What is golng on ?

Chuck, many members are getting old!!. Some don’t remember the good old days in W. Berlin. Like you said there is plenty to discuss but?? we can’t.  Any members remember the train ride into W. Berlin from Bremerhaven or Frankfurt A/M? or leaving W. Berlin??  I was a member of the 570th MP Co. (railway MP’s).Arriving in W. Berlin as a “boot” no problem for the MP’s; but returning home to the the land of the big PX!! another story. Berliner Weiss!!!; did I spell it correctly.  Chuck, anyhow may my small talk about W. Berlin will wake up members. If not ok.  I returned home in November 1963; after JFK was murdered our “tour” ship was 1/2 way home. But returned home the day before Thanksgiving 1963.  My “tour”  ship was the GEIGER (troop ship). Now our service people  fly; good for them. After being notified that JFK was murdered we expected to return to the “fatherland”. Never happened. 

Was in the 287th Aug. 1 1966 -Feb. 7th 1969. Took the duty train to Bremerhaven then onto Malmo , Sweden. Father and his family born in Sweden and I was invited by relatives to come up meet them and visit. Got some bottles of liquor and took them as liquor was expensive in Sweden. Great time. Wish I would of never taken a leave home for 30days and should of taken advantage of a once in a lifetime experience and stayed there. As the years went by I realized that. A couple other guys  and me did go to Spain. After getting on the Police Department I remember one of Lt’s also telling a Sgt. they we had some new officers coming on and he told the Police Chief I want anyone with military experience as I can tell them right away. Also sure enjoy the observer and appreciate all that the board and everyone involved does.

Larry, I’m glad that you connected with European relatives.  I arrived in Berlin to work in the rail operation in June 1969.  By March 1970 I had tracked down our German relatives.  We had an envelope with their pre-WWI farm address and luckily they hadn’t moved.   It did take me a while to figure out the address.  When I went to call on them I stayed in the village (the only guest in a 10-room hotel) because the last name was a common one.

When I went to their farm, they had a copy of the same photo of the family in front of their house as I did.  It was from my great-grandfather’s one trip home in 1905.  The old man of the family while I was stationed in Berlin was a two-year old kid in the photo.  We had some soldier to soldier conversations (as it turned out I had relatives on both sides in the Normandy battles).  It was great to visit them several times, including for Christmas 1970, so I could contrast their lives with life in Berlin.

I visited again in 2012 and my distant cousins took me on a tour that included windy Wilhelmshaven.  They knew I was interested in transportation and Georg is a long-haul trucker so he knew the right places to see.

Remember you also we were in the same platoon.