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Troop D
14th
Armored Cavalry Regiment
1961 –
1964 |
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D-31 after
breaking through the shoulder of a newly constructed road near Amberg
Germany during FTX Wintershield II in January – February 1961.
Because the troop was in the middle of an offensive, the platoon leader
jumped on another of his tanks and left his assistant tank commander and
driver with the tank. |
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Assistant
tank commander Max Whipps and driver Chuck Riley had to fend for
themselves for two or three days. Discovering the usefulness of
the hand pump, they survived quite well by trading
gasoline to local Germans for bier und brot (beer and bread) to supplement
their C-rations. |
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D Troop's M48A2s
on
firing line at Belsen-Hohne (aka Bergen-Belsen) April 1961 First
Sergeant Draves keeps an eye on things. |
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Max
Whipps April 1961 at Belsen-Hohne.
Our winter
work uniform consisted of the wool OG shirt, field trousers, and the
"bunny" cap. "OG" stood for "olive green," but I've
never seen an olive any where near that color.
After
loading our tanks onto flat cars, we got into our greens for our return
trip by train to Fulda. |
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Max Whipps on duty at the cozy 1st
Squadron Radio Relay hut atop Wasserkuppe (water crest) in 1962. Elevation of
Wasserkuppe is 950 meters (3117 feet), which is the highest point in the state
of Hessen. |
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For some reason, D Troop and the tanks from HHT and the reconnaissance
troops of the 1st Squadron always went to Grafenwöhr during the winter.
This picture of an unidentified tank was taken during the night phase of
the Tank Crew Qualification Course (TCQC). Only three or four of D
Troop's crews qualified the first time we went through the course in
1962. More than half qualified in 1963, and all crews qualified in
1964 with their new M60A1 tanks. |
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An M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (D-55) with canvas over a makeshift
frame was used as the troop CP. The Circle–Trigon insignia
denotes the troop was acting as an aggressor force. Two D Troop
tanks are visible in the background at the Wildflecken training area. |
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D Troop minus the third platoon which, along with a reconnaissance
platoon and Howitzer Battery, is in the background awaiting the mounted
portion in this 1964 review. D Troop used both the yellow Armor
guidon and the red & white cavalry guidon, depending on the occasion.
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Third platoon's M60A1 tanks passing in mounted review 1964 |
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The redhead is Sandra, daughter of Max
Whipps, who in 1964 was so unhappy with the hard steel of D-66 she opted
for a career in the Air Force. Her sister Debbie, sitting next to the
running light, thought it was okay but decided to become a civilian
nurse. |
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Links: Another
Soldier's Story
1st Squadron |