[Dixielandjazz] Military Instruments

[Dave Hanson]

Lowell,

My father was a long time Artillery officer and wasn't at all happy with this particular assignment. He got in to a spat with the commanding officer, a bird colonel which resulted in this "punishment" tour of sorts. He made the best of it however. He was responsible for all entertainment in officers clubs, NCO clubs, service clubs, bowling alleys and Hitler's assembly area seen in those famous propaganda movies taken by Lanie Refensthal. The entire 7th. Army training area was his responsibility. His influence had me playing trombone with a number of different groups and I went to most of those training areas and we always went by car, on Opal station wagon as I recall, with the big bass on the luggage rack, rain or shine, heat or blizzard. 

I was a military dependant but had officers privileges. Problem was, I looked like any other young trooper and I sported a beard which had me in trouble with the MP's on more than one occasion. I was also an E-5 in the Army Reserve which often compounded the problem. Anyway, I had a great time in Germany and have been back to Europe many times since, always wondering about that vast cache of band instruments.

Dave Hanson
Atlanta
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Lowell Busching 
  To: Dave Hanson 
  Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 2:24 AM
  Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Military Instruments


  Dave Hanson wrote:
  > Interesting post regarding Military Instruments. I can relate one 
  > story..

  What I asked for. Thanks.

  ..my dad was a career Army officer and my folks were stationed in
  > Nurnberg, Germany where he was the special service's Officer, this was 
  > 1961.

  Somewhat of a coincidence as I arrived in Germany with General Electric 
  Co. sometime in 62 on the 412L Air Weapons System installation.  I was 
  there for a total of 26 months, coming back to the US only for a couple 
  weeks over the period of time that Kennedy got shot in Texas. I was 
  upstairs in this house while visiting my parents when it happened. They 
  say anyone that was alive then and old enough to realize what was going 
  on remembers where they were when that occurred.  Apparently Oswald got 
  shot shortly thereafter as I was still here, but had to get back to 
  Germany shortly thereafter to continue my time outside the US to save on 
  Income Tax payments.

  In the entire time in Germany, much of it spent at small radar bases, I 
  never heard a military or civilian band and was not aware there was such 
  an instrument depot in or near Nuremberg.  I was living for the first 18 
  months in the town of Fulda, north of Nuremberg a considerable distance 
  so I only made it to Nuremberg once, probably after I transferred to the 
  Wurzburg area, somewhat closer for the last few months.

  You father would not probably had anything to do with us "feather 
  merchants" as we were sometimes called, because we had the best of both 
  military and civilian worlds. We could shop in the PX etc. The only 
  thing we could not do was check out furniture from the Army storehouses 
  and had usually lower rank officer privileges. Except for one young 
  engineer who inadvertently got the GS rating of an officer just below 
  General rank. Ha  The German secretary working at our office in 
  Wiesbaden didn't know one GS rating from another and neither did we.


  He had no trouble getting a room at the Von Steben Hotel in Wiesbaden 
  even after they finally asked us to wait until late in the afternoon to 
  check in because the officers like your father were complaining that we 
  were taking up all the double occupancy rooms or worse yet a high 
  ranking military officer would find himself in a room with a young 
  civilian techie. Ha

  We also generally drove cars that few officers even could afford. Some 
  had Porsches etc. I only had cars like the Sprite, the striped down MG 
  Midget or Italian sport cars (used in my case and a lemon.).  Since we 
  didn't have to go to any military functions, we never saw the military 
  bands. There were none at the radar station, but I am sure there were 
  some musicians both among the military and our civilians who were never 
  aware such a depot existed!  We did have country bands, mostly at the 
  NCO clubs which we went to on the sly, because the officers clubs had 
  little or no entertainment of interest. Ha


    One of the many things related to his job was to supply
  > entertainment for the troops in the 7th. Army training area which was 
  > massive.

  It probably included the Kaserne in Fulda. Tanks.
  >  
  > It would be interesting to find out where they all went, 
  > or perhaps they are still in those warehouses.

  Indeed. That would be something!
  >  
  > It went back in stock upon leaving the country, just in case you wondered.

  I did. Ha

  Lowell
  >  
  >