|
STORIES/TEXT/NARRATIVES Only
Contributed
By - Bill McFall
View
Bill's Photos
___________________________________
|
Recieved
4/28/06 - Posted
4/28/06
Smokey,
Here is the OCR
scanned copy of
the orders that
give dates of
return to ZI.
The actual dates
are gone because
they showed up
as a column and
I didn't feel
like dealing
with it. Orders
have so many
abbreviations
they do not
convert well in
OCR software.
Anyway the names
are here (mostly
corrected) and
the ones that
were in Trabzon
and Samsun (that
I knew) are
highlighted. Red
is Samsun and
Bold Black is
Trabzon. There
were others on
the list that
were in Trabzon
and Samsun; but
I do not recall
the names of the
ones that were
either newcomers
or linguists or
comment folk.
They were all in
Ankara, Samsun
or Trabzon. The
ones that are
marked are the
original crew of
Elint people
plus the two
mechanics.
Use it as you
see fit,
Bill
FLIGHT A
34TH
RADIO SQUADRON
MOBILE (USAFSS)
APO 206-A, c/o
Postmaster
New York, NY
PERSONNEL
ACTIONS
MEMORANDUMS
5 February 1954
NUMBER 2
-
Each of the
following
named
individuals,
this Fit, is
eligible for
return from
overseas
on date
indicated:
NAME
Maj John H
Jewett AO742429
CO in Ankara
Capt Bustor M
Beadle AO5^9951
1st Lt Arthur F
Davis Jr
.AO780224
1st Lt Glenn E
Haas
AO2061372
CO in Samsun
1st Lt Edward L
Klewicki
AO1910899
Trabzon
1st Lt Henry R
Pitre
AO2073569
CO In Trabzon
1st Lt Conrad
H.Smith
AO2216202 . .
MSgt Ednan S
Brannon
AF6283144
MSgt Albert W
.Coleman
AF18004037
MSgt Stanley M
Fedyshyn
AF33222533
MSgt Francis J
Gerarde
AF6976502
MSgt Benjanin F
Mann AF31031371
MSgt Roland
Palagi
AF19010728
MSgt Luster E
Setser
AFl5067198
TSgt Frank L
Bohn AF12276566
TSgt Vernoh E
Burton
AF1601964.5
TSgt Willian J
Cuneo AF31366119
TSgt Kenneth R
Gardner
AP13021822
TSgt Francis J
McDemott
AF12043031
Samsun
TSgt Norman V
Rarick AF7032523
SSgt Donald L
Beckhan
AF14353314
SSgt Larry P
Blocker
AF19388441
SSgt James R
Borst AF19312150
SSgt William M
Cromer
AF18389543
SSgt Henry. N
Davenport Jr
AF28262022
SSgt Charles E
Elliott
AF14352631
Samsun
SSgt Frederick D
Ellison
A1^46S5583
SSgt Jack M
Herrlin.AF17284891
SSgt Norris P
Johnson
AF.1,83 47590
Trabzon
SSgt Philip R
Kenisten
AF13285794
SSgt Charles
Krisfalusi Jr
AF16365942
SSgt Jarvis
Lisenbee
AF15379097
SSgt Angelo R
Massarelli
AF13256932
SSgt William A
McFall
AF16346806
Trabzon
SSgt Leonard L
Meyers
AF17294362
SSgt Forrestt A
Miller
AF28.138548
SSgt Roy R
Pilkington
AF27042784
Samsun
SSgt Joseph W
Riley AF15297510
SSgt William E
Rodgars
AF16235050
SSgt, Keith L
Roe
AF12359184
Trabzon
SSgt William D
Sheets
AF37825068
Trabzon
SSgfc Franklin C
Smith Jr
AF14391024
SSgt; John A
Stamato
AF12343184
SSgt Evorette L
Viers AF15423515
A/1C Patrick S
Alsup AF19401020
A/1C Richard L
Bornosky
AF123780^6
A/1C Jack D Beta
AFl6357943
A/1C William F
Brannan
AF17305816
A/1C Charles F
Brannon Jr
AF19339034
A/1C Howard T
Clark AF17307997
A/1C Ernest G
Cromar
AF19397643
A/1C Robert A
Daugherty
AF13393467
Samsun
A/1C George J
Davis AF13376046
A/1C David L
Dearing
;AF14377751
A/1C Janas R
Eikenberry
AF17312563
A/1C Donald D
Farnhan
AF17286612
A/1C Edward L
Fontaine
AF11208634
Trabzon
A/1C John T
Garrigues Jr
AF17322303
A/1C Wlllian R
Gordes
AF12364302
A/1C Richard M
Graeff
AF16353300
A/1C Jack C
Haney AF18382199
A/1C Arthur T
Hiralin
AF13389622
A/1C Edward
Hollnndor
AF12333736
A/1C Robert E
Howard
AF13383677
Trabzon
A/1C Marion R
Hunter AFU381197
A/1G Janes W
Johnson
AF13378302
A/1C Ray M
Koeler Jr
AF16384809
A/1C Charles R
Kelly AF173A3713
A/1G Konneth R
King AF18400037
A/1G David A
Kieselburgh
AF19389161
A/1C Jack D
Lanbright
AF15296796
A/1C Ferdia
Leger
AF18401733
Samsun
A/1C George R
Leslie
AF18396138
A/1C Paul E Lusk
AF19414843
A/1C George A
Marshall
AF12323979
A/1G Lonas C
McConnell
AF13417922
A/1C James S
McMullan Jr
AF1U37751
A/1C Arthur A
McMullen Jr
AF11223882
A/1C Kenneth G
Miller
AF16356459
A/1C William M
Miller Jr
AF18396723
A/1C Robert Y
Moodia Jr
AF11201502
A/1C Realius B
Moody Jr
AFU379^75
A/1C Billy M
Morion AFU374016
A/1C Joseph J
Murray
AF12378473
A/1C Burton A
Nowers
AF11208970
A/1C Francis S
O'Leary
AF12333213
A/1C Harrison F
Pettit AF15U2286
A/1C Bobby R
Prim AFU385169
A/1C Frank E
Quirk AF15450492
A/1C Raymond D
Spaulding
AF19382803
A/lC-Vytaut G
Stashis
AF11202843
A/1C James H
Stephenson Jr
AF14390648
A/1C Asa W
Warron
AF17295806
Samsun
_____________________________________________________________________________
Received
4/12/06 - Posted
4/13/06
Bill OK to
Post
Here are some
pictures of the
sights and
events that
occurred during
my Trips from
Trabzon to
Samsun back in
1953. The
pictures are
black and white
because we
couldn't get
color film or
get it developed
locally in
Trabzon. We had
to buy it in the
PX and send it
to Kodak for
development. I
had a Retna 1A
35mm camera that
I picked up in
Germany. I also
took a lot of
8mm movies, but
all of them are
lost.
Bill McFall
SAMSUN
MAIL/COURIER
RUNS
Round trip
courier runs,
between Samsun
and Trabzon,
were our main
pleasure. They
were like a
three day
vacation. Since
we had no Base
eXchange or
American Beer
available, we
lived on the
Turkish economy.
We had one
Liquor Club
Membership for
our household
(that was 6 of
us.) The Liquor
Club allowed us
to order one
case of hard
booze from the
PX in Ankara
each month. We
enjoyed bananna
liquor and mixed
with coke. At
least we got out
of Trabzon long
enough to visit
some friends in
Samsun. These
trips were made
once a month;
and I must have
made three or
four trips.
Officially they
were to deliver
mail and pick up
supplies. I have
included
snapshots of
scenes along the
way. Some of
these bring back
vivid memories
of the road
conditions and
the people in
general.
It seemed to
us that the
People walking
on the roads
never expected
to see more than
one vehicle at a
time. The
pedestrians
would continue
to walk in the
center of the
road until you
honk your horn
at them. Then
they would step
aside until your
vehicle passed
and then back
into the center
of the road. A
second vehicle
would then have
to blow its horn
for them to move
aside; then the
third and so on.
I wish I had
movies of these
events.
Figure 1
Courier Runs -
Roads are Busy
is of a
shepherds
driving their
flock along the
narrow mountain
road. The
mountain went
straight up on
the left and the
Black Sea was
straight down on
the right. This
was a common
occurrence, not
just one time
for the picture.
When we came
upon a flock of
sheep like this;
it was for us to
wait until they
arrived at a
space where the
sheep could be
driven to the
side. This
sometimes wore
your patience.
Figure 1 -
Courier Runs -
Roads are Busy
In Figure 2,
Courier Runs
- Two Mountain
Ranges, the
Bus is ahead of
us and you can
clearly see four
levels of roads,
counting the one
we are on, These
mountain switch
back curves went
on for miles.
Figure 2 -
Courier Runs -
Two Mountain
Ranges
In Figure 3
Courier Runs -
Bridge Out
the bridge
is out again and
as you see in
the following
Figure 4. We
abandoned the
road and ford
the river at
this narrow
shallow point. I
don’t think I
ever tried to
determine the
names of the
rivers or
mountains that
we crossed. We
had our own
names for the
mountain ranges
but not for the
rivers. Each
trip was
completely
different in
that a different
set of obstacles
would be in our
path. NEVER were
we harassed or
confronted by
the Turkish
citizens. They
were always
helpful and
friendly. Once
when I was
driving the
jeep, one of
those public
busses (similar
to the one in
Figure 2) took
all of the road
and I drove into
the ditch to
avoid a
collision. We
were stalled in
the ditch and
before we could
attempt to
extract
ourselves, the
men from the bus
piled out and
came over to
assist. They
virtually lifted
the jeep out of
the ditch; and
sent us on our
way.
Figure 3 -
Courier Runs -
Bridge Out
In Figure 4
McFall
Fording the
River the
water is low
enough to be no
problem, just
unusual. This is
I, McFall Bay,
standing in the
water as we
complete the
crossing. The
bridge is behind
the camera.
Figure 4 -
Courier Runs -
McFall Fording
the River
The scenes we
saw as we made
these journeys
are
unforgettable.
As we passed the
Black Sea on one
of the many
curves, we saw
the local
Farmers drying
hazelnuts on the
beach. This is
Figure 5.
Drying Hazelnuts
on the beach.
Many times we
saw them drying
the nuts in the
middle of the
road but this
was the only
place I recall
them drying them
on the beach The
heat in our
apartment was
from a GI tent
stove that we
fired with hazel
nut shells. The
heat was intense
but short-lived.
Fortunately, we
didn’t need much
heat while we
were there. Our
winter supply of
hazelnut shells
was stored in a
cellar beneath a
trap door in our
living room.
Occasionally we
encountered a
black scorpion
in the
stairwell; but
they were easy
to kill.
Figure 5 -
Courier Runs -
Drying Hazelnuts
on the Beach
In one of the
mountain ranges,
we stopped to
see this dancing
bear. Figure 6
Courier Runs
– Dancing
Bear. The
bear was trained
well enough to
dance at the
beat of the
tambourine and
his friend was
there, I hope to
help him control
the bear. Notice
the still pose
of the
assistant. The
men loved to
pose for
pictures but
didn’t appear to
like for their
women to be
photographed.
Figure 6 -
Courier Runs -
Dancing Bear
And finally
no trip through
the Turkish
countryside
would be
complete without
the photograph
of the charming
Turkish
Children.
Apparently these
two had not yet
been taught to
throw rocks at
Americans. After
requesting and
receiving
chewing gum.
Figure 7 -
Courier Runs -
Mountain
Children |
|
|
|
Received
4/5/06 - Posted 4/6/06
Bill
One memory of my stay in Trabzon was an unusual
event for me. I don't know if any of you were
invited to witness such an event, but it
happened to us (Keith Roe, Bob Howard and ME.)
During our stay in Trabzon, we met, and became
friends, with a Turkish 3rd Lt. (Oddly I can''t
recall his name after these 53 years; and I did
not have it written down on any of these
pictures. Anyway, he invited us to attend the
circumcision of his little brother. This
occurred at about age 12 or 13. Judging by the
home decorations that were rented for the
occasion, this was a large event in these boy's
lives. All of the men were in the bedroom with
the boys (actually there turned out to be two
cousins that were circumcised on the same day.
All of the women were in another room. The boys
were taken for a drive around the city by their
fathers as a symbolic last ride as a boy. When
the boys returned from their last ride, all of
the men at the celebration, us included,
gathered in the bedroom and were all around the
bed. when the hoja (sp) came. He, the hoja, had
each boy, in turn, stand on the side of the bed
where, in rapid succession, he was circumcised;
a piece of candy stuck in his mouth and he was
placed in the bed. The first boy said to the
second, "Don't worry; it doesn't hurt." During
their circumcision, the men all stomped their
feet and clapped their hands to make a lot of
noise so that any cries could not be heard.
There were no cries of pain. The entire event
was quick and festive. Here are the pictures I
have.
BTW, I am still looking for Bob Howard. He was
studying Pharmacy in Little Rock when I last saw
him in 1958. Anyone know how to reach him?
Bill McFall
 
Received
4/5/06 - Posted 4/6/06
Bill,
OK to Post
Here is the first plane to land at Trabzon
Airport. It is also the first plane to take off
from Trabzon Airport. The strip was still gravel
then; and there were no buildings. In the
background of Picture #35, you can see the Black
Sea. I did not know we were leaving before the
plane arrived; that news came with the plane.
Our work, building a base, was finished. On the
flight back to Ankara, the pilot tried to talk
each of us into reenlisting. He got no
takers....
While we were there, we called the site "Boz
Tepe on the Black."
Bill
Received
4/5/06 - Posted 4/6/06
Smokey,
OK TO POST
I spent a lot of time talking and visiting with
the local people. They were very friendly and
interested in our crazy ways. This is the man
who worked the farm where the Main Base was
later placed. I read somewhere in these pages
that the farm was purchased from this man or his
boss and the Boz Tepe Hilton was constructed
about where I am shown plowing. Does someone
know this man? He was very nice to me that day.
Someone said the farm there belonged to his
grandfather. I wonder if this is his
grandfather. I wonder where some of the people
are that we met and laughed with.
Bill McFall
Received
- 4/4/06 - Posted - 4/4/06
Bill,
OK TO POST
In both of those
pictures, I can see:
1.
The “Main Base”
2.
The Ops Building and Ops Antenna
3.
The Mosque
In Bill Maher's
picture, trabzon.jpg, I can clearly see
antenna masts. It is not the original Vee
Antenna that we erected; but it is in about
the same place. The original road went to
the waterside (I think that is North) of the
antenna. There was a transmitting antenna
for the GRC 26 that was about where the
small white buildings are on the left of the
road. I believe the original road from
Trabzon to the mosque went diagonally across
what is shown in the pictures as the “Main
Base”.
Figure 1: Jeep on the
top of Boz Tepe about where Main Base was
later located
The road was a muddy mess when we had rain or
snow, as you can see here. This jeep is
traveling about where the “Main Base” was later
located. Turkish people traversed that flat
part at the top of the mountain on their way to
the Mosque. I wonder how the Turks got to their
mosque when the built all of that stuff in their
road. Our antenna lines went across the road and
we entered the site as we called it or Ops as
you called it.
The clearest picture of Ops is in Bill Maher's
picture, Trabzon1.JPG, in the top of the picture
and to the left of the mosque. Our original site
was about half way between the Ops building and
the Mosque. This picture of the original “Site”
was taken from the place where the Ops Building
is now located. At that time it was near a
barbed wire fence where out site border was
located.
1.
On the far left is the blue van, of which
I have written. It was a white truck with a Reo
engine. It was the first 6x6 truck that we
had seen that was not the old “US Army GMC 2 ½
ton 6x6 truck. First off, this one was blue and
not olive drab. Secondly, it had a van body on
the back instead of the truck bed we were all so
used to seeing. The antennas (four hand rotated
parabolic dishes were supposed to mount through
the roof of the van. The antennas were not there
yet. They do show up in later pictures.
2.
Next to the van, behind the sign that
probably said no smoking in English and in
Turkish) is that stone building where the
generator switching was done? This structure was
on the hilltop when we arrived. You can see the
power lines running to the switch building.
3.
To the right of the building and behind
the metal drums are two Diesel generators on
searchlight trailers. The second generator is
behind the first so you cannot see them both but
power lines run from each generator to the
switch building.
4.
To thee right of the generators are two
JAMESWAYS end to end with a single entry in the
center. These Jamesways were the housing for the
radio operators; and that Jeep in the first
picture is parked at the entrance to the two
Jamesways.
Figure 2 the "SITE" as it
was in 1953
5.
To the right of the Jamesways, and behind
the jeep, is a tent that I had forgotten
existed? I don’t recall what it was used for.
The Jamesways were home to all of the radio
operators and the linguists. In the center of
this picture you can see the tip of the
parabolic antennas that were latter installed on
the blue van and the Pyramid shaped cone
antennae that were not yet on the mast
Figure 3 the Jamesway
Shack with the DF Radio in boxes
The Jamesway on the right is also hidden by the
strange not remembered tent structure. In front
of the tent structure is the DF radio that had
just been delivered. Odd that I do not recall
any deliveries like that, but there it is.
The metal grillwork behind the Jamesways is a
conical VHF antenna. It was destined for a 25-ft
tower that came with the Blue (ELINT) van. The
Dark circle above the strange rectangular tent
is the parabolic antenna set that mounted on the
Blue (ELINT) Van.
The following picture is of the Blue (ELINT) Van
behind the Power Transfer Building. Fig. 4 was
taken immediately after the December 1953
snowstorm and Fig. 5 was taken just before the
snowstorm. The Black Sea is in the background in
both pictures. The Turks told us it NEVER snows
in Trabzon. NOT! Notice that the parabolic
antennae are not yet mounted on the Van.
Figure 4 the Blue (ELINT)
Van and the Power Transfer Building in the snow.
Figure 5 the C.O., 1st Lt.
Pitre, approaches the Van.
Finally the Parabolic antennae are installed on
the van and a staircase was built to keep us
from falling down Boz Tepe when we exit in the
dark. Here I am standing atop the Blue ELINT Van
after installation. The box in the center housed
the tuning units for the APR-9.
Figure 6 the Blue (ELINT)
Van brandishing its antennae.
Received -
3/25/06 - Posted - 3/28/06
Bill,
I have the names of some of the folks in the
ELINT picture (somewhere) and I'll send them off
when I get lucky enough to find them. We will be
home next week. The Orders I have name all of
the people, but I have some trouble deciding who
is whom.
Oh, If you are interested, I have a picture of
the troop ship (USNS UPSHIRE) we we used to
transport the first Trab/Samsun teams to
Germany. We were in the USAF, so we didn't fly
on the way across. We crossed the North Atlantic
in May and came up through the Channel to
Bremerhaven.
We stayed a few days in Bremerhaven before we
took trains to Bavaria (Landsburgh/Lech.) The
first train was to Frankfort then we switched
trains to Landsburgh/Lech.
After a few weeks in Landsbergh, we took 2 1/2
ton 6x6trucks to Munich where we got our
passports. They were green.
Then we were put on a train to Frankfort where
we waited. We stayed in the Four Seasons Annex
while they put us in a cue to get on planes to
Ankara with a stop in Rome and a 3 day layover
in Athens. Our priority was somewhere behind
dependents on vacation, but we didn't care... we
were sightseeing along the way.
After our tour of Ankara, they got us on another
flight, this time, to Ankara where we stayed in
the C(h)elik Palas Hotel (I don't know if that
means Strawberry Palace or Iron Palace; but we
had experiences there too. Maybe someone will
know what it means. We visited the "Horse's
Tail" and Ataturk's Tomb and most of the five
star restaurants in town while we were then
introduced to JAMMAT and then put on trucks for
Trabzon. Everyone was on per Diem in those
days.
That first 30 some days in Germany was enough to
give us the Army of Occupation Medal and get us
into the VFW. For years Cold War and Turkey were
not enough to get us into the VFW. Odd, isn't
it?
March 15, 2006:
OKAY TO
POST
Bill,
Here is a picture of a burning boat in
Trabzon Harbor. It was Ttaken sometime after
the winter of 1953/54. The boats that
delivered gasoline and kerosene to Trabzon
for eventual delivery to the Petrol Offici
(That is how I sounded it out at the time).
We did our buying at this office in the city
and then picked up the gasoline at the
beach. We bought gasoline in 55 gallon
drums, loaded it onto our weapons
carrier and hauled it to the top of Boz
Tepe. The boats brought the drums into the
harbor and dumped them overboard. they were
then floated/dragged onto the beach where we
picked them up.
On our first pick up at the beach, the
4x4 weqapons carrier was heavily loaded;
and, we had to let some of the air out to
the tires to get enough traction to get out
of the sand. Then we had to pump up the
tires (hand pump) to get back up to the top
of Boz Tepe.
The second picture is of a farm between
Ankara and Samsun. Originally, we went from
Ankara to Trabzon on 2 1/2 ton 6x6 trucks,
as there was no airport in Trabzon at that
time. The airport was under
construction most of the time that we were
there; and, as I said before, I left Trabzon
on the first airplane to fly into and out of
the Trabzon Airport.
There are some pictures of our
encounter with a camel train between Ankara
and Samsun on this same trip; but those
pictures are still in my Las Vegas file
cabinet. When we got to Samsun at the end of
the first day, we spent the night with the
Samsun team in their newly rented house. The
second day, we completed the trip with the
Samsun/Trabzon leg.
We left Samsun and followed the coast
until we came to the first river. In that
river, we drove upstream (possibly as much
as a quarter of a mile) before we exited the
eastern bank of that river onto a semi paved
surface. From there, we followed a road
that has been compared, by some travel
writers, to California State Road 1. I
suppose they were talking about the part of
CA1 that follows the Pacific Coast between
San Simeon and San Francisco. I have
traveled both roads and both are beautiful.
The Turkish highway along the Black Sea from
Samsun through Garisu to Trabzon is equally
beautiful and equally crooked/hilly but it
was not paved most of the way. The first
range of mountains (what we called the
little mountains) was followed by flat lands
and then a second range (we called the big
mountains) followed by the flat lands on the
western side of Trabzon. I heard from S/Sgt
Keith Roe, (called KayRo) and his letter
recalled travels on the road to Samsun. He
said: "
Some
things I seem to remember, while the rest is
dim. I remember ...A courier trip to our
sister base, with the weapons carrier.
Ordering the monthly groceries from the PX
in Ankara. Drinking tea in the landlords
shop. The ride from Ankara to Trabzon
sleeping on a pile of duffels in the back of
a icki buchook truck. Hanging the outside
dual of the truck over nothing as we went
around the switchbacks in a mountain pass.
Stopping in a mountain pass, where no one
was to be seen, to meet the call of nature
and as soon as we stood by the side of the
road, there were many eyes peering down at
us. "
We were a novelty and the Turkish men
and children were interested in what we were
doing. As I remember the road, it was more
like the road to Hana on Maui than it
is California 1. At every inlet or stream
that fed the Black Sea, we went inland a
ways to get to a short bridge, then back out
to the seacoast. (On ht Hana Road there is a
waterfall at every bridge; but not in
Turkry. Some rivers were large and wooden
bridges were there. Sometimes the bridges
would be washed out or damaged and we had to
ford the river.
Mostly, the bridges were okay for a
jeep or an unloaded 6x6; but the larger 6x6
BLUE VAN was too large and too heavy. When
that BLUE VAN was brought to Trabzon, it had
to turn around somewhere between the two
mountain ranges and return to Ankara. From
there, they went East and followed the
Turkey Iraq border up to the Black Sea and
entered Trabzon from the East. I was not on
that trip and only know what Sheets and
Fontaine (both deceased) told me (over
several Turkish beers) when they returned.
Was it Tekel Turk Birasi?
Bill
March 1,2, 2006:
OK To Post:
Bill
McFall:
Greetings
from Apache Junction, AZ.
I did not know
of TUSLOG. Never heard of it. My general
orders never mentioned the term, so I
suppose it was because I was there before
that "smoke screen" was created. Why was
that created? We started out as part of the
75th RSM and at some point it was changed to
34th. Those dates all show up in my orders.
All of my
pictures, orders etc are at home in
Las Vegas in my
files. I have nothing here in my laptop as I
travel. When I return, I can send some
pictures if you would like to see them.
We were a
permanent installation in Trabzon , but we were all
living on per-Diem. We received $9.00 a day,
but if you bought everything you saw, you
could not spend $9.00 a day there in Trabzon . Our residence was 24 Jami Sokak,
Trabzon . I
think that is
24 Church Street
.
When we set
up the installation in a picnic area on top
of Boz Tepe near a mosque above Trabzon
about June of 1953, we set up two 6X6 van
body trucks (One blue with many antennas and
the other a GRC26 RDF van) and a few
Jamesways along with some dishes and some
cones and some wire antennas on the edge and
top of the mountain (Boz Tepe was its name.)
We had two diesel generators that ran 24
hours a day seven days a week. We later set
up two more Jamesways . One was for living
quarters for the Oscari and the other was
for a day room where we watched movies when
we could get them.
The original
team was a 1st Lieutenant (Pitre) and 6
(TSgt Johnson, SSgt Roe, SSgtMcFall, A/1c
Howard and A/1cSheets and A/1c Fontaine) non
coms. We were soon joined by another dozen
enlisted men and 6 months later another 1st
Lieutenant. Most of their names are on a set
of orders that list the Expected Date of
Return from Overseas from both Samsun and from Trabzon , if anyone is interested. The original
crew was sent to school at Keesler AFB as
Special Training Airman Radar Observer. Some
of us were instructors at the Keesler
electronics school and some were radar
repairmen from other bases. I have also
started writing a memoirs, but only for my
own interest.
At the time
we left for overseas (Landsbergh
Germany ) the project was so
classified, no one could be told where we
were going other than some APO number. To this day I have never seen anything that
releases us from what we saw and did there.
Our families didn't know where we were for a
long time; then, we started using a Turkish
Mail Box for mail to avoid the extra two
week delay in mail delivery. Mail went from
APO to
Ankara and once a week mail went to Samsun . Then in another
week it was delivered to Trabzon . All the mail delivery was done by
Currier runs in a diplomatic style pouch. I
made several trips myself. I left
Trabzon on the first plane to use the then newly
completed gravel airfield in Trabzon . It was a C47 and Turks came for miles
to see such a large airplane. Fontaine, Roe,
Dougherty, Elliott and I all were discharged
at
Camp Kilmer ,
NJ on July 3, 1954. I might add
that Sheets, Fontaine, Dougherty and Roe are
all dead. I miss them.
Have you ever
heard from other Original Trabzon personnel?
______________________________________________________________________
More
From Bill McFall:
I have spent
most of the day reading the postings on the
web site. Some things brought up more
memories. Remember that my tour in
Trabzon was a part of JAMMAT (Joint American
Military Mission for Aid to Turkey .) The 75th and later the
34'th RSM were attached to and stationed in
the basement of the JAMMAT building. There
was a PX in the basement, and next to that,
an iron door (with sliding peep hole) that
allowed entrance into Squadron Operations.
Major Danko ran all of the field teams from
there. Samsun
and
Trabzon were the
only ones during my days there. I always
heard the Army had a station at Erserul (I
can't spell those words very well) and the
British had a station at Gerisu. There were
two mountain ranges between
Trabzon
and
Samsun . I think
Gerisu was in between those two ranges.
After 50 years memory dims.....
The round
building (Ruins at the bottom of Boz Tepe)
was an interesting place that no one Turkish
or American could explain. Where was it?
I climbed to
the top of Boz Tepe many times along that
old footpath. I saw what looked like old
caves but we never explored them. I'm sorry
I missed the pictures.
We were told
that that river near Trabzon ran red with blood
when the Armenians were slain there.
Since we were
a "novelty" when we were there, we were
always welcome in any shop. The owner always
insisted that we visit over tea before any
discussion of business was allowed.
We wandered
all over the town and the countryside at any
time day or night without any feeling of
danger.
We always
thought that the Turks were a bit narrow
minded and suspicious of us, but we never
felt any danger.
Our apartments
were directly above the old theater and on
summer evenings the outdoor rooftop movie
screen was visible from our bedroom window.
I did visit
the Catholic church in Trabzon , but as a
Protestant I didn't attend services there
more than once. A chaplain came from
Ankara once and
held services for all of us. Not bad for
my eleven month tour.
Okay to Post
________________________________________________________________
March 7, 2006:
OK To Post:
Bill McFall:
Thanks Bill. We all remember the children.
Subject: Trabzon Children
These kids taken near
the mosque on
Tekke Cami Sokak should all be over 50 years
old by now. This was taken in early 1954.
Bill McFall
March 7, 2006:
OK To Post:
Bill McFall:
Histogram of Bill McFall's Transfers.
Yyyymmdd address
19530629 Landed
Bremerhaven, Germany 6910th
Security Group APO 633
19530710 HQ SQ 6910th
Secty GP APO 61 Landsburge AB Germany
19530806 Det 5
JAMMAT APO 206A Ankara, Turkey
19530826 Arrived in
Trabzon, Turkiye and moved into Tekke Cami
Sokak No 24/1
19530907 Det 5
JAMMAT APO 206A Trabzon Turkey
19530921 Det#1 75th
RSM APO206A
19531124 Started
using Post Office Box address: P.K.18
Trabzon Turkey
19540208 Team B
Flight A 34th RSM APO 206A
March
7, 2006:
OK To Post:
Bill McFall:
Subject: Re: More on Trabzon
Bill and Chuck,
I found I had an
old backup disk from my home computer. Here
is a simplified time line of our
organization as it matured during that first
year in Trabzon.
Also, here is a picture
of a weapons carrier entering the site as we
built it. I stepped out of the "shotgun"
seat to take this picture. I was standing
with my back to the mosque. The Jamesways,
the blue van and the Black Sea were to my
right and the part of the park that the
Turkish people continued to use (where the
Ramada Cannon was located) is behind the
weapons carrier (and a little to the right.)
The "pi" (Greek
letter) shaped posts are the termination of
the vee antennas as they came onto the site.
Left to Right the people are Bob Howard (No
Little Rock) 1st Lt Pietre (Port Arthur, TX)
Ed Fontaine deceased (Keene NH) ?? and I
think Bill Sheets deceased (Valentine, NB)
driving.
There are a few more
pictures in this file and I will send what I
can with this Internet connection.
Bill
I was wrong on the
names.
It should have been:
Bob Howard, No Little
Rock, Arkansas
Lt Petre, Port Arthur, Texas
Ed Fontaine, Keene, New Hampshire
Charles Smith, ______ Minnesota
Norris Johnson, Festus, Missouri
Sorry,
Bill
_____________________________________________________
|
