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C_Sherman · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 590

Hi,

Recently we recovered about 1200 slides from my father's house, before he could "clean up" and decide that nobody wanted them. We had them scanned, and discovered a treasure trove of family and military history. I thought you guys would enjoy seeing some of these.

D Co, 3/37AR conducted for tank gunnery in Germany, about 1959. These are M48A1s that still have the tensioning idler at the rear, and with the jettisonable fuel racks on the back. We believe that Dad was a Platoon Leader with D Co. at the time. 3/37AR was based in Schweinfurt, so this is most likely a range Grafenwoehr, although Dad has talked about using ranges at Hoehn or something like that.

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Railhead operations, most likely either before or after the gunnery cycle shown above.

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I believe that this is Dad's mount around that time:

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Probably in early 1960, the battalion participated in winter exercises:

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Sometime just before he left Germany in mid-1962, the battalion received new M60 tanks. These appear to to be early issued models, as they still have the external commander's MG on the cupola. Of course as soon as you take them to the field, some joe is going to drive in the mud...

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I hope you enjoy seeing these as much as I did. We still have thousands of negatives to sort and print, so there will probably be more later.

Chuck

C_Sherman · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 590

I guess I've forgotten how to make the pictures actually show in my post. Sorry!

Rick_Eshleman · Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 9:26 am Post subject: Re: Recovered history

Chuck,
Thanks for sharing your Dad's photos! They are good views of his unit and of historic value. I enjoyed looking at them, look forward to seeing more. Rick

Pzkpfw-e · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jul 21, 2010 Posts: 1202

Treasure trove!

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 1:56 pm Post subject: Re: Recovered history

Awesome stuff, Chuck. Please post more!

Is that your dad in the pic with the 1st Sgt. and recovery vehicle and APC on the train? Love those Ridgeway caps (NOT!) Laughing

If this was '59, then it was just 12 years prior to my service, and on very similar models (M48A2C's, I think). Never did Germany as a G.I., but often as a civvie.

toadmanstankpictures · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 704

Fantastic pics!

C_Sherman · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 590

- Doug_Kibbey

Awesome stuff, Chuck. Please post more!

Is that your dad in the pic with the 1st Sgt. and recovery vehicle and APC on the train? Love those Ridgeway caps (NOT!)

If this was '59, then it was just 12 years prior to my service, and on very similar models (M48A2C's, I think). Never did Germany as a G.I., but often as a civvie.

Nope, Dad was a skinny little s*** back then, no belly...yet. I have a few pics of him in uniform, including one that looks like a selfie from the tower at that range. I'll post it later. He looks so, so young...

BTW, did anyone recognize that range? I'm curious about where it is.

C

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:39 am Post subject: Re: Recovered history

- C_Sherman

- Doug_Kibbey

Awesome stuff, Chuck. Please post more!

Is that your dad in the pic with the 1st Sgt. and recovery vehicle and APC on the train? Love those Ridgeway caps (NOT!)

If this was '59, then it was just 12 years prior to my service, and on very similar models (M48A2C's, I think). Never did Germany as a G.I., but often as a civvie.

Nope, Dad was a skinny little s*** back then, no belly...yet. I have a few pics of him in uniform, including one that looks like a selfie from the tower at that range. I'll post it later. He looks so, so young...

BTW, did anyone recognize that range? I'm curious about where it is.

C

I've forwarded your pics to a retired O-6 who was a CO of mine in VN asking that very question (he had Germany time in armor before his first tour with SF). Waiting for reply.

vw82 · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Aug 28, 2012 Posts: 46

Wonderful photos!
In the first photo of the railhead operations there is a civilian lunch wagon serving the troops.
If you can enlarge that area of the photo enough you can perhaps make out the operators name & licence plate & tell where its registrated. Therefore the area and range location.

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:05 pm Post subject: Re: Recovered history

Chuck, from someone who was there in '59, FWIW:

"Unclear to me whether ranges were at Graf or Baumholder. Hohenfels did not have main gun ranges in 1959, and I'm not sure if units were using Wildflicken.
My unit only used Graf for tank firing, and my recollection was that firing infrastructure was gravel and more austere."

WimD. · Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:38 pm Post subject: Re: Recovered history

4D Co, 3/37AR conducted for tank gunnery in Germany, about 1959. These are M48A1s that still have the tensioning idler at the rear, and with the jettisonable fuel racks on the back. We believe that Dad was a Platoon Leader with D Co. at the time. 3/37AR was based in Schweinfurt, so this is most likely a range Grafenwoehr, although Dad has talked about using ranges at Hoehn or something like that.

Chuck[/quote]

Hi Chuck,

I think your father was talking about Hohne, from the Bergen-Hohne Training area: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...ining_Area

It is the largest training area in Germany.

Regards,
Wim.

Geoff_walden · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 26, 2006 Posts: 133

Those are GREAT pics, Chuck - thanks! To me, it looks more like Graf than Bergen-Hohne (I was just at Bergen-Hohne last week ... I had not realized that BAOR troops are still stationed there - nice folks to visitors). It's not Wildflecken - too flat. Not sure if units from Schweinfurt ever went to Baumholder ... not while I was stationed there, anyway (which was many years after your father's pics were taken).

Look at all that ammo to blow downrange ... wow.

It looks like MAYBE there is an Edelweiss logo on the back of the "gut truck" at the railhead ... maybe ... if true, that would point more toward Graf than Bergen-Hohne up in the north.

Geoff

WimD. · Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 5:22 pm Post subject: Re: Recovered history

[i]To me, it It looks like MAYBE there is an Edelweiss logo on the back of the "gut truck" at the railhead ... maybe ... if true, that would point more toward Graf than Bergen-Hohne up in the north.

Geoff[/quote]

[/i]

Hi,

An Edelweiss logo or a palm tree (with text "Bali")?

Regards,
Wim.

C_Sherman · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 590

- WimD.

4D Co, 3/37AR conducted for tank gunnery in Germany, about 1959. These are M48A1s that still have the tensioning idler at the rear, and with the jettisonable fuel racks on the back. We believe that Dad was a Platoon Leader with D Co. at the time. 3/37AR was based in Schweinfurt, so this is most likely a range Grafenwoehr, although Dad has talked about using ranges at Hoehn or something like that.

Chuck

Hi Chuck,

I think your father was talking about Hohne, from the Bergen-Hohne Training area: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...ining_Area

It is the largest training area in Germany.

Regards,
Wim.[/quote]

I think you are right. We found a bunch more slides(!), and some of them had notes on them. One of the series at the range is labelled "Bergen 1960", which fits.

C

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