Trafford Publishing: US Army Twenty Years/Plus

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US Army Twenty Years/Plus

by J. Chester Marsingill 1SG Ret.

187 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0643; ISBN 1-4120-0274-5; US$19.00, C$22.00, EUR15.50, £11.00

Retired Army First Sergeant tells all about twenty-plus years of service in the US, Korea, Japan, Germany, Argentina, Liberia, West Africa and Vietnam.

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About the Book About the Author Excerpts Catalogue Information

About the Book

This is a story about an enlisted man from Georgia who served more than 20 years in the US Army.
The story begins with his enlistment in August 1951, taking basic training at Camp Gordon, Georgia and retiring with more than 20 years service at Fort Gordon on February 29, 1972. It gives an overview of his advancement in rank from Private to First Sergeant.
Marsingill was not a combat arms soldier but was in the Signal Corps which served as the eyes and ears of the combat forces. He was not a combat hero but did serve two years in combat zones in Korea and Vietnam.
The story tells of his assignments to Korea, Japan, Germany, Argentina, Liberia and Vietnam. Some of his over-sea assignments were typical for the military and some not so typical. Some of his assignments containing interesting duties were in Korea, Argentina, Liberia and Vietnam.
In Argentina he taught maintenance and repair of radio communications equipment to soldiers of the Argentine army. At first they were skeptical about the methods for teaching by the US Army. Before the end of the mission the Argentine soldiers agreed with the teaching methods and expressed their appreciation.
In Liberia Marsingill served one year as Senior Advisor to the Liberian Army officer who commanded the Liberia Signal Unit. The Liberian Army Signal officer, Lt. Gray Allison, was later promoted to Captain by President Tubman. After Samuel Doe took control of the Liberian Government, Allison was promoted to Major General and appointed to the position of Defense Minister.
In 1989 Allison was charged with murder in the killing of a young police officer so the victim's heart and other organs could be used in black magic rituals.
While in Liberia Marsingill established a training program for the Liberian Army to teach basic electronics and repair of electronic equipment. He also installed a radio communications link between the US Military Mission headquarters in Monrovia and a US Military advisor detachment located at a remote site in bush country.
Marsingill witnessed many unusual things while serving in Liberia and tells about them in this book. The author's last overseas tour was in Vietnam. There as a senior NCO, he encountered many unpleasant situations. It seemed that discipline was lax and moral was low. Many young soldiers were involved with marijuana and some with heroin. Many of the soldiers resented being in Vietnam so it was difficult to keep them focused on the mission especially with the news of the anti-Vietnam war protest back home.

About the Author

J. Chester Marsingill was born in Buford, Georgia in 1932. After serving more than 20 years in the Army he went back to school. He enrolled in Augusta Technical School in Augusta, Georgia to pursue an education in Electronic Technology. After graduating he took employment with the Federal Government. He initially worked as an Electronic Technician in a communications equipment repair shop at Robins Air Force Base near Warner Robbins, Georgia. After a short stay at the Air Force Base, he transferred to the U.S. Army Signal school at Fort Gordon, Georgia. There he worked as an electronic technician and shop foreman in a communications equipment repair facility. He eventually moved over to the academic portion of the Signal School where he worked as an Electronic Training Specialist. As a training specialist, his duties were to develop training material to be used in training soldiers in the electronic field. At the time of his retirement he was involved with developing training material to be used in teaching soldiers how to operate, maintain and repair satellite communications equipment. He retired in 1989 after more than 36 years total government service.
The author is married to Fumiyo Kanaya formerly of Japan and has two sons, Philip and Joseph. He also has three grandchildren, Melissa, Erin and Brendon who were born in Augusta, Georgia. He has six great-grandchildren also born in Augusta.
The author was inspired to write this book by one of Brendon's teachers while on a Tutt middle school field trip to the Four-H Club Camp at Tybee Island, near Savannah, Georgia in the Spring of 2001. As he was telling the teacher about his travels while in the Army, she suggested he put the information on paper so there would be a record of his travels.

Excerpts

Preface
We were marched to the barbershop in formation. The barber would ask what style haircut you wanted but would cut all your hair off. One recruit had long, black wavy hair. When the barber finished with him and he looked in the mirror, tears came to his eyes.
The Field First seemed cold with a heart of steel but he treated everyone the same and was fair.
A gas can was used to carry water for mixing pancakes. That morning we had gas operated pancakes for breakfast. An instructor walked by a telephone pole on which a trainee was at the top working. The instructor used a hand-line tied to the trainee*s belt as a swing.
I went to Fort Ord, California for further assignment and was expecting to be sent to Korea but was assigned to the 44th Infantry Division. The 44th was an Illinois National Guard unit that was activated and sent to Camp Cooke, California. I woke up one morning and there were no lights in the barracks. I ask why no lights and was told I had slept through an earthquake.
Aboard ship, on the way to Korea, rough seas caused hundreds of men to become seasick. As I walked down the street, I was startled by someone stepping out of a burned-out building. I brought my weapon to ready and almost fired.
While on R&R in Japan, I took my first jinricksha ride and went aboard an aircraft carrier (the Yorktown) for the first time.
Bed Check Charlie would sneak in under the radar detection system at night.
While traveling from Camp Drake to Camp Fowler, Japan, my duffle bag took a scenic tour.
At a promotion board my Company Commander advised me to *sound off* as if I were outside on the parade field. I did. My wife Yumi was seasick for fourteen days while aboard the USS Jackson.
Explosive Ordnance Recon Training came in handy. We moved the U.S. Army Signal School (Europe) from Ansbach to Lenggries, Germany on a holiday weekend. On arrival in Lenggries I found my classroom, which was on the 2nd floor was ready but had no stairs to get to it from the ground floor. I set up a temporary classroom outside where we had a view of the mountains.
Hitler had an elaborate underground cave system near Bertchesgarden, Germany as one of his headquarters. One day as I was testing some radio equipment at the Hexagon, a former Commandant of the U.S. Army Signal School (Europe) stopped to chat.
One night as I was leaving Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, there was a traffic jam at the gate. I was told the PX (Post Exchange) had been robbed.
Seeing Mt. Fuji, Japan from the air for the first time was a beautiful sight.
Our mission was to use special equipment for detecting any violations of the Atomic Bomb Testing Treaty by the USSR.
The equipment could establish the location, time and yield of the explosion of an atomic device any place in the world. As we were walking around at a Hot Springs resort area in northern Japan, we noticed a bear sitting nearby. John Jay started to walk toward the bear, as he did the bear stood up and appeared to be nine or ten feet tall. Jay was startled by the size of the bear and it didn*t take him long to evacuate the area.
On one inspection trip, John Jay competed with an expert joke teller from the unit we were inspecting. A friend ran two miles in heavy rain because he didn*t know how to operate a vehicle with an automatic transmission. On occasions I would be required to talk for almost forty hours in one week.
A U.S. Army soldier was declared PNG (Undesirable) by the Argentine Government and was required to leave the country within twenty-four hours.
A U.S. Army soldier is stranded without transportation so he becomes an Argentine cowboy.
In Dakar, Senegal, I thought I had been transported back in time by a time machine.
One day as I was riding through the West (End) Point area of Monrovia, I saw monkey meat displayed for sale in a marketplace. All skin was removed except for the feet, which were still intact. A Liberian soldier told me a law prohibited the sale of monkey meat with the feet removed. He told me this was to prevent the sale of slaughtered human babies as monkey meat.
The U.S. Army Military Police Advisor was showing me around the Liberian Army prison. We entered a building and saw a body lying in the floor. We were told by a guard the deceased had not been moved because no one was present to authorize the removal.
After I established a Single Sideband Radio network for the U.S. Military Mission in Liberia, a U.S. airline employee talked with her Mother in the United States. Her Mother was surprised, as she did not expect to talk to her Daughter from deep in bush country of Africa.
The President of Liberia (Tubman) honored the members of the U.S. Military Mission at his Inaugural Parade. I was so tired from standing at attention so long that my legs were shaking before the end of the ceremonies.
While visiting the LAMCO mining area in Liberia, we crossed into Guinea while the USSR Border Guard Advisors were away for the weekend.
I worked as the Senior U.S. Army Military Advisor to the Liberian Army Signal Officer for one year. He seemed to be a smart man and appeared to be a religious person. Many years after I left Liberia, Samuel Doe took control of the Liberian Government. The Liberian Army Signal Officer was appointed to the position of Minister of Defense and promoted to Major General. In 1989 he was accused of murder so the heart and other organs from the deceased could be used in Black Magic Rituals. He was convicted of these charges.
Shortly after my arrival at Cam Rhan Bay, the Viet Cong fired rockets that landed near our position. It was dark and I was not familiar with the location of the bunkers. I followed the First Sergeant from the hut to a bunker. He missed the entrance and I was so close behind that I pushed him against the wall.
I was First Sergeant of the 128th Signal Company and each morning we would police the area (pick up trash). One morning during police call, a sergeant tried to hand me a grenade, which was missing the locking pin for the detonation lever.
One night Viet Cong guerillas sneaked past security into the fuel storage area. They managed to blow up several fuel storage tanks.
On another occasion guerillas again breached security and blew up the ammo dump. I was driving a jeep up a hill when some of the large bombs exploded. I was not very close to the ammo dump but the concussion from the exploding bombs shifted the jeep across the road. As the Company First Sergeant, I arranged to drive the Company Soldier of the Month to Battalion Headquarters for appearance before the Battalion board. When it was time to leave the company area I could not locate the soldier. I was told he had observed a dope transaction and had left the company area in pursuit of the dope peddler.

Catalogue Information