MEMORIES OF GARY JOHANSON
I lived in Camp King from 1965 - 1967.
When the 513th moved to Munich, it was installed in McGraw Kasserne, south of the Isar.
My father was GS11 Glen Johanson. His MOS was 'agent handler', which is another title for
a debriefing specialist. His job was to hop the 'D' train to Oscar Helenaheim,
Berlin, to secure and transport classified documents to the processing center at Camp
King. By pay scale, Dad was an E-8, which put us in NCO housing. We lived at 1048
A-8, for a short time, in the attic 6-bedroom monster apartments we called
"temporaries", until permanent quarters were cleared at 1047 C-4.
Dad told me the basic mission of the 513th, and his specifically when he received orders
at Ft. Holabird, MD ( 513 training school ) was to establish and coordinate information
flow and documentation from Berlin to what was eventually to become HQ at Munich. He
never could give me precise details. He was the guy on the train with (really!) a
trench coat, handcuffed to an attaché case. I was never permitted to give his MOS
which was hard at school, when other kids talked about what their dads did. I had to
make something
up. The ONE TIME I hinted that dad worked with spooks, I was chased around the
playground by kids chanting the song "Secret Agent Man". So much for
telling the truth!
One year, he took me along on the 'D' train: from Helmstedt on the E/W border until
you arrived at Potsdam, W. Berlin, the VOPOS made you keep the blinds drawn in all cars:
you were forbidden to look out of the window. ( not only did I, but I took some pictures,
too. It was against the law to photograph a VOPO, you know.)
Our years at Camp King were few, only 2 years until the transfer to Munich, 1965 -
67. The process took a year, which is probably why you list the year 1968. We
thereafter lived in Perlacher Forst, outside of McGraw from 67 - 69, whereupon my dad
retired.
I can remember well the NCO billets, the King's Kegelbahn, the NCO and Officers clubs, the
Movie, Snack-bar, Library, playground, and the ubiquitous bus-stop, where we froze our
buns waiting for the school bus in winter.
I remember also the parade ground, and that small ditch which separated the Parade field
from the north end of the NCO Billets, by the incinerator by bldg 1048. Rumor had it
that a "great escape" occurred there, and that ditch was where a lot of our guys
got out. Needless to say, a lot of us played Army there.
I remember the activities of the AYA, the Adult-Youth Association, and that community
center we would have dances in. My sister's best friend's brother was the drummer
for the "Runnaways", who played there frequently.
I was the "Boomerang Boy", who made a boomerang out of plywood, and decided to
test it out during a parade drill. The wind took it right into the parade.
Created somewhat of a stir: i fled up the hill and hid behind the Chapel!
Did they still hold the Rod and Gun club Turkey-shoot and festival there on the green when
you lived there? Lots of fun! They did it sometime between Thanksgiving and
Christmas.
Just to make this long post longer, i have to tell you a story about what happened when we
first arrived at Camp King, July 1965. Those temporary quarters were way, way, way
up. With huge dormer windows you could almost lay down in. 1048 A-8 had a
particular advantage of being in the midst of a natural wind flow down from Feldberg, the
mountain behind us. I would take a sheet of Toilet paper and hold it out the window
until the wind took it, and I would
watch it float on and on and on toward Frankfurt, until out of sight.
Then, I'd take another one and do it again, until i had several, floating in mock
dogfights, twisting and gliding, on and on into the horizon.
I did this all summer as a past-time to while away boredom.
Then school began, and the long bus-ride from
Oberursel to Frankfurt Elementary #1, downtown. Along the way, the bus had to go
around the I.G. Farben building, some 15 miles from Camp King. As we cornered one
end of the big yellow building, I saw ladders and men scraping something off the end wall
of the building. As I looked, it dawned on me what they were peeling off: Toilet
Paper! A whole summer's worth ! Totally plastered that end of the building, which
was under restoration at the time. That was the end of my aviation studies that year!
My dad passed away April, 2001. His photo is on the main
page of my own website at: www.qsl.net/wd4nka/
Scroll to the bottom, where I have a dedication to him.
To me, he was the original James Bond.