Lou J. Klaiber
Why I Volunteered For Nam;
Having spent time
training for President Kennedy's trip to Texas in Nov 1963....and then being
told to STAND DOWN...(not needed in Dallas)....we were disbanded and sent to
new assignments. Mine was Det soldier status in Berlin. No
better service existed than Berlin. OOhhhhhhh the ladies....the
clubs..... the Russian dominance of the WALL presence. They had more
tanks than we had Soldiers.
.......And me and
Jewboy had leavetime..and went out of B with motorcycles bound for the
Netherlands and Nord country.
The train moved through E Germany with us and the bikes on board; bound for
Helmstedt. At a stop in Magdeberg , Russian soldiers stood 500 meters
long on the platform as a show of force, and I threw a pack of Camels out the
window and between the feet of a smiling tough faced soldier. Dam if
they weren't strong lookin' soldiers; those Russians.
We
rode the bikes into Belgium and Jboy wanted to find a cemetery for Allied
soldiers who died in the Battle of the Bulge. We rode by way of farmers
and rural people directing us to a huge open cemetery place ,tended by
mostly older ladies and old men. The allied dead were under white
crosses and Stars of David. The Krauts were beneath Black crosses.
J went far into the cemetery with a woman and man who showed him the grave of
his Uncle, who never got to liberate the concentration camps. .....who died
trying to reach them.
I stood silent and
awestruck by the sheer size and silent power of the debt paid by Americans in
WW2. I felt totally in awe of what had happened when I was a child of 1
to 4 years old. stompin' on Victory cans for a war I could not comprehend.
Now I could!
J returned with
broken eyes,and a hard heart for "F..n Europe". I firmed up my
Soldier. Heard of a war in SE Asia. Volunteered when we returned.
Became a tiny part of history............and know now that history is just a
trigger pull on moments. When we decide to go the distance of our
fragile time. When we decide to LIVE.....knowing we will surely
die!..................and so..................
I volunteered!
Just a small story!
old man writing's
caliber 2001