The Ski Borne Bronco Busting Trooper
Sadly I must admit that when in the clutches of Demon Rum or other alcoholic concoctions I was prone to doing foolish things. I accidently discovered also not quite ideal ways of gaining instant sobriety. The first time I was really still a leg so the title of this yarn is slightly mis-leading, however I pride myself on being both ski and bronco qualified though I must admit I never got no badges for either caper.
Whilst wandering around in a fog, somewhere in Kansas, while in the first Division, possibly around Topeka, I fell in with a bunch of cowboys and while they forced drink after drink upon me learned they were on a rodeo circuit. I said I always wanted to ride a bronc. Those drunken fools take this innocent lad to the rodeo grounds, saddle up old paint, I climb aboard, they open the chute, horse bucks, I fly through the air, sobering up before I hit the ground.
Then in Garmisch, Germany I think it was having wangled one of those rare 3 day passes due to my outstanding soldierly ways, actually I bribed a certain NCO with a jug of yak; I run into some troopers from special forces we imbibed a few jugs of the vine, I decide that if they can ski, hell, so can I. For some reason that I don't recall, I wind up at the top of one of those ski jump things. Hell I can ski. I push off, zooming along, start to wonder what in God's name am I doing to myself, struggling not to fall, then off I fly, instant sobriety. Either God or a half a -sed PLF or the snow or whatever saved me from killing myself or breaking every bone in my body. Resolved never to partake of the grape again and didn't for at least the hour or so it took me to find a gasthaus. Airborne.
Lou Schreiner
Strange Encounters Of The First Kind
We paratroopers always had to be ready for anything. The following were some of my encounters of weird experiences in my life as a trooper. Believe me they are not unique, many troopers had some just as strange or stranger.
Once while hitch hiking up 301 in uniform headed north, a car with 2 beautiful and I mean BEAUTIFUL, women pulls up on the shoulder of the road, nearly running me down in the process and ask if I am airborne. Proudly I respond "Yes." Girl riding shot gun says, "So is bird shit." As they speed off spraying me with gravel, laughing their heads off, I figure they belong to some legs and promise that if we ever meet again and they are with their escorts, havoc and mayhem shall abound.
While thumbing a ride heading for the main gate at Fort Dix, with a fellow trooper from the 101st (this after that Captain had chewed us out for being clad as troopers at the replacement company, a General's car passes us going onto post. We salute think nothing of it. An airborne Sgt. who wound up in "E" 1/504 with me stops and picks us up. I believe it was Sgt. McLaughlin if so thanks again, if not sorry Sarge and thank you whoever you were. We cram into the back seat and he pulls away, as we go around a bend, an MP jeep comes flying up behind us and pulls him over. They ask if he saw any soldiers hitch hiking. Sarge says, "No these guys are with me, I'm going to Trenton to pick up my gear and I detailed my men to help." Sarge was in fatigues, we were in class A uniform. Sarge shows them his orders, one MP is giving us the evil eye, the other guy says, "Okay men, on your way." Think the parachute wings he had on showing he was a former jumper had anything to do with it?
To be continued as this was a string of strange events.
Lou Schreiner
Strange Encounters Continued
Sgt. Mac drops us at entrance to NJ Tpke, we split up me for NY, other guy to Philly. State trooper grabs me takes me to a rural road says try your luck here, illegal to hitch hike the Tpke. Figure he was a leg. Hike 4 miles or so, see gas station, car with NY plates, beg ride. Get dropped at 42nd & 8th, go downstairs to subway. Con man wants to sell me a diamond ring as he rubs it on glass of a gum machine, thinks I'm a hick but I see glass cutter he palmed. Tell him no. Asks meanly how much dough you got? Notice boot untied bend down to tie it, blousing chain falls into my hand, curling over my knuckles. As I arise accidently slug guy, he goes out cold as I hear a loud cracking noise from his jaw. Hear voice best get moving trooper, look it's a cop. Transit cop maybe. As he says this my train pulls in, I get on. Cop grins says he was with 187th RCT in Korea. Train pulls out see cop putting bracelets (cuffs) on guy. Maybe he was wanted, who knows or cares. Get home without anymore strange events.
Lou Schreiner
Tattoos
The worst thing you could do was report to jump school with an airborne tattoo already adorning your body. I had an eagle on left forearm. Get asked if I was in the 101st. Say no. Why you got an airborne tattoo troop. Say it is symbol of U.S. Sgt. says get down and get 20 good ones, it has wings don't it?
Do my pushups and while doing them they find 4 fools with airborne tattoos. Fall them in and while we do our PT, these guys are at attention rubbing that gritty N.C. dirt on their tattoos, trying to remove them while 3 Sgts. surround them verbally abusing them and periodically dropping them for pushups or squat thrusts or 8 count pushups. Eventually they all collapse. They quit within 3 hours of their arrival. Goodbye Fort Bragg, hello Pusan, Korea.
Lou Schreiner
Do You Remember When
The 155mm shell dropped in short on the 3rd Division guys in 61 killing and wounding 40 or so of them.
How many guys no matter how many times they were told not to do so, slept in back of an APC, got run over and killed by them.
When the 504 during the winter were aggressors for rest of 8th Div. , captured an outpost when everyone was asleep and tied the legs up in their sleeping bags, and hung them up in trees like so many Christmas decorations.
All the guys with the middle initial "A" in their names swore it meant airborne. Knew a guy in 1/503, named R.A. Smith swore it meant Really Airborne or sometimes Regular Army Smith. He took a short went to Okinawa with 2/503rd.
That old joke that first 2 weeks in jump school they separate the men from the boys and in jump week, they separate the nuts from the men.
Jody The Civilian Swine
You all remember that fink "Jodie" You're serving your country, he is back home romancing the women.
When the Dear John letters came, some guys would cry, others laugh, some got drunk, all heard told you so.
Some guys played catch up when they got home, some going so far as to kill Jodie and or the woman involved.
Yeah, good old "Jodie" you ruined it for a lot of good joes. The only good thing you accomplished was to make a lot of GIs more aware of what good buddies they had who helped them get over what you had done.
Lou Schreiner
The Loneliness Of A Military Post
For those of you who never served if you stop at this site, you may think it is impossible to be lonely in a military unit.
But I say that it very easy to be lonely even surrounded by your best pals especially at Christmas. Not that you would get down in the dumps. Uncle same always made sure you got a dinner with all the trimmings. Sure there were some pathetic Christmas decorations. Sure some of us went to German churches to celebrate the birth of Christ. Naturally everyone wished each other a Merry Christmas, but still sometimes there would be a lull in the eating or drinking or laughter among the troops and you could almost taste and see that aura of loneliness as it briefly visited the troopers, kind of like the Grinch stealing Christmas you see.
Lou Schreiner
CHERRY JUMP CUBA

Just graduated from jump school in sept.59.--------right after Castro made his claim to fame.------325 was on strike/one alert.---you know,everything rigged for heavy drop.---Fidel told Ike,that he was going to take the naval base back.---Ike said no.---so it was off to Pope for briefing,and looking at the sand table,with Cuba,and Quatmo Bay layed out.we were told it would be a hot DZ.------I still thought it was only a drill until they pass out the live ammo.---my platoon sgt.(Pappy Hayes)WWII 82nd. two combat jump vet,said,looks like I'm going to get that third star.---I told him I didn't want a star right now.--let the Marines do it.It's theirs isn't it? Pappy said,the marines are good,but it takes them 6 days to move across the road.---anyway we didn't go.---my cherry jump came at Holland DZ at 2:00am with a 75 pound G/P bag.----jerry ray D/325--59-60---E/504-60-62
Riding In That Damned Equipment Bag
It was quite a usual event to see a trooper ride in for a PLF, with his equipment bag unlowered. This was easy to have happen to you because it was attached to the "D" rings on your parachute harness by 2 butterfly snap releases. Both of these had to be released at the same time or else if only 1 was, the bag would cant to the side and you were stuck with it. It wasn't easy to release in the first place, since you had to kind of lift the bag upwards with your feet and hold it in place, while you fiddled with the butterfly releases. Not as easy as it sounds, since you are in the air and have no purchase to brace yourself against, merely the use of your feet and your arms to position the bag. If it released it remained attached to you by a 15 foot line which was great, because when the bag hit the ground it acted like a brake and you had a soft landing. I and many another trooper rode them in and it could be dangerous.
J. D. Ray when he was in the 325 at Bragg had a guy from Maine in his outfit who rode his in all the way and broke his back when he landed. Also the jump in Panama where the trooper was lost in the ocean, Jerry was pushing the stick that day, he wound up making a tree landing but other then assorted bumps and bruises was not hurt.
I landed in a tree once and was black and blue for a good month, another time I bounced off of one of comrad's stone walls that divided his farm from the next. A trooper in 1/504 that same jump, landed on the guy's barn roof which caused his chute to collapse whereupon he made a perfect 3 point landing off the roof, landing head first and broke his neck. Fortunately the medics were not only on the spot but knew their business, they immobilized him, and after months in a cast he was okay. Also the equipment bag was also know as a G/P bag.
J.D. Ray & Lou Schreiner
Making Rank In The 504
Many times during my tour with the 1/504 I often remembered my dad and his buddies playing the guitar and singing "Bless Them All". And i always felt that the line that went, "There'll be no promotion this side of the ocean, so when your in camp bless them all, was written for us.
That line described the 504 for most of my duration. Other then Joe Baker being made an E-5 for his achievements at NCO school on special orders, the only other promotions I recall until April 1962 were downward bound. Ah yes, demotions were frequent and continuous. Officers got their automatic promotions and a certain captain who had been passed over twice for major finally made it due to our excellence as soldiers. He may have thanked the men of "E" company but if he did, I missed that formation.
I was promoted to PFC 19 May 1960 back in Bragg, after having been an E-1 and an E-2 twice each and was promoted to E-4 on 5 April 1962 along with 8 other men in our company except one of them had his name crossed off the orders before we even saw them. His name still showed on the orders with a line drawn through them, guess it was too much work and expense to reissue them without his name.
Yessir, "There'll be no promotion this side of the ocean. Little change dad when I sang that tune to myself and in later years, it wasn't bless them all.
Lou Schreiner
Ah Thought Ah Was Kilt
This incident ocurred at lovely Baumholder land of enchantment, fun and games. It happened while firing our 106mm rifles at the range. Gun misfires, gunner takes proper steps to fire round again, still no go. "Pappy" Wise notifys the 2nd Lt. in charge of the range. Very gingerly I unload the round and me and I think "Jesse James" though it may have been someone else are tip toeing to the designated area about 150 yards to the rear of the firing line to deposit the shell in a hole for later demolition by the engineers. Ka-boom, me and Jesse leap 50 feet or so into the air, figure we are dead men and round has exploded in our arms. The doofless range officer had the guns commence firing even though they were not supposed to until we had disposed of the shell. "Pappy" had some words with this Lt. about it. Guess the Lt. had a hot date with a schatzie and wanted to get home.
Lou Schreiner
Was This Snake A Kraut?
While firing our pistols for qualification once again in that harsh land known as Baumholder, a couple of the guys start shouting look at this damned thing. I go look and there is a snake about 9 inches long colored that same dusty brown as the terrain except, on his head there is a perfect replica of a maltese cross that is colored black. I don't know if someone had captured it and painted it on or if it was real. Up to that time I had never thought of snakes being in Komradland. It's the only one I ever saw. The guys are debating if it is poisonous and one says nah its head isn't triangular shaped. As he goes to pick it up I say true but neither is a coral snakes head. He goes whoops, you're right, bashes it into that concrete ground with his little GI issue all purpose shovel. Case closed. Anyone out there know what the story is on snakes in Germany?
Lou Schreiner
Jumping Could Be Hazardous
Once in Bragg, a bunch of "C" company 1/503 troopers (I was not one of them) made a jump from aircraft flown by reservists. They went over the DZ at a high rate of speed never cutting back to jump speed. Jumpmaster tells crew chief to have pilot come back around. When he does jumpmaster says the hell with it and out the men go. One of them Long John Shewell had several risers snap which ocurred to others also. He said it sounded like 22 caliber guns going off. Many troopers had panels blown from their chutes and 2 had their chutes open inside out and had to activate their reserves. Another guy was completely inverted upside down in his harness and only managed to right himself about 300 feet up. No injuries luckily.
A jump was made in Panama where the DZ was only 11 seconds long and was located next to the ocean. One trooper either got the go from the jumpmaster or else fell out the door as the plane banked into the DZ, he landed in the ocean and was never recovered. To this day what actually happened is not known or has been shrouded by the mists of time.
In 61 down in Benning air reservists again, flying a vee formation, the lead aircraft was higher in altitude then the ones in the trail posisition, the men exit and 23 go through the props of the lower flying aircraft. Men were killed and others severely injured.
Just this month of July 2000 a sgt. had his reserve pop in the aircraft, it severed his head from his body and his head was found on the DZ 175 yards from his body.
Lou Schreiner



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