US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Sill, OK)

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Q. ,f Q ' ,C-a, -, . ' f :xl X i x,x ij- XM WA'-TERMH-. SHEALOR CHARLES M., BUSBEE JOHN R. eases LLOYD L. IRELAND JOHN H. WERNET R. N. ROWLAND aaffaliisitrs-3 B iiaipiam ' Capiiln Caplaln Caplaln Capldln a a lon S-2 Commanding Officer Battery C Battalion Liaison Officer Commanding Officer Commanding Officer Service Battery, Battalion S-4 Battery B ' -,.' sy S. if ' iN,.TY,, M.. . 4,1 XL, ji, it ,, V QA, yi K , . V N , bw: A. V ' ,Q K X, Xt: 6, ' ri, .Q L. X A 1 ii. P X , f , -if P P. .. .3.. H 4' . 'Z . ,Q 1' ,S . 4. Q Rh Q b T 0, ' pkg. ff' . xl' it --A - A sie ' L S V 'L' Ef f-L . C. . . A 1.5.5 ,, . E I. .. 4 ' 'f z 2' -A isis! . .1 E? -QL ' ' ' Ye - 3 f ..-,L S ri - X . : 3, ,f i T I ,. I A A T I!-.1 lf' ii A f ' ay!! A ' N NICOL COOK, JR. SPILLMAN N. F-lTZPATRICK,JR. S. M. GLASGOW, JR, ANDREW F. GOLEBIOWSKI JOHN E. GOODE JAMES L. KEEGAN First. Lieutenant, First. Lieutenant. First Lieutenant First Lieutenant First Lieutenant First Lieutenant Reconnaissance Officer Reconnaissance Officer Executive Officer Battery A Battalion Motor Officer Ammunition Train Commander Battery A Battery A 'Z-'Z .49 N .-an fff A . O K if N, J' 'Nm l l 5 at i LYNDON M. KING, JR. CLOTA C. LEONARD LESTER L. MENG CARL H. STROUSE FRANK H. ABBOTT, Ill First Lieutenant First Lieutenant First Lieutenant First Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Medical Officer Executive Officer Battery C Executive Officer Battery B Reconnaissance Officer Motor Officer, Battery B Headquarters Battery DANIEL H. BERRONG ROBERT E. J. CARTON EDWARD P. HENRY VINCENT W. KAFKA HARNED R. MORRISON Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Motor Officer Battery C Battalion S-I Platoon Leader Platoon Leader Motor Officer Battery B KJ 'Q S57 4-hs 5. 'Uh LO .ad 11. 1 I -- I HERBERT S. PARNES MELVIN G, SHIMM HAROLD J. TRUETT LAURISTON A. WILCOX HAROLD G. MELLER Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Chief Warrant Officer Warrant Officer, iigi Platoon Leader Platoon Leader Battery B Motor Officer Service Battery Personnel Officer Assistant Battalion Supply Headquarters Battery Officer

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nlsronv or THE szarn Rocker FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALIUN The 628Th has drawn iTs lasT breafh, The end was signfled- appropriafely, by a flurrY of Paper W0Flf. NOW ihali The Old baTTalion is no more, leT us review some of The highlighfs of our acTiviTy ThaT gave us nighfmares, sore feeT, aching Paflfs- wef days on The road, cold nighTs in The field, loTs of shooTing, fancy barracks aT Sil-I, and plenTy of headaches in Chicago. Above ull ThaT, we found plenTy of laughs, and many friendships To rzherish. T April To SepTember: On a damp morning in Camp Chaffee, April 20, I944, The baTTalion was born. An enlisTed cadre of sevenTy-nine men from The 78Th Division and sixTy-five men from The ASTP were greefed by TwenTy-nine officers from uniTs ThroughouT The counTry. These were To be The hearT and brain of The Team led by Maior James T. Avery. This small group played hard and Trained hard To be ready, when The resf of The men arrived, To build a Top-noTch ouTfiT. On AugusT 7 The men came from ForT Sill, ForT Bragg. and Camp Roberfs To puT The baTTalion near Top sTrengTh. The following Two days we Took our individual Training TesTs and came Through wiTh a fine raTing which en+i+led us To move on To The nexf Training period, field work and plenTy of iT, Sepfember Through January: i ThaT happy inTerlude which brings memories of a log fire, early American plumbing, soff, creamy mud, and chaTTering Tanks. During This period we learned To work as a baTTalion in The field. The big operafion was The maneuver wiTh The l6Th Armored Division, Remember? Three weeks insfead of four in The field. Lucky To geT ouT of ThaT exTra week were we noT? Sure. JusT Take iT in December: iT's colder Then anyway. AT The beginning of This period we losT a fine man. Our baTTalion commander, LieuTenanT Colonel Avery, was Transferred To a division ready To go overseas. IT was Tough To see him go, buf we were happy ThaT he goT his promofion while sTill wiTh us so ThaT we could share ThaT Thrill wiTh him. Our new commander, LieuTenanT Colonel James B. -Anderson, Took over The worry and ioy of leading a high-spirifed ouTfiT ThaT knew iT was going places To do Things, PracTice BaTTery and BaTTalion TesTs. was The cry Tar The monfh of January. New men came and The baTTeries had To readiusf and refrain Their men. Many old friends were gone and were missed, buT as The new men Took Their places we moved on amid rumors of changes of sTaTion To almosf everywhere. February To May: The firsT of February we received The definife word: We will move To Camp Gruber, Oklahoma abouT The fifTeenTh of This monTh. ThaT was iT. The Talk was ThaT we would be overseas in Three monfhs. Buf we could depend on The 628Th To be differenT and Thus we came To ForT Sill, Oklahoma, on The TwelfTh in a pouring rain. The Whife Palace never looked so good as iT did ThaT Tirsf midnighf when we moved in afTer an eighfeen-hour swim from Chaffee in icy wafer. Following a brief period of orienfafion aT The ArTilleryman's Valhalla we iumped info The Treacherous whirlpool of school re- quiremenTs. Shoofing was our long suiT and we had plenTy of iT here. This was desfined To be ThaT infangible somefhin we had Q been working Toward, alfhough we did noT know iT when we arrived. By aTTenTion To duTy and The conscienfious efforfs of all The men and officers, we developed uiTe a re T T' T Training, efficiency, and playing, g pu a ion or appearance, 56 ln April The old man, i Jim To you now, Took a bride. Whaf a wedding and whaT a bride! A real arTillery wedding. Re- member Jim and Doris on The caisson as They rode around The posf? You know, he never was quiTe The same man affer ThaT. Always wanfed To go home in The evening insfead of having school or nighT problems. May To AugusT. Parade Troops, Tourisfs, Arfillerymen. This was The period of recognifion for The work of The pasf. ln May we were chosen To parTicipaTe in The parade in Okla- homa CiTy for LieuTenanT General McLain, WiTh Trucks and equipmenf freshly painfed we IeT+ for The ciTy-in The rain. We had a nighT sTop aT Will Rogers Field To clean up, see The ciTy, and prepare for The big evenT. Nexf day, men and maferial glisfening in The hoT Oklahoma sun, we drove Through cheering Throngs, pasf The reviewing sfand and back To ForT Sill wiTh a commendafion. Upon our reTurn we iumped info preparaTion for our Annual General lnspecTion To Take place on June 7 and 8. Affer mad days of scrubbing,' painTing, and checking we were ready. Our raTing was excellenf, and boTh Major General Pennell and Brigadier General Paine made special noTe of The fine reporf. Our supply sysfem was parficularly ouTsTanding. Soon Thereaffer, we were chosen To fire The demonsTraTion for a group of disTinguished officers from TwenTy-Two naTions. The resulTs were excellenf and once again we were commended, ThaT same day, we were alerTed for our big excursion. AfTer a TwenTy-four-hour waiT we goT under way, by coach Train, for Chicago and The sfrikei. And again iT rained. We arrived laTe aT nighT and moved To our bivouac area in Washingfon Park, ThirTy minuTes from The loop and five minuTes from Sixfy-Third and CoTTage Grove Everyone will remember ThaT bi Two weeks in ' Q The ciTy and The fun we had: whaT is noT remembered we will leave unsaid. l-loT on The heels of our Trip To The big ciTy, for which, iT is rumored, some people were noT ready, we were husfled To Camp Hood lyou guessed iT-in The rainl for The big hush-hush ex- perimenf ThaT was To be The Nips' undoing. Here was an ar- Tilleryman's paradise, beaufiful hills for observaTion and plenTy of shooTing. Remember Those cool nighfs under The sTars and The blisTering days in The Texas sun? We could noT reTurn Too soon To dear old ForT Sill, buT iT was a glorious end To our arTillery days. On The firsT of AugusT we puT our howifzers away for good and became a rockeT baTTalion. Shorf lived To be sure, for The Japs quif and The rumor came ThaT our days were numbered. By AugusT 20, nine of The officers had received Their orders, among Them LieuTenanT Colonel Anderson. We haTed To see Them go. Swell guys To remember, This was The beginning of The end. for VSVY Sl OVTly over Two hundred of our men and virfually all our officers leff., WiTh Maior Shealor, who had been our S-3 since acfivafion, in command, we received our orders To inacTivaTe The baTTalion on SepTember II, I945, ThaT day is gone. WiTh due respecf, a handful of us who were There ThaT April day in forTy-four have puT To bed The 628Th FA BaTTalion. WiTh pride in our achievemenfs and wifh memories of True comradeship befween The officers and men, we Close The book on The spiriT of a fine baTTalion. May iT never have To rise again. T 1 ii'T iii, l ilallls' i i i l ! l l i i l l -JJTCOOK, Ji. S l iilieulenani w faiiuice0lfiC2f V laHer1A l l DAM S Maki?

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ForT Sill, Oklahoma Augusf 22, l945 Dear Julie, i Having resolved To bring my procrasTinaTing self up To daTe on my correspOr1deUCe. l have dglvekd IHIOI ThaT ancienT file of unanswered mail from whence I have dug ouT your now somewhaf mouldy .le,TTer o orrors. can iT be Truel May IO, I944, ThaT leTTer, forwarded on To me, came shorfly afTer my arrival in ForT SmiTh. Arkansas. and caughf me in a diTher from which I have never fully emerged. I You asked me how I liked being an army wife, Well, my dear Julie, The answer. ToHThaT would provide excellenT maferial for a full-lengTh book. Maybe someday l'll wriTe The Saga of an Army Wife. In The meanflme. li youre sTill inTeresTed, l'll aTTempT To give you aT leasT a glimpse inTo The lives of Those creafures somefimes referred To as camp followers, The women who do Their besT To make homes-away-from home for The men They married. The diTher I menfioned involved a franfic orgy of searching for pofs and pans.. curTain maferial, dishes, mops, eTc., among The almosf depleTed sfocks of war-iammed ForT SmiTh. One day I. hiT The lackpof and wenT up The elevafor aT The Goldman I-loTel proudly carrying dishpan and ironing board, which were laTer Taken by cab To our new home when we moved in. The very firsT chore of an army wife af a new sfafion is To find a place To live and is abouT as complicafed a maneuver as anyfhing she has To do. Some of The girls spenT days and even weeks siTTing aT The Homes Regisfrafion Office waifing for someone To move ouT of a house or aparTmenT. Well, finally everyone goT seTTled, afTer having removed The dirT and debris in some cases lefT by The' lasT TenanT, making curfains, slip-covers, hanging picfures, and Trying in general To make The place look as much like home as possible. I musT say Too ThaT The effecf was usually preTTy good, Besides being hecTic, iT really was loTs of fun and forfunafely we gof To sfay in Forf SmiTh long enoughfo make if worfhwhile. When we were all seTTled, our Group Commander's wife, Mrs. Bush, a very lovely person, decided To organize The wives in some way so ThaT we could all geT Togefher and become acquainfed. So once a monTh we mef aT The Officers' Club for a duTch luncheon and bridge. Each Time The girls from one of The baTTalions acTed as hosTesses, making all arrangemenfs and geTTing The prizes for bridge, eTc. We had loTs of fun and somefimes as many as sixTy girls aTTended. They devised some preTTy clever mefhods for avoiding cliques by Their seaTing arrangemenfs. One Time we were seaTed according To The sTaTes we were from and once according To our birTh monThs. Some- Times They conducfed quiz conTesTs wifh prizes for The winners, and once we all Took our favorife recipes and ex- changed Them. We had had only one or Two parfies when a new group Commander came To us, and his wife Took over The problems of The group's social life. Mrs. Bedinger was a wonderful person Too and we all came To love her. She was really like a mofher To us all. Each baTTalion had iTs parTies Too and The girls in our baTTalion meT bi-weekly aT The homes of The differenf ones for bridge and refreshmenfs. Finally, however, we came To be Too large a crowd, so we began Then To have dufch luncheons Too. ' Besides our social acTiviTies and keeping house, some of The girls parTicipaTed in Red Cross work. Two mornings each week The wives from The whole group made surgical dressings. Also in our baTTalion were Two members of The Red Cross Mofor Corps, Two I-lome Service workers. and a couple of Nurses' Aids. One Time we decided ThaT we would like To improve our bridge, and a few of The girls didn'T play aT all, so we each boughT ThaT lesson book of CulberTson's, you know, We mef aT The differenT girls' houses, and sfudied, dis- cussed, and Tried To puT inTo pracfice a lesson each week. ' We really had loads of fun and everyfhing usually wenT along fairly smooThly unTil suddenly someone would hear a rumor ThaT we were going To move somewhere, and in The army one rumor has The power To launch a long campaign of wild speculaTion and evil forebodings which Throws all The wives inTo an immediaTe and indescribable sTaTe of iiffers known as being nervous in The service. We've had several affacks of This peculiar ailmenf, buf The worsf was in January and lasTed a whole monTh, AT one Time we were so sure of being senT To Camp Gruber ThaT some of us wenT so far as To go To Muskogee and go house-hunTing. Silly girls! Lucky ThaT Muskogee had noTh- ing, and I do mean nofhing, To offer, because we came To ForT Sill insTead. Oh, yes, we did move, and This is iusT abouT where you came in, where The girls are once more knocking Themselves ouT Trying To find places To lay Their weary heads, ThaT is affer They have again dusTed and scrubbed, made and hung curfains, eTc. Why repeaf? lT's The same deal! Our life here in LawTon-has been much The same as iT was aT ForT SmiTh. We sTiII have our baTTalion parTies. bridge games, and good Times in general. We also aT regular inTervals sweaT ouT rumors. As a maTTer of facT, nine of our officers were Transferred lasT week wiThouT The aid of a single rumor. They iusT received orders, bang- llke ThaT! We sure haTed To see Them go. So now everyone wonders, Who will be nexT? You know, sixfeen monThs' is aulong Time To. live so closely wiTh The same people, We have always had such a grand crowd of.real good Joes, boTh The officers and Their wives. ln The army you become acquainfed wiTh people very rapidly. LosT souls so far from home have a greaT deal in common and sorT of flock Togefher nafurally. Wefalll llljve 'flle Same lf1'fefeSlS. we have laughed Togefher and cried TogeTher, we share The same worry always and we ee T e same deep grafifude for The good forfune ThaT has come our way. Griping is a favorife sporf in The 'army Zndlwe do .our share of iT, buT we do UOI' Complaln- There is noT a one of us who would noT puf up wifh a greaf eahmore ingionwqenience and hardship Than we have yeT known as long as we can be wiflq our husbands, And as TUE GE We QP Ofeglhe neCeSSI.Ty which has broughT us all TogeTher, we do appreciaTe The pleasanT associafions ThaT 'I 55 een OUV P V'l'-399 lo eflI0Y. We have made some close and lasfing friendships wiTh people whom we will really hafe To leave when The Time comes for all of us To ge our Separaife Ways. Good heavens. Julie, l've rambled for Too long already, and There are sTiIl dozens of Things l'd love To Tell you agaoufz lgguess Theyll keep. Sixfeen m.onThs in The army is iugf Simply +00 long a period +0 Cover in a brief rvismlzowsloodness only knows whaT l will have To reporf in my nexf leTTer, Maybe l'll be wrifing from Tokyo.. AffecTionaTely, Margie 58 K N i r. s l l + le .x T' I L I I