Memories of My Military Experience Part Two
Part 2 of 2: In the German Occupation Force
In 1945, Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker, Nazi Germany surrendered, and the four Allies - America, England, France, and the Soviet Union - each occupied a section of Germany. The American occupation ended in 1954, nine years later, about the same time as the French and English occupation ended. But the “Cold War” between America and the Soviet Union immediately began and lasted until the economic collapse of the Sovieet Union in 1989. My year in Germany was not a happy or peaceful time in Germany. Was the Soviet Union going to send 40 divisions through the Fulda Pass and conquer us?
After the Korean truce in 1953, the Army decided to send the troops in the 10th Division at Fort Riley, KA, to Korea and and a few lucky souls like my friend Charles and me, to Germany to replace troops there. I was again very lucky to be reassigned to Germany, rather than Korea, thanks to my good friend, Charles, who was in Special Services with me at Fort Riley. I tell the story of how I met and befriended Charles in a former post, now available below:
Charles and I traveled together on a troop ship to Bremerhaven, Germany, to begin our last year in the Army. Being in the military, stationed next to the massive Soviet Union forces during the Cold War, created chaos and uncertainty, but also provided a small sense of the Hell American troops must have suffered during World War II. It was sobering.
My Troop Ship Surprises
Charles and I were just common G.I.s, but thanks to Charles’ connections through the underground gay network. He was gay, I wasn’t, and he used his connections through this network to get privileges common G.I.s wouldn’t get otherwise. We both got great jobs working on the ship’s troop newspaper - a daily mimeographed publication put out by about four or five G.I.s, including us. We bunked down below and ate in the ship’s mess hall. Some military men and their families were lucky enough to be transported on the legendary SS United States passenger ship that had set new speed records. I remember standing on deck one morning watching that ship pass us. It was much faster. Charles wrote for the ship’s paper and I drew graphics on the mimeograph forms with a stylus. The mimeograph operator was an interesting Greek gentleman who kept us all smiling with his witty remarks such as, “I always want to be perfectly dressed, I even want my socks to match my underwear.”
One day we had a surprise safety drill as we were getting out of our bunks below. The alarm went off and we were ordered to get up on deck as fast as we could and gather around the lifeboats assigned to us. I timed myself. It took me 20 minutes to climb the gangplanks and finally get to our assigned lifeboats. I was standing next to one of the ship’s crew and decided to ask a question out of curiosity, “Tell me, if we had been hit by a German torpedo, how long would it take for this ship to sink?” The crew member looked at me without a smile and simply said, “Less than 15 minutes.” I suddenly realized how a lot of men died at sea during WWII. There was no way out if we had been attacked by a Nazi submarine on this ship.
My biggest surprise was a different kind of shock - one I had never heard about, or even imagined before: starvation aboard a ship. We had been at sea for about five days, and the night before we had experienced some rough weather making us landlubbers sick beyond words. None of us Army G.I.s were ready for the constant up and down bouncing around. The next day when I went down the gangplank to enter the mess hall area for breakfast, I was stopped in my tracks by the suffocating stench from below. Countless men had gone down and vomited all over. I couldn’t breathe. I immediately went back to our newspaper cabin and waited, but nothing got much better for three days. Said simply, I didn’t eat anything for almost three full days. Our lifesaver was our Greek mimeograph operator. He had taken a bottle of Greek brandy down to a sailor in the mess area and traded him the brandy for a loaf of freshly baked bread. I will never forget how great a large slice of freshly baked bread could taste: no butter, no additional anything—just plain bread. I remember it to this day as the best meal I have ever eaten, no joke. After that traumatic experience, I know if anyone has ever come close to starving by answering one question, “What’s the best meal you’ve ever had?” I know what my answer will always be - a large slice of freshly baked bread.
Assigned to Ordinance, I Parted Company with Charles
When we got to Bremerhaven, they gave me two choices: I could be assigned to ordinance or infantry. That’s a no brainer. I didn’t know what ordinance meant, but no one wants to be assigned to infantry. You’re in the field, constantly on maneuvers, and some G.I.s said you have to sleep with your entrenching tool, a potential weapon, next to you at night. There were tales about fights and robberies and I didn’t want any part of infantry life. No thanks, I chose ordinance. Charles was sent to Heidelberg, Seventh Army headquarters. It was also where a lot of gay men were assigned. I didn’t see Charles again for almost 70 years; we lived in much different worlds, and I knew I could not have gone with him. But I will always remember his help in getting me to Germany. He was, and still is, a true friend, the only one I ever made in the Army.
I was assigned to the 881 Ordinance Maintenance Company in Hanau. The entire company was keeping 10-wheel troop carriers, and a few other types of trucks running. You’ve probably seen this truck pictured in war films. It had front and rear wheel drive, and a winch up front. On field maneuvers, I drove one.
The maintenance work on these trucks was conducted about two miles from the barracks area, in German-built, two story shops with long drive-up ramps. I was very impressed with the quality of all the German-built buildings, both the workshops and our barracks which seemed the equal of any New York City middleclass apartment building.
Most of the G.I. mechanics were Spanish-speaking. I’m not sure why. My first job was as a clerk typist in the workshop area. Xerox machines hadn’t been invented yet, so I was typing eight-page parts requisitions with seven pieces of carbon paper. Each part had a nine-digit number. You can imagine the time it took to correct typing errors, and there were many.
My first boss was a sergeant who gave me very poor evaluations for one reason only - I had two years of college, and he hated college men. He was replaced by a different sergeant about two months later. The replacement sergeant took me aside and apologized to me for the unfair evaluations. The top sergeant of my company saw my evaluations improvement and brought me into the main company office to be the T.I. & E. NCO (Troop Information and Education Officer, non-commissioned officer). I was never an NCO, but it was a job promotion. I stayed a PFC because promotions to Corporal were frozen.
My Failed Attempts to Find Fun
I was very lucky. I was in Germany, not Korea, I did not see combat, and I had the full G.I. Bill benefits which meant I could finish college and later get a V.A. mortgage to buy my first home. What I didn’t have was a friend like Charles I could talk to and share trips with. But I tried.
I went into nearby Frankfurt to visit the opera house, visited historical sites like Goethe’s home, and tried to meet some German girls who spoke English. I had taken two weeks of spoken German back at Fort Riley with Charles, but I wasn’t able to learn much. I also traveled to Paris with my not-friendly roommate, Corporal Hayes, who wanted to start a fight with me for bringing a man I had befriended into our little two-man room to talk about going to a Wagner Festival. Why? My new friend was Jewish. Corporal Hayes was from North Carolina. His life ambition was to be a State Trooper there. He also happened to be antisemitic. I also went by myself to London, met a classmate from Glenbard High school there who was now an M.P. in the Army. I also won a spelling contest at the service club, and won a three-day trip to Biel, Switzerland, where I rode a ski lift in the Alps. But after all that, I was starting to get bored.
All I really wanted was to get back home and return to college. Because I couldn’t be promoted to Corporal, the Master Sergeant of my company decided to put me in for the Good Conduct Medal, the highest non-combat medal offered by the Army, and I got it. He thought I had done a good job as his T.I.& E. NCO. There are some great sergeants in the US Army, and I had one.
Whatever Happened to Charles?
In 2023, I happened to see an article about the transition of a 48-block section of southern Manhattan into what came to be called SoHo. The article said the two main people responsible for this major zoning change, to my surprise, were Charles Leslie and his partner Fritz Lohman. The same Charles from the Army. They also founded the first gay and lesbian museum - the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art. I called the Museum and found a way to make contact again with Charles, after 70 long years. He invited me to his home on Prince Street and it was like we had always talked. Sadly, his partner had died in 2009 and Charles had taken over the Museum and other projects. He was also a successful real estate manager and spokesman for the LGBTQ community. I was very impressed. He was the most notable man I met in the U.S. Army and I shall never forget him.
