Memories of Steven Robeson
I came to Camp king in February of
1970 and, although I was only there until September of the same year, I have many great
memories of the people of the camp and my time in Germany. I was a Second
"John" when I first arrived, having spent a couple of months in Texas proving to
the Army that it was wiser and cheaper for them to not make me fly helicopters. I was
initially assigned to TRANSCOM HQ as a officer monitoring gas usage and maintenance on
sedans.....that drove me (literally) to the o-club each night. I worked for a Lt. Col
Styve.
At the Officers' Club Franz
Gajdosch tended bar, Frau Zaremba served tables, and Fred Seyl managed the place.
After staying one expensive month at the Altkonigblik Hotel, Jim Gannon, Bob Tate and I
rented a beautiful home in Wehrheim. Bob , who was the OIC of the Taunus Mountain
Lodge, Jim, who was an officer for MCA, and I used to race to and from work-----20 miles
of Volvo, Mercedes, and Fiat constantly changing position......smart, eh? I still have a
dinnerplate with a picture of the Lodge on it that Tate and I found and
I"saved".
In 1997 I revisited the place in
Wehrheim and found our "old" landlady still living there....Gerda Turks, by
name.
I eventually became post engineer,
whereby I supposedly managed maintenance and the "putzfraus"....well, they
managed to ignore me, pretrending to not understand English.....pretty smart old
gals.....Anyhow, I coached the camp softball team. We went 15-3 and went into the
playoffs as heavy favorites....I managed to coach us right back out of the playoffs
0-1. I still have photos of the team.
I remember being invited , along
with Jim and Bob to Fred and Sonia Seyl's anniversary party....they lived on post.
It was a wild affair......we ate and drank for hours...I know I couldn't drive....I think
Gannon drove us home....he was the only one of us who was upright at the end of the party.
We often would drive on
Saturdays to the Rhine to a place called Rudesheim, one great tourist and party town
(it still was in '97).
Jim married a lovely gal from
stateside, Maryellen, and his and her family were great hosts. I
was elated when Jim asked me to be in his honorguard.....so I flew in from England,
where I had transferred to in September.
I also attended the wedding of Franz's
daughter Lydia on Sep 5th, just before I transferred. I have great photos of that,
too.
I made an album of my time there at Camp King. I have an invitation to the Change of Command ceremony on June 2nd, where Col. Robt. Larson was replaced by Lt. Col Frederick Howland.