When I began contributing articles to this web site, I concentrated on just about everything but the most important part of Battery A's early years. The men. Of course, I cannot remember all of the fellows that went to Wurzburg with us, but there are a few whose names and faces have stuck with me. Considering that I can still remember them after 40 years must say something good about them. Here are some of the names, not in any particular order and only their last names, except for JohnnieSmith, whose name was always pronounced that way - Never "Smith" or "Johnnie" - always "JohnnieSmith":
ChetelatStills WolpertNovakBaySillivanBeveridgeFlanaryJohnnieSmithConatserCatherman CardosoLazenbyFreitasMcGovernHansenPorwickBurnapPorterCollingswoodOur TOE called for 99 enlisted men, 1 warrant officer and six officers for a total of 106 (I could be off by one or two but no more than that). In mid-1963 quite a few of the young Regular Army men were scheduled to rotate back to the United States for discharge. And there were no replacements on the horizon. At one time we got down to 49 men and officers, less than 50% strength. Then something strange happened that left an indelible impression on me. I had the additional duty as Unit Reenlistment NCO. Lt Milner was the Reenlistment Officer. He hated the job because he didn't believe it was in anybody's best interests to stay in the Army. One afternoon, one of the men listed above came to me and asked me in the strictest confidence if he could talk to me alone some time soon.
We agreed that he would come to my quarters the next night at 7:00PM. The next night, promptly at 7:00PM there was a knock on my door. There he was, with six other men of Battery A. They all wanted to reenlist but didn't want a lot of publicity about it because they were afraid of the reaction of the other men in the unit. The reason they gave: The unit was so undermanned that there were not enough people to do all of the work, guard duty, manning, etc., and if they left it would only be worse. I agreed to help them all with everything that needed to be done. Then we drank the half case of Krautheimer Bier that I had on hand. I can tell you that the beer tasted extra special that evening.
As I grew and matured as a soldier, I became aware of the phenomena concerning comradery that could develop between groups of soldiers. Cohesion toward a common and well-defined goal between soldiers in a peacetime Army is not rare, but nothing like the degree of comradeship normally seen in war - but I got a small glimpse of it with these fine young soldiers of Battery A. I am forever grateful for that experience. It shaped my style of leadership the rest of the way.
Al Garrett
