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The E-Mail Newsletter of the Army Security Agency Alpiners Reunion Group
Serving veterans of the SIS, ASA and INSCOM who were stationed in Germany or Austria
Volume 5 – Number 5
June 1, 2009
Ralph R, Thadeus, Editor
(Scheyern 53-56)
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REUNION 2009 – OCTOBER 8-9-10 – ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
By a vote of 59% to 41%, St. Louis was again chosen as the site for our XVIII Reunion. As before, it will be held in conjunction with the Soulard Oktoberfest which drew 50,000 people last year.
My apologies for not being able to let the membership know reunion details earlier, but the St. Louis City Administration has been giving the German-American community, and in particular the Oktoberfest, a hard time. For a while we were not sure that the Oktoberfest would be held at all in the city.
One issue still needs to be resolved so I am looking for e-mail input only from those of you who plan on attending.
Headquarters Hotel Issue: We can choose either the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown St. Louis or the Cheshire Lodge, in mid-town, near Forest Park, which was our headquarters last year. The Crowne Plaza price is $119 plus $18.43 tax for a single or double. This price includes a full size meeting room and complimentary garage parking. The Cheshire is $75 plus $11.32 tax for a single and $85 plus $12.83 for a double. Parking is outside in their lot and a Continental breakfast is included. The downside of the Cheshire is the small meeting room. If you plan on attending, let me know your hotel preference by e-mail. A simple majority will determine the hotel.
Get plenty of rest Friday afternoon because this is our evening at the Oktoberfest. We will be there from the opening “o’zapft is!” until about 10:30 p.m. Wear your dirndls and lederhosen. Entertainment this year will be by the Brave Combo, the Obenheimer Express from Alsace and, new this year, the Hohenthanner Hopfen Musikanten (aus Landkries Landshut, Niederbayern). The estimated cost of $50 per person includes 2 beers (Hofbräu aus München), wine or soda; a Piller pretzel made in Germany; bratwurst, roast chicken or schweinshaxe dinner; and, reserved seating and service in all tents.
Saturday will be our banquet day and it will be held at the Feasting Fox Restaurant. We enjoyed it so much last year we decided to do it over again but with a slight menu change. This time it will be a choice of Prime Rib w/Horseradish whipped potatoes and vegetable medley or Grilled Pacific Salmon w/Lemon Dill Sauce. The estimated price, including bus transportation back and forth to the hotel, is $40.00 per person. A cash bar will be available.
REUNION PLANNING PR0FILE
The last page of this edition is the planning sheet for the reunion. If you THINK you will be coming, please copy it and mail it back to me as soon as possible. It helps me to block out the correct amount of rooms, dinner and Oktoberfest seating and bus requirements. Sorry it took me so long to get the preliminary information out but it was out of my control. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
ASMN
Wie’s mir geht?
Falsche Zähne, die nicht beißen,
Hämorrhoidenschmerz beim Scheißen,
lahmer Pinsel, der nicht steht,
da fragst Du Arschloch, wie’s mir geht?
ASA Okinawa will be holding a reunion in Charleston, SC September 9-13, 2009. The Point of
Contact for the reunion is Paul Watson at W562236@aol.com.
Brooke Anderson (Bad Aibling 60-62) writes: “Regarding access to the old BA Station, it's wide open. As a new hotel site, the main gate is open; I drove all over the base with no problem. In '07, what is now the hotel area was restricted, and the main gate was closed and locked - I entered through a back gate. This time, no restrictions. I was there with workmen around me and no questions asked. This was late March 2009. This is still a work in progress, so can't speak for tomorrow - only yesterday. But - it is now a hotel complex; why would traffic be restricted?
More news for old Aiblingers. The Chiemsee Hotel on the Autobahn, which had been closed, fenced and padlocked, has been sold to a private organization, and will be re-opened as a health clinic - time of opening unstated.”
Ronald Blake (Bad Aibling 64-67) writes: “My wife and I just returned from Bavaria and I thought I would pass on that we used Priceline.com for our stay and we were in the beautiful Radisson Hotel in Schwabing for $60.00 per night. We are in Bavaria at least twice a year and
often three times. In the Munich area we always use Price Line and have never paid more than $85.00 a night for a four star hotel.
The last time we were in BA we couldn't get into the front gates due to fencing. However, we drove through the old golf course and antenna field and could drive through the ops area, by the old service club and across the bridge by the old PX. At that time the barrack area was closed off by fencing so we couldn't go further.
The owners of the Lindner Hotel had told us that the hotel being built in the old caserne was going to be a form of time share or outright sales. Not sure if that is the case with the latest news in your May report.”
Supporting Member Walt Richards (Herzo/Sontra/Scheyern 47-51) fills us in with a little past ASA history with the following: “Just finished reading the latest Interceptor. My interest piqued when I saw the notes about the USAF units. Just a bit of my history: I enlisted in the Signal Corps in Feb 46 and after basic training at Camp Crowder we were loaded on a troop train and sent to Fort Monmouth where we were screened and then assigned to various MOS fields. I opted for High Speed Morse Operator. The base had been closed at the end of WW2 and so we were often assigned to details for cleaning up the various classrooms and getting them ready for our training. Completed the courses in December 46, had a brief 14 day delay en-route and then shipped to Bremerhaven in January 47.
We were routed thru Marburg and then Frankfurt where we were assigned to the Army Security Agency. Our first question was "What the hell is the Army Security Agency?" ASA then sent us to Herzo and the 2nd Radio Squadron Mobile. We were curious again when we assembled the first morning there and the Platoon Sgt. yelled, Squadron Tenhut! What the Hell is a Squadron?
We had some code practice using an old perforated tape (CODEX?), then the Major in charge
had us open some crates that still had beachhead markings and we found an SCR 291, mobile DF set, which he had us set up and get acquainted with. During this time they were modifying an old building and we helped install code practice desks.
About this time there was talk about forming the Air Force as a separate unit and there was an
immediate one step promotion to anyone who wanted to transfer to this new unit. We were still 2nd Radio in mid 47 when they transferred 4 of us to the 114th Sig. Svc. in Sontra. After about six months the operators were sent to the 116th in Scheyern and the support personnel were sent to Herzo.
At Scheyern I again got acquainted with the SCR 291 when they asked if anyone was familiar wit it. I volunteered and was sent out to find a site and then set the thing up. That's how it came to be in the farmer’s field in Vieth. I stayed in Scheyern until November 1951 when the sent me stateside, Stayed at Fort Devens for several months and then opted out. I had often wondered what happened to the unit after the Air Force was formed. Best wishes to all.”
Ron Blake (Bad Aibling 64-67) clarified his hotel suggestion in Munich. He was referring to the Renaissance rather than the Radisson.
William N. Evans (Schneeberg 56-59/Rothwesten-Dahme-Offenbach 60-64) is looking for anyone who knows about a small ELINT detachment that was in Austria and later Bad Aibling. Until about 1955 it was assigned to the Signal Corps and its designation was the 7224th DU. When it became ASA, I believe the designations were 7224th ASA Detachment, 24th ASA Detachment, then it became a three digit designation, possibly 259th or 257th ASA Detachment. Later it was 3rd Platoon, 279th ASA Company then the 279th ASA Detachment. When it was disbanded at Offenbach the designation was 77th USASA Special Operation Unit.
Being ELINT, the 7224th would have always been on high ground. The unit was almost entirely mobile. The equipment was deuce-and-a-half mounted and was powered with PE-95 generators. One of the vans had an antenna mast through the roof of the van with a three foot diameter parabolic antenna. This van was sometimes mistaken for a radar transmitter.
Bill is trying to trace the history of this unit so if any of you are familiar with it, or served in it, please contact Bill at wmnathan@aol.com. If you would rather talk to him personally, contact your Editor and I will arrange telephone contact information.
NEW CONTACTS
Donna Baldwin - Bad Aibling 70-71 Augsburg 71-72/86-88
Joshua Vance – Bad Aibling 62-64
Donald Culver – Herzo/Heilbronn 58-60
Sara Lanier – Ludwigsburg – 78-80
Doug Macrum – Bad Aibling – 63-64
Robert (Bob) Thompson – Berlin – 73-76