Robert Pohl
Sergeant, U.S. Army
1953-1955, 1974-1998
Larry Nelson
Published: Saturday, March 17th, 2012
A. Robert (Bob) Pohl was doing just fine. He was 21 years old, a high school graduate, and had a good job with the telephone company, working in Fremont. It was January 1953 and the Korean War was winding down. There were seven guys on his line crew where he worked. Five of them got drafted – including Bob. Each went separate directions.
There were close to 200 Army draftees headed from the Omaha area to Camp Crowder, Mo. Camp Crowder was a military base in Southwest Missouri, just south of Neosho, Mo. Here, Bob got his physical examination, met some new best friends, had a shiny new haircut, a duffle bag full of clothes and gear … and soon was sent on to Camp Pickett, Va., on a C-47 cargo plane. This place is in rural Virginia, near Blackstone. It is now an Army National Guard base. This was the site of Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training for Bob.
He is there in February, 1954. It’s cold and humid. The coal-fired furnace blew carbon soot into the bays of the barracks. Each soldier had to pull a rotation as “fireman.” Not to put out fires, but to make sure the furnaces had enough coal. The training in the field was done on the red-colored mud.
The sense of strict discipline may have slipped a little here. On one occasion, a trainee got too intoxicated. He passed out on his bunk. His “buddies” disassembled his bunk and took it out in front of the barracks, on the company street where they re-assembled it. Then they brought the passed-out-one out and let him sleep on his bunk. He was awakened by the Field First Sergeant the next bright, new morning. How they obtained alcohol is unknown. The Field First Sergeant was aggravated, to say the least.
Basic Training pay was about $34. It required being lined up alphabetically, then when it was your turn, you presented yourself to the pay officer: “Sir, Private Pohl reports for pay!” Salute. Sign here. Take your money.
The Advanced Individual Training taught him to be a medic. He was further trained for four months as a dental lab technician in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. There was no need to keep the furnace stoked. But the soldiers were still in training and could only move about the area in formations and by marching. It was funny watching other privates march to the swimming pool in their swim trunks, towels and combat boots and caps.
Finally, with most of the training done, he was sent to Fort Jackson, S.C., to a Replacement Center. He served the needs of the government. Here, although he was a trained dental tech and medic, the Army was standing up a Signal Battalion – a unit that would provide communication capability. He had documentation from the telephone company that he was a trained employee in this very field. The Army used him as an installer and an instructor, this time at Fort Bragg, N.C., the home of the XVIII Airborne Corps.
There was some pressure by cadre at Fort Bragg encouraging Bob to learn to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Ummm … No Thanks. Part of the work was loading heavy trucks onto a C-119 – the flying boxcars. Once the heavy truck was loaded, it seemed to take a lot of space and time to get the plane off the ground. When they landed on some rural airstrip, they had three minutes to get the truck unchained and off the aircraft before the plane would take off again. The planes flew the men into remote areas to get the lines installed.
Some of the training involved teaching guys to climb poles and get used to the safety belt. Six to eight poles would be arranged in a circle (and in the ground). They would climb the poles, work on balance and even toss a medicine ball from man to man. The ones who dropped it had to descend, grab the ball and get back up there. A fine exercise in concentration, safety and team-building! In time, these trained men would be installing telephone and field wire plus radio antennae around the base.
On one occasion, he and five others were installing wire in a wooded area. Very nearby, a training demonstration was taking place. Bob didn’t know about it, neither did the trainers know of Bob and his men. The demo was on the M-65, the Atomic Cannon. This unit fired a 280mm round significant distances. “Atomic Annie” could fire conventional and nuclear munitions. And it was loud. Bob and his five co-workers sustained hearing injuries that prevented them hearing anything for almost a week. Miraculously, their hearing returned. He still has tinnitus and hearing loss.
While Bob was at Fort Bragg, N.C., he got a weekend pass and hitchhiked to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., where he could visit his brother. The brother was a key player with regard to the Hercules missile development. (Sadly, and later, the same brother was found in the desert close to White Sands Missile Range, N.M. He had been killed. Now, much later, the case is still unsolved.) Bob’s tour of duty ended at Fort Benning, Ga. He returned to Omaha, and to the telephone company. He went to night school studying electronics. He used the Montgomery G.I. Bill. His work brought him to the Sidney area.
In 1974, he found himself considering going back into the Army. This time he would be in the Nebraska National Guard. He had skills they could use. He liked the Army. He saw some retirement light at the end of the tunnel. At first, the Guard unit was schooled in some subjects that were kind of off the wall, he thought. The seventies were a tough time to be in the Guard. This was an artillery unit. He worked in electronics, radar, meteorology and food service. Lots of weekends and annual training periods. And there were more hearing difficulties as they fired 155mm self-propelled Howitzer Cannons. He also moved up in the ranks and retired as a staff sergeant.
He had formed several good friendships in the service. Many of those have passed away. Bob is a member of the American Legion (almost 50 years) and the Disabled American Veterans.
Thank you for your service, Staff Sgt. Pohl!
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