David Pyke - U.S. Army

  European Tour

            I worked at a factory that made interior auto doors for Chrysler and General Motors when I received a letter that my friends and neighbors had selected me for military service. That was in 1966 and I embarked on my military career through Ft. Wayne in Detroit, Michigan.  After passing our physical, we were told that the marines needed a few good men; so, we counted off and every 10th man became a marine.  Being number nine, I soon found myself heading to Ft. Knox, KY where I did my basic training.

            At Ft. Knox I volunteered for warrant officers training because I wanted to fly helicopters, even though that would have been a guaranteed trip to Vietnam.  However, there were three disqualifiers.  The first one stipulated that persons under 5'-3" or over 6'-4" were ineligible.  The second disqualifier stated that anyone with a record need not apply.  At this point, about 15 out of the 30 guys in the room got up and walked out.  The last disqualifier related to people wearing glasses, which is the one that eliminated me.  When I was at Ft. Knox, I was visited by a friend of my parents who was a full colonel in the army reserve.  The guys sure ribbed me about that.

            After basic training, I went to Ft. Ord, CA. for Advanced Individual Training (AIT) in general supply.  I was at Ft. Ord during a public bus strike, so those of us able to get away on weekend passes hitch hiked to town.  After my six weeks in general supply school had ended, I received orders for AIT at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX.  It seemed to me it was to be the very best of all the places at which I was to be stationed.  We occasionally chuckled when doctors, receiving basic training on base, would salute us, who were stripe less E2 privates.  Although they had entered the service as officers, they were not aware of the proper protocol regarding military rank.  We would salute back and say "carry on sir".

            From Ft. Sam Houston I went to Ft. Dix, New Jersey for overseas replacement.  I was there for ten days before I got my flight number which allowed me to go to my first permanent duty station at the 56th General Hospital in Verdun.  Verdun is about 140 air miles Northeast of Paris, France

            The first few months at the 56th were pretty good.  It was like going to a 7 to 5 job where I filled out reports, and occasionally performed night guard duty.  The atmosphere was laid back as opposed to being STRAC; a short-term expression meaning ‘Strategic, Tough and Ready Around the Clock’.  It was also a time when General Charles De Gaulle, the French leader, wanted the U. S. military out of France. 

All of the non-expendable equipment in most of France was sent to Verdun to be crated and then shipped to Germany.  Expendable items, including wood furniture was thrown in a pit and burned.  The hospital and most of the rest of the base was shut down, so we lived off post in a downtown Verdun, hotel.  The hotel was a four-story building with one toilet per floor and one bath tub in the entire place on the first floor.  Yet, compared to what some of the combat military went through, this hotel was like a paradise and I had no complaints.  When everything that came through our hospital warehouse was shipped out, my supply officer, Capt. Broadfield, Specialist 5 John E. Nice, and I left France in an ambulance, which was the vehicle left to us. Since it is square shaped, we called it a "cracker box".  The three of us were the last military to leave France, except for the clean-up men on temporary duty, who wore civilian clothes and lived in Paris.  I too was willing to make such a sacrifice and stay in Paris a while longer, but they wouldn’t let me.

            From Verdun, we drove to Bad Kreuznach, Germany and dropped off Capt. Broadfield.  We then went to the 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany which was my last duty station.  The 97th was more of a "by the book" post.  Everything was done the military way, without exceptions.  Incidentally, the closest I’d ever get to being in a combat zone was when our unit was mounted up and ready to go to Israel during the six-day war.  But Israel ended the war in six days, so we were able to stand down.

            I was released from active duty on January 19,1968 and received my honorable discharge in 1972.  While I didn't exactly embrace the military life style, it helped me grow up and I still feel a sense of self sufficiency and tremendous accomplishment.  The service connected me to a very special group whereby I can exclaim with pride that I served with members of the finest military force on Earth.  I’ll always respect the men and women who continue to serve.  My desire to retain that special feeling and sense of comradeship is the main reason I joined and continue to serve as an active member of the American Legion.