Anchors Away on the Duty Train

In the summer of 1969 I was an OJT Russian<>English interpreter for the RTO.  (Yes, and if you were in the Army it wouldn’t be anymore surprising to you than our cook in Service Company who was trained as a tank mechanic.)

After all the i.d.’s and flag orders were sorted out we would figure out which passenger was the highest ranking combat arms officer on the train.  Then I’d walk back to their compartment and as PFC Rynerson would announce to them that they were appointed to be our Commanding Officer.  If things went right they could have a fun story to tell in the officers’ club.  If things went wrong, it might be the end of their career.  Have a nice sleep!

One night it turned out that a USN Rear Admiral was ‘it’ for this trip.  The paperwork showed that he had a cute daughter with him, too.  I hurried back to break the news and ask if they had any questions.  The admiral asked some good questions about his new assignment and introduced his daughter who asked some things about Berlin.  They were on a vacation trip that was meant to be educational. too.  We often transported families that wanted to see the Cold War up close.  We and the Soviet Army were willing to provide that.

In the morning dwell time in Potsdam I walked back through the train.  The daughter was dressed already and was out in the corridor watching the sad East German rush hour.  Her dad was getting dressed.  We talked some more and then she asked me “are there ever any exciting incidents on this train?”  I told her that I didn’t really know and started to explain that I was new.  What I hadn’t noticed was that their compartment door was ajar.

“Didn’t I tell you not to ask questions like that?!” her father admonished as he opened the door.  And then he looked approvingly at me and said “Good security consciousness, soldier!”  His daughter looked downcast.  The train got underway.  As I walked back to the crew car I thought about the poor sailors when the admiral gets back to his ship or desk. “Those Berlin Brigade guys are really security conscious!” I could imagine him sternly telling them.  And he would have a good story to tell in the club about the time he successfully commanded an Army train.

There’s more to stories of their visit but I only heard them second-hand.  Perhaps our RTO Lieutenant who was assigned to show them a good time in the Divided City will come forward with the rest of the story.