79th Engineer Battalion

LT Jonathan Ridgeway

Platoon Leader & S-4 on LTC Manning's Staff

Jon Recalls 1970

Subject:

Comment About Web Page
Date:

7/14/2003 1:07:15 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 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.

   Jonathan (Jon) Ridgeway

YES Jon - Send Pictures!