U.S. Army Transport General Simon B. Buckner

[D Brown]

This was the ship I came to the U.S.A. on ca. 1961.

uss buckner 1961 to germany - Search

I have a few memories of the Atlantic crossing but had to ask my mother if she knew the name of the ship our family traveled on from Germany to New York. Mom is 92 but she remembered the ship!

 

[kaaskop49]

Just Google'd the ship. She had a long and interesting career, serving in both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army. Learned about this for the 1st time. In Army service, re-named for the commanding general of the Okinawa campaign killed in action.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[M1A4ME]

When we went to Okinawa in 1959 we lived in an area known as Bucknerville before we got a house on the Naha AFB.

Never knew it was named (probably) after that General.

 

[URIT]

I shipped over to Germany from New York on the USNS Buckner in November 1964. It was not a pleasure cruise to Bremerhaven.

I remember the apple juice made me feel queasy, so I left it for others. I had an easy job on board cleaning several stainless sinks in the forward head every day.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Gen. Buckner was killed in the battle of Okinawa.
There is (was) a Fort Buckner there named for him.
Had to try to recall and google-
That was ‘The Top of The Rock.’ Command HQ.
That’s where I met Marine Raider Dr. Gordon Warner. He was the Command Historian.
And at the nearby O Club- we saw Kui Lee.

 

[Rudi]

That's pretty cool. A nice looking ship.

 

[Tom Kent]

I sailed to beautiful Viet Nam on the Simon B, Buckner in 1966.

 

[Kinman]

I sailed to beautiful Viet Nam on the Simon B, Buckner in 1966.

An older friend of mine went over to Germany on a troopship during the 50's, probably the same ship. I joined in '69 and flew everywhere I went including Germany and Vietnam. I was in the Army's Navy, at the time the only "ship" I was aware we had was the John D. Paige. The Paige was supposed to be a supply ship but from Army legend was where old near to retire Chief Warrant Officers went to pass their last few years. It was also one of a few jobs no enlisted man would ever desire if he had any kind of problem with B.S. Starched fatigues were the rule of the day. In the Army Marine Division everything was in process of phasing out, but at one time the Army had more "boats" than the Navy. I was trained in operation of Landing Craft both small and large and Harbor Craft Operation (Tugboat). There was a cadre of old school Warrant Officers at the school I attended at Ft. Eustis, VA. Even though the LCU was only 150' long they put a CW3 skipper and Chief Engineer on each craft used for teaching, they had a liveaboard crew of around ten enlisted guys. It would be considered easy duty but not very challenging, I got bored quickly.

 

[tripledipper]

The Buckner took me in the summer of 1957 from the Brooklyn Navy yard to the Port of Bremerhaven. Everyone was seasick and we all threw up in our bunks and all over the ship. Then on to Kaiserslautern to an Army Engineering Depot for 18 months of beer, schnitzel, brats and frauleins. Kaiserslautern had 3/4 of if destroyed before the war ended but we lived in old Nazi barracks. Occupied Germany had three sectors, American, British and French. The Frogs were near us, but nobody liked them, especially the German civilian population, after all it was just 12 years after the war ended. We had German civvies working for us at the the Depot and the guy who worked with me said he fought only at the Russian front during the war (sure he did). Came back in February 1959 to the Navy Yard on the General Geiger. Serving in the peacetime Army was easy because it was before we got into Nam.

 

[VaTom]

General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. his father (Sr.) was also in the US Army and also a General in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. After the war he was Governor of Kentucky.

Thanks for the post. Learned some history.

 

[CalifEd]

Major General Roy S. Geiger, USMC, took command of the Tenth Army after the death of General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. during the Battle of Okinawa.
Geiger was the first and only US Marine aviator to lead an American field army.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Speaking of WWII Armed Transports-
My Dad served on the Gen. McRae.
It had some guns which were apparently common then but some I didn’t recall. 1.1 Inch- 28mm rapid fire cannon. They are reported to be unreliable and replaced by 20mm and 40mm guns.
USS General J. H. McRae - Wikipedia

 

[Kinman]

The Buckner took me in the summer of 1957 from the Brooklyn Navy yard to the Port of Bremerhaven. Everyone was seasick and we all threw up in our bunks and all over the ship. Then on to Kaiserslautern to an Army Engineering Depot for 18 months of beer, schnitzel, brats and frauleins. Kaiserslautern had 3/4 of if destroyed before the war ended but we lived in old Nazi barracks. Occupied Germany had three sectors, American, British and French. The Frogs were near us, but nobody liked them, especially the German civilian population, after all it was just 12 years after the war ended. We had German civvies working for us at the the Depot and the guy who worked with me said he fought only at the Russian front during the war (sure he did). Came back in February 1959 to the Navy Yard on the General Geiger. Serving in the peacetime Army was easy because it was before we got into Nam.

Ahhh K-Town, crazy place to spend a weekend pass. I ran a parts department for an Army truck company, battalion headquarters was on our kasern. It had been a Gestapo headquarters and in a few places like on the iron railings leading up the front stairs the old swastikas were still visible. They said that at night if you went near the basement you could hear the screams of those being interrogated. I did go down there once and rings were still in the walls where people were tied up. Spooky. It was still divided East and West when I was there, we would go on maneuvers once a year up near Graffenvere. While I was there everything the military needed was either shipped into Bremerhaven or flew into Rhein Main, AFB. Our kasern was in the little town of Russellsheim, A.M. about fifteen kilometers South of Frankfurt, if you triangulated Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Mainz, Russelsheim was right in the middle. Its claim to fame was that it was where G.M. of Germany was located, all of the Opels sold worldwide were manufactured there. Opels were kind of cool because they looked like miniature Chevys. I was there nearly two years, fell in love with the place but came back to the land of the big P.X. in '73.

 

[ASA335]

Me too!

An older friend of mine went over to Germany on a troopship during the 50's, probably the same ship. I joined in '69 and flew everywhere I went including Germany and Vietnam. I was in the Army's Navy, at the time the only "ship" I was aware we had was the John D. Paige. The Paige was supposed to be a supply ship but from Army legend was where old near to retire Chief Warrant Officers went to pass their last few years. It was also one of a few jobs no enlisted man would ever desire if he had any kind of problem with B.S. Starched fatigues were the rule of the day. In the Army Marine Division everything was in process of phasing out, but at one time the Army had more "boats" than the Navy. I was trained in operation of Landing Craft both small and large and Harbor Craft Operation (Tugboat). There was a cadre of old school Warrant Officers at the school I attended at Ft. Eustis, VA. Even though the LCU was only 150' long they put a CW3 skipper and Chief Engineer on each craft used for teaching, they had a liveaboard crew of around ten enlisted guys. It would be considered easy duty but not very challenging, I got bored quickly.

I was among the last of the draftees in '72, and surprise, surprise, after basic I was sent to Ft. Eustis, VA to become a 61B Watercraft Operator. After AIT I was assigned to the 1097th Transportation Company (Medium Boat) and a LCM 8. As a E2 - E4 I spent much of my time chipping paint, scraping barnacles, and repainting the hull - boring.

 

[Kinman]

I was among the last of the draftees in '72, and surprise, surprise, after basic I was sent to Ft. Eustis, VA to become a 61B Watercraft Operator. After AIT I was assigned to the 1097th Transportation Company (Medium Boat) and a LCM 8. As a E2 - E4 I spent much of my time chipping paint, scraping barnacles, and repainting the hull - boring.

Small world, I went through all of their training finishing out with 61B30 or Harbor Craft Operator. I too was assigned permanent party with the 1097th and enjoyed all of that boring jazz including chipping ice off the superstructure to avoid flipping over. I got into a mess of trouble and the only way out of there was to reenlist, I was eight months in and got a new three year contract. A buddy with a family received the letter that he was getting reassigned to Vietnam (we called it getting leveed). Part of my agreement to reassignment was taking his place on the levee with a "guarantee" he would be free from getting leveed. So, I got a cash bonus which paid for a nice used '67 Triumph Bonneville T-120R, a 30 day leave and reassignment to sunny Southeast Asia. I got sent to the 1098th in Danang and crewed on Mike 3's, 6's and liveaboard LCU and ended up working radio for Harbormaster Danang before getting sent to Germany to finish out my enlistment. Only Army boat in Germany was Hitler's launch, I ended up in a truck battalion, drove truck for a few months and ended up running the parts department until I got out in '73.

 

[ASA335]

Kinman

Small world...

Indeed. As a draftee I would have had to extend another year to go past 61B10, and at the time I only planned on doing the two years and get out. I ended up doing just shy of twenty-two years on active duty - go figure.

At the end of my two years I switched to Field Artillery, Forward Observer. Ended up the target of my own unit's guns (a 2Lt at Fire Direction Control, that couldn't read a map, swapped my location for the target's). I somehow survived that without serious injury.

Switching to Army Security Agency/Military Intelligence was a better deal for me, so I stuck with that one.

If I would have had my head on straight, I'm sure I could have qualified for the Warrant Officer Harbor Officer/Deck Officer course, but noooo, I was too stubborn.

Bye the bye, besides the Paige, there were also a couple of active freighters, but can't remember their names. They each, separately pulled into Ft. Eustis while I was there.

Also, when I got assigned to Panama with the 408th ASA/CEWI, the 1097th had been re-stationed there. I ran into a couple of the guys I had known at FT. Eustis.

Did you know Levi Browning? The time I was him in Panama he was a SFC still with the 1097th.

Edit: Hold on a minute there Pard! I just read that you got a 30 month leave?