C troop, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, Panzer Kaserne, Boeblingen, Germany

I was an infantryman with C Troop, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, of the 1st Infantry Division, at Panzerkaserne, Boeblingen, West Germany. January 1973 to August 1976 - three years, seven months and ten days. We were at Panzerkaserne, an orphan cavalry troop attached to the 4th battalion, 73rd Armor, while the rest of the regiment was at Fort Riley, Kansas. We were the "QuarterCav", while the rest of the regiment called themselves the "QuarterHorse". The other battalions at Panzerkaserne were the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry, and the 701st Maintenance Bn. (?).

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us..."  Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859). 

A policeman or firefighter goes home at the end of their shift, but wherever an infantryman is, IS their home. Though I was an infantryman, I spent more time scrubbing floors and toilets than firing weapons.

With highest regard to SSgt Alvarez, who taught us how to be infantrymen instead of targets, and the German people. The German people treated American GIs better than the American people did. In recognition of SFC. Triana and SFC. Ebby, who served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam - a couple of easy going, laid back guys. Most war movies, old or new,  are a bunch of crap. The movie that best represents my time in the infantry, is "Battleground", from 1949. It was the story of a platoon of men in the Battle of the Bulge.  "Battleground" was written a Battle of the Bulge veteran, directed by a WWI fighter pilot, and had many Battle of the Bulge veterans in bit parts. The armchair and video game generals now are quick to criticize the movie because there was no graphic violence. It would not been allowed back then, and all the millions of men who had seen war first hand, did not want to see more. The most realistic parts are the sarcastic humor and the types of people in the military. No movie or book can accurately portray  the miserable feeling of being wet and cold, or hot and sweaty for weeks at a time, with no change of clothes.

Below: During a winter field exercise, I pulled the air mattress and sleeping bag out of my tent, turned my overshoes inside out, took off my combat boots and socks, and dried out my bare feet in the cold air. Dry and cold is better than wet an cold.

Above: The Panzerkaserne training area. M113s, M106s and M114s in the summer of '73, still Olive Drab green. M114 scout vehicles were later traded in for M551 Sheridans.

The Panzerkaserne C troop motor pool and barracks, while the troop was out on maneuvers.

The three infantry M113A1s for C troop were named Cool Critter, Chastity and Climax. Unit ID on bumpers on vehicles was 1-1R4, for 1st Inf. Div, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry.

Building 2915. Part of my time on Panzerkaserne I was on the third floor, corner room. A bridge passing by the barracks.

During Reforger excercises - Joselito is not a Sikh, he just washed up in the ditch. M113, with sleeping bag hanging on the rear door, M551 Sheridan across the road. Photo courtesy of Joselito.

Border duty with Sgt Garcia in 1974, with Czechoslovakia in the background. Picked up a suspicious cat for questioning.

Personal hygiene in the field - washing up with my helmet (aka steel pot) as a wash basin.

M551 tanks on a troop train...

...pulled by a steam engine. The end of the steam era in Germany. Troop trains were low priority freight, and sometimes got steam engines in their last days. One company sized troop got three sleeper cars and a dozen or more flat cars for the tracked vehicles.

 What does an infantryman do on his time off? He goes hiking, of course!

1. This is a hikers route sign in the Black Forest of Germany. I hiked from Wildbad to Freudenstadt, Neustadt and Freiburg over four days.

2. A little more ambitious - hiking in the Swiss Alps, and meeting a couple local residents.

Time takes it's toll.