I got to Camp Roeder in October, 1953. I was assigned to the 66th Ord. Co. as a mechanic in the wheeled vehicle repair shop. Our unit also handled tracked vehicle repair, the vehicles being tanks and halftracks.

Sometime after my arrival (I can't remember when) we were redesignated as the 832nd Ord Bn. We were divided into two Companies (A & B) on paper but our mission, manpower, shops, equipment and barracks remained unchanged. I have no idea why the change in unit designation was made.

When I rotated home in June, 1955, the unit was still known as the 832nd. During my time at the 66th/832nd I quickly found that I didn't care for life in the shops and talked my way into a job as company cook. My career as a cook was cut short by an emergency leave to the States; when I returned I found the slot filled so I became ! an armorer.

So much for army career planning. Anyway, I had fun, made some good friends and grew up. During my stay, the U.S. occupation of Trieste, Italy ended and our unit received a number of guys from there. They were all good men and fun to be with. I fell in with a couple of them who were from South Philadelphia (Philly). Being from New Jersey, I had something incommon with them, namely the Jersey shore (particularly Wildwood). You'd have to be from these parts to appreciate that.

I was assigned to USFA in July 1954 as a brand new second lieutenant right out of the Ordnance School at Aberdeen Proving Ground. During home leave before leaving for Austria, I got married and my new bride and I got concurrent travel to Lofer through Salzburg.

We lived in Saalfelden (just down the road from Lofer) and I commuted to work, so to speak. It was about a 15 mile trip one way as I recall. The countryside was just lovely and, coming from California, I had never seen so much greenery in my life. I was amazed and dazzled. I was only in Lofer a couple of months, as I recall, when I was reassigned to the detachment in Bolzano.

I did a lot of traveling around the area, visiting some of the earlier sites where the ammo was stored - Dobbiaco (Toblach), Brunico (Bruneck) and Cortina d'Ampezzo (yes, the same place the winter Olympics were held a few years later) - over toward Austria.

From Bolzano, driving north toward the Brenner Pass, I recall names like Bressanone (Brixen), Fortezza (Franzensfeste), Campo di Trens (Freienfeld), and Vipiteno (Sterzing). I spent a couple of weeks in Vipiteno, a very colorful Alpine village, supervising the platoon unloading ammo from railroad cars and storing it in temporary bunkers. Another group was working up toward the Swiss border.

I can remember driving up through Merano (Meran) to reach Spondigna (Spondinig). I may not have all the names right. It's amazing how all this comes back to me while looking at an atlas.

The people in the area didn't care much for Americans. I can remember walking along in Bolzano, and being spit upon by a young man. I couldn't understand what he said. There was a detachment of Italian Alpine troops in the area (Alpini's??), and they were the sorriest looking soldiers - they looked like they slept in their uniforms and needed haircuts and shaves.

Anyhow, I really felt fortunate to have spent my army tour in that part of the world. Almost all of my Aberdeen class were sent to Korea as Ordnance Ammunition Officers. One other guy, as I recall, was assigned to USAREUR and I was assigned to USFA. That's about it for the moment.