Smiley Barracks, the smallest kaserne of the U.S. Army facilities in Karlsruhe, owes its name to T/4 Lester W. Smiley who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star in World War Two.  The kaserne was originally built in 1937 and was named Forstner Kaserne for General Forstner of the German Luftwaffe.  At the conclusion of the war, the kaserne was taken over by the Americans. (Source: General Orders Naming Kasernes, USAREUR Military History Office as mentioned on www.usarmygermany.com)

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Stumbled across Merv Norton’s web site December 23, 2004 while searching Smiley Barracks. Merv arrived in Germany June 1950 and was stationed at Phillips Barracks. He said before they moved to Forstner Kaserne (renamed Smiley Barracks February 1, 1952) he spent several weeks during the Spring of 1951 in outside clean up and beautification. He then moved to Forstner during the Summer of 1951. Merv went on to mention two trips he made to Karlsruhe since he and his wife left in 1953 and I will tell you about those stories in future issues of the PIT. On his web site he does mention that the government apartments were completed in early 1951 and that he and his wife moved in on Rhode Island Avenue which of course was within walking distance to Smiley Barracks.

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This is the sign (you can see the sign at the "SERVICES" section of this web site in the "PHOTOS" area called Smiley Barracks) telling how Smiley Barracks came to be named and when it was named. The sign reads as follows:

I was stationed at the 3^rd General Dispensary for nearly thirty-one months and lived on base the whole time. Not once did I ever see this sign. Good work Merle.

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From Al St.Jacques, who was a Medical Tech from January 1954 to April 1955, at the Third Medical Dispensary, Smiley Barracks, Karlsruhe. Apparently the3rd General Dispensary was formerly the Third Medical Dispensary.

And a bit of trivia from Al St.Jacques.  The Army hired a shepherd to use his sheep to cut the grass, saw it through the upstairs ward window. When I told Mr. Jamerson (Warrant Officer) I saw the sheep, he looked out and saw nothing.…………….it took more convincing to show him the sheep as they rounded the corner. Phew!  I got stuck with guard duty, would you believe we slept in the cells? Those were the days when the German army was reforming, old men in long black limos, ex soldiers showing up with their Kine Card, with their ss, and Whermach photos on the cards. They always had a smile on their faces, it was hard to keep a straight face when I looked at their Kine card (Polize card to keep track of denatzified individuals). We also had an ex ss battalion surgeon Dr. Hess working for us at the time, another was an ex surgeon with a grenade crippled hand (forgot his name) and Dr. Kamerling.

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Phil Leonard is asking if anyone remembers a husband and wife who were doctors at the 3^rd from 1965 to 1967 named Philipowic (spelling?) who had escaped communist Poland and had to leave their baby behind with its grandmother? They were trying to get the US Government to expedite the release if their baby. What ever happened to them? Did they get their baby back?

And then how can anyone who was there forget the Cook Brothers and the triple stabbing during the summer of 1968. Never did I see as much activity at the 3^rd General Dispensary as I did that night. Lou Cisco states that he and Marty Bauer responded to that emergency call, but of course there was nothing that they could do. One of the Cook Brothers picked up the knife that belonged to one of their assailants and stabbed all three of the attackers in the heart. If I remember correctly, two were D.O.A. and the other died right after arriving at the dispensary. Believe it was ruled self defense.  Who was the doctor on duty that night? Lou, Marty, do you remember? If my memory serves me well, I think it was Dr. D’Alessandro.  (Further information submitted since the above was written in 2003, 35 years after the fact, this incident occurred near Gerszewski Barracks late one night and the weapon may have been an "ice pick". A famous defense attorney believe to have been Melvin Belli represented the Cook brothers). 

Recollections about the helicopter crash....Sometime in 1970 the dispensary was alerted that a flying crane had gone down about a mile from Gerszewski Barracks. The crew apparently reported an in flight explosion and fire. The crew that was aboard included four people: pilot, copilot, crew chief, and another person. Supposedly the crew chief was sitting with his back to the engine when the explosion occurred. He was struck in the back by a twelve inch square piece of metal, which probably killed him instantly. The remaining crew then jumped out of the aircraft about 10 to 20 feet off the ground to try and get away from the fire. They were all burned severely and were taken to the hospital in Landstuhl. They were initially unable to ID these three, as their ID’s were not found. We, the 3^rd General Dispensary, were asked later that day, after the crew chief’s remains were found to draw some blood from him for the purpose of identification. His body had been brought to the dispensary in an Army ambulance and parked well away from the back door out under the trees. I was asked to go and get the blood. I will never forget that smell. Even after working a year at the burn unit in San Antonio, it was nothing compared to this. He did not look human. I drew his blood from his heart and placed it in two vacutainer tubes and was told to freeze it. This I did and several hours later a Lieutenant from Heidelberg appeared asking for the blood. I got it out of the freezer and gave it to him. He immediately placed both tubes in his shirt pocket. I immediately told him he should not place the blood there. His response was classic military. "You don’t tell me what to do Specialist," I attempted to repeat, and he cut me off stating he would have me on report and charged with an Article 15 for insubordination. I shut up. He turned and started walking away when there was a loud cracking sound that came from his direction. He turned around looking at me as a large red stain appeared at the base of his shirt pocket. The tubes had thawed too fast from the heat of his body causing the glass to crack. He then realized what had happened and asked me to get some more blood. My response was he already had all that I was able to get and I raised my hands as if to say I told you to listen. There were several witnesses to this part as he raised his voice when I had attempted to get him to listen. He then left very upset. I later learned that all four eventually died from their injuries.   John McMahon, Lab Tech at the 3rd General Dispensary February 1970 to December 1971, (Where are they now? John went to medical school and became a doctor. That Lieutenant? Who cares!)

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From Scott Bloom, in 1973 the Stagedoor Playhouse on Smiley Barracks was the Army theater center and operated by Frank Chapin.  Apparently the theater center was in the EM Club on Smiley Barracks after a newer EM Club was built off base.  The building that housed the old EM Club and then the Stagedoor Playhouse has been demolished.

Also gone on Smiley Barracks are the motor pools that were in the back, the gymnasium, and the snack bar/barber shop building.

The Minuteman Theater has also been demolished. 

The commisary is now a fitness gym.  Two stories have been added to the housing buildings in Paul Revere Village.  The three barrack buildings on Smiley have been converted into apartments and office buildings.  The PX is now a grocery store.  The fences and gates are gone from Smiley Barracks.

The Mess Hall on Smiley Barracks was converted to a Library in 1992 before the base was closed and it is still in operation. (You can see these changes by going to the "Links" section in the "Service" area of this web site and click on the link for "Smiley Barracks Area July 2000".

Smiley Barracks was closed as a U.S. Army base in 1995 and the property was given to the Karlsruhe government. 

The former MP building is now a Kindergarten.

The old dispensary building on Smiley Barracks is still standing! (you can see how it looked October 2004 at the "SERVICES" section of this web site in the "PHOTOS" area called Smiley Barracks)

Gerszewski Barracks was named for Sergeant Adolph "Ade" C. Gerszewski of the 397th Infantry Regiment whom was awarded the Silver Star posthumously in World War Two.  The complex was built prior to World War Two for the German Army and was called Rhein Kaserne(*).  The facility was captured by the U.S. Army 1st Constabulary Squadron near the end of the war in 1945 and on January 24, 1947 the facility was designated as the Black Hawk Kaserne, honoring the 1st Constabulary Squadron which wore the "Black Hawk" insignia denoting that they were the direct descent of the original "United States Regiment of Dragoons."  Line troops began to moved into the kaserne on August 23, 1948 and it was renamed "Gerszewski Barracks." (Source: General Orders Naming Kasernes, USAREUR Military History Office as mentioned on www.usarmygermany.com AND modified (*) by Paul Strauser due to a photograph received from Dr. Donald Morton "clearly" showing the words RHEIN KASERNE on the side of a building on Gerszewski Barracks)

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From Phillip M. Leonard who was a Lab Tech at the 761^st from October 1965 to January 1967 before going to Vietnam. He is interested in conversing with someone about the history of the 761^st. He did know Dr. Richard Ferguson. It seems that I was able to obtain more history from Phil than dispense to him. Listen to this. SFC Gilbert Thorne left the 761^st and went to Ft. Sam and then on to Vietnam. Shortly after his return to the states he retired and has since passed away. His widow was also the widow of Jesse Leroy Brown the Navy’s first black aviator. Her name is Daisy and she is still alive and living in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Gilbert was a really great guy and Daisy is just as nice. The Navy named a destroyer after Jesse and they are in the process of building another ship that they will name after him. He was killed in Korea. President Truman awarded him the Navy Cross posthumously. He invited Daisy to the White House and gave it to her. The fellow who tried to rescue Jesse received the Congressional Medal of Honor in the same ceremony. If you go to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. they have a display giving all of the details and there is a photo of Jesse. Phil now lives in Utah.

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CLASSICAL PIT……a reprint from Volume I - Number 9, dated November 26, 1969

(This was the headline story in Karlsruhe thirty-five years ago)

(Special): This story happened last week but deserves mentioning now. One day last week, we forget which day, a typical day was under progress at the 761^st Medical Detachment Dispensary on Gerszewski, but this was soon to be unlike any other day in the history of the dispensary.

Normal Amount: A normal amount of sick call patients were on hand plus the 30 or so persons for physicals. Approximately 9:30 A.M., Dr. Roma and Dr. Warner had finished seeing their share of sick call. With just two patients left, both of whom were to be seen by Captain America, the above two doctors decided to take it easy before they started seeing physicals while Captain Mayhall finished seeing his two sick call patients.

11:00 A.M. Now: The time now is 11:00 A.M., give or take ten minutes, and SPEEDY GONZALES Mayhall still has the same two patients to see. He made the fatal mistake (or as the PIT would say when he was promoted to Major at a later date a Major Mistake) of ORDERING Dr. Roma and Dr. Warner to start doing physicals. Dr. Roma, who certainly is no dope, realized that he had more time and grade than Captain America and wasn’t even assigned to his unit just walked out not taking any bullshit from Captain America. Dr. Warner followed suit and this mess was caused by Captain America due to "his way" of doing a job in the military.

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A Daniel Gerszewski contacted me on July 12, 2003, having found my email address on a message board, trying to find information concerning his uncle Adolph C. Gerszewski for his father who wanted to know more concerning his brother Adolph.  He was seeking details of why and how Adolph was awarded the Silver Star and also the name of the commander who appointed the Gerszewski Barracks to be named such after his uncle or maybe somebody or net-source to contact that may be able to provide more information.  This email to me started a chain of events in which I contacted Thomas Radke who in turn contacted Bruce Christman.  Please click on http://79thEngineers.fateback.com for the complete story that many contributed their time and efforts too and that Bruce summarizes so well on his web site for the 79th Engineers which was stationed at Gerszewski Barracks for one of their duty assignments during  their long and illustrious service.  Here is a brief summary by Dr. John M. Hoffman (cousin) - "Adolph C. Gerszewski, who served in the U.S. Army and whose hometown was Grand Forks, North Dakota, was killed in action on April 9, 1945 in Heilbron, Germany and was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for Heroism under enemy fire and also awarded a Presidential Unit Citation (Harry Truman).  In September 1945 the U.S. Army base in Karlsruhe, Germany was named "GERSZEWSKI BARRACKS" in honor of Sgt. Adolph Gerszewski.  In 1947 Sgt. Gerszewski's remains were returned to North Dakota and were reintered at the city cemetery in Grand Forks.  He is the only North Dakotan for whom a U.S. military installation is named".  And this from Girard "Pete" Scheetz, of the 552AAA Gun Battalion, on July 17, 2004:  "I had the honor of being stationed at Gerszewski Barracks from July 1950 to July 1953.  Here is the information as best that I know.  It was named in honor of Sergeant Adolph C. Gerszewski of the 397th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division.  Sergeant Gerszewski was awarded the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action on April 9, 1945 in the vincinity of Heilbronn, Germany, when he showed unusual leadership, aggressiveness, and capability in reorganizing his men under the enemy's position and, engaging them in a fire fight, succeeded in killing five Germans, wounded three and driving the remainder from their entrenchments."

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Tom Radke, who was stationed at Gerszewski from October 1974 to April 1977 and was assigned to C Company, 79^th Engineer Battalion, says that the old place is no more as it was demolished last summer (2003) and is now to be made into a major housing project similar to what was done at Smiley Barracks.  He also mentions that the movie Buffalo Soldiers (the 2001 film directed by Gregor Jordan, see www.allmovie.com ) was filmed on Gerszewski Barracks as well as in Mannheim. According to Thomas it’s not a great movie but you can see much of the old place as the backdrop which is now the last look at where many of you were stationed.

Here is a list of those who were placed IN HARM’S WAY at one time or another and who served at one of the Karlsruhe dispensaries or is associated with us in some form or fashion. If I have not listed someone who should be mentioned here please let me know.

World War Two: Hub Hulsey, who served at the 3^rd General Dispensary from 1960 to 1963 as Executive Officer, served on a Hospital Train in Europe after the D-Day invasion. I found this out during my conversation with his wife Libby Hulsey who now lives in Dawsonsville, Georgia. Hub passed away five years ago.

Korean War: We have two people who served during the Korean War who are associated with our group but never walked in Karlsruhe as far as I know.

They are –

Jesse Leroy Brown – Jesse was the Navy’s first black aviator. He was killed in action and awarded the Navy Cross posthumously. His wife Daisy Brown, whom later married Gilbert Thorne who was stationed at the 761^st during the mid sixties, was invited to the White House by President Truman for the presentation of the award. The fellow who tried to save Jesse received the Congressional Medal of Honor in the same ceremony. The Navy also named a destroyer after Jesse and I understand that they are building another vessel that will be named in his honor now. If you go to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington they have a complete display with the story of Jesse.

Wendell Penny – Those who attended the Boston 2002 Reunion met Wendell (see photo Aa017). He is the official greeter of Castle Island and Fort Independence and dresses in a Colonial Army uniform. On May 11^th 2002 our group, wearing our reunion T-shirt’s that Joe Aresco made for us, went to visit Fort Independence on Castle Island. We were not aware that this fort is only opened for tours from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Wendell did give a presentation to us on his uniform and weapon but tells us the fort is not open for tours. Dennis "Brad" Bradley asks Wendell if he wears his hat and takes his keys if we all could go in then. Wendell said no but then realized that all of us are wearing a "Medic T-shirt" and says "A Medic saved my life in Korea, come on let’s go". He leads us to the fort and unlocks the front gate and gives us a private tour of the fort.

Vietnam Conflict: Phillip Leonard, "Wild Bill" Lokay (served with the Big Red One), Charles Miller (two tours), Eddie Overstreet (at Cam Ranh Bay), Gilbert Thorne, and "Crazy" Vaughn. Phil, Charles, Eddie, and Gilbert were stationed with the 761^st Medical Detachment at various times (see our Unit Roster) and "Wild Bill" and "Crazy" Vaughn were stationed at the 3^rd General dispensary in the late sixties. Gilbert Thorne passed away and I cannot locate "Wild Bill Lokay" or "Crazy Vaughn". Phil, Charles (see attached photo), and Eddie (see attached photo) are receiving the PIT and you can contact them at their email listed on the cover sheet.

Operation Desert Storm: Dr. David Kentsmith was stationed with the 3^rd General Dispensary in the late sixties.

Operation Iraqi Freedom: Robert Laverick was stationed with the 3^rd General Dispensary in the nineties. You can contact Robert through the classmates.com web site.

Thank You: All of the above deserve our respect and gratitude, not only on Memorial Day, but every day. Thank you all for serving our country in HARM"S WAY.