Tim Arvizu: Paddy's Gang 1966-1967, Worms and Baumholder FRG

Folks,

Recent news in the comments from Tim Arvizu, whose message was pretty much as follows:

My name is Tim Arvizu, timvanarv@cs.com, and I served in Hq Company 1st Battalion 39th Infantry as CO's tango and company mail clerk. I served from Oct 1965 to Oct 1967.

In October 1965 I was assigned to Hq Company, 1st Battalion 39th Infantry, 8th Infantry Division. The 39th at that time was located at Taukkunen Kaserne in Worms Germany on the Rhine.

Shortly after my arrival, I was assigned to drive for Capt. Jasper Williams, the Hq.Co. Commandant. After Capt Williams was reassigned my new CO was Capt Charles Lowe. I must say, I believe these to be among the best COs a soldier could ever serve under.

As a member of Paddy's Gang I also had the pleasure of serving with great guys like L. Murphy, Mike Uchida, L. Marquess, L. Brown, C. Pruit, D. Samluk, J. Willoughby, J. Robinson, Byrnes and Joe Branson and many more.

By the way, it was in mid or late 1966 that the 1st of the 39th relocated to Baumholder.

Thanks, Tim, for that update. I've forwarded your contact details to some of the fellows who served with 1/39 Inf (M) back in the mid-to-late 1960s, and with luck you'll run into some guys you knew back at H D Smith Barracks or perhaps even Taukkunen Kaserne.

If you've got any other names to post, or people you recall, send us a quick email (matthewginn@gmail.com) along with your photos and I'll get the info up on the Web Beacon.

AAAO!

UPDATE: see also http://1-39inf.blogspot.com/2025/10/don-williams-and-willy-brown-alpha-co.html

Wheeler, Birk, Boyer: A-1/39 Inf (M), 1987.

Desperate times call for desperate measures . . . and it doesn't get any more desperate than this. Here are Jim Wheeler, SGT Birk and SP/4 Boyer putting their .45s to the test in Alpha Company 1/39 Inf (M), Baumholder FRG 1987.

I took the photo but Jim's the one who scanned it and sent it in.

Small world!

AAAO!

The Mother of All Posts: Alpha Company 1/39 Inf (M), Baumholder FRG 1988

UPDATE: UNIT ROSTER

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.

+++++++++++

Courtesy of Sean Carpenter, I present to you the greatest single list of names yet seen on the 1/39 Inf (M) web beacon. This is drawn from a company photo that would have been taken at some point twelve to eighteen months after I left Alpha Company in mid-late 1987. I estimate that some 75% of the unit I knew had rotated out by then -- but that still leaves plenty of familiar faces.

Will do my best to source a .jpeg so I can get the original photo online.

Well, we all spent time in the same dirt: sound off if you remember! And, once again, thanks Sean.

AAAO!

Alpha Company 1/39 Inf (M) 1988

CPT Perry, Commander
1LT Lee, XO
1SG Srader, First Sergeant
2LT Reyes, 2nd Platoon Leader
2LT Quintana, 3rd Platoon Leader
SSG Walker, 3rd PSG
SSG Ervin, Commo
SSG Denison, Supply SGT
SSG Branesky
SSG Rosewicz
SGT Alston
SGT Dryman
SGT Glenn
SGT Garza
SGT Heard
SGT Cuthbertson
SGT Miles
SGT Miller
SGT Parker
SGT Pereira
SGT Sander
SGT Teal
CPL Cooke
CPL Jones
CPL Lieber
CPL Lilly
CPL Warren
SPC Blank
SPC Berggren
SPC Bridges
SPC Clark, F.
SPC Carter
SPC Daine (spelling?)
SPC Greene
SPC Hernandez
SPC Hansen
SPC Kroeger
SPC Keller
SPC Lillard (spelling?)
SPC Lawrence
SPC Lynch
SPC Morgan
SPC Miller
SPC Merritt
SPC Metzger
SPC Nelson
SPC Porter (two of 'em)
SPC Rosum
SPC Riggs
SPC Sprenkle
SPC Sander
SPC Torregrossa
SPC Turner
SPC Yeater
SPC Sean Carpenter, of course
PFC Dale
PFC Darley
PFC Funk
PFC Gutierrez
PFC Johnson
PFC Messman
PFC Moncur
PFC Smith
PFC Williams
PV2 Clark
PV2 Graham
PV2 Harrington
PV2 Hayes
PV2 Hays
PV2 Meinhart
PV2 Strandberg
PV2 Whiddon
PV1 Brown
PV1 Burley
PV1 Labares
PV1 Peña

Sean Carpenter, Alpha Company 1/39 Inf (M), Baumholder FRG

In late July I got a number of great emails from Sean Carpenter, who served with Paddy's Gang in Baumholder during the late 1980s. Carpenter's got a memory like a rat trap and he's remembered a huge number of guys from those days, so here's a rough list that I've thrown together from his emails. (I've promised a few people that I'll get a user-friendly roster together, too, but for the moment I'll have to just keep posting them as I find them.)

Thanks, Sean!

AAAO!

Alpha Company 1/39 Inf (M), c. 1989

HQ

1SGT Dennis Schrader
SSG Ervin (Commo)
SSG Denson (Supply)
CPT William B Cooper (after CPT Perry)

1st Platoon

CPL Lily
CPL Lieber
SSG Branesky

2nd Platoon

LT David Reyes
SSG Roswitz
SGT Miller
SFC Roderic Williams
SP/4 Sean P. Carpenter
CPL Gray
SGT Mclain
SGT Parker
SGT Teal
SGT Glenn
SGT Miller
SP/4 Dave Deluca
SP/4 Miller
SP/4 Butac
SP/4 Nguyen
SP/4 Timothy York
SP/4 Darren Frazier
SP/4 V Morgan
Pvt R Williams
SP/4 Gutierrez
SP/4 Nelson
SP/4 Whiddon (sp)
SP/4 Darryl Stratton

3rd platoon

SGT Spradlin
SGT Riggs

Also

Arrell Moncur
SSG Williams
Messmann
Yeager
Tony Torregrossa (?)
Pvt Gurley
Merritt
SSG Berkowitz

Before I forget -- please add your name to the roster if you haven't already.

SP/4 Dave DeLuca, A-1/39 Inf (M), Baumholder FRG 1987-1989

I recently heard from Specialist Dave DeLuca, who was with Paddy's Gang from October 1987 and then with 4/12 Inf (M) through October 1990:

Hi
this is Dave Deluca
seen the picture of the APCs in the winter
brought back some memories
talked with Carpenter and Stratton
if you can put my name and e-mail up with the others, see who pays me a visit
looking for SGT William McDaniel (Macdaniel ?) A-1/39 - later he went to Ft Polk
thank you
Dave
delucaleedave@aol.com

AAAO!