There are two events that relate to my assignment to my assignment to
Germany.
In 1945 I was a private in a replacement center at Camp Shelby,
Mississippi. I was one of the first replacements for the 51st Signal
Battalion that had just returned from Italy. I was assigned to the Carrier
Platoon. My platoon sergeant, Staff Sergeant Paul Miller, was from Phoenix
City, AL. He was a very nice guy and we became friends since I am from
Alabama and had spent a year at Auburn University (then Alabama Polytechnic
Institute) and only 35 miles from Phoenix City. What does this have to do
with the 17th? The connection will come later.
I
returned to Auburn in 1946, received a commission as a 2nd
Lieutenant through ROTC and came on active duty on May 1, 1950. I was
activated at Fort Dix, Trenton, NJ with orders directly to Germany. I was
able to get married before leaving for Germany. To get married I had to have
a best man and someone to escort the bride, I found a classmate of mine at
Fort Dix and he became the best man. I found a Signal Officer and requested
that he escort the bride. He was Captain Jerald Sills. What does this have
to do with the Germany? The connection will come later.
I was able to take my new wife with me to Germany and we arrived in
Karlsruhe about the first week of June 1950. I was assigned to the 7776th
Signal Service Battalion at Phillips Barracks. The Battalion was under the
command of Major Turner.
Excellent maps and aerial photos of Karlsruhe can be found at:
http://www.maplandia.com/germany/baden-wurttemberg/karlsruhe .
The
Korean War started on June 25, 1950. On July 5, 1950 the 7776th
was reactivated as the 17th Signal Battalion. Major Turner had
served with the 17th during World War II and was instrumental in
getting the 7776th
reactivated as the 17th Signal Battalion. A few weeks later
Major Turner was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
Phillips Barracks was northeast of the center of Karlsruhe but I cannot
locate it on any map. After a few months the 17th moved to Smiley
Barracks.
For the first six months we lived in a German apartment building in
downtown Karlsruhe, right next to the Central Market. The Central Market was
later demolished and the site is now occupied by the Staatstheater. The
apartment building was one block square with a court yard in the center. The
building had five floors and a separate entrance for each set of 10
apartments. The Americans had only 10 apartments in this building that had
at least 350 apartments
The government apartments were completed in early 1951 and we moved into
the quarters on Rhode Island Avenue. This was walking distance to Smiley
Barracks.
My initial assignment was to the Wire Company as platoon leader of the
Carrier platoon. My Company Commander was Captain Sills, from my wedding. On
my first day I was taken to the field to meet my platoon and the platoon
sergeant. Guess who my platoon sergeant was? Yes, he was Staff Sergeant Paul
Miller, who had been my platoon sergeant in the 51st Signal
Battalion five years earlier. He was shortly promoted to Warrant Officer.
After only a few weeks in the 17th I was transferred to the
Radio Company and was in charge of the only communications facility within
the 17th Signal Battalion, the Konigstuhl Radio Relay site above
Heidelberg. At that time we operated AN/TRC-1 Radio Relay equipment with
CF-1 and CF-2 carrier equipment. There were only two buildings and the tall
stone tower of the German PTT. The buildings were formally the homes of
employees of the PTT. We used one house for billets and the other was for
the AN/TRC-1 radios.
In
the summer of 1951 I was selected to accompany Lieutenant Colonel Melvin
Embry, from Headquarters US Army Europe, on a survey for new microwave
system across France. Colonel Embry had been recalled after the Korean War
started. His civilian job was as a microwave systems engineer for AT&T Long
Lines. Our team was only five, the Colonel, a driver, a soldier who had been
raised in Paris and was our interpreter, a reprehensive of the French PTT
and me.
This trip was an education for me. I learned from an expert. I learned
how to create path profiled from the maps, obtaining accurate elevations by
the use of a calibrated altimeter and the basic principles of microwave
propagation. I think I learned more in this three week trip than any other
three weeks in my adult life.
This microwave system was to use new microwave equipment being procured
from General Electric, AN/FRC-23. This was a 23 channel, pulse position
modulation system that was procured for all US Army fixed station
communication systems. I was quite interested in this equipment and this
knowledge was helpful when I was stationed in Japan since the same equipment
was used for the army communications links from Tokyo south.
In 1952 the 17th was moved to Pirmasens. We were the first and
only US unit in Pirmasens. We moved in after the French moved out.
A
few months after we arrived in Pirmasens the Army began their integration of
military units. I was transferred to the 29th Signal Construction
Battalion in Karlsruhe. Most of the 29th NCO and some of the
lower ranks stayed with the unit. The new enlisted men came from National
Guard and Reserve units in the Southern states. You would expect a major
problem with black NCO's and mostly white enlisted men. We had almost no
problems. As a matter of fact, the off duty race problems in Karlsruhe
dropped to about 10% of the previous value. This proved to me that
integration works.
Shortly after arrival in the 29th I was sent TDY to Pirmasens
where I commanded a platoon that built an open wire pole line between
Pirmasens and Kaiserslautern. I continued on this job until shortly before
my return to the States in 1953.
During our three years in Karlsruhe we were blessed with two children,
Michael in July 1951 and David in February 1953. Both were born in the 130th
Station Hospital in Heidelberg.
When Michael was born an army nurse, brought him out into the hall for me
to see. She was about five feet tall and as a Major much senior to me, a 2nd
Lieutenant. I tried to be funny and said, "I just can't figure out who the
father is." She stood as tall as she could, looked up into my ey
es
and said, "Lieutenant, you can never disown this child." There was never a
truer statement. Some months
later one of our friends, after seeing Michael said, "We know who the father
is but who is the mother? Of course my wife, Martha said, "I am, I was
there."
When David was born he had black hair so long that the hair above his
ears would get into the corner of his eyes. We gave him a haircut in his
second week.