Below
are questions, with answers, which have been asked frequently. If I had included
everything in Fifteen He Was it would be twice as big as President Clinton's. (Of
course, that's assuming my memory is as good as his appears to be.) I will
start a new page for 'frequently asked questions' I receive from
readers of Ten He Was as he found
America. (now
available)
Q: When I
was waiting in line at your book signing I overheard you say that
when you got your first pay in the Army it was the most money you had ever
held in your hand. I thought the Army paid the GIs peanuts in WW-2.
Just what was you first pay in the Army?
I only had Bonnie (my
mare) two years but we did become very close. But here is the real story. I
joined the Army during Christmas vacation. I had written a note to my
stepmother that I had found a way to get back to Kunming China to join my
family and would leave my horse at the station in Glasgow. Instead, I rode
up the highway a mile then cut across the Reservation where I met Erika. I
patted Bonnie on the rump knowing she would go home. Erika then drove me to
Minot.
This was in the middle of
winter and it was cold, very cold, in Montana. When I was in the saddle I
wore an oilskin (a very heavy, waterproof poncho which keeps the rider and
horse cozy warm and dry). Bonnie did not have the benefit of the poncho and
me when she returned to the stable and, as a result, caught pneumonia. That
is what killed her, not loneliness.
You're absolutely correct.
But I did not want this to be a blood and guts book. I tried to include the
more humorous situations. We did lose several M-8s to mines and several more
personnel to small arms fire. We even had one guy 'go nuts' which probably
got him home early. Quite frankly, I have a tendency to work hard to forget
the bad and remember the good. War is never pleasant but we learned to try
to see the good side of everything as best we could. We had good officers
(though we didn't always see it that way at the time) and the best car
commander in the Army.
I certainly could but his
widow and daughter did not want me to include anything more than I already
have. But I can say that he was the most important man in my life. I didn't
get to know my own father; he was assassinated before I was born. My first
step father was a very quiet, reserved, ex-Muslim. My mother was the boss in
our family and I couldn't say enough about her. My second stepfather, 'Col.
Martin', treated his family like they were his troops. He was cold, totally
out of it as far as I was concerned. However, I do not like to say any more
than I did. He, too, is dead (of natural causes) so may the good Lord bless
his departed soul. Col. Meiers had a number of Jewish one-liners which could
- almost always - bring a smile onto your face even in the most adverse
circumstances. The one I like best is his response when folks asked him, in
the usual greeting, "How are you?" His answer: "Great. I don't like the
alternatives." When he was KIA in Korea, his family, the U.S.Army and the
world lost a great man.
She isn't - wasn't - 'my'
Rebecca but, to answer your question: YES!
7
Sep 07 Addendum: Rebecca's husband died of 'coronary arrest' attack in June.
I just learned of it. (And they are (were) both health nuts and he a daily
jogger.)
My
first pay in January '45 was, technically, $75. What I really received in my
had (they paid cash) was $18 and change and that was the most cash I had
even held in my hand. My pay as a private was a whole $50 (to me that was a
lot of money!). I had elected to have $25 of that sent to Erika's father
(who I had listed as my father) and the Army added another $25 to it which
brought the gross pay to $75. I also had elected to buy the NSLI Life
Insurance ($10,000) which had a premium, I think, of about $6.40 per month.
I was in Europe for my second payday and we didn't get paid (they 'kept' it
for us). I was also a PFC by then which meant $5 more per month.
In
the early Forties we didn't have all these picture IDs. In fact we didn't
even have drivers' licenses that I can remember. I was 6 feet 2 and almost
240 poinds, been working hard on a ranch and in very good physical shape.
Plus, if the sergeant suspected, the Army was hurting for men; the
draftables were all drafted and those turning 18 (like I said I was) were
joining to try and get a better deal (it didn't work). Also, back then,
people were more inclined to take your word. It was a very different society
from today's.
I assume you mean
the house we lived in with Col. Meiers in Einswarden. When I returned to
Germany with my family in 1957 we took a side trip up north and stopped by
the house (now occupied by a German family). I told them about living there
and they kindly took our family on a tour. Nothing had changed but the
furniture. The address is Heilegenwien Str 39, Einswarden, Oldenburg (Einswarden
is just north of Nordenham on the west side of the Weser River - across from
Bremerhaven/ Wesermunde).
I suggest you take
an extra copy of my book, mark page 49, and give it to the current resident.
I have always found the folks in northern Germany very accommodating almost
to a fault. (Be sure to be dressed nicely.)
Actually, the fact
that, at that point in time (December 1944), Germany appeared to have turned
things around and was taking ground back from us, was probably what made it
so easy to get in without question. But the real reason is in my other book,
Ten He Was as he
found America.
I have been asked this questions so many times but did not want to answer it
until Ten He Was
was out
and for sale :-). Well, now it is.
Ten He Was
relates my experiences when I first came to the U.S.A. and the very
forgettable experience I had when I was moved to Montana because it was
feared the Nazis were going to shell New York City from their U-Boats.