Comments on: Chart shows how weak recovery is

By: Let It Collapse

Let It Collapse — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 22:10:51 +0000

“I gave them four good years and we beat the commies.”

I gotta disagree with you there, Sarge.

We didn’t really beat ’em. We outspent ’em. That’s all. They ran out of money and we didn’t – until a few years later.

And today in many respects we’ve turned into them.

So there ya go. We’ve come full circle.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 22:07:21 +0000

In reply to Let It Collapse.

“I just can’t picture you in the army.” A lot of people say that.

I keep up with some buddies from the Army. But no reunions.

I got pretty much what the Army promised me. A lot of people can’t say that.

I gave the Army four good years and we beat the commies.

— John

By: Let It Collapse

Let It Collapse — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 22:01:48 +0000

JS, for some reason I just can’t picture you in the army. Round hole square peg sort of thing. But then you probably think likewise of me. Funny how people take certain twists and turns in life, isn’t it? I guess had I not passed that nonsense language test that the recruiter gave me as a young dumb kid my life would have taken a different direction. I wasn’t too bright but I was bright enough to know that I didn’t want to drive a tank or jump from airplanes. But I can’t complain. I learned alot in that short tour of duty. And I met lots of nice people who also decided to work and toe the line for the man. They offered me some nice coin and a choice of duty station to reup. Coulda returned to DLI. But it just wasn’t in my heart. I heard the call of the wild and just had to leave. And so it is……

Do you stay in touch with any of the troops or ever go to a reunion? There’s one coming up in the vaterland in the fall. I won’t be able to attend. When I talk to old time buddies we can talk for hours. Amazing how many stories accumulate in a tour of duty. And I never ever heard a shot fired except by the VoPo on the other side of the wall.

There are a couple conversations I’d like to have with a couple E-6’s. And they wouldn’t be too friendly either.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 16:05:27 +0000

In reply to Let It Collapse. SGT.

By: Let It Collapse

Let It Collapse — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 16:00:15 +0000

JS, I assume you were enlisted. After 4 years did you ETS as a Spec4 or a Sgt?

By: Let It Collapse

Let It Collapse — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 15:54:39 +0000

UU, respect your elders, young man! We lived what you might have read about in history class!

By: Ulysses Uhaul

Ulysses Uhaul — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 20:17:10 +0000

It is nice old people have a nice spot to hug and talk the good old days and enjoy lime jello with pineapple on top!

By: Let It Collapse

Let It Collapse — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 17:30:30 +0000

I supposed you visited Eagles Nest, huh? Man, what a view! Hitler sure knew how to live in style until he couldn’t anymore. But I actually liked the german people. Oh sure, they were a little standoffish and distant – but hell, who wouldn’t be after what they went through? But the germans were always honest and straightforward with me. I liked that. I never had to guess where they stood on anything. And all of them know who their elected officials were and were up to date on german legislation. And the openness and honesty over what happened during WW2 shocked me when I intermingled with a few of them. I put myself in their shoes. How would I like it if tanks and US military equipment were rolling up and down my street 24/7? But I guess that’s the price you pay when you lose a war. Not making excuses for the germans, btw. Germany did some pretty nasty things. So did we. But not all the german citizens were complicit. Many didn’t understand that. Still don’t. They do have a beautiful country and very culturally sophisticated to a common American who is inundated with banks and gas stations.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 16:32:11 +0000

Exchange rate was about 1.67 in 1979-80. After Reagan/Volcker, it went up to about 2.2.

I went skiing a couple of times in Garmisch.

I wanted to go to FS Augsburg permanently until I did it temporarily. I hated listening to the static 8 hours a day. And I hated the reverse shift rotation. The still were there 1979-80. MoPo was better.

Field exercises maybe 2 mos. total every year. Reforger was 2 weeks. Some smaller deployments, plus alerts every few weeks, where we went out to somewhere in the Fulda Gap for a day.

We also went up to a small field station, can’t remember the name, about 2 hours N. of Frankfurt. A couple of days maybe every 5 mos. Just a couple of guys (or girls) were there permanently. We set up our trucks and listened to the Red Army. That was great duty because the Army paid for us to eat in German restaurants. (Thanks, U.S. taxpayers!)

By: Let It Collapse

Let It Collapse — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 15:39:34 +0000

Augsburg was in the beautiful part of Germany – Bavaria. If you happened to be a skiier it would have been paradise – next to Garmish, Berchtesgaden and not far from the Austrian border. But I thought you guys had to go out into the field on exercises about 4 months out of the year? I don’t know. I’ve always preferred sleeping in a soft bed. But that’s just me. Oh, we had practice alerts occasionally in the middle of the night. Other than that and cleaning the dust from the barrels of our M-16’s once a month. Yeah, those rotation shifts were pure hell. I think they discontinued them about a year before I left due to all the sick calls. Immune systems were not working properly and they were having a hard time adequately staffing the facility. The human body just isn’t made for that. One week 8am-4pm, next week 4pm-midnite, next week midnite-8am. Try that for 2 years sometime. Torture. Only a young person could tolerate it. Oh, about a year before I left they implemented PT too. We had to run a mile in 12 minutes or less. Not that hard to do. But quite a few had to go on remedial training until they could crack the 12 minute minimum. Why lingies had to do that….I’ll never know. If the ruskies invaded where the hell would we run anyway in an enclosed city? More army nonsense.

What was the exchange rate when you left? Under 2 west marks per dollar? Probably 1.75. Right?

Did you graduate U of M before or after your stint in the army? Did you ever consider OCS?