Richard A. Green
Signal Corps OCS Association
190 SW Wren Court
Lake City,
FL
32025
Dear Sir:
I'm finally setting down some of my memories of the period
around OCS before they get any dimmer and before I make the
"TAPS" column in Signals.
I landed in Ft.
Monmouth
fresh out of basic training at
Ft.
Dix.
I remember an interview I had with a Lt. Doty, during which I
was told I could attend Crypt
School
if I would sign up for the regular army for three years. After a
certain period of training at
Crypt
School,
I applied for and was accepted in the Signal Corps OCS at
Monmouth.
For the first couple of weeks in OCS, I
commuted every morning from my parent's home in Fair Haven, New
Jersey, arriving at the brick barracks in time to tighten up my
bunk and fall out for the morning formation, where I could hear
the voice of Iron Lung McClung say: "THE UNIFORM OF THE DAY
(long pause) OVERCOATS."
After the first two weeks the order came
forbidding sleeping off the post. However, as I recall, none of
my three demerits resulted from the commuting period.
It may be of interest to note that the
soldier in the bunk next to mine was none other than Joe
Lockhart, which is THE Joe Lockhart.
If only his report of a
formation of planes on his radar approaching
Hawaii had
been correctly interpreted, history might have been altered
significantly. While I never got to know him very well, he
seemed to be a most personable and happy-go-lucky guy. My one
recollection of him was his singing "Red River
Valley"
every morning while making up his bunk.
After OCS I was
assigned to Vint Hill Farms Station, which was near
Warrenton,
Virginia,
for further training. For a while I roomed in the former manor
house with First Lieutenant Bill Bundy, who later became a
Deputy Secretary of State, as I recall.
Vint Hill was good,
though rigorous, training. There were cryptanalysis classes,
physical conditioning, formations and parades in the afternoon,
firing on the range at Ft.
Belvoir, and weekend jaunts to
Washington. After a year or so I was
transferred to Arlington Hall Station, Va., where the work began
in earnest.
I was assigned to a unit that was busy around
the clock. My promotion to captain, which apparently originated
with Vint Hill, came through, and I was put in charge of a unit.
The personnel consisted of civilians, enlisted men, and
officers, on three shifts.
Not the least of the
events that occurred during my tour at Arlington Hall (which
included some satisfying accomplishments in our unit, the
dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima etc.), was meeting the
beautiful lady in my unit who became my wife... now of sixty-
some years. We snuck away one lunch hour to
Rockville, Maryland, and
tied the knot at the home of a friendly minister.
This letter would not
be complete without including some of the great guys I worked
with at one time or another. There were Lieutentants Bill May,
whom I roomed with in
Arlington
until he had to leave the apartment to make room for my new
wife, George Snyder, who was a most knowledgeable help in the
unit, Lambros Demetrius Callimahos, a most capable analyst and
all around good person. I should also mention Captain Tom Vultee
and Lieutentant Larry Helland, two good friends at Vint Hill
Farms Station. Cal Callimahos, as I recall, had a write-up in a
prior issue of Signals.
When I left the Army
and Arlington Hall in 1953 I recall saying good bye to our
commanding officer, Col. Kullback. Included among his parting
words were, "You came to us at the right time."
/s/ Gerritt L. Ewing Class 6-42
