christman19@yahoo.com
Thanks for setting up the site.
The battalion commander when I arrived in April 1970 was LTC Henry J.
Thayer. He was highly respected by the young officers. I don't
know when he took over the 79th, but he switched battalions with LTC
Stokes in September 1970.
I was the platoon leader assigned to the construction of the ski lift
and slope on the hill above the golf course in Berchtesgaden in 1970.
When we started working on the hill, there were still holes from the
Allied bombing in WW II, and at the top of the ski lift was a
shallow tiled pool. It looked like the upper portion had been
destroyed by the bombing. At any rate, it was in the path at the
top of the ski lift, so we filled it in. Shortly after that, one
of the German employees in the post engineer's office told me that
there had been a story in the local paper criticizing the army for
burying history. It turns out it had been the pool of Herman
Goehring.
It was an exciting project. While dozing the ski path down
the steep hillside, a cat hit a boulder bigger than it was. It
could not raise the blade to get over the rock, or back up the very
steep hill, but we were able to use a German army tank retriever to
pull it up.
The skilift foundations had to meet precise tolerances, with all
concrete placed before icy weather hit. I remember working into
the darkness while listening to the world series on AFN.
I have a picture of LTC Stokes and his staff, around January 1971, and
may have a few other pictures as well. If you are interested, I
will scan and send.
Jonathan (Jon) Ridgeway
The next e-mail is slightly different
Subject:
Comment About Web Page for 79th Engr Bn
Date:
9/17/2003 12:20:41 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From:
JNCRIDGE@aol.com
To:
christman19@yahoo.com
Thanks for setting up the site.
The battalion commander when I arrived in April 1970 was LTC Henry J.
Thayer. He was a tremendous leader, and highly respected by the
young officers. LTC Thayer is not on your list of Bn Commanders.
I was the platoon leader assigned to the construction of the ski lift
and slope on the hill above the golf course in Berchtesgaden in 1970.
When we started working on the hill, there were still holes from the
Allied bombing in WW II, and at the top of the ski lift was a
shallow tiled pool. It looked like the upper portion had been
destroyed by the bombing. At any rate, it was in the path at the
top of the ski lift, so we filled it in. Shortly after that, one
of the German employees in the post engineer's office told me that
there had been a story in the local paper criticizing the army for
burying history. It turns out it had been the pool of Herman
Goehring.
It was an exciting project. While dozing the ski run path down
the building, a cat hit a bolder bigger than it was. It could not
raise the blade to get over the rock, or back up the very steep hill,
but we were able to use a German army tank retriever to pull it up.
The skilift foundations had to meet precise tolerances, with all
concrete placed before icy weather hit. I remember working into
the darkness while listening to the world series on AFN.
Later, I was assigned (as a 2nd Lt) to be the S-4 on LTC Manning's
staff, working with an outstanding warrent office, Bobby Malone.
When I arrived, the expectation was that you would be promoted to 1LT
after 1 year, and to CPT after 2, with orders to VietNam arriving with
the promotion to CPT. Most of the company commanders were 1LT,
and the Bn S-3 when I arrived was 1LT "Robby" Robinson.
However, as the Vietnam war was drawing down, more senior officers
began to arrive, as well as some seasoned NCO's. (My platoon in
Berchtesgaden had an average age of 19; at one point, none of the NCO's
had a construction background.) I had thought the chronic shortage of
experienced NCO's was the biggest problem faced by the 79th.
I was able to spend 3 years with the 79th in Germany. I had the
fortune to serve with a great platoon sergeant, SFC Thomas McNulty, in
A Company, and appreciated the problem solving techniques that some of
the warrent officers such as Chris Hashimoto shared with me.
I have very fond memories of the 79th, and appreciated the many lessons
I learned that helped me in my civilian career in construction. I
think I have some pictures of the 79th, including LTC Manning's staff
in 1971. If you are interested, I can scan and send the pictures.
