Grandpappy's War Years

Introduction

This is the war story my granpappy told me.  It doesn’t involve a whole lot of war, but is mainly a story about his life in the mid-late 1940‘s. 

Basic Training

Grandpappy started out his military career by being drafted.  His first stop was infantry basic at Camp Adabary, Indiana. It was basically a reception center to determine where troops were best qualified.

Grandpappy then went on to do his basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama (an infantry training center), in August 1945. At the time there were 1700 troops at that base. 

During basic training grandpappy learned to use 30 caliber machine guns, and 30 caliber M1 rifles. He did 18 weeks of basic training and did well on his marksmanship with the M1, also the carbine..he even hit the bullseye. Grandpappy got an "expert" badge.

VE day had already come and went, but it was when VJ day happened, while he was still in basic training, that he was assigned to the occupational forces in Europe.  He went on to serve his country at the 25th base post office in Wurzburg, Bavaria, Germany. 

Journey to Europe

Granpappy travelled to Europe via boat.  He sailed the seas on the USS Benville to reach Germany, and returned to the states following his tours of duty on the USS General CH Mur.

Duty

That base post office handled all mail for the soldiers in northern Europe and then shipped off packages from home to the smaller post offices via railroad. At the post office there were 100+ GI's, and POWs worked their too.

Grandpappy was a dispatcher for the incoming trains carrying mail for soldiers, and he was also responsible for sorting cargo. According to him, it was usually a train from Bermerhaben to Wurzberg.  

After putting in some time with the railroad cars, grandpappy was transferred to guard duty. When grandpappy was on guard duty he used an M1 rifle.  Guard duty consisted of ensuring that no mail was stolen by POW’s or other workers.  But when it was, the culprits were arrested. "Everyone was hard up," said grandpappy. He knew what it was like to grow up without a lot of food around and he had compassion for the people of Wurzberg.  The Sgt. of the Guard would give the culprits a lecture, then turn them loose.  Once they caught some civilian workers in the re-wrap section, which was where all damaged packages went, grandpappy said, “you had to watch them there”.  

The people of Wurzberg were war beaten and most homes were bombed. About 92%  of the City was laid to the ground by the RAF, and everywhere there lay big piles of rubble. Most of the surrounding area was bombed out too. Nazi daughters worked in the post office along side POWs, and grandpappy says they were forgiven.

His favorite part of working in the post office? Good people on the team and good supervisors. And the worst part? Having to pull KP - it was harder in basic though, "they worked the shit out of 'ya. A 5am to 10pm shift.”

As part of his guard duty he and other guards went with a tank and picked u
p prisoners to work in the post office.  The POW’s had to do manual labor - lifting, cleaning, loading coal, unloading mail, etc.

One of Grandpa's jobs was transporting prisoners to and from the post office.  About 3 or 4  guard per 65 POWs.  POWs were treated well and liked the post office, they got to eat well while there.   “Change of addresses were a pain in the ass.  Packages would sometimes come back 3 times,” but they worked hard to keep up with soldiers frequent transfers.  

Shenanigans

Classified as Corporal, grandpappy earned the rank of Staff Sgt. twice; however, he messed around and was demoted due to shenanigans that included drinking and getting caught with women. Those women were forced by the MP’s to be tested for diseases.  They let grandpa go with some extra guard duty or KP, he had his choice. Grandpappy took KP so he could eat extra.  For this particular incident he had to peel potatoes.  But everyone had to do Kitchen Police, everyone had to take a turn. For KP one could peel potatoes or be a table waiter.

In his off-duty time he hung out at local bars where the brewery never seemed to close and the ladies were plentiful. It was Bavaria after all.

Friends

After the war, grandpappy went back to work in the coal mines in West Virginia where he had worked prior to being drafted.  After three years there were a round of layoffs.  Granpappy and some friends signed up for jobs in the steel mills of Cleveland, Ohio.  Republic Steel paid for his train ticket and he worked for them for until conditions for workers were so bad he deliberately messed up in order to get fired. He left that job for one with J & L Steel where some of his friends had gotten jobs.

But he never forgot the friends he made during his time in the service - especially the Sgt of the guard. Years later granpappy would spend a whole day, while on a vacation with the family, looking up the whereabouts of said Sgt. of the Guard. in North Carolina. He hadn’t seen this person in nearly 50 years and yet, by asking around at local auto mechanics and diners he was able to reconnect with his old war buddy.

Earl G. West in Dayton Ohio (passed away a few years ago), was his best buddy and they spent a lot of time drinking and fighting together. Not on the record. They were a part of a rowdy bunch, like young people are...and they spent a lot of time together going out to clubs and they were allowed to take the german girlfriends.

Advice/Conclusion

Grandpappy was honorably discharged from the Army as a Corp. Technician 5th Grade after serving 2 tours of duty in Bavaria. 

Did you want to work in the P.O. when you came back from the war I asked him, "No,"he went back to his job with the coal mines in West Virginia operating a funicular up top. I guess the idea of making a career out of changes of address made him weary of working with the U.S. Postal Service.

Grandpa's advice for current soldiers was simple: keep from getting court martialed.  Don't do anything bad enough to get a record.  Go to bars, drink booze, have girlfriends. Remember that friends are important and don't let fights amount to much.  Rank is important.  Achieved Sgt. once, for 3 days and lost it all because of drinking and fighting and girls.