US Army Chapter 5

NURENBERG
Chapter 5

I reported to the motor pool to qualify for an Army driving license and qualified in ½ ton Jeep, ¾ ton cargo truck, 2 ½ ton bus, 2-½ ton truck, and Volkswagen. I liked the truck best. That was one big dude and much fun to drive on those old narrow brick roads through old rural towns and out on the Autobahn. I had a great insurance company behind me too. The Jeep was a Jeep, Army style. It had nothing in it that could have been considered comfortable and it wasn’t. Ah, the Volkswagen was a hip hugger in ever respect for one at 6’1” and 200 pounds. Put another 200 pounder and equipment in, and it got smaller still. When the Volkswagen craze hit this country during the 60s, I had all the Volkswagen driving I ever wanted behind me.



We always had a German civilian driver for our assignments, unless we were going to an Army unit in the field on maneuvers or an overnight.



As Official US Army Photographer, I photographed everything for the official Army records. We did some accidents, German-American PR, retirements, medal awards, mortuary shipments, and anything that needed recording for those Army records. Not a ribbon was cut nor a spade dug in a new construction sight was missed. I did ID photographs for the German civilians and guards that worked on Government property, and military ID cards. When I left for Germany from Dix, the Army decided to take our newly acquired ID card from us because Europe had their own cards. We marched past a box to drop our card in and for some reason my card stuck to my hand and wouldn’t let go, so I had mine in Germany. I was able to go off post and explore Furth and Nuremberg.

There was no special European Card. All those who didn’t have a card couldn’t leave the post. The Army way.

(With this pass I could go off post anytime I wanted.)
The Army sent special teams from the States for the purpose of photographing every man, woman, and child who had their cards collected. In Europe whole Divisions of replacement soldiers had turned in their new official cards for non-existing cards. It was a mess and got messier. We heard the teams had forgot to take the dark slide out of the cameras. All there film was blank. Back they came for a redo. The second time through must have been successful? The Army way.

Once my camera arrived from home, I was able to go on assignments alone. Sgt One was as happy as me. My first few assignments were ribbon cuttings. We were returning some local government back to the German authority, so that was big news. The date for the end of occupation was waiting for the elections to finish and Conrad Adenauer had been elected chancellor. He was a good man and a very fine fellow to start up the new Germany. I don’t remember the date or the timing but, you can do a Google search if you want. I don’t.

My first experience at the mortuary was a shock that turned good. Dead bodies were not high on my list to photograph. I had no idea that the Army had embalmers as a branch of service. How naïve of me. We photographed faces of each corpse in the coffin before shipping it back to the states. One copy went into the coffin with the body, a second went with the paper work outside the coffin, a third copy was kept in the file at the mortuary, and a fourth copy was sent to Dover Mortuary. Every one of the morticians was my age, and one told me to just sit down quickly and put my face between my knees if I felt faint. He also suggested I take a tour of the mortuary and see how the bodies were processed and prepared for shipment. By doing that, I would not have a problem in the future.

I did take a tour when they had a body being prepared for me to see. It was the most interesting tour of an unknown I have ever taken. I was struck the most by how much respect was given the corpse. The bodies were handled with gentleness and care every step of the way. I won’t go into fine detail here, but I never have had a problem attending funerals since. To see a dead body stretched out in a stainless steel sink with the internal organs removed and the skull opened, gave me a mental picture of dead as being as dead as it gets. All the bodies had autopsies at the hospital before going to the mortuary. The body was reunited with internal organs from the hospital, embalmed, and placed nude into the coffin. The corpse’s military unit had the expense of a full new uniform with rank and ribbons attached. The uniform was folded and placed at the foot of the coffin, and shipped to the states. The mortuary in Dover, Delaware, would clothe the body, including underwear, shoes and socks, and do makeup for burial. A soldier would accompany the body from the mortuary in Europe to the grave. At the time, it seemed to me that the Army had more respect for the dead than the living. As I look back after 50 years, (It’s taken that many for me), I have to admit I got more than fair treatment from those in command all through my two years of active service. GO ARMY!

The commanding General of the related branch fostering the German takeover of an Army operation or opening a new building performed most all the ribbon-cutting ceremonies. The German city leaders would accept the keys and offer thanks for the aid given the people of Germany. The Marshall Plan at work, and work it did. Many times I met all the Generals with scissors in hand.

The General in command of our Army Hospital was the most photographed of them all. He cut every ribbon in front of every hospital, and clinic in the district. His name has left my memory but not his kindness to me, and all those Germans he shook hands with at every gathering. Germans love to shake hands. They shook hands coming in and going out. In a group gathering, everyone shook everyone else’s hand. I think the right hand of Germans must be larger than their left through evolution over the centuries.