 | Company D, 5th Engineer Battalion (Combat) |  |
When I arrived at Fort Leonard Wood I was assigned to Company D of the 5th Engineer Battalion (Combat) as a company clerk. Company D performed a lot of odd jobs around the post.
In the late summer or early fall of 1967 the company was sent to the Lake of the Ozarks not only to help set up some temporary docks for President Johnson's arrival for the Mid-Western Governor's Convention, but also to do some repair work on the military recreational area there.
In early 1968 I was promoted to Specialist Five (SP5 E-5). In April 1968 Company D was sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois to work on the post there. We were there for approximately 90 days and then returned to Fort Leonard Wood. I remember that one Sunday morning we really got a scare. The CQ came in, woke us up, and told us that we were going to Cuba. What we didn't know at the time was that we were not going to "Cuba" but to Cuba, Missouri to look for two lost children. What a scare!
On September 20, 1968 I got out of the Army and headed back to my home in Engelhard, North Carolina. This trip took me several days as I stopped along the way to visit friends and family. First Sergeant Clifford I. McLeaster was my First Sergeant when I arrived at Company D. He retired during my assignment, but we remained good friends until his death in 1993.
| BACK |  | NEXT |
