potatoes and eggs, our old-folks recliners and our game shows, a memory flashed of days of yore and breakfasts gone by. By and large, Mess Halls in the Army don't deserve the reputation they...