Aschaffenburg, Germany, 1962-1963
I never pass up an opportunity to say hello to my fraternity brothers from the 3rd I. D. I was drafted during the Berlin crisis in 1961 and did my Basic & AIT at Fort Ord, CA. Upon my completion I was sent on a lovely 9 day cruise to A-Burg, Germany in March 1962 and assigned to the 1st Bn 7th Inf Co. B at the Graves Kaserne. Needless to say I was bitter at the outset when all this happen to me. I was 23, had a beautiful girlfriend, a good job, and in the prime of my life. But, looking back I wouldn't change the experiences that were awaiting me. I met numerous unforgettable characters from all walks of life and Europe being so piggyback, I visited France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and most of Germany. My nephew was stationed with the 8th Division in Bad Kruznacht and we got together on most of our furloughs. Our first was to Spain for 2 weeks, we were broke in 3 days. We were like kids in a candy factory, the women were all "10". The family came through for us and wired enough monies to finish out our first furlough. I was assigned to a rifle platoon and being on a 24 hr alert we either marched or chauffeured by APC to alert areas. How can anyone forget a German forest and mountains, the trees were so close to each other the moon couldn't shine through. The mountains so high it seemed like we were above the clouds. My luck changed in September 1962 when I was picked for the division rifle team which was stationed in A-Burg. Being from San Francisco, the only rifle I had ever fired was at a tin squirrel at Playland. Somehow the Army training made me an expert and I was number 1 with my trusty M-1 for the enlisted men. All we did was traveled through Germany competing with other division rifle teams until October 1963 when my tour was coming to its end.
Last day of a 2 week division maneuver.
Schwienfurt Range
Rapid fire rifle team
In the Rifle Range target pit pulling targets
I left Germany on November 1, 1963 and was booked on a lovely troop carrier the Fort Gordon along with twenty-four hundred other returnees, the accommodations were a little cramped to say the least.
Now being 72 my memories of A-Burg have faded, but, I still remember the castle on the river, the Fasching season when the Germans were more civil to us. The flip capped beers and the walks to downtown in the winter when sidewalks were like glass. I must have fallen a thousand time and cursed at the dammed winter. I experienced only one winter, but, it was the worse one in 20 years, just my luck. I can't forget the schnizel stand at the entrance to the Kaserne and the bratwurst sausages at the downtown restaurants. My German spelling is all guessing, I'm sure you got the gist of it. I was sadden to hear that that the Division had relocated to Georgia, I wanted to go back to A-Burg for a visit.
Aschaffenburg Castle
Photos courtesy of Joe Carrasco
Well it was nice dusting off my memory bank and reliving and sharing some good times with my fraternal brothers,
Joe Carrasco
Cottonbalor
3rd I. D.
"Hail To The Rock of The Marne"
P. S. The most memorable experience occurred to me during Division maneuvers. I was left close to the Autobahn awaiting to guide a gas truck to our alert area, when a Russian Liaison car(They were allowed to travel the autobahns during Division Maneuvers) stopped in front of me. They were Officers and all they did for 20 minutes was look at me and point, I looked ever so menacing with my rifle loaded with blanks. I'm sure my fatigues convince them not to defect