T/Sgt MASON ALFRED CARTER - Hdq Co.
"Vivid memories? Many. One of my duties was to operate the 50 caliber machine gun mounted on the armored vehicle in which the Executive Officer commanded. While moving into a bivouac area one day, a German spotter plane flew very low over our area evidently for identification. I was told to shoot it down. After one shot the darned gun jammed. It was pretty vivid for awhile. The after affect was more vivid than the jamming."
Volunteered for service in the Administrative Corps or Quartermaster Corps in order to continue the same type civilian work I was trained for.
On arrival at Fort Sill, Oklahoma on March 6, 1942, I was assigned to "B" Company of the 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion located at Camp Bowie, Texas for basic training. After being outfitted in oversized GI clothing, I, along with about 300 other young fella's, now GI's, stood our first formation to hear our assignment. My name was the first one called with the announcement that I was assigned to the "Suicide Squad". My reaction resulted in my first "chewin' out" by a shave-tail 2nd lieutenant. Following eight weeks of basic training in B Company, I was transferred to Headquarters Company of the 818th, promoted to Corporal and assigned to work in Battalion Headquarters where I spent the rest of my Army career working with the Battalion Executive Officer and the Adjutant.
During my time with the 818th TD Bn. I was nominated three times to attend OCS (Officer Candidate School); I declined one offer; accepted two. I was chosen to attend Quartermaster OCS in Richmond, Virginia; was issued traveling orders and a train ticket but on the eve of my departure from the 818th, our Battalion Commander received a telephone call from the War Department notifying him that all orders to attend QM OCS had to be cancelled since it had been determined that only 4-F people could attend that course. I was in perfect health at that time. I was then accepted to attend the Tank Destroyer OCS at Fort Hood, Texas but before my orders were issued, our Battalion was transferred from the 3rd Army to the 2nd Army on the east coast who seldom, if ever, received quotas for said OCS. The Battalion was in Northern Ireland when I was notified to report to Belfast, Ireland for a physical examination before being sent to the TD OCS in Ft. Hood. Shortly after the physical examination word was received that all OCS's would be closed and that candidates for officer assignments would be limited to personnel in combat zones. Weary of the whole thing, I asked that my name be withdrawn from further consideration. Cancellation of QM OCS orders was the biggest disappointment of my Army time.
Funny things in the Army?
Well, not many. It was too serious. Once you see a truck being loaded with dead soldiers in the Graves Registration Area, nothing could be funny for many months. Since my job was in the Battalion Command Post, we seldom became in contact with the rest of the Company Personnel while we were in Europe.
Vivid memories?
Many. One of my duties was to operate the 50 caliber machine gun mounted on the armored vehicle in which the Executive Officer commanded. While moving into a bivouac area one day, a German spotter plane flew very low over our area evidently for identification. I was told to shoot it down. After one shot the darned gun jammed. It was pretty vivid for awhile. The after affect was more vivid than the jamming.
Another vivid memory was the time we boarded the ship that took us from New York harbor to Belfast harbor. I looked more like a war correspondent than a soldier while carrying a typewriter, barracks bag with all my belongings, helmet and rifle in tow, I suppose one could say that I looked funny. On Xmas Eve, 1944, as the Battalion was moving into Luxembourg Country, the Bn CP was forced to spend a very snowy and cold night in a small town not far from our destination. Nearby was a funeral home and to get out of the cold, some of us spent the night in that funeral home which had several coffins stored therein. Although it was a stupid thing to do, a couple of us used one of the coffins as a sleeping bag. Crossing the Rhine River is another vivid. The Germans had blown all the bridges behind them as they retreated so the US Army Engineers built a crossing using pontoons as a bridge. The Germans was sending soldiers down the river and even though the skies were lit by anti aircraft guns and search lights, it was pretty scary.
The countries in which we traveled?
Germany, by far, was more like the US than any of the other countries. Rural France was quite different. In this country, one can see individual homes scattered over a broad area whereas in France, farm homes were clustered with perhaps 4 to 5 homes pretty much banded together as a community along with their farm animals and livestock. Quite different. The sod houses with straw roofs in Northern Ireland was strange looking. Since the Battalion Command Post moved quickly from place to place, we used German homes that had been vacated as the command post many times. The homes were well furnished in most cases indicating a prosperous surrounding.
My message to fellow buddies?
Try to keep our association going as long as possible even to the last two-try to leave a momento or records with our and their offsprings of what we did not only about war but as an association.
