Erie F. Pierce - Post-War Germany Assignment

In 1953 my grandfather, Erie Pierce, received an assignment to be in Germany for three years. He went on ahead to prepare the household for the family, and to begin his duties as the Commander of the Independent Medical Batallion which served the First Infantry Division. My dad says that in addition to setting up house for his wife and children, he also kept an apartment for his mistress. I have the romantic notion that he only had the one mistress - he told my mother before he died that he really only ever loved one woman. A half British and half East Indian nurse that he met in the war. He even asked his sisters to sponsor her so she could move to the US. They declined. Of course, it broke my grandmother's heart when a letter from this woman beat him home. So, I suspect this was the same woman if he was willing to get her an apartment - as he was a very frugal person. He also told me once that the best vacation he ever had was to Havana sometime just before Americans were not allowed to go there anymore. Grandmama never went to Cuba, so I suspect this was also with this woman. Daddy says he was just a womanizer and he had multiple ladies on the side. That's not as romantic. At any rate, Granddaddy went on to Germany sometime early in 1953 to begin his duties.

My dad had to leave Crewe, VA. A place they had lived for about three years, and his favorite place that he ever lived. He had a best friend there which is not easy for an Army Brat to acquire. They drove from VA to Brooklyn to a hotel on Clark Street - The George Washington Hotel where he and his brother enjoyed the saltwater swimming pool. The next morning they had to drive their car to Pier 91 for the car to be transported to Germany.

 On September 16, 1953, Daddy, "Rick" Pierce,  his brother, Ron, and my grandmother, Virginia Pierce set sail for Germany aboard the USNS PVT Elden H Johnson, an old victory ship from WWII  bound for Bremerhaven, Germany from NY, NY. Rick had to stay below deck with the junior officers because he was already 13. Ron and Grandmama stayed above deck. Daddy made friends with the ship's chaplain who taught him how to play chess and gave him the traveling chess set they used, which I now possess. Some of the crew gave Ron and Rick German lessons which they took to very well. One of the men Rick met below deck was a CIA officer who had a briefcase that would just fall away and a gun would be in its place. The handle of the case concealed a roll of gold coins.

They lived in Wurzburg in the Bergermeister's house. It had 17 rooms and a garden. They had two maids, a chauffeur, and a gardener with servant quarters on the grounds. Rick attended Benjamin Franklin Junior High and one of his teachers was Miss Halliburton, whose brother, Richard Halliburton was a renowned writer. The Complete Book of Marvels is still available on Amazon. Rick had made friends and even had a girlfriend there. Ron, Rick, and Virginia were all very happy to have this adventure.  They frequented the fancy officer's club, which had been a Nazi club. Daddy says there was an eagle holding a swastika on the outside of it. Chilling. But they enjoyed the events and dinners nonetheless.

Granddaddy's affair was discovered by his superiors. This was and continues to be a big deal in the Army. He was stripped of his rank and busted back down to Master Sergeant. It must have been one hell of a Christmas. They departed Rhein-Main in Frankfurt, Germany en route to Idlewild, NY on December 27, 1953, on Seaboard and Western Airlines. There were 28 passengers aboard. The plane caught fire! They made an emergency landing in Ireland. The plane was quickly repaired and the trip resumed. Somewhere above Canada, the plane caught fire, again and began to dive! The family thought this was it. Fortunately, the pilot managed to regain control of the plane and they landed safely in Newfoundland. They were there for three days before their arrival back in NY on Dec. 30, 1953. Because Granddaddy was the highest ranked officer on the plane, he had to go before a Congressional Committee regarding the crash. He spent the rest of his military career as a Reserve Advisor at Boston Army Base. He regained his rank before he retired in 1959, and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.