MILITARY MEMORIES AND VETERANS DAY audio file for listening instead of reading.

It will be Veterans Day in a couple of days, Saturday November eleventh. A day to dedicate veterans, all veterans from all wars, peace time veterans, living or dead. In 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities. It was called Armistice Day and became a federal holiday in 1938. After World War II it became known as Veterans Day. When I was young, I remember the little red paper poppies many wore to commemorate the day. You do not see them very often these days.  

There are many traditions that take place for Veterans Day. One is the official wreath-laying ceremony held each Veterans Day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. Many cities have parades on this day for veterans. Denver has a parade Saturday at 9:00 am at City Park. Veterans Day can be confused with Memorial Day celebrated in May. That day is in memory of military members who lost their lives in the service of their country. Veterans Day is for all veterans, living and dead.  

Since I am a Viet Nam Era veteran, I have military memories. I was drafted in 1964. Therefore, my service experience was a duty not of my choice. At that time around forty percent of the military were draftees. The day I was inducted there were seven others. We took a night train trip to St. Louis Missouri and then a bus to Fort Leonard Missouri for basic training. That train trip was a milk, mail run and it stopped at every small town to pick up the mail and milk. I didn’t get much sleep that night. During the eight weeks of eye-opening basic training, we were told that we would all be going to Viet Nam.   

After basic training I received orders for Fort Huachuca Arizona for advanced individual training. The training is a twenty-six-week course in drone electronic control systems. Yes, this was one of the first generations of drones you hear so much about these days. I immediately thought the training would take eight months to finish and my tour is only twenty-four months. What a waste of time and money. The training was interesting and challenging though and I do not regret the opportunity. When the training is near being completed, we are told that we are going to South Korea or Germany. I lucked out and received orders for 2^nd Armored Cavalry, Nurenburg Germany.  

I receive my orders to report to Fort Dix New Jersey, for travel to Germany via a military troop ship. I arrive in Fort Dix about ten days before thanksgiving. Since it takes a couple of weeks to accumulate enough soldiers for the troop ship, I spend Thanksgiving on KP duty at Fort Dix New Jersey. Finally, around the sixth of December we were transported to a port and boarded the troop ship. It took around ten days to get to Bremerhaven Germany, depending on the weather. The north Atlantic is not a friendly voyage in December, what an experience! Finally, we dock at Bremerhaven Germany. Deboard the ship and get on a train for Nurenburg. The train trip was an overnight trip, and we did have a sleeper car so we could get some sleep. Arriving at Nurenburg someone from 2^nd ACR was waiting for us and took us to Merrill Barracks. Assigned to a temporary location since 2^nd ACR had three squadrons on the Czechoslovakia border and headquarters in Nurenburg. Christmas was near and I was not assigned to a permanent company yet and guess what? I got to spend Christmas on KP duties at Merrill Barracks. KP on Thanksgiving and now KP at Merrill Barracks. I am really starting to get homesick now.  

I am finally assigned to Aviation Company located in Nurenburg. My stay in Nurenburg was very interesting. Merrill Barracks was a Kaserne that Hitlers SS troops were stationed in. Nearby was Zepplin field. If you have ever watch and WWII films Zepplin field was an area where the Nazis had large rallies and you can easily find videos of Hitler ranting and raving at Zepplin Field. The most depressing thing about Nurenburg was the weather. Many days it was cloudy and overcast. Being from Denver metro where maybe 250 days a year is sunshiny it was hard to get used to. In July of 1965 the army makes the decision to disband the drone system I was trained in. I was then classified as excess and received orders for F Battery 26^th Artillery in Darmstadt Germany. 

Took a train from Nurenburg to Darmstadt which is about thirty miles south of Frankfurt and started the second chapter of memories in Germany. As usual the unit I was assigned to did not have a clue that I was assigned to them. Therefore, they had to find a spot for me. They assigned me to the supply room. So much for those twenty-six weeks of training in electronics. F Battery was an aviation company, and they maintained a supply of replacement items that may be needed in case of a failure. The parts depot was located in Frankfurt, and we had to make parts run twice a week. That gave us a lot of time away from the airfield. This assignment lasted until March 1966 and that is when my two-year term is over. Received orders to Fort Hamilton New York. 

Took another train trip to Bremerhaven Germany. This was a day trip and only took about four hours. When we got to Bremerhaven, we had a shakedown. The army wanted to make sure we had no contraband in our duffle bags. After that we went on the ship and stayed on the ship overnight and departed Bremerhaven the following morning. the Atlantic in March is not that much friendlier than the December Atlantic.  

About ten days later we arrived at New York harbor. Stayed on the ship until the next morning. Then we are transported to Fort Hamilton for separation procedures. At that time all monetary disbursements were in cash. Before they let us go, they warned us that the bad guys know you are carrying cash, and they want your money. Try not to travel alone and get out of the city as soon as possible. Welcome to 1966 New York City! 

In conclusion, I basically enjoyed army service. If it wasn’t for the potential of Viet Nam, I may have re-enlisted. After getting home I find out all the ones drafted with me ended up in Viet Nam. Why I was fortunate enough to go to Germany instead of Viet Nam is something I still wonder about today. Military service was good for me. You meet all kinds of people from all kinds of places, and I have concluded that people are basically good, and evil is a learned process. Knowing that the person next to you may die protecting you builds a bond between you and that is hard to explain that bond. My feelings about Veterans Day changed after I served.