At our grand-daughter’s fourth birthday celebration, Julie (BA 67-70, mother of our native BALTAN daughters) and I were remembering BALTANs we know/knew.

(Sam, Julie asked how you’re doing and says “Hi!”)

She asked if anyone remembers the names of a couple who, as Julie and I did, lost a child while at BA.  She thinks that his first name might be Paul and her name might be Sherry.  She also remembers having them for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, likely with Karon and Sam, as well as Kathy and Ron Rinker, in the Bruckmuhl apartment.

Can anyone fill in some blanks???

Doug (Gitt)

BALTA Update on Ruidoso area news.

If you will look on the right side of the main page for this blog, you’ll see Pages listed.  The updated list is called Balta Official CONTACTS list.

This list is intended to represent Baltans and family members who have been to one or more Balta reunions OR newly discovered Baltans who have yet to attend a reunion but plan to and asked to be included on this list.

I tried to let everybody know that the list was being updated and asked that they send me their contact info.  Many times, if you’re not on the list, it’s because I didn’t hear from you.  If there are any errors, please let me know, and they will be corrected.

There is another list under Pages called People You May Have Known at Bad Aibling or something like that!  This is in no particular order and no guarantees for the correctness of the info.  You may want to check that list if you’re looking for someone who served in Bad Aibling, roughly between 1966-1971 or ‘72.

There is also an active Balta email list.  Contrary to what many believe, there is no ONE official email group listing.  People create their own address lists, mainly compiled from the CONTACTS list but also extraneous other people that they have known at Bad Aibling.

I mention this because if you start receiving emails from the group, it’s because someone has added you to their list and then someone else picked it up.  I’ve had requests to get off  “The List”, but there is no central list where their names can be eliminated.

We try to accommodate the request as best we can by sending out group messages, asking people to eliminate so-and-so’s address from their individual mailing lists.

Since the CONTACTS list is often the source for the mailing list, the rule is that you have to contact me directly with your info in order to be included on the CONTACTS list, and this is with the understanding that you may also become part of someone’s mailing group list and begin receiving lots of group emails.

Hog is also posting the list at BALTA CONTACTS. The out-of-date list might still be there; it’s dated 10/29/06.  Keep checking back for the new one, dated 12/4/09.

Thanks for your patience.

Dee

dmills1@epix.net

I have been out of touch with people for a time due to events beyond my control. I had to miss the reunion and wanted people to know why.

First, its been a trying year. I will skip the small stuff.

Back in August/September I began having trouble with left shoulder. On September 29th they operated expecting a few bone spurs. I woke up to find out they had to rebuild the shoulder as the spurs had cut the tendons off my shoulder. Nice…..three months to recover!

Just after this I went in for my annual physical. Surprise!  My PSA score had suddenly shot up. On the eve of my birthday I got a call from the doctor: I had cancer and it needed fixed NOW. November 9th I was in surgery. Shoulder had just gotten out of a sling and I was due to start therapy on it that week. Now there is a little delay.

Here it is November 20th. I am happy to say they think they got all the cancer out and that it will not spread. I am up and around, although a bit slow right now. I started the therapy on the shoulder today (Oh so much fun!).

Its been a rough ride these past few months. I would have MUCH rather gone to the reunion than to have to have gone through all of this, but time caught up with me. The silver lining in all of this is that I should be much better by the end of the year.

The cancer factor should be eliminated (fingers crossed) and my shoulder should work better than it has in a long time. The rest of me is in good shape and I am working hard to keep it that way. My future actually looks pretty good.

So, I am back on my somewhat shaky feet. My recoveries are going well and life is good. (Well, under the circumstances).

I look forward to catching up with folks at next year’s reunion. I regret health issues got in the way this time. I had a lot of plans for this fall and they all went into the trash can. But that is OK, we got some important issues out of the way and I look forward to a good life.

Thanks,

John Hatton

This is an album of photos that Heidi Cotler took at the 39th Balta reunion in Ruidoso, NM this past October.  And then photos of the Cotler-Carroll roadtrip afterwards.

Enjoy.

Many thanks to the Freyermuths for a memorable 39th reunion in Ruidoso, NM.  And a heads-up for next year.  Tom Forrest has stepped up to host it around Austin, Texas in October.  The actual location will be New Braunfels, Texas! (I had a ’senior moment’  when I first composed this and named it at Luckenbach. Thanks for the correction, Hog!)

Also, for all Baltans, I will soon begin to update your contact info for a new updated Balta list, so expect to receive an email from me.  Please take time to look at it, correct info if needed and send it back to me in good time.  Thanks.    dee

Great news!  Tears in my eyes.

Hugs to all, Brian

First leg: The Southwest Chief (LA to Chicago) – boarded at 1:00pm on Monday afternoon. My accommodations were a “roomette”, only 3’ 6” wide, with two semi-reclining seats facing each other with controls for air, a power outlet, etc. The two seats are moved flat and a mattress placed on top to form one bed. The second comes down from the ceiling. The toilet and shower were elsewhere in the car, but this turned out to be a minor inconvenience. It was very comfortable for one person. Two can be accommodated, though movements must be coordinated. Experienced traveling couples don’t shy away from them. Four meals; the one breakfast, two lunches, one dinner (included in the price of a ticket) were adequate-to-fairly good. I slept well. The rocking and the few bumps and sways became relaxing. As the train was consistently going between 88mph and 90mph, this could be expected. The drivers were experts at smoothly stopping and starting at stations. The noise of the train whistles, blown at all grade crossing, were not intrusive. This is a great way to cross Kansas and much of Missouri; asleep.

The train was barely late, arriving at about 3:00pm

Second leg: The Capitol Limited (Chicago to DC) – boarded at 7:20pm, get off in Pittsburgh at 5:00am.

Again, I stayed in a “roomette”, allowing me to get to bed right after dinner and get a night’s sleep.

A major part of training is socialization, meeting other travelers. One is almost always seated in the dining car with others, almost requiring conversation, no matter how small. (The lounge/observation car is the real hotspot for meeting people.) At dinner, Major Patrick C. Roe, USMC (retired) was seated with me. He was an intelligence officer during the Korean War. He was on his way to Laurel MD (i.e. Ft. Meade/NSA area) to speak at the 2009 Cryptologic History Symposium. His topic: “The Ghost Armies of Manchuria: Chinese COMINT Deception during the Korean War.” We talked shop all during the meal! Sometimes the coincidences are eerie!

Third leg: The Pennsylvanian (Pittsburg – Philadelphia – NYC) – board at 7:20am, arrive in Harrisburg at 12:55pm. I rode in coach class. The regular seats were surprisingly comfortable, recliners with leg support and a foot rest. A club car was attached for sandwiches, snacks and drinks. This route is railroad history. It includes the world famous Horseshoe Curve, Tunnel Hill, Altoona locomotive/car repair shops and the Rockville Bridge just north of Harrisburg, the longest stone bridge in the world. Of course the Harrisburg station goes back to the glory days of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Traveling by train is much less stressful than flying. The sleeping car attendants and dining car waitstaff gave excellent service. (Tipping well does help.) One gets to know people. My train ride lasted almost exactly 48 hours. The plane would have taken most of one day anyway. In my mind it was worth it.

RIDE WANTED

My lovely daughter, Megan is able to join us this year and is flying into ABQ on Thursday 10/8 at 2:20pm. If her arrival synchs with anyone else, she’d sure love to catch a ride to Ruidoso. BTW, she’s small and doesn’t take up much room.

Please let me know ASAP.

Can’t wait to see you all…

…Shea

Hi guys,

Ty and I arrived in Bad Aibling not too long ago and before checking into the hotel, we drove to the old base to check things out.

We first pulled up to a German guard and gate, and when I asked if this used to be the old American base, he told me to go up the road some more.  He said he thought it was ok for us to look around.

I didn’t know there was a German station there. Was it there in 1968?   We drove up further and found another gate which was open with some ominous looking signs that might have meant private or whatever, but we went in anyway.

The road took us straight to the round domes, which I thought used to be satellite radar dishes. We passed a fairly decent “tennis court” and another one that was completely run down with weeds and grass growing within it.

I took pictures. I’m not sure, but I think your tennis courts may have been the one grown up with weeds. We then drove up the road where the bowling alley, teen center and Commissary used to be, then to the snack bar, and beyond to the barracks.

All in all, I took about 120 pictures, but will have to wait until I get home to upload that amount of photos.

I found the the new hotel that was in the newspaper clipping you sent
me, and there’s a daycare center close to the main entrance. The
main entrance doesn’t have a gate anymore. It looks like they’re
making apartments out of a few of the barracks.

The outside of the snack bar looks the same with the steps and all. The inside of the snack bar is completely renovated, and it looks like they’re making it a bar or something. We didn’t go inside anything except for the snackbar and there were workman there.

Through the windows of one the barrack doors was a big emblem on the wall that read “truth conquers”. Do you remember that?  I tried to get pictures of every building.

Through the windows of the commissary were the same ramps and entrance doors, and the old commissary hours of operation. The teen center looked the same. The officer’s homes close to the main entrance were still intact, but the trees and bushes and grass were overtaking everything.

The flag pole is still there in the green center. Someone mows that green center area. Most of the base is grown up with weeds and looks like its been uninhabited for a long time.

Bad Aibling looks different to me. There are many modern looking
buildings. While traveling around Garmisch, many of the towns looked
very touristy. I don’t remember that from before. It certainly has
changed.

We went to where the American hotel was at Eibsee close to
Garmisch. It used to be called the General Walker Hotel. I asked
the girl at the front desk what the history was of their hotel, and
she said that it was an American Hotel up until 1979. Now it’s a
really ritzy place and very posh for the wealthy Germans. I had to
ask permission to go in and take a look around.

Tomorrow we’ll head a little north to Kleinhohenrain (about 7 km) and
see my old home. The countryside is absolutely beautiful. I love
the huge farm houses with their barns attached to the main house.

We stay tonight and tomorrow night, and then we head to Berchestgaden.

Can’t wait to share my photos with you all.

Julie

(Next is Julie’s original comment on Balta blog.)

Hi,

My husband and I are getting ready to take a trip to Bad Aibling (in two weeks), so I decided to google the place and see what was on the internet. Your blog site came up and surprised me . I was in Bad Aibling from 1968 to 1970. My father was Richard Young who was part of Project Wildbore. I haven’t been back since 1970 and wanted to find out if you could still visit the station, if anyone was there, or if it was completely locked up. I’ve read that it has closed.

Does anyone remember much about the Wildbore group? Our family lived off-base in a little town called Kleinhohenrain, but we had base privileges and went to the American high school in Munich. We took the Army bus to get there from BAS. I remember hanging out in a cafeteria, going to the movies, using their dark room to develop pictures, going to the teen center for dances, and visiting school friends in their homes on base. I know no one is going to know me, but it would be nice to find out if anyone knew some of the people my father worked with. It would be nice to connect with them if possible.

I’m really looking forward to revisiting the area and seeing Garmisch, Berchesdaden, Munich, Chiemsee and other towns in the area. I expect to see a lot of changes since 1970. I was only a teenager then, and have wanted to go back for years. Our family had the best time living there. It sounds like others feel the same way from what I’ve found on the web.

Thanks for letting me comment on your site. It’s been fun reading other comments from people who have been there.

Julie (Young) Rhodes