Bad Kissingen’s health resort provided hot mineral baths, mud baths, and other medical treatments. It had an inhaleatorium, which is a tall structure that emits a water mist which the patients inhaled. The town was sufficiently strong during the Nazi years to keep German combat troops out of it. The Kaserne had been used to rehabilitate wounded soldiers. It was a very quiet place by nature and the city wanted to keep it that way. So, they were not happy at all with the noise our tanks made as we rolled through town.

The town was not touched by the war, so all of the building were intact. It had old, sedate hotels, excellent restaurants and Gasthauses. It had one of the most outstanding kitchens in Germany, called Aumsteads. This is where I first learned to eat Schnecken or snails. The restaurant served them as an entrée, I ordered then as an appetizer which upset the waiters to no end. This also is where I developed a taste for good wine, namely a wine called Neiderstiner, a Mosel wine. I couldn’t remember the name so I kept a copy of the bottle label in my wallet.

We were told that the Tsar of Russia and his entourage had come there each year for six weeks to take the cure It was said the town earned enough money during that period of time to last them the rest of the year.

Border Duty

Life on the border for the American soldier underwent several changes because of the Korean and Cold Wars. We were a very busy bunch. Because of our close proximity to the East German border, if the Russians decided to attack, we would be the first ones to engage them. To prepare for this, each unit built defensive positions and war plans were developed at the highest levels, called the GAO or General Alert Orders. Alerts were held at all times of the day and night. Once the alert was sounded, units were to load their vehicles, clear the Kaserne and go directly to their defensive positions. As we became more efficient, the first battalion vehicle out of the motor pool could clear the Kaserne in fifteen minutes.

There was also a GAO for dependents. They were required to keep supplies on hand and a map of the route of withdrawal which was to be in a convoy. The immediate priority was to get them across the Rhine River and then to either France of Switzerland. Thank goodness nothing ever happened because I think it would have been a disaster.

Prior to this time, the 24^th Constabulary Squadron patrolled the border in front of the 14^th Armored Cavalry Regiment. This squadron was deactivated and the 14^th Armored Regiment was ordered to assume the responsibility of patrolling the border. My battalion had the responsibility for the area between the 1^st Squadron to the north and the 2^nd Armor Cavalry Regiment to the south. A company was moved into tents closer to the border for this purpose. At the grass roots level, all we did was observe the movements of the Russians on the other side and they did likewise.

There was always something happening, such as when one of our scout section commanders wandered across the border and was captured by the Russians. As I recall, he was not one of the smartest scout section commanders and after being interrogated they released him to cross back to our side. This caused a flap all along the chain of command, we had several intelligence personnel wanting to talk to him. They soon found out all he could tell them was that he was captured and taken to a building about five kilometers from the border where they asked him questions about his unit. When the Russians apparently had all the information they could obtain, they released him.

The battalion continued its normal training cycle and spent a lot of time preparing for three main inspections; the Command Maintenance Inspection, the Inspector General Inspection and the Tactical Training Test. In 1951, all of the companies except Headquarters received a rating of superior. I vowed the next year every company to include the HQ would receive a superior rating.

Family Life

On June 13^th, we moved into our new quarters at 4 Ruckerstrasse in Bad Kissingen. It was a former Nazi bigwig’s house. It was three stories tall, with six bedrooms and three baths. There was a normal living room, dining room and kitchen in addition to a den. It had a Rathskellar - or basement. It sat on a hill where we could see the city. It was more than adequate and very comfortable. We brought our maid Marta who had been with us in Schweinfurt to continue looking out for the girls. We also picked up another maid that did the cooking. It was also an excellent house for entertaining.

The children appeared to enjoy their life in Bad K. The post established a school which was more than satisfactory as it functioned like a stateside school. In the winter time they enjoyed sledding in the front yard. Marta was excellent as she kept them entertained and happy. We also received a visit from the Lee family, soon after they arrived in Germany. This permitted them to renew their friendship with their cousins.

Outdoor Recreation

Bad Kissingen had a nine hole gold course which the Army had taken over as a special service activity. Only Americans were allowed to play on the course. Needless to say, I really improved my golf game. Germany is farther north than most people think, so the days in the summer were long, We quit work at five so after work you could get in eighteen holes before it became too dark which was between nine and nine - thirty. I was able to improve my golf game to the point where I was shooting in the mid seventies. I introduced Lucile to the game and she had a natural flare for it. She is left handed but I talked her into trying to play right handed and she did not have any problems as she is somewhat ambidextrous.

The Bad Kissingen area was also a good hunting spot. Our good friend, Art Allen, who served with us in the 12^th Cavalry at Bliss, commanded our 3^rd Battalion. He picked up a valuable sixteen gauge “ over and under “ shotgun that he had failed to register when he came to Europe. I was still under the legal time to register a gun so he gave it to Lucile. I took Lucile on several bird hunts. We hunted reapune, or wachtel, a partridge that lived in the cabbage patches and ran on the ground. They would run dogs wild trying to keep up with them.

In the winter it was good duck hunting on the Saale River that ran through Bad Kissingen. It was a small river that twisted a lot. We hunted ducks by what we called jump shooting. We would walk a distance away from the river until we heard quacking, then sneak up to it and cause the ducks to take flight while we banged away. One day, I heard ducks in a U bend in the river that had a cliff on the opposite side from me. When I jumped the ducks they had to fly almost directly over me to get away. It was a good day as I went five for five. In Germany we were authorized to carry five shells in our shot guns.

In addition to fowl, there was good deer and boar hunting as well. All wild animals belonged to the state, thus hunting was scrupulously controlled. You had to have a Jagermeister, who was like a game ranger.

I remember taking Lucile on a boar hunt, The Jagermeister took a bunch of beaters through the underbrush to drive the boars toward us. In thick brush they would use the Dachshund to flush the boar. We sat in a hunt seat the Jagermeister had erected. It was built about ten feet above the ground and normally sat four. I called it the hope seat, as you hoped you would get something. Deer hunting was the same, except the seats were located where the deer grazed. The best hunting time was just at dusk in the evening when the deer came out to feed.

An Outing With the Air Force

Shortly after moving to Bad Kissingen, I found out that an old Oklahoma Military Academy friend, Otto B. McIver, who was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force was stationed below in Wurzburg. I made contact with him and he invited us down for the weekend. Otto threw a party that Saturday night at the Officer’s Club and we had a big time, somehow making it back to his house at the end of the evening, The next morning we were awakened by our hostess with a drink called Moose Blood. Moose Blood is maple syrup and bourbon, but she didn’t tell us that until after we drank it. It wasn’t bad though.

Wedding Bells

Our social life usually centered on Saturday nights at the Officer’s Club. But, sometimes it deviated as when two of my officers got married. The first was Lieutenant Johnny Jones and Elaine. She came over from the States to marry him and it was quite an affair as the whole battalion took part in the festivities. The second wedding saw Lieutenant Jack Noll marrying Nadine, a local Red Cross worker. Prior to the wedding Jack was thrown a rip - roaring bachelor party. There was much alcohol flowing and everyone made sure the prospective groom had a snoot full. He barely made it to his own nuptials. After the ceremony the newlyweds took a spin around the Kaserne in one of our tanks. A good time was definitely had by all.

The second year of my command was also very busy, from a military pint of view. We continued to patrol the border however, by summer time we were authorized to bring the company who had been living in tents near the border, back to the barracks. Various inspections continued as well as intensified patrolling. Every month I had to go to Headquarters in Fulda for a battalion commanders’ meeting. To me it was a waste of time and nothing really came out of the meetings as it was more of a briefing for the regimental commander.

Sometimes because of the weather, I had to say over night. On one of these occasions, I stayed with Stella and John Hopkins. His battalion was stationed in Fulda with the regiment headquarters, so he was under the gun where the Regimental Commander could see everything he did. I recall a remark he made while watching his battalion fall out for retreat. He said, “ There are over seven hundred solders out there, and any one of them could ruin my military career ”. This was true as the tables had been turned, we were no longer the conqueror, we now had to love thy brother ( Germans ) . Serious altercations between the locals and soldiers were now looked upon by higher headquarters as serious incidents, which the commander had to investigate and fully explain.

A Parade for Ike

I believe it was in the summer of 1952 that General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the SACEUR ( Supreme Allied Commander, Europe ), retired to run for President of the Untied States. For his farewell, USAREUR had a parade in Frankfurt, Germany. Each of the Armored Cavalry Regiments, the 2nd, 6^th and 14^th were ordered to make up a composite battalion, each furnishing a company. I won another feather for my War Bonnet by being selected to command this composite battalion, which was to lead the parade. I suspect tat General I. D. White had a say in the matter. I selected two of my staff officers to accompany me, George Hoge and Jack Gallivan, two rather mischievous individuals. In order for the troops to look sharp, we always painted the steel cover of our helmets for major parades. We waited ‘till the last minute before we put them our liners. We were in formation for the parade when my two staff officers asked for my liner and put the steel shell on it. They were careful in handing me my helmet, almost putting it on for me. The reason being that it had stenciled on the back “ I like Ike”. They chickened out at the last minute and changed my helmet. I understand that General Eisenhower heard about it and had a chuckle.

The normal overseas tour was three years, which meant that my tour would be up in June of 1952. Colonel Chan Robbins, my regimental commander and good friend, asked if I would extend my tour through June of 1953. He had a lot of confidence in me, and since I was doing so well, he wanted me stay, so he wouldn’t have to worry about the unit. I thought about it, asked Lucile what she thought and then told him I would stay. It wasn’t a hard decision. Commanding the battalion was the best job I ever had and I was thoroughly enjoying it, and we liked living in Germany too.

A Check Up on the Lee Family

In the spring we visited the Lee family who at that time were stationed at Laupheim, a Sub Post near Ulm. In return, they visited us in Bad Kissingen. We entertained them with a cocktail party. The children had a great time visiting their cousins. Lucile had become a breeder of Shaferhunds or German Police dogs. Our dog Crystal had two litters of pups. Breeding these dogs was strictly controlled as you had to have each litter checked for number and condition of each puppy. I think you were allowed seven in a litter. It there were too many puppies or any did not measure up to their standards for the breed, they were eliminated. We retained a male pup from the first litter, and called him Apache. He turned out to be an outstanding dog. We gave the Lees a pup from the second litter. Also in the spring, we had a visitor from the States, Julie Semms, who was a friend of Lucile’s parents from Santa Fe, New Mexico. We enjoyed seeing her. Later, with her husband Doug, she revisited us and we made a trip to the famous walled city of Rothenberg. It was quite a city but I never knew why it was walled, The reason must have stemmed from the medieval times.

In the summer we had a change of regimental commanders. Chan Robbins was transferred to V Corps and Raymond Curtis became the commander. Thank goodness he was having trouble with his two other battalions so he left me alone. When he visited, he said he just wanted to get away from Headquarters and did not require me to roll out the red carpet.

Electing a Burgermeister

In the spring of 1952, the citizens of Bad Kissingen had a big election. I was amazed that when a political position came open for election, anyone could run for the office without having to be a resident of the area. At this time, the mayor was running for reelection and he was causing me a lot of trouble as he would not communicate with me. I suspected he was a former Nazi and when one of my soldiers created a serious incident, he reported straight to Bonn, the German capital. This caused it to be sent through channels all the way down the chain of command. Of course, this made my unhappy and caused a lot of paperwork.

A young lawyer from Munich, Dr. Hans Weise, who was my age, announced his intentions to run for mayor, He was different than most of the politicians in Germany who were older retired local individuals with the time to dedicate to the affairs of the community. It did not take Dr. Weise long to understand the German - American problem and he came to me and said if elected that he would give me his full cooperation in helping to smooth the situation.

After a long and serious talk, I believed that he would be true to his word. We then worked out an agreement on how this cooperation would be implemented if he was elected. This was the fist time I had become involved in local politics. One of the main complaints of the civilians was that our tanks made too much noise going through town, which the Germans said upset the character of their community. This was a critical item in our discussion, and I told Dr. Weise that if he could build a new road out of our Kaserne that bypassed the town, the noise would be greatly reduced. He thought that was a great idea and agreed it would make a great campaign issue.

Every night the week before the election, I had individual company alerts and told them to take several routes to their defensive position and to make as much noise as they could. There was a confessed Nazi that had a cigar store in town, that was visited by one of my medium tanks. It conveniently broke down on the sidewalk in front of his store with the tank’s main gun pointing right at his front door. We left it there for several days.

Dr. Weise told the newspapers that if elected he would cooperate with the military and reduce the noise and that he had been in contact with me to that effect. I was happy when he won the election and we became good friends. We were true to our words and had a great personal and professional relationship.

One of the firs things he did for me was to discover an old obscure German law which said that a Gasthaus owner was responsible for damages caused by an individual that became drunk from drinks served in his establishment. We discussed this and agreed that we would publish this law in German and English. I was having trouble with the Gasthaus owners as they not only would continue to serve drinks to inebriated soldiers, but would also give credit, so the soldier did not know how many drinks he was being charged. We agreed that we would announce this law together, he would notify the Gasthaus owners and I would inform the Battalion.

I called the Battalion together and informed them of this law and told them that if a soldier went into a Gasthaus and created a disturbance and destroyed property he would be required to pay for the damage. I also told them if they did this and didn’t do at least five hundred dollars worth of damage, they would not only pay the fine, but I would have them transferred out of the battalion.

Our agreement worked. The first serious incident involving a soldier out of line in a Gasthaus after the election was investigated and found to the Gashaus owners responsibility. The Mayor was true to his word and found the Gasthaus owner responsible. The second one was on me, a drunk soldier went into a Gasthaus and demanded a drink, when he was refused, he tore up the place. He only did three hundred dollars worth of damage, which he paid and I transferred him the first chance I got.

Community Project

To repay the Mayor for his kindness as my serious incidents went to zero, I helped him build a city swimming pool. He wanted to build it on the side of a mountain as this was the only land that the city owned. He could not find a German company that had the equipment to excavate the pool. I was able to get one of our Engineer Companies to take on the project as a training exercise. The Mayor was much impressed and was very thankful. The project became an event for the town people as many came to observe the excavation, in fact the bulldozer operator became quite a ham.

The pool was completed just before I departed and there was a grand opening ceremony where we all signed a document regarding the construction of the pool and it was encased in a corner of the new bath house and is to be opened in one hundred years, what would be 2053.

Autumn Maneuvers

In the fall I went on my last big maneuver as a commander. It involved the 1^st Infantry Division and the 2^nd Armored division as the Blue Forces. Because the maneuver box was in our area, I was attached to the 1^st Infantry Division, who in turn made me Task Force Commander of my battalion and the 373^rd Armored Infantry Battalion plus an artillery battalion. My Task Force was almost the size of the Regiment. Just prior to the maneuvers we were assigned umpires whom we wined and dined at the Officer’s Club. I also had a briefing for them on how the battalion operated and asked for their support during the maneuvers.

Traditionally, when two forces met on the battlefield there was a way of assessing firepower that allowed so much for tank fire, so much of machine gun, so much for mortar and so forth. Normally the umpires watching each side would meet and tell each other how much fire power they had and the one with the most power forced the other to withdraw. This was not according to the Umpire’s Manual, that called for the unit to be placed before the fire power assessed.

My mission was to fight a delaying action until the 1^st Infantry Division could get into position. Fortunately my area of operation was a valley between two hills which made it difficult for the enemy to maneuver and bring much fire power on my small reconnaissance platoons. The umpires helped as they forced the enemy to deploy and bring the necessary fire power into position before they made my unit withdraw. This took time. I delayed the enemy for over two days and I was upsetting the maneuver time table, so they changed the scenario to get me out of the action. For example, they declared a bridge that I had destroyed was now usable which permitted the enemy to side slip out of my area. Anyway, after the maneuvers my Battalion and I received accolades from the 1^st Infantry Division and Maneuver Headquarters for an outstanding job. This placed another feather in my war bonnet.

A Section Recalling a Skiing Vacation to Switzerland and Liechtenstein is Omitted

External Inspections

By the spring of 1953, the battalion had developed into a first class fighting organization. The Army has ways to evaluate a unit’s capabilities and when we were externally tested by USAREUR inspectors, we passed the three major tests used to determine combat effectiveness with flying colors.

The Command Maintenance Inspection which determined the mechanical readiness of our vehicles and equipment and one in which an armored unit usually struggles to pass, was a resounding success. Each company in the battalion received a superior rating, the best you can get, and you really have done something when you receive one, but to have the Headquarters Company receive a superior rating as well, was truly remarkable.

The Inspector General’s inspection was designed to determine the overall condition of the unit including personnel. This is a very difficult inspection to get a high rating on, as you didn’t know what the inspectors were going to do. In your training, you have a lot of secondary subjects that you have to cover, such as the T - I & E Program. I can’t recall exactly what the acronym means, but as I remember it was the Troop Education and Information Program, which I considered a waste of time. It covered a variety of subjects such as current events. One of the questions asked of our privates was which way does the Panama Canal flow. If he knew, I am sure it would make him a better private. Others questions asked were about chemical warfare and like. Again we did well with straight superior ratings for all companies and the headquarters.

The last test was the Tactical Training Test used to check your overall combat capability. This was done under simulated tactical conditions. I was proud of the Battalion as it performed in an outstanding manner. Out of a possible one thousand points, our score was nine hundred and thirty seven, a score unheard of before that time. This was definitely a superior performance and the testing officers had high praise for us and considered us an outstanding combat organization of professional personnel.

One of the reasons for our success was the selection of personnel in command positions. Over the years, I received officers from the Regiment with questionable capabilities and some that were difficult to handle. Unfortunately, most were senior in rank. I tried them in command positions, but that didn’t work. I actually “ B “ Boarded an officer for inefficiency, which was a method of relieving an inefficient officer from active duty. In the companies, I placed young officers, mostly from West Point and other military schools in command. I called them my “ young tigers “; these hard chargers were Johnny Jones, Joe Schmalzel, George Hoge and Hill Dickerson.

The Regimental Commander, Colonel Curtis was extremely please with our performance in the three inspections and I received one of the best efficiency reports I ever had. One, that I am sure, was looked at very closely when I came up for promotion. It was another feather in my war bonnet.

Stateside Assignment

Like all good things, this too came to an end. It was the summer of 1953 and I was due to rotate back to the States. Earlier in the year, I had written General Pee Wee Collier, Commanding General of the U. S. Armor School, offering my services as a Reconnaissance Unit specialist, as I had just completed four years with this type of unit. He wrote back and said he would try to flag me for assignment to Knox, which he did. So, in late spring, I received orders assigning me to the Armor School at Fort Knox.

As our time for leaving grew near, the battalion gave us many departing courtesies and parties. The final party was given just before we left and the officers had a grand time roasting me and performing a very humorous skit recalling my time as their commander. It was with many fond memories, wet eyes and sad heats that we departed Bad Kissingen for Bremenhaven and shipment back to the United States.