Redstone Arsenal 1965-68

1. Von Braun
   1. Traveled with an entourage. Came to our building (5250) from time to time.
2.  LT Tayohara (Japanese) Roommate in BOQ, Later COL and liaison officer
   1. Went to Chattanooga (he pronounced Chatta Know Gah )
   2. Had picture made with Indians
   3. Called the Indians “my people” and showed me a picture of himself standing with a group of them.
   4. He and CPT Demi demonstrated aikido on cement tennis court, catching one another just before hitting court.
3. Williard Purcell – BOQ roommate during summer
   1. Worked in Missile Intelligence Directorate
   2. Sometimes would say “I can’t tell you anything, but be sure to watch the papers.” Shortly after one such warning there was a denial of a claim that a B-52 had been shot down over north VN. I suspect one was.
   3. Co-worker would leave note on door such as “Williard, call your grandmother.”
   4. Saw him, I believe, walking through a Mall in HSV around 1990. Checked phonebook and found a listing in that name.
4. Scotch tape on telephone receivers
   1. Periodic trick was to screw the earpiece off a telephone and put scotch tape of the back of it before screwing it back on. This kept the user from hearing anything with no visible reason for the failure.
5.  Super ball bounce game at lunch
   1. This was the rage one summer. Super balls had about a 90% rebound so it would bounce on and on if dropped. The game was to drop it from about 10 feet from a waste can. Each bounce was a point for you IF the ball ended up in the waste can. No points if not.
6. Crazy 8s at lunch
   1. Four of the CPTs played the game at lunch every day one summer
7. Claim for Alarm Clock and Attache Case
   1. Soldier TDY had left his case. When passerby became suspicious and listened, heard ticking
   2.  EOD team blew up the case
   3.  Soldier filed claim
8. CPT Louis N. Haas
   1.  Played piano at Shakey’s Pizza
9. LTC Heyward Jeffers
   1.  Probably an alcoholic, very erratic in showing up for work
   2. Kept a hat on the hat rack in his office so secretary could always say His hat is here but I don’t see him in his office
   3.  Did have a knack of walking in before the CG or CoS called for him
10. LTC Cecil Morrow
    1. Office was called before he came and warned to look out
    2. Claimed to be fluent in French but when CG sent down a letter in French for translation Cecil had to send out for English – French dictionaries
11.  MAJ Powell “
    1. From Oklahoma, used to joke that his admission to practice might be invalid since it was signed by the OK Supreme Court and almost all of the signers had been convicted of fraud in an oil case
12. MG Rachmiller
    1. Would go into an office and pull files out of drawers asking why the file was in the drawer and why it was not completed and filed
13. CPT Malcom “Bill” O’Neal
    1. General’s aid, later a general himself
    2. Played as his partner in industrial tennis league doubles. I played the base line lobbing to the opposing base line much of the time and he played killer at the net.
    3. He had bullet wounds in his neck and chest from VN said to result when bullet hit the bayonet on his rifle and split into two parts as he led a charge on an enemy position.
14. Major Fred Bright
    1. Had a very thick neck that made him look something like a frog.
    2. Used to call MAJ “Mad Dog” Welborn and say “Mad Dog, this is Freddy the Frog.”
15. Saturn Five Test Firings
    1. Shook the ground for miles around.
    2. Many claims for cracked foundations, broken china, etc.

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