CHAPTER 6. MY ARMY DAYS.

I entered the U. S. Army as a

Second Lt. in late September 1957
and went through eight weeks of
TOBC (Transportation Officers
Basic Course). My class had 81
officers in it. I graduated 28th in my
class. We had 200 hours of Military
Science and Tactics, 85 hours of
Transportation, 30 hours of Misc,
81 hours of Non-Academic subjects
for total of 315 hours. This was in
addition to 4 y;ears of Military at
University of Arizona.

One day I was called out of

class by a Captain and a Master Sgt.
“Oh my God, what have I done I
thought! It turned out as a result of
hunting I had become a pretty good
rifle and carbine shooter. I had the
highest carbine rifle score in the class, and they wanted me on the post rifle team. On the
team of five I was the only officer and had a score of 196 out of 200. I was pretty
pleased!

Being adventurous I had signed up for Air Borne Training. I passed the physical
which consisted of running a six-minute mile and so many pushups, sit ups, and others. I
was to go through training and jump out of airplanes with the 82nd Air Borne unit in Ft.
Bragg, North Carolina on completion of the eight week course. However it did not
happen. If there is any one thing certain in life, it’s change! Instead I followed my love
for railroading. How did it happen?

Having a love for railroads I went snooping around Ft Eustis railroad on post and
went into the yard office of the 714th Railway Operating Battalion. In talking they
discovered I had seven years railroad operating experience. They contacted their
company commander Capt. Bevers who immediately came down to meet me. We talked.
He told me that if I would pull my application for 82nd Airborne that he could get me
assigned to the 714th. I asked him how that could happen when the orders came out of
Washington, D.C. He said “Trust me! If you pull that application, I guarantee I can get
you orders!”

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 80% of my TOBC class received orders to go to Korea. It was after the Korean
war of 1950-1953 but still a desolate place to go. I got orders for the 714th. I was
assigned to Headquarters Company under Captain Bevers as his Executive Officer with
title of Chief Dispatcher. It was an education and good experience.

Four months later

there were several changes.
We lost three Captains as
Company Commanders
who had received other
orders. Because of my
operating experience I was
appointed as a 2nd Lt. to be
Company Commander of
Company C, which was the
Operating Company
consisting of trainmen,
enginemen, Road Foreman
of Engines, etc. I was the
Trainmaster. The old
Company Commander
Captain Paletta was sent to
Korea for 16 months.

A couple of things happened right off the bat just before taking command. Three
days prior I was given the assignment of taking a force of 200 men from the battalion and
clearing all the vines and undergrowth from behind the full colonel’s housing on post.
The men could go ten feet inside the brush and no one could see if they were working of
goldbricking. Acquiring enough axes and tools through civilians became almost
impossible but we got them.

I came up in the trees and brush to Sgt. Kent and Cpl. Jolly and discussed
something with them. I left and had gone about 15 feet and remembered something I had
not told them. It was hilarious! Sgt Kent had his back to me as I walked up behind him.
He said to Cpl. Jolly, “That S.O.B. comes up out of nowhere!” Jolly said, “Who are you
talking about?” Kent said, “That G.D. 2nd Lt.”

He turned around and I was there. I acted like I had not heard it. Besides he
might have been right. Kent caught a jeep ride back to the old Company Commander,
got a 30 day leave, and was off the post when I got back at 400 p.m.

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 The Saturday night before I took command on Monday Company C threw a
company party. I think the 140 men went through three kegs of beer. Man, did I get an
earful that night from some of the Non-Commissioned Officers and Enlisted men after
they had a few beers. I can look back on it now with humor but this being my first
command it was a little intimidating.

One of the young PFC’s had just gotten a ‘Dear John’ letter from his girl friend in
Washington or Oregon and wanted a 30 day leave to go see her. He was broken hearted
and in a bad way emotionally. I granted the leave that next Monday. At the end of 30
days he turned himself into the local sheriff on the day he was due back. They didn’t
know what to do with him and kept him in jail for a week before the Army was notified.
It took another three days for them to notify our Battalion.

Captain Bevers (now Asst to the Battalion Commander) wanted me to send an

armed guard after him. I asked how much that would cost the kid. I was told $700.
PFC’s were only making about $80 a month. The kid would never amount to anything or
be able to repay it before his enlistment was up if that happened. I thought of what I had
gone through when my personal “Dear John” had happened. I said “No armed guard. He
turned himself in which makes be believe he will come back. Let him come back on his
own”.

Capt. Bevers was furious with me, and to quote him said “Okay. But if he doesn’t
come back, it’s your ass!” I was sure hoping I had made the right decision in judging his
character. The kid did come back, we busted him back to private from PFC, he behaved
himself, and we promoted him back to PFC about four months later.

I had gone to Ft. Eustis with 2nd Lt. David Butler who I had known in our church
for many years. Out of the blue one day he called me and asked if I could come see him
on a very important matter. I was flabbergasted when he told me I was one of five
officers on the post nominated for being General’s Aide to the Post Commander Maj.
Gen. Lincoln. There was a Captain, a 1st Lt., and three 2nd Lt. nominated. I went through
interviews, and what turned out to be a very good friend Al Ellis was appointed. I was
first runner up. It was an honor to even be considered! Years later Al Ellis was a full
colonel.

Master Sgt. Francis Shealy was my first sergeant.

I was extremely fortunate to have had him assigned to my
company at the same time I was. He was a quiet man
whose judgment I valued immensely from the very first
day. He had been in WWII, Korea, and was a man the
troops looked up to. I was told when I went to Company
C that he had the reputation as being one of the best on
the entire post. He lived up to that reputation in my view,
and he was a true mentor to me. Learn the facts and
don’t jump to conclusions!

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 There were two NCO’s that could make or break a Commanding Officer. The
first was the First Sergeant, the second was the Supply Officer. My Supply Officer was
Sgt. Perry. They say a good Supply Sgt. needs to be about half crook. I don’t know
about that, but he needs to be one heck of a good negotiator and hoarder. If any
equipment shortages occur you as a Company Commander are held personally financially
responsible. You cannot get out of the Army until those shortages are paid for. At least
that is the way it was then. Later when I went to Company B, I was signed out for over
$1 million and was making $222 a month. Is the Supply Sgt important? You better
believe it!

On Monday the first day on the job, a corporal faked a ‘sick bay’ pass. Sgt.
Shealy came in and quietly recommended I bust the corporal back one rank. I hated to
bust anyone. Everyone deserves a second chance. There was chaos involved as proven
at the previous Friday night’s company party. Yet Sgt. Shealy and I had to be firm and
get control of the company immediately. I did as he suggested. This man was firm,
thoughtful, not arrogant, fair, and a good man! He had years of experience and yet he
had to answer to me, a brand new 2nd Lt. I came to really value his judgment.

A few months later as 1st Lt I was in the Day Room playing ping pong at lunch
with my Executive Officer, a six-month 2nd Lt. A PFC came in very excited and said,
“Lt. Claytor, Sgt Clark (our Field First Sgt) is in the barracks drunk!” I said, “Okay, I’ll
take care of it!” I went out the door, turned right, and the 2nd Lt said “Where are you
going? The barracks are the other way!” I said “Yes, I know. That’s why I am going
this way.”

I went back to the Company Headquarters and told Sgt. Shealy what we been told
and said if I go over there in person as an officer I have no choice except to bust him! I
need you to find out what is going on! Again Sgt. Shealy’s wisdom came into play.

It turned out Sgt Clark had been nine months on post without being able to get on
post housing. He could not afford off-post housing. His wife was living with his parents
in West Virginia. Sgt. Clark had broken under the pressure. We sent Sgt Clark home on
leave for 30 days. While he was gone we pulled some strings and got Clark on post
housing and the rest of the time I was there we had an absolute model of an NCO. I’m
not sure what it might have looked like to some of the troops, but it was the right thing to
do! We saved a valuable man!

There was one situation that always seemed a little uncomfortable to me. They
had what they called a “Reduction-In-Force” or a RIF. I had five former officers under
me that had been RIF’d and who had the choice to either leave active service or stay as
NCO’s. As a young Commanding Officer I had to be firm and decisive, yet treat them
with absolute respect.

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 Both myself and the NCO’s did a lot of training of the soldiers in train operation.
I had ridden many locomotives while on Southern Pacific but had never personally
operated one. I learned both steam and diesel! The Timetable No. 7 above cannot begin
to show in this limited space the amount of work that went into it. Again I was
personally responsible for making it happen. As I said before, there were only two
officers in the battalion that had any civilian railroad background.

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 We had about 37 miles
of railroad track to train on.
We had eight steam
locomotives including two
Lima, one BLH, two Baldwin,
and three Alcos. Part of them
were in heavy maintenance
with the 763rd Transportation
Battalion (Railway Shop).

We also had nine

diesel-electric locomotives
ranging from 380 up to 1600
horsepower including two
GE’s, two Alco’s, two BLH,
one Dav-Bes, and two EMD’s.

We had 162 various

types of railroad cars as listed
on previous page.

I found an old railroad ballad in my papers from 50 yers ago about the Military
Railroad which was sung to ‘Casey Jones’. Look at the map above to gain insight. The
ballad read as follows:

The MG&B
As she passed the old wye tower you could hear that whistle blow
She was a rumbling and aroaring but moving mighty slow
As she hit the interlocking, they threw the switch above
And flagged the passing soldier’s to come and give a shove.

Oh! They pushed with all their power, all their might and main
To get that antique engine to pull that long, long train
Oh! The cars were really modern, they were made in 1903
They were just about the rustiest on the old MG& B

Oh! They rode upon the oldest track for miles and miles around
They rode sometimes upon the track and sometimes on the ground
Oh! The track was laid by brilliant men, the Corps of Engineer’s
But the Colonel who surveyed this line had had too many beers

He laid it in two circles, he laid it here and there

He laid it in the swampland and almost anywhere
And as I close this story about this well laid track
You better hope you never ride the OLD MAIN GATE AND BACK.

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 I have to say that several of my NCO”S did have very good background having
been in Korea. Some of the stories they told me were hair-raising. One was humorous
when they signaled at night with cigarettes instead of lanterns or flares. It seems Sgt
Kent had walked off the top of a box car onto a flat car in the dark. Sgt Kent’s birthday
was the same as mine. We got to be good friends.

Railroads
during WWII and
Korea were a vital
factor. It was
believed in 1957 they
would be again. As it
turned out in Vietnam
they were not.

There came at one time the

‘Lebanon Crisis’ I believe late 1958 or
early 1959 that came about on a
Saturday morning. It looked as if many
troops would be sent to Lebanon. On
Friday prior I had 144 men in my
company. I happened to be off the post
that week end. On Monday my company
had been stripped with the men sent to
the 48th Truck Group to prepare for
shipment to Lebanon. I had about 46
men left in the Company. There were
only three men left below the rank of
Sgt. One was my Company Clerk.

There was no question the

NCO’s now had to pull guard duty but
they especially detested KP (Kitchen
Police). Sgt Shealy and I worked it out
with the two privates that if they agreed
to pull KP every other day, they would
have one day off and could go or do
anything they wanted with a full pass off
post on those days. They accepted. We
told the NCO’s there was to be no

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harassment of the two, and that if there was then the NCO’s would pull KP. It was a win-
win situation. We eventually got some new men into the company and things changed. I
found the following letter with my other papers:

One of my best
friends at the time was
Lt. Alexander
Rabinowitz. He had
attended University of
Illinois. He was
known as Lt. Casey.
When he came into the
Battalion Lt. Col.
Murphy asked him is
name. Murphy
couldn’t get it right
and said “From here
on out you are Lt.
Casey!” It stuck. I
tried to keep in touch
with him over the
years but lost track of
him.

On 28 March 1959 I was promoted from 2nd Lt to 1st Lt.

Colonel Albin was the 774th Railway Group Commander, a
man I greatly admired. That is him to the right of the
picture, myself on the left.

About 45 days before my two year term was up, Captain Paletta returned from a
16 month tour in Korea and was re-assigned to Company C. I was in turn assigned to
Company B as Company Commander until a new replacement came in. My title then
became ‘Master Mechanic’ and I signed for about $1 million dollars of locomotives and
equipment. Thank God it was all there both before and after I left.

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 Prior to leaving the service I was urged to extend. I thought about it very
seriously! Had I done so, there would have been a very good chance of going to
Germany. I applied for Regular Army in August. I waited too long. It did not come
through before it was time to leave. If Regular Army you were not a candidate for
Reduction-In-Force. As a Reserve Officer (as opposed to Regular Army) I did not want
to become a RIF down the line. I loved the army, and I loved railroading! What would it
be? It was a tough decision!

In Going back through my papers 50 years later, I found the following from
Major Louis Levelle who was the Group Executive Officer recommending me for
Regular Army. It read:

“Lt. Claytor is a well informed and intelligent Officer. He is honest, trustworthy,

and considerate. His morals are above reproach. He works with a minimum of
supervision and accomplishes his missions with speed and efficiency. His loyalty to his
Superiors and Subordinates is such that he is respected by all who come in contact with
him. In spite of the fact that he was in trouble while a very young man, I am positive he
is a definite asset to the Service. I have known from the day he reported to this
organization of the trouble by his volunteering the information at our first interview. I
highly recommend him for a commission in the Regular Army.”

Colonel John B. Albin, Commander of the 774th Group also recommended me. I
greatly admired Col. Albin. He represented my dad who could not be at my wedding.
His read:

“Lt Claytor is a quiet, honest, conscientious, well mannered young officer with a
good sense of humor and a pleasant voice. He handles his subordinates well and respects
the opinions of his superiors. He has the courage of his convictions and will not be
pushed into hasty decisions. He is very interested in the Army has performed his duties
in an outstanding manner while a member of this command. In my opinion he will
continue to give an outstanding performance of duty as a Regular Army Officer. I am
pleased to recommend him for a Regular Army Commission.”

One gathers the facts, weighs the facts, asks the question of what is the best
option, makes a decision, and acts on the decision. If it turns out wrong, it was not a bad
decision. It was a bad outcome.

I made the decision to go back to the west and railroading.

A year later as an officer on Southern Pacific I did get stationed at Lordsburg,

New Mexico and rode freight or passenger trains into El Paso 163 miles each way to
attend monthly reserve meetings with a U. S. Army Reserve Railway Battalion at Ft.
Bliss. I think it was the 728th Railway Operating Company but cannot find papers. The
first June we traveled back to Ft. Eustis for two weeks railroad training.

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 The second year SP asked to delay my two week reserve duty from June to
August which the army granted. I went to Camp Polk, Louisiana but not on a railroad. I
was to be an umpire and judge between the Louisiana National Guard and the Arkansas
National Guard. There were real war games going on with mortars, patrols, etc. The
Louisiana boys spoke ‘Cajun’ when they got excited. It was right after the school
integration in Arkansas when their governor had called out the National Guard and stood
at the Little Rock school with a baseball bat defying black kids to enter. It was certainly
different!

I was promoted to Captain while on active reserve but can’t find the date. As I
understand it most army records from that period were burned in an army building fire in
1972 somewhere in the Washington area. Thank God I had kept some records.

Two years later I left Lordsburg and there was no reserve unit in El Centro,
California. After that I ended up in San Jose, California working really weird hours
around the clock and on weekends making it impossible to attend an active monthly
reserve unit. I thought sure as a result of the Vietnam War that I would be recalled but
was not. My background had been railroading which was not needed in Vietnam. My
six year reserve commitment was up in late September 1965. Thus my army days ended.

It was a time of my life that I never felt more camaraderie and less
competitiveness among men. I never regretted having served. I was never in combat.
That can be a harrowing experience and I have been very good friends with many who
were. God bless them and I honor them!

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