"My name is George Alexander. I follow your blog and thought I would share my connection to Peden Barracks. My father, Randy Alexander, a career Artillery officer, was a member of the 194th FA Bn. He left for Germany in the summer of 1952. Our family joined him in September of the same year. We were the third dependent family to arrive at Peden Barracks. I was five years old at the time, but I have vivid memories of Wertheim and Peden Barracks.
Everything was brand new in the dependents area. I remember our family's quarters and the new elementary school. From where we played baseball up on a hill we could watch the long convoys of trucks and howitzers returning from Grafenwoehr or duty on the West/East German border. It wasn't till I was older that I learned from my father there was always the fear that the Soviets would push through Western Europe with their armor divisions.
I can remember Saturday morning matinee's at the post theater, the bowling alley and an occasional trip to Wurzburg for a visit to the "big" PX. My friends and I would visit the Stars and Strips news stand and buy comics with Military Payment Certificates. US currency wasn't used at that time. There was great sledding in the winter. It was fun to watch soldiers playing intramural baseball and basketball. My dad was the clock operator for basketball games at the gym. Our family would take trips, picnics, and we loved eating german food at local Gasthaus. I really enjoyed excursions to castles.
We left in the summer of 1955. After assignments at Ft Sill, Oklahoma and Ft Lewis, Wash we returned to Germany in 1963. We were in Stuttgart till summer 1966. My father retired from the Army in 1968 after a tour in Vietnam. He passed away in 1991. He was always proud of his service in the Artillery Corps.
I spent four years in the Navy during the Vietnam era. While in Stuttgart I met my future wife and after leaving the Navy we married. I'm now retired after teaching for thirty years.
Both my wife and I fondly remember growing up as "Army Brats."
Regards, George"
George and his sister after Sunday School. 1953
George's parents
