Private S. Norman, Queen’s Life Regiment (Denmark) 1986-1987. Reporting as ordered, sir.
Skidding up in a taxi, copy of “Stars and Stripes” in hand, duffel bag over shoulder, lipstick on the cheek. “Did somebody rember to call for a band? Is the USO cattering this gig? Where’s the donuts?!”
Myself
RA18932094
SP5 Air Traffic Control (Tower Chief)
HHC 8th INF DIV, US ARMY
Bad Kreuznach, Germany
1969 - 1972
Basic tranning: Ft. Lewis, Washington.
Good Conduct medal(for not getting caught).
AQF5 Bumbazine, (mostly) here.
1966 - 1970
1 yr. Memphis - electronic schools
2 yrs. VX5 Air Test and Developement Squadron, China Lake, Cal.
1 yr. U.S.S. America (aircraft carrier) VF14(?), I honestly can’t remember the squadron number, sorry.
Anyway, we circumnavigated the globe on our way to Viet Nam.
[aside]Spiney Norman: You are absolutely welcome here.[/aside]
deb races in putting on fatigues and steel toed boots.
Sgt deb, USAF, 1986-90
Comm/Nav Technician, F-4’s
George AFB, California
Hey Jvanhorn. I was C Co. 15th FSB, 1st Cav from 93-95.
I was the only x-ray tech in the division for the first year and so got to go on all three brigade’s field problems…uugghh…
Hooah!
Oh yeah, I just remembered:
1st Team! 
:: Drops coin ::
Yeah baby…
ENFN (E3) Freyr, reporting as ordered, SIR
Active duty, July 31st, 1978 to June 20th, 1980.
First (only) duty station, Pt. Mugu California, Pacific Missle Test Range, diesel mechanic on small AVR craft.
Well, I’ll be damned. I’ve been to BK lots of times.
SP4 Rysdad
HHB 8th Inf Div Arty
Baumholder, Germany
APO 09034
1971-1974
But I’m not wearing any lipstick…
2LT Tripler, 1999 - currently serving, 5th Civil Engineer Sqn, USAF, present!
::saluting those before him::
Brother Rysdad,
Baumholder! The only place in Germany where you can stand knee-deep in mud, waist-deep in snow and still get dust in your eyes!
One of our two sister airfields. And tanks, too–lots of tanks. Never got there however. You guys and our other sister air field, Finthen, had race riots for a time, but never did.
For some months I created a cartoon strip for the 8th Div newspaper I called “Can Do.” It featured cans wearing helmets and gear: Sgt Cola, Dewy the enlisted guy and Spry the sexy female. In each cartoon I had a smaller set of characters who made wise-cracks about the main characters. In one cartoon (frame #1) the small character says, “Baumholder?” to the second mini-can; and in frame #2, he says, “Sure, just head southwest until you get stuck in the mud.”
Your general took offense to this and chopped out the little characters which made my cartoon look like an ill-fitting jigsaw puzzle. I complained, they said “Tough.” and I stopped drawing the cartoon.
I was in the paper with Beetle Bailey and Sad Sack, two strips which routinely bad-mouthed the Army, but I was the only one they could edit, so it ended prematurely.
My brother’s wife met and became best friends with a woman who was in the Signal BTN at Bad Kreuznach about ten years after I left (I departed 1972). The atmosphere changed remarkedly.
The Germans were unbelievable gracious to us, especially those of us who spoke a bit of German or at least tried to get along with the locals. We had an unofficial, official orientation where we took our new guys and took them around town and told them where to go, where not and how to act. Leaning out the truck and whistling at the freuleins was verbotten! She says she was treated badly by the locals, which I suspect must have had something to do with her attitude in town.
The ecconomics changed. Where it was four D-marks to the dollar when I was there, and even on my skimpy pay I could afford to go out to eat often, tailor my clothes, buy a car and motorcycle, much travel; but when she was there, even on higher pay the exchange rate was 1+ or 2 D-marks to the dollar so she was always broke and stuck in the baracks which became a place where fights started. (I seem to recall Signal having many fights in my time as well. Especially with racial overtones. There were in the field three weeks out of four then, and it was a rough way to make a living. Our unit, the airfield personnell, on the other hand, got along famously, more like MASH and Animal House. (MASH came to our theater and sold out every seat for the five day run. I saw it three times the first day alone and seeing it with other GIs was hysterical.)
In short, same place, different story.
I’d love to trade stories (assuming the Statue of Limitations has expired), but I think I have hijacked this thread long enough.
I loved my job and my unit and the beautiful post (Built for the German Cavalary in 1937). I had a great tour in a terrific place and I miss those days often. (And the VA is taking great care of me here in San Francisco.)
Getting back to the subject, I alway thought the Marines had a better band than the Army, and we can’t have a V-day celebration without a band. USC has the best civilian band, IMHO. Do they come with a color-guard or do we need to pay extra for that?
Yep, we need to set John Phillip loose. Do you think we can issue arms and do a few 21 gun salutes?
I suggest we create a life-sized ice scupture of Bob Hope for the punch bowl. It is time to give him the thanks he deserves.
Myself
The Mad Kisser of BK
PS, the lip stick was from Mom, Eileen–really.
JOC (Chief Petty Officer), USN, 1983 - present
If it’ll help with the celebration… Um… I got a really big-ass nuclear-powered carrier…
((Sassy sings: “Be kind to your fine feathered friends…” and realizes she knows too much about music from cartoons.))
I’ve got my flag and a place at the curb… where’s the parade? My regards to all who work or have worked to keep us free.
That may be too big to be a float.
ducks and runs
Baumholder: Home Sweet Cesspool
Everybody had been to Baumholder, if only in their dreams. You know, the dream where you’re walking through ankle deep, brown snot and the air smells like diesel fumes and the place where you live is so run down you can see outside…right through the walls? In that same dream, is the fog is so thick that you could play hide-and-seek in a phone booth, and summer lasts for a total of 10 days…usually when you’re home on leave?
I don’t miss it.
::zenster salutes::
All of you have my personal admiration. If ever there was something worth fighting for it is this wonderful nation of ours. Although I have never served in the armed forces, I’m glad to have contributed to the Cold War.
Some of those contributions are:
[li]Failure Analysis of Laser Gyro Integrated Circuits[/li][sup]Used in small scale guided weapons and “brilliant pebbles” in SDI[/sup]
[li]R&D of adhesion promoting coatings for the B-1 bomber[/li][sup]Enabled better fabrication of Stealth skin materials[/sup]
[li]Large scale optical coatings for the SDI program[/li][sup]12" monolithic reflectors for Free Electron Laser project[/sup]
[li]Microwave resistor networks flying in the Space Shuttle[/li][sup]Design allowed for low noise radio communications[/sup]
Again, words cannot express the gratitude that I feel for all who have fought for and defended this magnificent country of ours. I am unable to thank you enough. There is a drink on me waiting for any of you in this thread.
…as much as I enjoy a parade, I prefer them to move swiftly and smoothly. To encourage the desired pace, I have arranged for golf carts and convertibles to carry all disabled veterans. Healthy specimens of the fair sex are welcome, nay, encouraged to sit in the convertibles and give the “Miss America wave” to all and sundry along the parade route.
To further discourage anyone from falling out of formation, there is a buffet and bar (free to all veterans and their guests) at the terminus of the parade route. Those preferring refreshment of the horizontal variety will be directed to the largely fictional, but quite sumtuous Hótel d’Grõõnt Armeé, to the left of the buffet and bar. Hundreds of rooms are reserved for those planning a drunken debauch, accompanied by a few close friends in various states of undress.[ul][sup]DISCLAIMER: The management of the Hótel d’Grõõnt Armeé would like to remind all participants to ensure any festivities within their establishment consist of only willing participants of the age of consent.[/sup][/ul][Salutes]
We now return you to your regularly scheduled coverage of the SDMB Veteran’s day parade.
~~Baloo
Cpl. Rhosis, Golf Co, 3rd Plt, 2nd Bn, 7th Marines, Camp Pendleton, CA, 1982-1986.
For the purposes of this post, don’t call me Sir, I work for a living.
Cpl. Rhosis
Hmm, I think I’m the only active guy here so far . . .
I’ll make reservations for all of us at the O’ Club. Tabs on me . . .
Tripler
I’m CE dammit, not SVS.
WHOA! My apologies to the Chief.
Tripler
Damn Lieutenants . . .