-

I
.....
ffllfflberi from " " ""' Avlatloft. Nearly ,,... ~ Cffld Amlf'lcGn
citizens arrived to take port In thl ceren:MnllL (PMto by MIiier)

ThlrtYMYIII YoUIIII men died here In MrYIU for peace and frNdom.
The memorial dedicated to the 33 men ft'om ltle 2-4th and tour
'

... ~ r.! -,.. , ..

(~nree ye,ars ago .,'. -:: _:

.,. '

'..i':_, '.

The

Memorial Site
, .

l
f

fi

'

Rededicated
SCHWAEBISCH GMUENO Memorlol services were held lost
month near the Upper ~ronkonia
town of Pegnltz In remembrance
of the 37 American soldiers who
were k111ed In USAREUR's worst
helicopter crosh.
The crosh of the CH47 Chinook
helicopter occur~ed In a field near
Pegnltz on 18 August 1971. It ,took
the lives of 33 men from tlil! mortor platoon of Heodquorter's Com' pony, 2nd Battollon, 4th lnfontry
and the lives of four crewmen
from the 180th Aviation Company,
11th Avn. Group.
.
coused by a flawed. rotor blade,
the occident occurrf:(f c;,s the men
were en route to Grafenwoehr for
a one-doy training exercise. No..
survivor, were found after the
croft p lumm1111d to the ground and
exploded In flames,
The memoctal 1ervlces which

L_ ---

ore being held each year by the

city of Pegnltz In conjui,ctlon with
the American Legion, wcs attended ~y Br(godler General MIiton E .
Kn-, S6th Field Artillery Brigade
commonder; and Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence G. Moses, 2-~th
oommander. Nearly 1,000 Germon
and :American citizens attended
the ser11ce, held on the site dedl coted lost June by the citizens of
Pegnltz lf'I honor of the dead ,
American ._dlers. , A . SO.man
honor guord from the 2..Cth, along
wl"1 a color guard dnd firing detoll -re present., American Legion Post 100 also fll'OVlded a spe:;
clal c.-olo~guord.
: ;
.. tn .tiis_ ~
- ~Ing the soldlers deaths, 1he flrst Mayor of
Pegnllz, Loehr. emphoslz~ 'that
the 18th of August, 1971 hod not
only been a sod day for 71 American fomllles and the U.S. Army,

~t grief

hod seized the entire

populatlon of Pegnltz and sur
rounding villages. These meniorlal services, Loehr continued,
"should not only be
remembrance of that shocking occurance
buf should unite everyone In a sfncere confession of faith and appreciation for the sacrifice of the 71
soklltrJ, who fl<Mt given their
young liVl!I
all cif . In the
ser:vlce. c,t, Oil!! In belief In a free

a.

*':

wo~ld.''. .

. ,

~
.......

i;

...

us

. : . ..

. . :.

. : Qn li!lllalf of General Michael S,

Davi~, ~ In , c;tilef ci
USAREUR. 8$ Key 'expressed his
aPPNClaflOfi tp; ~ i:ltl~S of peg:
l'.llt:t fll( .t~ ~marlal 111.t~ and fOF
tf1e . 'Qlflth:iu.l~ ~cotl.~ . ,to ft!
"off. of .""11<#1
~ a c;:ontin:
utng 1ym11o of. the frl,ndshlp between \he 1- countries and the
common PUPOSe of maintaining
peace througtiout the WOf'id."

serv~

- ---~-- --~ -

G
<1

a
.

.T

Vol X,No. 9
Fridoy, September 20, 1974

THE GIANT

Looking Back
At Pershing I
With the pa_sslng of the 4th anniversary ot tne 56th Brigade, the
GIANT decided t o toke o look at the or lgfnal Pershing - before the or
rival In 1969 of the current Pershing 1A'system.
The 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery wos the first to bring Pershing
to Europe In the Spring of 1964. Pershing 1, conceived In 1958 by the Ad.
vanced Balllstlc Missile Agency, was designed to replace the "Old Reliable", Redstone missile, Though Redstone was a major accom
pllshment for Its lime, It was cumbersome and required special fueling
techniques for Its llquld propelled rocket motors. What the Army
needed was a smaller more reliable system with Increased range,
In March of 1958 the Army missile command awarded the Orlando
Division of Martin Marietta a contract to design and develop the Per,
shing system. The new missile would have a range twice that of Red
stone, while weighing only oneslxth as much and standing half as tall,
SOiid fuel rocket motors would propel the mlsslle, providing greater
handling ease and Increased relloblllty and mobillly,
Mounted on modified Mll3 tracked vehicles, Pershing equipment
was t ested In the mud-filled swamps of Florida., rn subzero weather rn
Alaska, and In the tropical envi ronment of Panama.
From 1960-63, Pershing underwent flight testing at Cape Canaveral,
The system pe,rformed well , , , so well In fact that it score.d more suc
cessful launches during a development program that any previous
major missile system,
While Pershing 1 served well from 1964~9, having been developed
Into a rugged, reiloble, all-weather weapon, In 1965 It was given on ad
ditionol role coiled Qui ck Reaction Alert. Thus, Pershing 1-A was devel,
oped and tested up until 1968, when it was readied for shipment to Ger
many,
The Improved Pershing system Included a new programmer-test station with a digital comp<iter for self test ond fault isolation, a battery
control central to coordinate commands from h~dquarters to lndlvldual firing batteri~, and a new erector-launcher with fast erection capability and o faster rote of fire. Additlanolly, the new system was
mounted on wheels Instead of t racks to speed Pershing to the firing sit e
faster and with fewer maintenance problems.
With these Improvements, Pershing has. assumed ifs new QRA role,
serving as a nuclear deterrent In support of NATO, as well as performing its basic mission of providing mosslve firepower in support of
1he Field Army,

Friday, September .20, 197.C