Can't You See?

I missed the 20th anniversary of Toy Caldwell's death (1947-1993). He was an interesting guy: he volunteered for Vietnam (USMC), was wounded and discharged; he waited for his brother's discharge before forming the band. His loving wife, Ab, still maintains a website: link

Soon There Will Be No More

I'm too busy to write a new post about it today and the anniversary crept up on me. Here's a link to what I wrote last year about Pearl Harbor: link

Letters Home: All Quiet on the Eastern Front

I just wanted to wish all the veterans in my circle of acquaintances (real and virtual) a great day and to also thank them for their service. There was a time when I was around people who cared very little for people who were or had been in the service.  Most of them were students and academic types, mostly of a different generation.  I'll never forget the looks on some people's faces about 10 years when we decided to moved to Oceanside. And also what one Canadian dweeb said to me all in earnestness: "You do know they have flagpoles in their yards up there?"
Priceless. 

"Letters Home" is a year old today. I posted the first letter here: link.  I know it gets boring but there is sporadic excitement. Not this time though. Here he doesn't even mention Armistice Day (the name wasn't changed until two years later); nor does he mention Eisenhower's election victory.  He was 20 at the time and the 26th amendment (giving 18 year olds the vote) was still decades away. Plus I remember feeling distanced from American politics myself while overseas. I missed Clinton's whole campaign and election in 1992. I didn't vote that year.

The Eastern Front of the Cold War as is looked in 1952

November 11, 1952
Fliegerhorst Kaserne

Dear Mom and All,
I just got back from the show. It sure was funny. Abbott and Costello, "Lost in Alaska." [1]
I still haven't got the boys watches. I sent that stein and a book today. [2] I suppose it will take a month for them to get there.
We had one snow here so far. It melted before too long though.
I forgot about Halloween this year. You know we were on those maneuvers and I didn't remember about it till we got back last Tue.
I got that letter quite a while ago. The one with the pictures of R's car. I thought I said something about it in one of my other letters. In that picture of duke standing by the planes, sure looks like R.
Tell Jr. not to get me a Spot Light. It will be a long time yet before I need one. I suppose 9 or 10 more months of here.
This picture of myself is a 8 minute job. It isn't took bad for a quick one. I still got the same old mug.

I weigh 175 and am still 6 foot tall.
Have Jr. snap a picture of his pickup and sent it across the pond. I guess this is it for now, no news.


Love,

V.


P.S. I heard R. is going steady again. I'll have to write to him. How's P. coming with the (fussy) boys? [3]

_____________________

[1] IMBD for "Lost in Alaska": link

[2] I wrote about the stein here. I wish I knew which book he sent back.
[3] R and P were his teenaged brother and sister. His seven siblings were all spaced less than two years apart.

Happy Fourth Of July!

I could be wrong but I think that B of A building and trolley tracks are in downtown San Francisco.

Happy Veteran's Day Dad

In January of 1999, I unexpectedly received a packet of letters from an aunt. A brief note inside explained that they had been written by my late father to his family while he was stationed overseas. My grandmother had kept the letters which ultimately survived both his death in 1995 and her own in 1997.  My aunt (my grandmother's executor) wrote me that she thought the letters would interest me, as I had lived in Germany for a while in the early 90’s.

The Army drafted my father in 1951 at age 19, under the Universal Military Training and Service Act, in which all men 19-26 were subject to 24 months service in the US Army. After induction at Ft. Sheridan, Il, and basic training at Ft. Knox KY, and even more specialized training at Fort Campbell KY,  he was sent overseas and stationed in Germany until the end of 1953, serving with the 141st Tank Battalion in the 3rd Armored Division of the US Army. His insignia:

The Army was involved in the Korean war at the time, and President Truman believed that the war might be a ploy to concentrate all American resources on the Korean peninsula, thus leaving western Europe open to invasion by the Soviet Bloc. The Berlin Airlift had already occurred in 1948, along with the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1948. NATO was created in 1949 because of the perceived Soviet threat towards Western Europe. After the start of the Korean war, the United States deployed 4 divisions to Europe, culminating in the creation of the USAREUR in 1952. By this time, the US role in Germany had officially changed from an occupying force into an allied defender of the newly-formed German Federal Republic (West Germany). The 141st’s major task was to ferry US tanks to the Czech border to offset the Russian maneuvers occurring there. According to other soldiers in the battalion, the tanks were always fully armed and loaded, ready for war.
When my father's unit arrived in Germany in August of 1952, the barracks had not yet been built. Because of the rapid deployment of all these units and their associated personnel, there was a serious lack of adequate facilities at Fliegerhorst and they were initially posted to an old Luftwaffe barracks at Nellingen for a month [see the map below for locations].

The cities in red are places he was stationed or visited while in the service in Germany 1952-53:

And here is how Germany was carved up at the time:

I'm thinking about posting letters from his entire time. They trace the mind of a young man serving his country, albeit as a draftee of the times.  He saw no direct combat heroism,  though his older brother, then serving in Korea, did. There are many names of living people here to protect, and I'm going to edit these letters a bit. Here is what he wrote after arriving at Fort Sheridan for basic training:

October 31, 1951 [post marked 11/01/51]
Fort Sheridan, IL

Dear Mom and Dad,

I left Mil. At 4:00 o'clock Tue. afternoon for Fort Sheridan Ill. It took 2 hrs. They gave us about $200.00 worth of clothes today. Army life hasn't been to rough but they tell us it will be later. We are going to stay here about 7 days. There was 41 of us when we left Mil. Most of the guys we are with are 21 and over. We have been having good eats. Feel like I am already gaining weight. We are going to have tests all day tomorrow, shots Friday and maybe shipped out Mon.

P.S. a G.I. party Fri night Scrub the Barracks. The weather down here has been cool but no snow yet. When my check comes for the last 3 days work at C. take it and the 20 in my green box and put it in the bank. We should be getting $20.00 advanced pay this week yet. Seems like I've been gone a month. I hope everything is O.K.

V.