Colonel (Retired) James R. Spurrier was the first commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 14th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion as it reconfigured from the U.S. Army constabulary mission in post World War II Germany to a combat force tasked with the border observation mission north of Bad Kissingen. In 1951, if Soviet forces attacked from Meiningen south along Highway 19, the first line of defense they would have encountered would have been the troopers of LTC Spurrier’s command stationed at Daley Barracks. His men trained hard for just this eventuality.

Some forty years after the fact, Colonel Spurrier wrote a limited publication memoir recalling his life and times, Come Walk in My Moccasins. The adult children of James R. Spurrier have graciously allowed us to place on line the chapter of his book devoted to his assignment in Germany and the heady times of 1949 - 1953 in Fulda, Schweinfurt and Bad Kissingen. The chapter begins as Major Spurrier, his wife Lucile and three daughters sail across the Atlantic for his first European assignment. During World War II, Spurrier had served with distinction with the First Cavalry Division in the Pacific and had trained as one of the Army’s last true horse soldiers. Earlier assignments had been at Fort Bliss; he was an expert rider, a national level polo player and an officer with a reputation for getting the job done. He was the grandson of an Oklahoma Osage Indian Chief.

Due to length, this chapter is divided into two sections, the first portion recalls the Atlantic trip, initial assignment in Fulda, transfer to Schweinfurt, duty with the 2nd Recon Battalion of the 14th Armored Cavalry as the operations officer, acting battalion commander and unit executive officer. Far from a narrow military memoir, however, Colonel Spurrier also tells us much about his off duty life, his family, hobbies and pets.

The second section begins with Major ( P ) then LTC Spurrier in command of the battalion as it moves from Conn Barracks in Schweinfurt to Bad Kissingen. He recalls the first days on the border, the political climate in the Kurstadt as a new mayor and the new commander try and work through a variety of civil - military challenges in the post occupation Germany and the major maneuvers and inspections that were the key events in the annual training calendar. This section ends with the departure of LTC Spurrier from the command to a staff assignment at Fort Knox.

We have scanned the images that were published in this chapter of Colonel Spurrier’s autobiography and merged them to the one line text. Because we were furnished small size photo copies, many of the scans are themselves quite small.

Colonel James R. Spurrier spent twenty - five years on active duty. In retirement beyond private business endeavors, he founded the U. S. Cavalry Association at Fort Riley Kansas as a way to focus the support of those who would cherish the memories and traditions of the horse cavalry in the American Army. In later years, beyond writing his memoirs, he remained active with his passions of riding, polo, golf and his family. Colonel Spurrier was aware of the Eaglehorse web site and encouraged former members of his command from those distant days in Germany to assist the site in any way possible. Colonel Spurrier moved his red and white - swallow tail guidon to Fiddler’s Green on 27 December, 2004 at the age of 86 years.

All commercial rights of the Spurrier memoir are reserved by the estate of James R. Spurrier.

Chapter 13 of Spurrier memoir Part 1

Chapter 13 of Spurrier memoir Part 2

Colonel James R. Sprurrier Obituary