Memories of an 058
by Ralph R. Reinhold
ralph.r.reinhold@boeing.com
Ft. Hood:
At Hood, the CO was not a strong believer in make work. If we didn't have anything to do, he
preferred we would disappear. While the combat arms people needed "buck slips" to go to snack bars, PXes or the NCO Club, we were free to roam as we wished as long as we had our
real work done. One thing we had which distinguished us from everyone else was that the
313th ASA Bn wore the 18th Airborne Corps patch. Sometimes we called it "Puff the Magic
Dragon" and others "The Pukin' Lizard." If you went into nearly anyplace on the base, even Killeen, there were more 18th Airborne Corps patches than any other. We shared the barracks
with an MP Company. One of them told us that everyone on post was convinced the whole
Corps was out in the woods. He thought it was funny and wasn't about to educate them any
different.
The first hitch coincided with a good chunk of the folk song era. The ASAers were of the
mentality attracted to this fad and as a result, many folk songs were sung around the beer
barrels and else where. Usually not particularly good, I believe my contribution was a major
cause of that. "Puff the Magic Dragon" was a popular Peter, Paul and Mary; song of this time frame, hence the name.
We went on one field problem while I was there. We were evenly divided between the two
armored divisions. I believe these were the First and Second Armor. I've told a story about
waking up on my 21st birthday with an armadillo on my chest. He was nearly as near sighted as
I was and I don't know who was more scared. I don't really remember whether it was true or
not, but it is a good story and I keep telling it.
With a lot of nothing to do, the CO assigned a number of guys as drivers to the three young
Lieutenants we had...Dandaneau, Czerwynski, and Griskowitz (I think) . Dandaneau was
stuck with Murray. On one trip, Murray took Dandaneau into Killeen to pick up a bunch of
ROTC guys from the train. They were on their way to us as summer camp. Each lieutenant was
assigned two ROTC guys. On the way back, they passed a very pregnant woman. Lt. Dan
said, "Only a prick would do something like that." Murray, Lt. Dan and the to ROTC guys
almost didn't make it back to the company.
In those days, you didn't go by air much....The railroads didn't recognize that they were in the
transportation business and didn't fill the vacuum created by the large jet-liners then available.
Knowing in advance the impact the jet was going to have on their passenger business (look
back at their advertising), they should have started feeder routes to the major airports. Had
they done this and modernized, they would be making a good profit at rail travel and smaller
cities like Huntsville would not have an airport. I don't object, the sale of 737s keeps my
employer very solvent.
The guys were great scroungers. When we had our first IG inspection after they returned from
the Cuban Missile Crisis, we threw out two dumpsters full of stuff we shouldn't have had. I
scrounged a 28 volt version of a 4CX250B from the dumpster but never found a use for it.
Before being sent to Ft. Hood, the company I was in was stationed at Ft. Huachuca doing
R&D. Some of still was being done. For example we got a Zenith Transoceanic equipped as a
RDF unit. Another thing we got were some of the first M113. When I looked a book on the
M113, I noticed that they first become operational in June of 1963. We had them prior to
going to Florida for the Missile Crisis. These had two intercept positions consisting of two
R392s, an AN/TGC-14 teletype as a mill, and an Ampex tape recorder. I can't remember
either the commercial or the military designation of the tape recorder. I am sure it did not have
a standard designation as it had an NSA property tag on it. I was told that the rack these two
positions were mounted on came from the belly pod of RB-47s which had a curved bottom.
As a result, if you were over about 5' tall, you were a little cramped. Along about 5' 6" you
were down right uncomfortable. At my 6', it was almost painful. When Lt. Dan evaluated the
positions, he said "These were great if there was an MOS for midgets."
Ed Murray told two stories. One, he and Lt. Dan' (Dandeneau I think) went up to Gatesville
and got themselves a fifth. At midnight they were standing on top of an APC singing the Maine
Stein Song. Ed also told of having a runner wake him up in the middle of the night and asked
"Where is the officer's tent?"
"The what?"
"Officer's tent."
"What's that?"
"Where do your officers sleep?"
"Over here on the ground next to me. Where the hell do you suppose?"
I had to qualify with my carbine the day before clearing post and getting out of the Army. I saw
no sense to it. The range officer saw no humor in my shooting at each target until I emptied the
clip or knocked it down, which ever came first.