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Static Line - Three Winds of Death

July 1992
In my mind, it is appropriate that I begin this column on this Memorial Day weekend, even though it won't find its way into print until July, with a letter from Emery Graham, formerly of Regimental Headquarters Co. Emery writes of some of his memories connected with the early days of the 503rd in Australia.

His letter is as follows: 

“Hi, John. I was talking to an old 503rder awhile back and some of the things that came up – The old Toonerville Trolley train that ran from Cairns to Gordonville and the OD with a bunch of  2 ½’s meeting the last train in and loading up the drunks and trying to kick them off close to their Companies."

"The time the S-2 officers had 3 of us to drop a smoker grenade on a  jump in Gordonville while still in the air. Mine lit in a cornfield and set the damn thing on fire – cost Uncle San a few bucks – but they would have set it on fire themselves a week later as it was cane cutting time."

"The WW I soldier statue in the middle of the street intersection in Cairns – we sat on the hotel porch (second floor) and drank – when the soldier statue did the manual of arms we quit drinking for a while.  The walks the men man from Cairns, who was picked up by the MP’s in charge of NCOs riding bicycles."

"We returned to Aussieland from Port Moresby and the  Officers Club booze was stacked under a tarp across from our Company. We borrowed a fair part of the booze. No one missed Reveille for a few days, but if they would have said “Open ranks” a third of the company would have fallen flat on their faces.  Later cost us about 3 bucks apiece to pay for it as it was easy to spot us."

"The ball diamond looked like a used car lot on Monday morning. There were cars, jeeps, pick-ups, etc.. borrowed at Brisbane and driven to the camp. On Mindoro robbing the QM trains I remember keeping the QM guard looking one way while others tossed off chow and got a beer from the QM supply."

"Just a few things I remember of the good things that happened — Emery G.” 

Thanks, Emery, for taking the time to sit down and share your recollections with us. There were a lot of heartaches, pain, and sorrow that went into the experiences of the troopers of the 503rd, but there were also a lot of experiences that were funny and enjoyable. War is made up of a combination of both. The only thing I can say is that I am glad my mother didn't know what kind of people I was going to associate with — all that drinking and "liberating" and such. She would probably have insisted that I get out of the paratroopers immediately. THREE THOUSAND THIEVES! INDEED! 

I had the great pleasure of joining with some of the former members of "D" Co. of the 503rd PRCT at a company reunion hosted by the first company commander of “D" Co., Captain Ralph Bates. This is the 12th straight year the reunion has been held at Ralph's home in Louisville. KY. Attendees arrive from all over the United States. Enjoying Ralph's "Southern hospitality" this year were: DON and ELIZABETH ABBOTT (CAL). GORDON BATES (IN). CHARLIE and MILDRED CHRISTIAN (TN). JOE and SARAH DABLOCK (PA). HARRY and HAZEL DREWS (IL). HERB ELMORE (TX). DAVE and RITA ELWOOD (DE). ROY GUY (GA). LOU and ROSE HADRAVA (FL), JOHN LINDGREN (CA), JOHN and MARY REYNOLDS (MD), AND TONY SIERRA and ELIZABETH DEEDMAN (CA).
 
People usually begin to arrive on Thursday, most leave on Sunday and a few strays leave several days later to reduce the "departure depression" on our host. Ralph Bates graciously provides clubhouse accommodations for all the guests at Churchill Downs on Saturday afternoon. We all stay at Ralph's residence with sleeping accommodations scattered throughout the house and adjoining carriage house and RV. 

Most of the time is passed by reminiscing and rehashing experiences. I hear many things repeated, but this year I heard several things for the first time. For instance, when the time when General Douglas MacArthur visited the 503rd al Port Moresby, New Guinea. At an inspection, the general stopped in front of one of the troopers in "D " Co. and asked to see the trooper's dog tags. When the trooper pulled his tags from under his shirt they were wooden with his name written on the pieces of wood. The word is that repercussions went up through and then back down through 6th Army Hqs.
 
This was JOHN LINDGREN'S first time at the company get-together, and LINDGREN Is a note-taker par excellent. He was in his glory at the opportunity to converse in person with the initial first sergeant of "D" Co. ROY GUY and asked GUY many questions. Then he finally asked. "Tell me, Sergeant Guy, how did you fill out the morning report when we were fighting in the field?" And GUY's answer "With a ball-point pen" blew everybody away. And I think we all got taken because there weren't any ballpoint pens then. MAY YOU ALWAYS SEE A CANOPY ABOVE YOUR HEAD.
 
John D. Reynolds
"D" Co. 503rd PRCT 
718 Towne Center Drive, Joppa, MD 21085 
PH (410) 679-8979
Static Line - Three Winds of Death

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