Warren Sjoberg, Cpl., Copilot L-19, 20th Field Artillery, 4th Infantry Division, Hanau Airfield, Germany, US Army

Biography of Warren Sjoberg

Cpl., Copilot L-19, 20th Field Artillery, 4th Infantry Division, Hanau Airfield, Germany, US Army

I served with the 20th Field Arty', 4th Infantry Div' Germany, Hanau Airfield, Army Air Forces mechanic & co-pilot with L-19 liaison planes directing fire from overhead.

I was in engineering at the Univ' of Minn', could have been deferred from the draft (at that time) but I opted not to, something told me that there was adventure to be had, the Korean war was going on, I entered the army in July of '53.

Basic at Ft. Leonard Wood in so. Missouri, then more Engineer's training, demolitions, booby traps and much more. Was sent to Ft. Belvoir VA but I had gotten sick en route, got to Belvoir and went on sick call, I ended up in Walter Reed with pneumonia.

Ft. Belvoir is the Engineer School, also the Officer Candidate School. I became interested in that, went over there and took the tests, passed them but opted not to do it, it's a lifetime thing and I really wanted to get home and start dairy farming, the school finished and I was sent to Germany, the Korean war had ended.

My first job there was typist in battalion HQ's, Clerk of Court, attending those trials and typing court martial summaries. I learned how the court system worked, this helped later in civilian life when I was sued as a businessman, a frivolous suit and I won.

Bob McPherson of Norfolk VA, was a buddy starting at the Engineer School at Fort Belvoir VA in '53, we were able to stay together most of the time over there and on the way home. (RIP). Another great buddy was Joseph Kuntz of St. Marys PA, were were both in the 20th Field Artillery Btn', 4th Infantry Division Germany, I was in that outfit the whole time while in Germany. When I was Clerk of Court, he was the Armorer, held all the guns. We went on maneuvers near Pappenburg Germany, this was in '55.

Then, a good friend tipped me off about a job out at the Air Section as airplane mechanic and co-pilot for our artillery spotting and fire direction, I got a Jeep and drove to the airfield, some ten miles away near Hanau. Talked to the head pilot, one Captain Fitzgerald, he ordered me to move there so I went back, got a Jeep trailer, got some help, loaded all my 'stuff' and drove back, now it's supper time. No one was there, I sat in the flight office, the phone rang. It was Sgt' Sheehan at HQ's and was mad, said I had no orders to go anywhere and get my posterior back there or he's have ME court martial-ed. So... I loaded all the 'stuff' again, drove back, got help getting it all into place in my room on the second floor, nice former SS barracks with walnut floors. Now it's nine PM, someone came up, said, "Sjoberg, there's a call for you in the orderly room". I went down, it was Capt' Fitzgerald and he was mad, said, "Sjoberg... where ARE you, get your rear end out here and that means now, we'll need you in the morning!". I explained that I had been out there, had moved all my 'stuff', Sgt' Sheehan ordered me back. Then he said, "Give me that SOB on the phone !!"

I leaned around the corner, said, "Sgt' Sheehan, I think it's for you" and then ducked out. All I heard was, "Yes sir ... yes sir... yes sir".... Then he yelled, "Sjoberg, get your a** out there!"

It was late now but I was wide awake, got more help, loaded all my stuff again and drove out, got set up in a room across from the flight office but barely slept a wink, this was too good to be true but was true, I was with the Air Section, no more inspections or any of that, this was like a civilian job with perks, lots of flight time, I learned how to fly, hunted jack rabbits out of helicopters, flew all over Germany on cold war maneuvers, had many harrowing experiences with Capt' Fitzgerald who took some extreme chances because he had to, some of our landing 'fields' were little more than woods clearings and worse, I consider myself quite lucky to be writing this frankly, I left for the States when my tour was over, Capt' Fitzgerald in the hospital with cuts/bruises from another helicopter wreck, I wished him well, said goodbye to this fine daring pilot, he taught me well, I came home and bought a Piper Cub, owned others later and did a lot of flying.

This was the height of the cold war, we expected the Russians to come over the border at any time, we were there to make sure they didn't, an alert would occur about every three days, pack up everything and head to the woods or maybe into a week's manoeuvre someplace, little time off and no leave to go anywhere distant.

But, I made the most of it, what better chance to see Germany, all that flying time, great bunch of guys, I can still taste those great German apple turnovers we had every morning with coffee while at our airfield. I didn't smoke so sold my cigarette cartons to the 'cigarette man' in Frankfurt every so often, Germans paid big for those American smokes.

Talk about adventure, I had found it, my early volunteer work at a local airport had paid off, gave me the background to dare a tough military job, sometimes it pays to jump at chances, dare yourself to try, some luck involved for sure plus a great officer to serve with.

Orders in hand, the train trip to Bremerhaven, then boarding the Maurice Rose for the trip home.

Came home in June of 1955 on the USS Maurice Rose out of Bremerhaven, a short stop layover in Southampton England. We left there, were passing the White Cliffs of Dover when the RMS Queen Mary passed us like we were standing still, her speed fantastic, we all watched in amazement as she sailed into the distance, then out of sight.

We settled in for the trip, I volunteered as typist for the ship's newspaper, a simple one page mimeograph smelling of ammonia put out each day, the biggest news was, one of the boilers went down so we were at reduced speed meaning a longer trip to New York. On the third day some guy came into my very cramped 'office' above, said he'd give anything to work on the ship's newspaper, this kid was serious, full of passion so I thought, why not. I showed him what was required, said goodbye and went down to lay on the fantail in the sun.

Everyone aboard was assigned a 'job', everybody had to 'work' but there I was free as a bird, I drifted around the ship, got to know the cooks in the galley, sat around, had coffee the weather nice most of the trip and everything going well. Back on the fantail was the choice place to be, take a little nap, watch the wake behind the ship and just enjoy the view, especially at night when the moon shown across the waves. Then it happened, some Master Sargent spotted me, maybe a little too often of too much free time , he addressed me in stern question, "What is your job corporal ?!"... I quickly answered, "I am the ship's typist", well, at least I had been. That was the only time I got 'nailed' but made sure I moved around more from then on, avoiding not only a job but being caught not doing anything, it wasn't the work, just the challenge and fun of beating the system.

Later, the trip nearly over we entered New York harbor, passed by the Statue of Liberty, then saw the Queen Mary being escorted out of NY harbor, I snapped a few pictures as we passed by. We learned later she had made two trips while we made one.

Picture shows me on the fantail, my buddy Bob McPherson of Norfolk VA laying in some rope reading a good book, he has since passed away from cancer, we drove from Minnesota to Norfolk in '63 to visit he and his wife, we communicated until the end.

And so it went the trip home on the Maurice Rose, fantastic experience that most will never see, the Queen Mary parked for good, ship travel all but over, the smell of the Atlantic from high decks never to be enjoyed.

I did buy a farm and also milked cows but those days with the Army Air Forces never left me.

----- Warren Sjoberg

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