Some of our departed friends…

  When I arrived in Germany I was all of 18 years old. Many of the others were considerably older.  The younger ones that were there when I arrived left over the next year or so and were probably 2-3 years older.  Some of them have passed.  The obvious ones were some of the officers and NCO’s.

  LTC Lawrence H. Alexander was born in 1910 and passed away in Monterey, CA in 1999.  When he retired he moved to his home at Pebble Beach. He had purchased the home, while stationed at Fort Ord, in the 50’s. On retirement he worked for a while for Mobile Oil in the paint division.

  Major Dexter W. Adams was born 1921 and died 1992 at Indianapolis.  After he left the 594th he was the Transportation Officer at Stuttgart Post/Robinson Barracks.  Later he was on the faculty at the U.S. Military Academy.

  MSGT Eugene Duch was in charge of the personnel department at 5th RTMO when I arrived. He was born in 1916 and died 1997 in Detroit.  He always wanted to help the new soldiers.  He had had stomach cancer in the 1950’s but survived for many years after.

  1ST LT Harlen E. Gray was there when I arrived.  Hard to get to know but was honest and treated you fairly.  He finished his career as a LTC and retired in San Antonio, TX. Born in 1934 and died in 2005.  Originally trained in Armored.

  SSGT George W. Pellet was one of the “in waiting” soldiers.  Had almost 18 years in when I arrived in 1961.  George was one of those fellows who drank early and hard and looked like he was 65+ years old. He was amazing in that he could drink enough to fill his right leg and still function rather well. Born 1926 and died at the ripe old age of 48 in 1974.

  Haven’t been able to keep track of everyone for obvious reasons.  Checking Ancestry.Com and the Social Security Death Index has given me some dates. A couple of the younger soldiers that have passed on are Steve Fuchick from Pennsylvania (1941-1972) and Tony Filigno from Seattle (1941-2009).  As I recall they both worked in the commo truck.

  If you knew any of these guys or were at Grenadier Kaserne, please leave a comment.