In keeping with the web beacon concept, I figured I'd post the occasional note about villages and towns which would be familiar to anyone who served in Paddy's Gang or
4/12 Infantry. Again, the general idea is to include potential search terms that might get a hit on Google or other search engines and ultimately help vets find each other.
Of the main gates leading from H D Smith Barracks to
Baumholder, there were two that most of us would use to walk down to the Hauptstrasse. The first of these passed the O Club, ran through a pedestrian gate at the edge of the post and then continued along a footpath which came out not far from
The Stammtisch. The Stammtisch was owned by a former GI and his wife; I think it went under circa 1990 when the drop in the exchange rate really started to hurt. That's still odd, because the place was always rockin', but they had probably overextended themselves when the dollar was running strong.
The second main way off post was to head out the back gate, take the spur off the south tank trail junction, and follow the road down. The first bar on the way out the back gate was
Franck's Getranke. Apart from being yet another cheerful and familiar den of iniquity, Franck's also provided a splendid beer subscription service where you could pay your twenty marks or so per week and they'd deliver a fresh rack of primo beer to your quarters. Better yet, they could offer stuff that no one else stocked, like some fiercely alcoholic brews from one of the Bavarian monasteries.
Of course, having weaved and heaved one's way through all the bars, there was always the de rigeur stop for some haute cuisine at the
Chuck Wagon on the way back up the hill. I bet the Chuck Wagon's still there, too -- if the original owners didn't retire rich then they must've lost it all at the racetrack.
Further out of town, there was the
New Land down at
Fohren-Linden, which had gone through a number of name changes since the French were at Baumholder back in the '50s. For some reason I recall it being off-limits. Beyond that, on the way down to the autobahn to Kaiserslautern and Trier, lay the famous
Freisen hill, which used to freeze over so badly that at least a couple of times a year fellows would be excused for missing formation in the morning.
Even further in that direction, heading south by southwest, one eventually came to
Sankt Wendel. Like
Idar-Oberstein to the north, Sankt Wendel was the first patch of civilization out along its point of the compass which could lay claim to being a city, small or otherwise.
I'll return another day with some place names east and west of Baumholder.
UPDATE: I belatedly remembered that The Stammtisch was formally 'Ron & Inge's Stammtisch'. And I should've mentioned
Jack Boy here, too.
AAAO!
Send your name, company and dates of service with Paddy's Gang --
click here! -- and I'll upload your details on the web beacon and forward any contacts I have on the roster I'm building.
If you were also with 4/12 Inf (M), be sure to check
here as well.
