Deutschland Diary 5

15 Sept 1984

We have started our shifts.  I work as a Division Fire Coordinator from 1600 to 0800.  Dutch has the same shift and has been assigned Division Intel Officer.  Jerry is working at something in the Division Artillery Operations Center.  I am not sure what shift he has, he seems to be working more than Dutch and I.

Last night I had to deliver some maps and overlays to Division Headquarters.  I was in an open jeep driving all over the country side, it was dark, rainy and cold.  We drove through a lot of little towns but it was so dark I did not get a good look at anything.

16 September Sunday

Last night we pulled into a town called Ellensburg.  It was dark and still raining.  Dutch and I could not fine our duffel bags or packs mist a lot of confusion about setting up the Tactical Operation Center (TOC).  Given the fact that we were not on duty we decided to let them figure out the mess on their own and took a little walk around town. 

No one in the town was up it seemed but we just enjoyed walking through the center of town and eventually found ourselves on a residential street that had some very nice looking modern houses. 

It has stopped raining.  We saw a guy in his driveway washing down his car.  This was about 11:30 pm.  We asked him if there was a phone somewhere back in town.  He invited us into his house.  We hesitated because of the late hour, but he insisted.  The house seemed to be under some kind of remodeling on the outside but as we entered the front entrance we gazed upon a very; beautiful living room.  His wife was sitting on the couch, she smiled, got up and greeted us.  She spoke not English but her smile was pleasant.  The floor was marble, the furniture was made from solid wood with appropriate cushions, the fireplace made of stone and living room sunken.  They offered us the use of their phone.  We both tried to call home but could not get a line out for some reason.  The lady offered us hot chocolate, we accepted, drank it, thanked them and said good by.

We went back to our camp site.  The confusion had subsided, we found our gear and sat up our pup tent which we shared and slept comfortably.

The next morning we Dutch and I walked into town again due to having a semi day off and found an open guesthouse.  We hesitated to go in because it was against the rules but decided that we could use some rest and relaxation.  We sat down and ordered coffee and struck up a conversation with a young couple from Frankfurt.  He was a banker and I am not sure what she did.  They were just out for a weekend trip.  They didn’t speak English very well, but then we spoke no German, Dutch thinks he can, but just enough to get us into trouble.

We are near Bavaria and it is very mountainous.  The plan is to move once a night.  It is a good experience but I am ready to come home already.  This will be something to tell my grandchildren about.