In February of 1956, I and about 50 others were inducted into the Army at 615 W. VanBuren St., Chicago, Il. and put on a train for Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. We remained at Leonard Wood for about a week before being shipped to Fort Carson Colo. with other inductees from the Midwest and assigned to "E" Company, 28th Infantry Regiment and subsequently to either the 28th FA or the 61st Infantry (later redesignated as the 5th) where we were permanently assigned.
Fort Carson, just below Pikes Peak, was scenic and very cold in February and March. Carson had the last active mule and horse units in the Army. They were the 5th Army's 35th Army Pack Quartermaster Company and 4th Field Artillery Battalion, a 75mm pack howitzer battery. ( Horse)
It was a sight to see. Forty years later a group of us would return during a reunion and not recognize Fort Carson, nor Colorado springs which had grown considerably. Our barracks were the temporary wooden structures erected during WWII. They were cold, lacked sufficient hot water and sand blew in through the walls and windows. This is the setting in which we took our basic and advanced training. Our training was "on the job" as a firing battery i. e.: cannoneers, wire men, radio operators, survey crews, drivers, cooks and observers. We fired 155mm howitzers which were towed by M13 tracks.
After our training we either reported to Fort Hamilton New York from furlough or from Carson to the Brooklyn Army Yards for transportation to Germany aboard the USS Butner TP113, in September of 1956. (In 1956 the Army still traveled by train and ship.) We arrived in Bremerhaven about 8 days later and boarded trains for Swabish Gummund where we replaced the 9th Infantry Division's, 34 Field Artillery Battalion . The quarters, though small, where much improved from what we had at Carson. Swabish Gummund had two Kasernes; Bismarck and Hart Kasernes. Bismarck was the home of the 7th Army's 35th Group Field Artillery H Q and the 28th FA Bn. Hart Kaserne was the home of an Honest John Rocket Battalion of the 11th Airborne Division. Across from Hart Kaserne was the Ammo Dump equipped with a big sign prohibiting cameras, yet you could buy a Post Card in town showing an aerial view of the town including the two Kerserns, ammo dump and airstrip.
Within 3 weeks of our arrival we were at Grafenwher for several weeks firing the howitzers. It would turn out that almost every other month we would spend several weeks at either Grafenwehr or Vilsek. In Mid December 1956 the Division participated in Operation War Hawk a NATO field exercise. Grafenwher and Vilsek were, and probably still are, famous for their mud in winter and spring and dust in the summer. I have vivid memories of having the track or gun getting stuck and having to be wenched out of that mud.
The quarters at both places left much to be desired at the time. Concrete block and tin roof barracks and a block walk to a latrine, or the old German barracks which needed repair and had individual coal stoves in the squad rooms. The stoves burned coal bricks which appeared to have been made out of compressed coal dust. The ammunition that we fired was packed in 1942 and 1943, it was not uncommon to have a misfire or fire a dud.
In the late summer of 1957 the 8th Division adopted the pentomic structure and the 28th FA was modified replacing the three 155 batteries with two 155 batteries, one 8in battery and one battery of Honest John Rockets.
In December of 1957 the 28th FA relocated to Baumholder and later that month most of those who were inducted in to the service in February of 1956 were returned to the United States for release from active duty under Operation Santa Claus. We again boarded the Butner at Bremerhaven arrived in New York were put on a troop train in Hoboken New Jersey and sent to, an Army post near our homes, many of us to Fort Sheridan, for release from active duty on 22 December 1957. Some of us spent our entire tour of duty together and we still hold biyearly reunions. We remember the good things of our association with the 28th and forgot the bad. And I think all of us are the better for our experience with the 8th Infantry Division and the 28th Field Artillery Battalion. John Culloton, 28th FA Bn 1956-57 JCullo3250@aol.com