TC COLD WAR HISTORY EDITION TWO

It is my honor to recognize members of the 53rd and 181st Transportation Battalions as the “Senior Legends” of our time during the Cold War era. Among the names, we have wheeled vehicle operators, a platoon leader and heavy wheeled vehicle mechanics that supported the mission in the Army .

REMEMBER WHEN: Semaphores were a common signal device used on European automobiles, you wore a COMZ patch, you attended Head Start, your Mess Sergeant yelled all the time in the field, mess kits require three dips in the wash cycle, dip, wash and rinse, your Supply Sergeant stated you needed three copies per request “Triplicate” became a norm, Armed Forces Network still had one television channel and Radio Free America and Armored Forces Network radio were your two options, split rims were the danger in the motor park, driving on coble stone roads became an issue driving in the fall and winter, heating C-Rations on your manifold, the battalion safety patrol made your day on the Autobahn, the M38 was replaced with the M151, The M52 replaced with the Autocar U7144T, your dispatch read, , Berlin, Holland, and France - COMZ, double clutch, construction of the began on August 13, 1961. In 1963, the Rhein and Neckar freeze over. Apollo XI astronauts land on the Moon. You still had a M14 with Tripod.

PAUL MC WILLIAMS, (84) enlisted into the US Army as a volunteer. Completed Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky in January 1953. After graduating as a Heavy Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic, he boarded a train for Fort Hamilton, New York, New York and boarded the US Army Transport (troop carrier) Harry Taylor dispatched for the North Sea port of Bremerhaven, . He then processed through the 319th Replacement Company, Building 103, Carl Schurz Casern, Bremerhaven, Germany. Paul was then place on a train and headed to , State of Baden Wurttemberg, Germany. Upon his arrival was taken by M34 (2.5-Ton cargo ) AKA “Eager Beaver”, REO Motor Company truck to Turley Barracks located in , Germany. Paul then in-processed with the 84th Transportation Company, the 53rd Transportation Battalion was located at Kapaun Barracks, Kaiserslautern, and the 37th Highway Transport Command at Turley Barracks. During his tour he participated in numerous bivouac exercises, missions through Helmstedt where Paul was operating the unit recovery wrecker truck arriving in a tent city to Rest Overnight (RON) then off for a logistical run through Communist East Germany to Berlin. In May 1954, Paul reenlisted for another consecutive overseas tour. The 84th Transportation Company was dispatched in whole in June 1955 through the COMMUNICATION ZONE (COMZ) to the US General Ordnance Depot, located in Nancy, France.

COMZ Patch The unit uploaded the entire fleet of M52 and trailers over several days and returned to Miesau Ordnance Barracks, Kaiserslautern, Germany. In August 1956, the unit turned in all M52s at Spinelli Barracks for the new International Cab Overs, U7144T Autocar a 5-Ton 4X4 cab over engine tractors with single-axle box trailers and Class IX. In 1956, the unit is reassigned the 181st Transportation Battalion and stay on Turley Barracks. In 1960, the mission is realigned. In the event of war, the 84th Transportation Company would drive to Campbell and Patton Barracks’ in Heidelberg, load -Europe headquarters and head for the determined location and safety of France. Its assembly area was the racetrack at Hockenheim, Germany. This unit was made a part of CENTRAL ARMY GROUP (CENTAG) in 1961 and was relocated to Hammond Barracks, Seckenheim, Germany. On Oct 1, 1960 CENTAG became the newest member of the NATO military command. Paul’s second tour comes to an end and then departs for a Permanent Change of Service in 1957, sails on the US Army Transport, General Harry Taylor used by the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). Is assigned to B - Battery, Nike Missile in Lemont, Illinois. Paul then spent another 6 years in the Army Reserves in Illinois and Ohio.

GEORGE HILTON, served in the US Army attending Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina in October 1967 and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Lee, in May 1968. Upon graduating he was then given a bus ticket traveling to the Holding Company at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Several days passed then was bussed to Maguire Air Base, New Jersey where he boarded a Charter Flight with Pan-Am in July 1968 his flight stopped in Shannon, Ireland to refuel. Then take off to Rhein Main Air Base, am Main, Frankfurt, Germany. George then processed through the 21st Replacement Company. After processing through the replacement company, he was taken by truck to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Main train station) he boarded a train headed West to Idar-Oberstein is a town in the Birkenfeld district in the State of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He transferred to the 66th Transportation Company, 53rd Transportation Battalion stationed at Kapaun Barracks, Vogelweh, Kaiserslautern in September 1968 having transferred from the 522nd Quartermaster Company, Nahbollenbach Army Depot at Idar-Oberstein. He was assigned to the 1st Platoon and went straight to the Driver's Academy. That Saturday we did a commissary run from Giessen and the driver George was assigned to ride with, SP4 Wiltz, so he could learn, was not too mechanically inclined. As we were pulling out the clutch blew, he was afraid we were going to spend the weekend there, so George got behind the wheel, put it in gear and cranked her up and drove back to K-Town with no clutch, after much discussion amongst the NCOs, he was assigned 66-20 and Monday George was on the road on my own. Our main mission was sea containers out of Rotterdam and Antwerp, hence the Sea-Land container on the company sign in front of the barracks. The 66th, 83rd, and 70th Transportation Companies were at Kapaun Barracks, Vogelweh, in Kaiserslautern, the 76th Transportation Company was at Husterhoeh Kaserne, in Pirmasens and the 501st Transportation Company who ran 2 1/2 Tons to Berlin were at Turley Barracks in Mannheim.

Photograph by George Hilton, 66th Transportation Company 1968

Occasionally when other companies did not have the manpower, we were called in to haul reefers, general cargo, mail, and ammo out of Miesau to all the training areas. All the ammo came in by ship to Zeebrugge, Belgium and someone thought maybe we should try it by road. Off we went, the entire company, along with wrecker, mechanics, parts truck, POL tanker and the safety patrol Jackie Palmer, only got stopped by the Polizei once because someone broke protocol and passed another truck in a No Passing Zone. Having been to Zeebrugge, Belgium "before the war", he knew there were good beaches there, so everyone took along their swim gear and we all had a good splash. We were there several days while the trailers were loaded and stayed in Belgian barracks and ate in their mess hall, beer was always served except for breakfast. We headed home with a Belgian Military Police escort until we got to the German border crossing where the Germans took over. We stayed in German barracks at Aachen and the next morning headed down to Miesau Army Deport with no further incidents. On another mission took the unit to Soesterburg Air Base, Holland to haul some missiles to several locations in the Bitburg area. We spent several days there whiles and trailers were thoroughly inspected and loaded. We were ready to go and my battery exploded, so the other went on ahead, no batteries in Kaiserslautern, not even in a deadline truck, and there we sat for four days when the 37th Transportation Group commander stopped by for lunch on his return from Rotterdam. He saw my truck and found me, he got on the telephone and made a lot of noise and the next morning a guy from IHC in Paris, France turned up with a battery and away he went, the AF were great to me and almost made me want to re-up for the Air Force, and upon returning processed a TDY claim voucher and collected the balance and life was beautiful. One day’s orders came down for a run with two drivers that had a secret clearance, so SGT Gene Shiver and George set off to the Port of Rotterdam with an empty container. We got to the port and saw a lone G.I with an M14 guarding a container, so we dropped our empty and headed for the Hotel Nanking in Chinatown where we always stayed. Next morning, we hooked and ran not knowing was out load was, our orders said Nuremburg and "No stopping except for food & fuel", so we decided the Wiesbaden NCO Club was a good a place as any to eat, I think that was the longest meal break on record. We rolled into Nuremberg the next morning with a ton of brass waiting for us, MPs broke the seal and opened the doors and we backed onto the dock, we walked back there, and the brass were livid. This was the first load of M-16s to arrive in Europe, whoever loaded these probably went to Leavenworth as they were in the old triangular rifle racks stacked on top of one another totally unsecured and they were sideways, upside down and any other way you would describe them, pieces all over the floor, I expect some armorers had a fun job trying to piece some back together. On a sad note, one driver, I think it was Aresenault (called Astronaut) form the 3rd Platoon was coming out of Kaiserslautern Army Depot (KAD) and got hit head on by an M-52 on the wrong side of the road on a bend. Looking at his tractor it was hard to believe he survived but he did. The only other crash was George. He had to bring a 20' container from Kaiserslautern Army Depot (KAD) back to the motor pool as it had air over electric brakes, he made it to the French Barracks and they locked up, so a mechanic came out, freed them up and followed me back. As George was turning left towards the motor pool, exactly where the Strasse queens stood at night, they started acting up again and one side locked and she started to tip over, he steered to the right and brought the wheels back down, when he looked around, George was headed for the ditch, cut left and over she went. George went through the and got slightly banged up and refused medical attention, big mistake as 20 years ago my back caught up to him. Our wreckers got the tractor out, but could not budge the container an inch, Uncle Sam had to pay for a German construction crane to come and get the container upright. Someone opened the back doors and there was a tsunami of white paint, the load was 1-gallon cans stacked loose, so everyone at Kapaun Barracks spent the next few weekends painting every rock and anything else that did not move white. A vacancy came up which George was attached as the Battalion Commander's chauffeur, best job one could have, especially with a good Commanding Officer. He first drove for LTC Abercrombie and the LTC Weaver, who although being an Annapolis graduate, yes Annapolis, was a real down to earth guy. George departed in September 1971 with DCOs and the COMZ patch still being in vogue. He only ever ran into one 66th alumnus and that was SP4 Roy Childers who he saw in a in Pennsylvania in the early 1980s. Our unit did partake in Reforger 1 & 2.

(Germany based unit) USAREUR (U.S. Army Europe): HQ and 2nd JAN Reforger I Squadron of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Nuremberg. (U.S.-based 1969 unit): 24th Infantry Division (Mech).

OCT (Germany based unit) USAREUR (U.S. Army Europe): 3rd Infantry Division Reforger II 1970 (Mech), Würzburg. (U.S.-based unit): 1st Infantry Division (Mech)[

REF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_Reforger

The C141s came into Ramstein Air Base, and as they came down the ramp, they threw their gear into a trailer and we followed them to their respective areas. After my first run, he was crashing in a chair in a hangar at Ramstein when the Battalion C.O. turned up, he asked how it was going and George told him that the security was lax as the incoming troops went on a German civilian bus and what was to stop the driver calling the Russian Consulate to tell them who he dropped where, after that they went on Army buses and George the received a Letter of Commendation. Our main mission was transporting containers from Rotterdam and Antwerp although we did a lot of classified missions as well. SSG Shiver and George hauled the first container load of M16s arriving from USA, Rotterdam to Nuremberg in 1970. We wore a Communication Zone (COMMZ) shoulder patch on our sleeves. I did Reforger 1 and 2 in 1969 and 1970. I was at Kapaun Barracks, Vogelweh, Kaiserslautern and drove vehicle 66-20, a IHC DCO Tractor and wore a COMZ patch too. During George’s tour he also attended a Land Mine warfare course, spent a weekend in Innsbruck, Austria. Toured several castles in Bavaria and Dachau too. Then went on leave to England to visit family there.

JIM DE CLEREK, Dispatched to the New Jersey Holding company at McGuire Air Base on January 1, 1963 Flying to Rhein Main Air Base, State of Hessen, Frankfurt am Main. A driver picked Jim up in the early hours from the 21st Replacement Company and headed to Coleman Barracks in the village of Sandhofen, in the suburbs of Northern Mannheim where he was assigned to the 377th Transportation Company (Heavy), 181st Transportation Battalion. On road patrol along the Autobahn, we directed local traffic out of the way of our 10-Ton Tank transporters “Dragon Wagons” using our Mox Nix sticks, a white painted metal disks in 2-3 -foot-long wooden handled, just like the German Polizei. After several months Jim was reassigned to 40th Transportation Company at Turley Barracks. The unit First Sergeant was 1SG, Patterson. Other Lieutenants were Ralph Lauder, James Kirby, Michael Corpus and Timothy Rhein. The 40th Transportation Company (POL) were issued 160 3,000 Gallon Tankers and 60 M52 5-Ton Trackers. Jim served as Commander of Company C, 15th Quartermaster Battalion, Taylor Barracks, during a few months before my rotation back to CONUS in October 1964. The First Sergeant was Harris H Hewitt, located in Building 479 Northeast half. The dining facility was in 473 and our unit maintenance shop and bays were in Building 471. The Commanders office looked like a rental office/lounge with new windows and side door leading out to a deck covering a vehicle access to the basement where our Supply room and armor room were located. Their mission was local and long haul of petroleum. Captain (later a Major General) John Sanford was the commander. I recall the maintenance officer was CWO Singletary. The Fortieth Truck, as we called it, was right at home in a Quartermaster Battalion and set the standard of excellence in maintenance, operational readiness, and basic soldiering. In the winter of 1963, the German economy suffered the worst winter in a century with the Rhein and Neckar rivers frozen. The Fortieth truck was dispatched to Rotterdam to transport fuel oil for the German economy. Jim remained in the USAR, transferred to the Civil Affairs Branch, served in several California units and USAR Schools as he was transferred around the US by Kodak, his civilian employer. He served as a MOBDES officer before retiring in 1990.

In 1963, the frozen Neckar at Heidelberg. Photograph by https://de.zxc.wiki/wiki/Neckar. ALAN FARR enlisted in the US Army in August 1964. Completing Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training as a 64C at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Spent several days at the Fort Dix holding Company waiting to manifest for his vessel voyage. In January 1965, he arrived by bus and manifested at Fort Hamilton, New York, New York and boarded the USNS General William O. Darby setting sail in the harbor and passing by the Salute of Liberty for Germany.

USNS General, William O. Darby. Photograph by The Mariners Museum While underway over the deep ocean he was placed on Kitchen Police duties and making the best of the situation. The vessel made a stop in England to let off some service members and sailed the next day arriving Bremerhaven, Germany. After spending three days at the 319th Replacement Company, building 103, Carl Schurz Casern, Bremerhaven, Germany his orders were validated and placed on a train headed to Frankfurt then off to Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof. Alan was then picked up in a duce and half and headed to 342nd Transportation Company, 181st Transportation Battalion, 7th Army at Turley Barracks, Mannheim, Germany. The unit’s mission at time was delivering US Mail and Laundry to the surrounding districts. The company commander was Captain, Cummings a boxer from United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. During the fall of 1966, many B17 and B25 flew over Mannheim an Air Force exercise. Soldier’s remembered were: Mayor, Kitchen, Dietrich, Hunt, Becker, and Hale. Alan’s wife flew over on an aircraft to Frankfurt am Main Flughafen, Frankfurt, Germany. Their daughter was born at the 130th Station Hospital at the Nachrichten Casern in Heidelberg, Germany. The family enjoyed a wine festival in Worms. In April, his family flies back to the US and in May 1966, Alan heads back to the Bremerhaven Port VIA train and board another Vessel headed to New York. Alan is promoted to Sergeant and served another tour at Fort Lewis, . NOTES: The Seventh Army Corps (Jayhawks) was inactivated in March 1946, in Germany, reactivated for a short time at Atlanta, Georgia, then inactivated again. It was reactivated by the United States European Command (EUCOM) with headquarters at Patch Barracks, -Vaihingen, Germany, on 24 November 1950 and assigned to command the ground and service forces of United States Army Europe (USAREUR). For over a decade contained the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra founded by the conductor Samuel Adler in support of the United States Army's cultural diplomacy initiatives throughout Germany and Europe in the aftermath of World War II (1952–1962). On 30 November 1966, the Seventh Army was relocated from Patch Barracks, Stuttgart to Campbell Barracks, Heidelberg. Following French disagreements with certain NATO policies, United States European Command relocated from Paris the following year in 1967. From that time forward the Seventh Army has been the headquarters for all Army units under the European Command. Its major subordinate elements were the V Army Corps and VII Army Corps (Inactivated 1992.).

ORGINAL SIGNED ON MARCH 4, 2021 Everette F. Coppock III Command Sergeant Major, US Army, Retired, 1977-2007 [email protected] International Country Code 001 plus 719.210.0492 in Colorado