IRAQI CURRENCY EXCHANGE (ICE):  RAFINO member BG Hugh B TANT III is in Iraq to oversee the conversion to a new currency (dinar) in Iraq.  The total exchange entails 2200 tons of new currency, 6+ Trillion of Iraqi Dinar in six denominations, worth appx $3B (US).  250+ sites throughout the country, including the Central Bank, the 2 state owned banks and the private banks, will be used for distribution.  This is a huge logistics and security challenge. We will then destroy over 3000 tons of old Iraqi Dinar.  Conversion will be done 15 Oct-15 Jan 2004. They will provide the treasury banks with additional new Dinar to cover the October government salaries (worth 286.6 billion Dinars) and the Jobs Program (worth 12.2 billion Dinars). This will be the first salaries paid with the new currency and will assist in their acceptance throughout the country.

Basic information about the exchange is now online at http://www.cpa-iraq.org  Look for the link on the left-hand side of the front page.  It clicks through to here: http://www.cpa-iraq.org/budget/IraqCurrencyExchange.html. As soon as images of the new currency are released later this week this web-based material will be substantially upgraded – there’ll be a click through banknote image on the front page and a more substantial Q&A in English and Arabic.

29 Oct 2003 -- Hugh TANT, our correspondent in Iraq, reports that the ICE (Iraqi Currency Exchange) is still on target.  He reported further  as follows:

"Reports from the banks regarding the conversions are starting to flow in!  All the Iraqis I have spoken with say they really love the new currency.  Positive reports from the field indicate the same story: the great majority of the Iraqi citizens are very happy with the new Dinar—a single, stable, secure currency for all the people of Iraq.  

The following is a snapshot of where we stand with the new currency as of this date: 

Total new Dinar in Iraq:  4.26 Trillion (67% of 6.36 Trillion)

Dinar inventory at distribution hubs: 1.2 Trillion

Dinar amount issued to banks:  3.06 Trillion

New Dinar in circulation:  845 Billion (19% of 4.364 Trillion) 

Today (29 Oct 2003) Admiral David Oliver was honored with a farewell gathering of his team and our ambassadors.  We will all miss this man of action who has built a team of winners and passed on to all of us his indomitable spirit of selfless service to those in need.  We will strive to emulate his high standards as we continue to move this critical mission forward."

30 OCT 03 --To date we have destroyed 224 tons of a planned 225 tons of old currency.  To date our destruction is a mere 2.5% of the 9000 tons that we will destroy. To put this in perspective-we are bringing in twenty seven 747 plane loads of new Dinar or 2300 tons.  We are destroying nearly four times that amount.  Our capacity to verify and destroy will increase dramatically in the near future. With some luck and a lot of hard work we will be able to destroy some 6500 tons by January 15, 2004.  (You can see the big picture at “Finance Stories”.)

3 NOV 03 --  Following are some light statistics that might provide some interesting tidbits about the magnitude of the ICE program: 
Total Tons of old currency -- Approximately 9000 tons
Number of bills in 9000 tons -- approximately 9,027,000,000 This number of bills laid end to end would stretch nearly 855,000 miles, wrap around the globe more than 34 times, or extend from the earth to the moon 3.6 times.  In other words, the ICE team needs to collect each month of the operation enough currency to reach to the moon or go around the world ten times. 

Finance Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom

By BG Ed Stanton

I was honored a little over three months ago to assume command of the 336^th FINCOM in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  This short article is to share with you what finance support looks like from our foxholes in Kuwait and Iraq as the force transitions from highly successful decisive operations to stability and support operations.  I have intentionally limited the scope, as this is an ongoing operation, but I will provide updates as the campaign evolves.

OUR MISSION:  The 336^th FINCOM provides command and control for all Finance elements supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.  This support includes establishing finance policy, providing central funding, active and reserve component pay support, procurement and accounting support, and executing internal control procedures.  The FINCOM headquarters is located at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, with elements dispersed throughout the region.

OUR CONCEPT OF SUPPORT:  During the initial phases of operations our emphasis was to conduct Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration.  Our mission set included initiating deployment entitlements, providing finance support to soldiers (check cashing, casual payments, inquiry resolution), supporting contracting operations in the Area of Responsibility, and funding disbursing and paying agents to provide support during later phases of the campaign.  As we transition to stability operations, our finance mission is expanding to support procurement through paying agents embedded with contracting teams, provide disbursing agent support for the Early Entry Command Post, and provide finance support teams to support Logistics Support Areas.  As METT-TC has allowed, we have deployed battalions to provide sustained finance support in Iraq, support deployment operations, transition to stabilization efforts, and begin redeployment operations.  We currently disburse funds from three Disbursing Station Symbol Numbers (DSSN) to support our operations. 

DSSN 8551, based at Camp Arifjan, is responsible for central funding, disbursing, and military pay (RSOI) in theater.  All paying agents are funded from DSSN 8551. 

DSSN 8748, based at Camp Doha, operates as the F&AO for ARCENT-KUWAIT and is responsible for commercial vendor service, travel military pay (Active and Reserve) disbursing and accounting. 

DSSN 8547, the contingency DSSN for the 208^th FB, will supplement Commercial Vendor Service support operations in Iraq.  We will activate other contingency DSSN based on mission requirements.

OUR TEAM:  In the beginning stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 336^th FINCOM staff had no soldiers in Theater from the 336^th.  Rather, the FINCOM for the month of January was comprised of ten soldiers from the 18^th SSG, 10 soldiers from the 4^th FB, 15 from the 3d SSB and my aide and me.  Until the end of January, when the 15^th FB arrived with 58 soldiers to provide EAC support, we had no subordinate battalions on board so we depended on the ARCENT-KUWAIT office at Camp Doha for the full range of finance operations.  In February, 4 soldiers from the 266^th FINCOM, 11 from the 82d SSB, 7 from the 101^st SSB and 31 from the 24^th SSB arrived.  In March, 20 soldiers from the 9^th FB, 21 from the 3d SSB, 51 from the 208^th FB, 56 from the 101^st SSB and an ADVON of 3 from the 336^th FINCOM entered the Theater.  In April, the remaining 55 from the 336^th FINCOM, 56 from the 469^th FG, 63 from the 230^th FB, 69 from the 4^th FB, 79 from the 338^th FB, an ADVON of 3 from the 49^th FB and an ADVON of 8 from the 8^th FB arrived and began finance support operations.  Our effective strength grew from 37 in January to 148 by the end of February, 299 by the end of March and 632 at the end of April.  Unfortunately, until March the flow of finance assets was not aligned with the arrival of supported units.  In particular the 3d Infantry Division was fully closed in Theater before the main body of the 3d SSB arrived.  This composite team of small elements from 16 units resulted directly from the disintegration of normal force flow procedures as DoD opted not to use the traditional Time Phase Force Deployment Data (TPFDD) process. The finance team also includes SOF and Marine liaisons who work hand-in-hand with our operations section and we have enjoyed tremendous support from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service which sent DoD employees to provide assistance in theater for the Defense Military Office (DMO) software and the Military Paper Check Conversion (MPCC) system.  I am extremely proud of our Finance leaders and soldiers who have come together as one team, mission focused, and dedicated to providing the best possible finance support.

MILITARY PAY:  The Military Pay mission encompasses the full range of transactions to include deployment entitlements and pay inquiries.  We currently service over 135,000 pay accounts including 105,000 Active Component, 20,000 Reserve Component, and 10,000 National Guard soldiers.  Knowing who is in theater continues to be our biggest challenge to providing top quality pay support.  We rely heavily on our personnel brethren to provide us accurate listings of soldiers arriving in theater by multiple means including military air, commercial air, contracted air, and ship.  Initially, this was a hit-or-miss process with many soldiers leaving the Air Point of Debarkation and the Sea Point of Debarkation without having their ID cards scanned into the Theater Personnel System (TPS).  Our joint efforts with the personnel community have subsequently remedied this problem, and the vast majority of inbound soldiers are being properly accounted for in Theater.  We are now able to utilize the database populated in the TPS to start entitlements within a few days of arrival.  This success story in progress has minimized the number of pay inquiries throughout the Area Of Responsibility.  To ensure soldiers in theater are receiving the proper entitlements, we recently conducted an audit of over 72,000 active duty accounts.  This six-day process resulted in the correction of over 2,000 soldiers’ pay and was transparent to the soldier.  Additionally, visits to units on the ground carried out by finance soldiers armed with laptop computers, ensure any soldiers that were initially missed, are identified and that entitlement starts are processed.  Hardship Duty Pay – Location input for Reserve Component soldiers has to be input every month due to RC pay systems limitations.  The majority of the input is done as a mass input from a locally developed database configured to “code” the required information into DMO and the remainder is coded based on inquiries and unit input.  We are currently auditing every Reserve soldier’s account to ensure they are properly paid. 

TRAVEL:  The Travel section at Camp Doha (ARCENT-KUWAIT) processes all travel vouchers in theater.  Our travel mission has experienced a four-fold increase since December 2002.  We made a deliberate decision not to pay accrued per diem during the deployment, but to make that payment of $3.50 per day when soldiers file their travel vouchers with their servicing Defense Finance & Accounting Service office upon return to their home station.  This will minimize overpayments, simplify processing and provides no hardship to the soldier.

CENTRAL FUNDING:  The theater-funding mission, operated at Camp Arifjan, has accountability in excess of one billion dollars and as of April 2003, has funded over 400 agents for a total of $60 million.  Our mission to support the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance by paying an emergency stipend of $20 to Iraqi civil servants using seized funds has increased our accountability and operational tempo significantly and will continue to do so in the days and months ahead.  As you probably know from media reports we have been fully engaged over the past several weeks in securing and accounting for unprecedented levels of captured/found cash.  

DISBURSING:  Our disbursing mission continues to grow daily as our military pay teams cash checks and issue casual pays throughout the theater.  To date, we have cashed 37,000 checks for $8,400,000 and issued (and collected!) 42,000 casual pays for $5,800,000.   Currently, ARCENT-KUWAIT has the only Limited Depositary Accounts in the theater.  They provide the local currency  required by other finance offices in Kuwait and Qatar while all other areas are currently using U.S. dollars for purchases.  MPCC is an exceedingly more efficient way of processing checks for deposit with the Federal Reserve Bank system.  In lieu of photocopying checks (front and back), preparing a Deposit Ticket, and mailing the deposit to the Federal Reserve Bank for processing, the customer’s check is scanned at the time of service, and sent to the Federal Reserve Bank for processing as an  Automated Clearing House transaction via a network link, and processed as a deposit within 24-48 hours.  Non-sufficient funds checks are automatically held for redeposit at mid-month and end-of-month.  Deposit tickets and debit vouchers are emailed to disbursing personnel the next working day instead of mailing a paper copy through the United States Postal Service.  An archive of all checks is maintained for research purposes.  MPCC has been a great success in reducing the number of checks returned to the Finance Office.  The ARCENT-KUWAIT F&AO, for example, experienced a 67% decrease after using the system for 10 months.

ACCOUNTING:  The Accounting section at ARCENT-KUWAIT supports DSSN 8748, and 8551.  The expert staff at Camp Doha allows us to do the majority of accounting disbursement input locally.  OPLOC-Rome performs the accounting function for DSSN 8547 and will do so for and additional Contingency DSSN.  Our accounting records to include Merged Accountability and Fund Reporting are in balance and are current. 

CVS:  The Commercial Vendor Service Section at ARCENT-KUWAIT, Camp Doha, has seen a tremendous increase in the number of contracts they service.  Since 1 October 2002, we have made 4,900 contract payments for $266,000,000 with $147,000,000 made since February 2003.  Contracts processed include: Blanket Purchase Agreements for water, ice, and other bulk items, leases for apartments, rental vehicles, and cell phones; acquisition and cross-servicing agreements for propertu usage such as landing fees at local airports; construction contracts for Corps of Engineer projects developing bed-down areas in Kuwait; and regular purchase contracts for required goods and services.

Summary:  As you can see from this short article, our mission is challenging and inclusive of our full set of core competencies.  Our Finance Team has responded magnificently adapting quickly to support constantly changing operational requirements.  Working together since the arrival of the first soldier in Theater, the team has provided world-class support in every functional area.  I look forward to providing an update in thirty to sixty days that addresses our role in the reconstruction of Iraqi.

TO SUPPORT AND SERVE (May 2003)

Addendum:

(Editor, Thanks to COL Bob SPEER, we have a list of the meanings of the alphabet soup in the article.)

METT-TC  - (Mission, Enemy, Terrain and weather, Time - Troops available, and Civilians) Planning factors that must be considered for successful execution.

FB  (Finance Battalion) - A deployable tactical finance unit that has 3-7 finance detachments assigned that provides support on an area basis, however, also often habitually support deployable

SSG - (Soldier Support Group)  - XVII Airborne Corps elements tried combining finance and AG units under Soldier Support Battalions (SSB) and Soldier Support Groups. 

EAC support -(Echelons above Corps)

ADVON - (Advanced Echelon - lead element)

SOF - (Special Operations Forces)

Defense Military Office (DMO) software - Software that allows a user to view and analyze both reserve pay and active duty pay entitlements status.

Military Paper Check Conversion (MPCC) - It is an automated tool that scans a user's (the individual writing the check) paper check (Account number and check number), the amount is keyed and verified by the user.  The paper check is handed back to the user.  The electrons are sent to the federal reserve and within 24-48 hours the check is verified for sufficient funds and cleared.  It eliminates deposits and nearly all bad checks.

OPLOC-Rome   (Operation Location - Defense Finance and Accounting Services at Rome, New York) - One of several DFAS organization that regionalized installation finance and accounting support.)

The 55th Finance Disbursing Section

Major Lewis S. ROBERTS was browsing through RAFINO reports #27 and #28 with particular interest in Col. Cate’s article”Finance in the Brown Shoe Army” about his experiences with the 55^th Finance Disbursing Section at Nurnberg, Germany.  Since I was a charter member of that organization I feel obligated to tell its history prior to Nurnburg.

 In April 1943, I completed the Advanced Enlisted Finance Course at Wake Forrest College and was assigned to the Headquarters, Army Finance School at Duke University to await attendance to a Finance Officer Candidate class.  Things were going great until late June 1943, when the Adjutant sent for me.  The good news—“You’re being assigned to a mobile Finance Disbursing Section at Fort Harrison, Indiana that is preparing for overseas duty.”  The bad news—“Here is your application for O.C.S.  Apply again when you get overseas.” 

The 55^th Finance Disbursing Section, along with nine other Finance Disbursing Sections, came into being at Fort Harrison, Indiana in July 1943.  The authorized staffing was one Major, one 1^st Lt. one Warrant Officer, one Master Sergeant, One Tech Sergeant, one Staff Sergeant, two T/3’s, six T/4’s and six T/5’s.  I was a T/5.  Our first assignment was to get our section equipped and ready for field duty.  We built special type crates for our office machines.  We bolted slats to the bottom of typewriters and crank-operated adding machines so you could drop them upside down into crates, screw the lids on the crates and be ready to move.

Next, we each had a crack at practical office procedure, i.e., compute enlisted payrolls and officer’s pay vouchers, compute travel vouchers, prepare schedules of disbursements and collections, post cash book and cash blotter, and prepare account current.  After this training, we were given our regular assignments.  I was assigned to the Accounting section.  Of course, there was a continuation of military training.  The organization was issued three 45-caliber pistols (for officers) one Thompson sub-machine gun (given to the Supply Sergeant) and sixteen carbine rifles.  Everyone had to fire the sub-machine gun for familiarization, and all enlisted men had to fire the carbine for record.  I qualified Sharp-Shooter.

In early September 1943, we departed Fort Harrison by train for travel to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.  We spent about two weeks at Camp Kilmer waiting for a ship.  During that period we went through the “live fire” training at Fort Dix, New Jersey.  Also, I managed a trip to New York City to see the sights, which included a live concert by Benny Goodman featuring Gene Krupa on the drums.  Wow!  The rest of our time at Kilmer was spent doing miscellaneous chores, including K.P. and yes, while there, I was promoted to T/4.

In late September 1943 we departed Camp Kilmer and boarded the Queen Elizabeth in New York.  We sailed unescorted to Scotland, transferred to a Liberty ship and sailed to Belfast, Northern Ireland.  In Belfast we spent several weeks at a British camp on Donegall Road.  We then moved to Portadown, Northern Ireland where we set up our office and quarters in a family house.  Since we paid in local currency, we had to obtain British adding machines for pounds, shillings and pence.  We remained in this delightful town until mid-June 1944, when we were air-lifted to Hereford, England in a B-24 Liberator Bomber.  While there, we were designated as part of ADSEC-COMZ (Advance Section, Communications Zone).

On 6 August 1944, we moved to Southampton, England, boarded a Landing Craft Infantry (LCI), crossed the English Channel and hit the beach at Normandy.  We disembarked with full field packs and rifles.  We bivouacked near the beach that night.  The next day our equipment and transportation arrived.  We moved inland about twenty miles, where we unloaded our equipment, set up pyramidal tents for office and quarters, uncrated our office machines, and began operations.  Our lighting was courtesy of Coleman.  At this point we were attached to the 17^th Replacement Depot.  The 17^th was a forward replacement depot for Third Army, and was required to move as the front lines moved.  So, we moved when the 17^th moved.  The next two months were rather hectic.  We’d work a few days, bundle up our work, crate our office machines, strike our pyramidal tents, load the trucks, move a distance, unload the truck, pitch our tents, uncrate our office machines, and start working again.  This procedure was continued over and over as Third Army advanced.

We were bivouacked north of Fontainbleu, France when Paris fell.  Needless to say, we were in Paris the next day.  What a celebration!  Many Parisians thought we were with the Free French Army. 

We continued our trek across France and in mid-October, 1944, arrived in Toul, France, where we set up our office and quarters in a school house.  While there, I received word that my brother, a sergeant with the26th Yankee Division was killed in action near Nancy, France (about 20 miles from Toul.)  I checked out a jeep and visited his grave near where he fell in Alsace-Lorraine.  He’s still buried there.

From Toul we moved to Neufchateau, France, then to Metz, France and to our last stop in France—the French Maginot Line near Thionville.  We were there during the Battle of the Bulge.  The thick, freezing fog was so bad you could hardly see your nose.  The day the fog cleared, I counted over 2,000 U.S. bombers overhead.  Before our next move I had a 3-day R&R to Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxenbourg. 

In early April, 1945, we crossed the Rhine River over pontoon bridges, and set up operations in Freiburg, Germany.  We took over a family house for our office and quarters.  There was a two-door steel safe in the house, so we called the engineers to blow it open.  The explosion shattered all the windows in the room.  The safe only contained a roll of German coins. 

In late April 1945, we moved to Nurnberg, Germany.  The City was a pile of rubble.  We moved into a German estate in suburban Nurnberg and established our office and quarters there.  It was a gorgeous place—all the modern conveniences, including a bidet.  Also there were ten German ladies to cook our meals, make our beds, clean house and do our laundry.  We thought we were in Heaven! 

While in Nurnberg I was promoted to Staff-Sergeant and the war ended.  We watched the German aircraft pilots fly in to surrender and saw truck load after truck load of German prisoners pass by.

After the war ended, additional organizations were assigned to us for payment.  We worked day and night to get the job done.  Some personnel offices were short-handed and, being a good touch-typist, I was occasionally detailed to help prepare the payrolls.  The 55^th F.D.S. was a dedicated, harmonious, loyal and hard-working group of men.  It was an honor to have served with them.

On 1 November 1945, I accumulated enough points to go home.  I was transferred to the 610^th Tank Destroyer Battalion for movement to the U.S.   We spent some time at Cigarette Camps in France awaiting ship space.  While at Camp Lucky Strike, I managed a 3-day pass to Paris.  It was a joyful visit.  On the last day, our truck driver got drunk and I had to drive the 2˝ ton GMC back to camp.

On 9 November 1945, we boarded the USS Westpoint at Le Havre, France and sailed for the U.S.  We docked at Newport News, Virginia and moved by rail to Fort Meade, Maryland where I was discharged on 17 November 1945.  I returned to my old job with the Norfolk and Western Railroad in Norfolk, Virginia.

Although the following does not pertain to the 55^th F.D.S., I thought you might wonder how and when I returned to Army life.

In May, 1947, I re-enlisted in the Army in the grade Staff-Sergeant and was assigned to the Virginia Recruiting District Headquarters in Richmond, Virginia.  In September, 1948, I received a direct commission as 2^nd Lt., F.C. in the Army Reserve.  I was called to active duty in November, 1948, and ordered to attend the Basic Finance Officers Course in St. Louis, Missouri.  The rest is another story.

 This is a picture of the 55^th F.D.S. personnel taken at Hereford, England in July, 1944.  From left to right:

1^st Row           T/4 Johnson, T/5 Fenston, T/5 Guretse, S/Sgt. Mattison,

T/5 Petroff, T/4 Sillick, T/3 Roberts and T/4 Damon

            2^nd Row           T/Sgt Weiner, T/4 Barnhardt,                                         T/5 Ashley, M/Sgt. Horsley,

                                    T/3 Phillips, T/4 Scott,

                                    T/5Bauman, T/4 Duffy

            Missing

From Photo:   Maj. William Pinney, Jr., 1^st Lt.

                        Fredericks, W/O Ruben Balaban

                        T/5 Tucker

Operation Finance Cares

OPERATION FINANCE CARES (OFC) is a project developed by the United States Army Finance Command (USAFINCOM) to show support to deployed Finance soldiers. Soldiers deployed away from home, especially during the holiday season, often feel lonely. The emphasis of OFC is to boost the morale of our soldiers and show them that Finance takes care of their own. The goal is to provide an opportunity for individuals in the Finance community and external organizations (i.e., schools and churches) to sponsor a soldier(s) by mailing letters and/or cards.
In previous years, troops from the girl and boy scouts, several churches, and many schools have expressed their appreciation of soldiers by participating in the program. Suggested items: juice boxes (Hi-C, Minute Maid, Hawaiian Punch, Capri Sun); store bought, individually wrapped cookies, chips, crackers; canned snacks; non-refrigerated (fruit cups, vienna sausages, pudding, Jell-O); fruit roll-ups, granola bars, pop-tarts; magazines; paperback books; crossword puzzle books; word search books; nerf balls, super balls or other light-weight fun "toys"; playing cards; travel size games; travel size toiletry items; holiday decorations (small trees, unbreakable items); New Year's Eve party items (hats, horns, noisemakers).
Anyone wishing to sponsor a soldier(s) or unit is to contact Richard Worthy at richard.worthy@dfas.mil or reworthy@aol.com.

Joe Remembers Vietnam

By Joe CLUBA

(Editor:  This is an excerpt -- 1966-1969 -- when Joe was Assistant Installation Manager, R&U with Pacific Architect and Engineers.)

One way to launder your money was to buy rare coins in Saigon and take them back in your return luggage.

The Vietnamese employees had a good trick in the Post Exchanges. If you had a contact employee cashier in the PX you would buy 6 of each item and they would only charge you for only one or 2.  There was no checking going out the door.

The Post Exchange in Saigon was huge and fabulous, whatever you wanted was there. And they had no business selling such large items such as refrigerators, TVs, chairs, expensive diamonds, air-conditioners, etc. You would purchase the items and there would be the locals, usually Chinese, waiting to take them off your hands. Big money changed hands. Black market money. Low on cash for fine dining, just go in the PX, buy a case of liquor for a modest fee and convert it to local currency, head for Tu Do street and have a ball.

Up in Tuy Hoa I rented a hooch from a Vietnamese family, the wife worked in the PX. She would give me her daily order to buy from the PX. I was to leave the goods on the table in my room. When I returned that night the table would be stacked sky high with local currency.

In Vung Tau our material losses were about $250,000 a quarter. Keep in mind this is just one installation in the delta area. Everyone was selling something. You need a jeep, pass the word, and lo and behold it materializes, might even be a new one. Someone steals yours; you steal one of their jeeps. Our air-conditioning section had a panel truck containing spare parts and we had extensive losses. The workers said they were not stealing. And they were not as such. At lunch time they would park their vehicle in front of their homes and some nasty people would come along and steal their spare parts. Of course these thieves were their Filipino and Korean cohorts. What a war!

One day we received a check in our finance office addressed to a Mr. M from a Chinese firm.  We talked to M, a big white fellow about 250 pounds, 6 ft 6 in tall. We asked him what the payment was for. Wrong question. He came in my office and turned my desk upside down and told me to leave Vietnam or I’d be a dead man. Well that wasn’t very nice, so we started to investigate his activities.

The check was for his villa, every civilian had a villa, sure. He was in charge of our utilities division. The following payday we decided to give out the Vietnamese pay envelopes instead of Mr. M. Somehow we had about 20 left over. How could that be? Well the local police (White Mice) showed up to collect their pay checks. Talk about phantom employees. They said there job was to guard Mr. M`s yacht. Whoops, what yacht? The one over on the other side of the beach area. And by gosh he built a fancy yacht with our money and people. It turns out Mr. M was actually a spook for Navy Intelligence, so we heard. He was terminated and picked up by the Navy and enjoying his sailing. A few months later while walking down town in Vung Tau, I spotted a big hulk of a man coming at top speed headed for me. I said, "Here comes the thunder, I’ve had it". He walked up smiling and said "Joe you were doing your job and I want to thank you for backing away from my activities". Hell I was told to back away or else I would end up in one of the local nuc mohn jars.

As we were the repairs and utilities contractors for all U. S. Army facilities you would think they would make some equipment available. We had equipment rented from Hong Kong, Saigon, etc. Not USA source. So, here we go again. Went down to the motor pool to check on our water trucks. We furnished water to the military camps and clubs. Mr. M (a different one) was the Chief. So I asked Mr. M why we were leasing water trucks for $1,333 per month (big money then) when the military offered to give us new military water trucks. An unkind reply. M said while pulling out a knife as long as my arm, "When you go downtown tonight, don’t shake your head or it will fall off when I get finished with you.." Man these people we not too friendly. Maybe I should have joined the Viet Cong. Wrong answer. I contacted the CID (criminal investigation division) something like the JAG on TV. Oh yeah.

We decided to check out the motor pool activities. M also had control of repair of refrigerators in the utilities division. So we went downtown, drove around and listened for generator noises from Vietnamese homes. They had more A/Cs then we did. We came to M's house, it was crammed full of refrigerators. Man he sure must have liked ice cubes. Shook my head and it didn’t fall off.

Well we solved the refrigerators and the air-conditioners, next we had to check the source of the generators. Now these were not small ones, we’re talking 110 k generators and you don’t carry them on your back. Seems that when our generators were down and spare parts are not available, we would call for a Chinook Sikorsky Helicopter to pick up the old one and take it to a central location where they cannibalize the parts to repair it, then fly it back. Well we did have spare parts for the bad generators and they never made it to the central location.

This process worked the same way with refrigerators. You turned your defective one into supply and they would repair it as necessary. But they would repair it, then tell you it was unserviceable and would have to be salvaged, deep sixed. You would cry, and you would go out and try to steal another. In the meantime, M is counting his money, gee another sale. War is hell!

We were checking the port one day and noticed all kinds of nice shiny barges owned by the U.S. Army, just sitting there in the water. Surprise, surprise, next to the army barges were our barges we leased for $2,000 per month each. Maybe we didn’t like that battleship gray of the U S of A barges. These barges were leased from the Chinese in Hong Kong. Boy they were sure nice to help us in our war effort. Red lights flashing, confrontation ahead again. Checked my head to see if it was still attached and went to visit Cliff, the chief of building and support who processed the contracts for the barges. Cliff, he was the lucky one, also had a villa. Maybe those guys get paid more that I do. Well Cliff (a former counterintelligence agent) said the contracts were let in Saigon and he had no control. He would do good in that show Wizard of Oz. So we checked bank accounts, and just maybe he could have bought OZ. Cliff disappeared, don’t know where he got to. Another spook.

Not the end of the story. A few weeks later someone knocked on my door, don’t know why they knock all I had was screens on the windows, but there in front of me was Charlie Chan or maybe the Number One Son, who said that someone wanted to talk to me outside. I said "Don’t get sore, I really like Moo Gai Pai, even Sweet and Sour whatever." He said, “come with me”, and I did. There was a big black limo parked out in front with a well dressed Chinaman sitting in the back. Man was he cordial.

I asked him if he knew Wo Fat. He smiled and said, "I understand that you live alone here on the beach without air-conditioning and do not have a wife. I’m prepared to furnish you a villa along with a pretty little wife and household help. We just want your cooperation regarding our barges." I said "Mr. Wo Fat or whatever your name is, first I don’t control the contracts, they come out of Saigon, and second I like it here on the beach. Thanks for stopping by, and give my love to Suzy Wong."  He disappeared, just like Cliff. Gotta stop making people disappear.

You think that just the civilians were a little bent, hell they caught the Sergeant Major of the Army, also my boss General C, now Mr. C. They were alleged to siphon off much money from the military clubs in Vietnam. Most of the clubs have always been crooked. That is why they got rid of slot machines.

C was in change of Air America when I was up in Laos. The Sergeant Major was court-martialed; the General got a new job. Just the way it was supposed to be. Who said life is fair

Vung Tau activities:

Bodyguard: Mr. Bo was my personal assistant at Vung Tau and served as my bodyguard. He was a small and thin fellow with an extensive knowledge of French. I met his family, nice children, and enjoyed breaking bread with them. We had many hazards in our investigations as we came across all kinds of spooks. Everyone was threatening to kill or have someone killed. And they usually did a very good job.

Corruption: Corruption was the name of the game in Vietnam including military and civilian contract employees. There were constant bribes in all walks of life. If you wanted an exit visa you had to pay someone off in the government. I believe a good portion of people took jobs over here just to steal.

We hired a man in Vung Tau to run our motor pool. Seems he was a PFC in the Army and hired by a civilian contractor after his discharge. Then he stole 34,000 tires. They court-martialed him and sent him to Ft. Leavenworth, but this was overturned as the U. S. military had no jurisdiction. So the word around the motor pool was to "count the tires". Somebody forgot to count the batteries, and he got rich again.

At that time a $l Military Payment Certificate would buy approximately 114 piasters. You had to exchange your MPCs at the local Finance Office, but it was difficult to exchange back into MPCs after converting. So people were walking around with tons of Vietnamese piasters

One day someone knocked on my door and in popped a John M from the Delta. He had a large bag of currency, approximately 1,000,000 in piasters. He was also bleeding as he was shot in the hand by local bandits. He pleaded for my help. So I turned him over to the local spooks who had no trouble laundering the money. On this note, a number of months later, I was flying on our company Cessna down to the delta, and lo and behold M was sitting next to me wearing a heavy jacket. Now mind you the weather was near 100 and humid. I inquired as to his dress, and he opened his shirt and showed me the gold bars taped to his body. Bet he got rich and maybe dead.

One trick to get rid of your black market piasters was to buy a "round the world trip" on PANAM for local currency, then cashing in your ticket when you arrived home. The Embassy caught on and required all purchases to be made by MPCs. Spoil sports.

(Editorial comment:  With all this experience that Joe has had, do you have any doubt that the reunion 2004 in Las Vegas is going to be a really first class “shoot-em-up”?  Mark your calendars now so you will have a front row seat.)

FINANCE in the BROWN SHOE ARMY – Part II

By Bill CATE

The 55th FDS was very much in the rural suburbs of Nurnberg... wooded vacant land on all sides of "our" (requisitioned) house. Being out in the 'sticks', several of the guys had bought a couple of small motorbikes off the black market. Of course they weren't licensed or even authorized, but they were fun to 'putz' around on, as long as they were only driven around our house. One day one of our guys, named Harvey, got restless and headed out and away down towards the Hermann Goering Schulhaus. He was spotted by the MP's who quickly gave chase. It then tuned into a great "chase scene" like in an old Western (except no horses). We could all hear the roar of the motorbike, the sound of the jeep with siren in pursuit, and one of the MP's firing his pistol into the air....oh, what excitement! We were all watching the action unfold from our second story balcony. Suddenly "our boy" decided to cut cross-country just beside our place thinking he could shake the MP's.. Big mistake. The field he tried to cut across had recently been plowed. So the motorbike skidded and tossed Harvey into the dirt where the MP's quickly apprehended the 'bandit'. Of course the motorbike was confiscated and Harvey was arrested.

As most of us weren't quite as adventurous as Harvey, we got 'away from it all' by hitching a ride to the nearby Linde Ice Stadium which was operated by the Red Cross. The ice skating was fun and they also operated a snack bar of sorts. As everything was some sort of Army ration, slightly disguised, it was nothing like today's glitzy snack bars, but they tried their best and it was appreciated. My buddies 'Cal', Sergeant 'Buzz' (Brzozowski) and I were among the most regular patrons so one night we were delighted when the snackbar manager told us he had a special treat for us: steaks, french fries, milk and fresh sliced tomatoes! The steaks were from stew meat, the potatoes were fried in some strange oil and the tomatoes were local produce (which we weren't supposed to eat because of the fertilizer used by the Germans). Despite all that, it was the most delightful meal we had  since leaving the States!  That manager was a real friend.

One thing in the 55th FDS that really griped me had to do with promotions. Shortly after arriving there I was promoted to PFC as no 'promotion quota' was required. Only a few months later, LTC Keb called four of us PFC's into his office - me, Calhoun and two others. He announced that he had authority to promote two of us to T5 (Technician Fifth Grade). As Calhoun had been a PFC much longer than the rest of us (back to when he had been with the 86th Infantry Division), he was to get one of the promotions. As LTC Keb said he didn't know enough about us other three, he had us DRAW STRAWS for the remaining promotion. I DID NOT draw the winning straw so I didn't like this form of selection. The following month, LTC Keb had us other two guys back in his office as he had authorization for one more promotion to T5. This time he FLIPPED A COIN! As I called it right, I got the promotion, but I still disliked this form of awarding promotions. I guess it was because he simply didn't make the effort to learn about our relative qualifications. Perhaps he didn't think that making T5  was such a big deal. After all, a common saying was to describe a confused, bewildered individual as akin to a "T5 going to an NCO meeting" (T5's were NOT non commissioned officers)! Whatever, that leadership approach really irked me back then and still does today.  While the 55th was still out on Eichendorff strasse, LTC Keb was fortunate enough to have a baby grand piano in his office (courtesy of our displaced owners). During evenings he allowed the enlisted men to go into his office to play the piano. One morning there were 'storm clouds' thundering throughout our unit - someone had stolen a quart of LTC Keb's whiskey from his office! The NCO's decided that the only way to calm him down was to replace the whiskey. So we all had to chip in to buy a replacement. Each EM was allowed to buy 3 bottles of hard liquor a month (through a forerunner of the Class VI system). One of our guys still had one bottle left which he was willing to sell...for the going price of $15 (it had cost him about $1.65). So we calmed the storm and all was 'normal' again. Only, we never did find out which one of the guys had stolen the Colonel's whiskey in the first place. -  Until about 5 years later when I was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas when I happened to see in the releases from the US Disciplinary Barracks the name of Harvey, from the motorbike incident. He had done something else that resulted in detention time plus a Dishonorable Discharge. Just for old times sake I decided to pay him a brief visit before his release date. It came out shortly that he was the guy who stole the Colonel's whiskey! Case finally solved.  

Early in 1947 the 55th FDS was redesignated the 335th FDS and shortly thereafter was moved from our estate on Eichendorfer Strasse in suburban Nurnberg to an old German Kaserne in the adjacent city of Fuerth, leaving our 24 housekeepers behind! We then lost our identity as an FDS and became integrated into the 7810 Station Complement Unit. We were simply known as the Nurnberg Post Finance Office. Now we knew the 'chicken' had REALLY come to the ETO (by this time even the designation 'ETO' had been dropped and the Third Army designation had been moved back to the States). As members of the 7810 SCU we had weekly inspections on Saturdays, first outside in ranks, then in barracks. As there were over 500 men in the 7810th inspections took a long time. As an incentive, the unit instituted a competition for Soldier of the Week (everyone below SSGT). My buddy, T4 Logan CALHOUN, was one of the first to win it. Then I won it. Pretty soon the two of us had pretty much of a 'lock' on it although CAL won more often than I. The reward was a three-day pass but we still had to get our section's permission to take the time off. We really got adept at setting the stage for the barracks part of the inspection. Things like setting the drop lamp swinging as if we'd just got through dusting it one last time. The inspection in barracks took a long time as there were many rooms on the multiple floors. It was kind of boring waiting for the Company Commander and First Sergeant to come by to our room. CALHOUN and I shared a room with SSGT "Buzz" BRZOZOWSKI. One day while we were waiting our turn, CAL decided to get off his feet and stretch out on top of his footlocker...being very careful not to get any wrinkles in his uniform. BUZZ and I stayed on our feet, though slightly envious of his ingenuity. About this time First Sergeant Napier passed by the door to our room on some errand for the Company Commander and noticed CALHOUN resting prone on top of his footlocker. He didn't say anything of course. Not long after the First Sergeant returned, stopped at the entrance to our room, and without a word stepped inside and snapped to attention, as if waiting for the inspecting officer to enter. Well, CALHOUN came flying off the footlocker like a volcanic eruption and somehow came to attention. BUZZ and I just roared with laughter as we knew it was just a hoax. Not a word had been spoken, it was all based on military reflex so I guess we had all made the transition to the peacetime Army.

    One aspect of life in the 7810 SCU was having to fall out in formation for Reveille. As space was very limited the reveille cannon was only a short distance in front of the troops. You can imagine the flinching that went on when it was fired right at you, though right over your head. Smoldering bits of cardboard from the blank round came trickling down on us to add to the effect. It certainly was a real 'waker-upper'!

    By this time many of the original members of the 55th FDS had left. Our Finance Officer now was MAJ. Wesley VIERS, an intelligent and competent disbursing officer. Our Chief Clerk was M/SGT Henry DEGAN. T/SGT Edward MATTHEWS was Chief of the Military Pay Section and M/SGT Charles WALKER was Chief Cashier. Other cashiers were T/4 John LYONS and my buddy T/4 Logan CALHOUN. T/SGT Harold HODGSON was in charge of bonds and allotments while T/5 Richard CLARK, PFC Roger THIEL and PFC Roy WIEDENMEYER  were among the military pay clerks. Of course, I was still in the accounting section although T/SGT MALLOY had rotated home. One of my helpers in the accounting section was a German civilian girl named Ursula. She used to drive me to distraction as whenever I would ask her if she had seen "paid voucher number so-and-so", her first reaction was always to look IN HER WASTEBASKET! As a paid voucher represented cash in our accounts you can understand my consternation.

 As all payments were made in the tightly controlled "scrip", cashier shortages were a real problem as there was no such thing as "cash over/shorts". The cashiers were personally accountable for any shortages. My buddy CALHOUN handled Class "A" Agents and three months in a row he came up an even $100 short...as he only made $120 a month as a T/4 that really hurt! He was ready to ask for relief from cashier duty. He finally figured out who was "out counting" him...IT WAS ONE OF THE OTHER CASHIERS! 

Earlier I mentioned that I was one of three Catholics in the unit. and it helped me avoid the many temptations readily available. While at Fort Harrison I had learned to be an altar server, so I continued to help out there in Nurnberg. The Catholic Chaplain serving our area was from Milwaukee. His name was CHAP(CAPT) Francis KONIECZNY. As he also conducted services for the prisoners at the Nurnberg War Crimes Trials, he frequently asked me to come along to serve.  The most intriguing prisoner I met was the man who developed the so-called "nerve gases" - odorless, colorless and very lethal. He maintained that he was "just a scientist" and had not ordered any of the tests that were performed on human subjects. Of course he was aware of them and duly noted the results. The work he had been doing was so secret and highly technical that the court needed enlightenment which he readily provided. He found it rather amusing that he had taught the court what it needed to find him guilty. Actually he had done this on purpose as he wanted to be convicted by the War Crimes Tribunal. He was a "small fish" in this court and only received a sentence of about 7 years. If he had been acquitted he would have been subject to the "denazification trials" which we had turned over to the Germans for prosecution. As a major Nazi Party member he would have been subject to a 12-year sentence. So he figured he'd come out ahead. His work developing such a dreadful way of killing large numbers of people didn't seem to burden his conscience but I'll never know.

My association with CHAP KONIECZNY also lead me to teach my buddy S/SGT "Buzz" BRZOZOWSKI how to serve at Mass. "BUZZ" went on to make M/SGT and a tour at the Finance School in St. Louis. After 12 years military service he took his discharge and subsequently entered the seminary and was ordained a priest. After a long time at parishes in his home state of Texas, he is now back in St Louis as the resident priest at a large complex for aged and infirm operated by the Little Sisters of The Poor. We are still in touch.

Another result of my association with CHAP KONIECZNY came about one Sunday when I went to serve Mass in Fuerth in an Army Chapel in a damaged library. The building had been taken over by a Military Police Battalion that was involved in railway security (to guard against pilfering of cargo). This battalion had a Protestant chaplain assigned to it. FATHER KONIECZNY found out that the chaplain's secretary was Catholic and could play the piano so he quickly recruited her to play the portable foot-powered organ for the Catholic services. So when I came in to serve Mass that Sunday I was startled to see this lovely young brown-eyed girl on the altar also. Religion suddenly had a whole new side to it! Uncharacteristically tongue-tied at first, I managed to make her acquaintance later when FATHER KONIECZNY 'conned' me into forming a youth group for GI's and the young Germans & Displaced Persons who worked for the American Forces. It seems they weren't warmly welcomed in their own parishes after adopting 'decadent American habits' like wearing makeup, lipstick, etc. I was quickly elected/drafted to be the president of this group and wowed (or was it 'wooed') that lovely brown-eyed organist whose name was Ilse Maria GRYSZKA. About a year later we became engaged. We then had to go through a lengthy process to get permission from the Army to get married. Ilse was still an "enemy alien" as WW II did not officially end until December 1947. The process took about six months and we were allowed to get married on November 22nd, 1947, just 30 days before my scheduled departure in December. As "BUZZ" had already rotated back to the States, I asked CAL to be the best man. We borrowed M/SGT Charlie WALKER'S car and drove to Garmisch for a quick honeymoon...I say "quick" because I had to be back at the office to prepare the Account Current for the month!

I left the States for Germany on Friday the 13th of September and sailed from   Pier 13 Staten Island. I (we) departed Germany on December the 13th and returned to Pier 13 Staten Island. So much for superstition.

FINANCE in the BROWN SHOE ARMY – Part I

By Bill CATE

After completing the basic enlisted finance course at Fort Ben in September 1946, I headed for Germany.  We sailed from Pier 13, Staten Island, on September 13^th for a voyage of 13 days but - other than sea sickness - no bad luck was encountered. Our tub./ship was the 'MIT Victory'' - a converted Victory ship of the sort Henry Kaiser built in record numbers, in record time...but they didn't set any records for speed or comfort! As I had volunteered to be the ship's librarian (a ploy I had learned from an old hand), I was exempt from all other shipboard details, especially KP! I'm sure my stomach would have agonized even more in the kitchen area with all its smells and such.

A VERY choppy ride across the North Atlantic convinced me I was lucky the Navy turned me down for enlistment. At one rough point I was standing/hanging at the rail getting rid of my earlier chow when a sailor from the Navy gun crew slapped me on the back saying, "What's the matter, dogface...weak stomach?"  Between gags I was able to respond, "Weak, HELL! I'm throwing it as far as anyone else!"

From Bremerhaven we rode the train down to Marburg, Germany - home of the 3rd Repple-depple (Replacement Depot). I say "we" because I'd buddyed-up with another Finance enlistee along the way. This was PFC Logan "Cal" CALHOUN from Barren County, Kentucky. I looked up to "Cal" as he'd had a bit of combat experience in the 86th "Blackhawk" Division. His division had been pulled back to the States from Europe for redeployment against Japan but when that proved unnecessary here he was heading back to Europe only in Finance this time instead of the infantry. 

While waiting for our assignment, we just killed time at Marburg. Chow was served from hundred-ration pans into our mess kits. Plop! After eating we then went through a line to dump our garbage and then several more large cans (what are usually known as 'garbage' cans) filled with water. On the lip of each can an immersion heater was mounted. This was a sometimes-dangerous device to heat the water so it would sterilize our mess gear for the next meal. I said sometimes-dangerous because they were fueled with regular gasoline and had been known to explode. By the second day I had to go on sick call. Either due to something I ate or the immersion-heater hadn't gotten the water hot enough to sterilize my mess kit. I HAD THE TROTS!

Sick call was held in one large room. At one side was the doctor sitting on an ammo box using a footlocker for a desk. On the other side of the room were all of us "sickies" waiting our turn. NO PRIVACY at all. So you got to listen in while waiting your turn.

The next day we got our assignments and Cal and I were destined for the 55th FDS at Nurnburg. Actually, I had been told I was being assigned to the 45th FDS in Linz, Austria. Somebody made a mistake somewhere and I've often wondered what life would have been like if I'd gone that way.

We arrived in Norbert on a very rainy and gloomy September day. All of the glass over the train platforms had been broken out during the bombings so we got the full benefit of the rain. We were met by a couple of guys from the 55th who had a 3/4 ton 'weapons carrier' for our transportation. This meant we rode in the open back so we could soak up some more rain! Nurnberg itself was also depressing as right across the street from the 'bahnhof' everything was rubble for 15 blocks in every direction. NO buildings left standing.

We picked our way around craters and potholes until we were well out into the suburbs. An area called 'Ziegelstein" ("Bricks"). We passed a large school named the Hermann Goering Schoolhouse (the name was changed later I'm sure). We finally arrived at 65 Eichendorfstrasse, a large estate which included an in-ground swimming pool. Things were definitely looking up!

The 55th FDS was manned with 3 officers and 17 EM. LTC Fred KEB was the Disbursing Officer. He had been an NCO when WWII broke out and had been commissioned under the Thomason (?) Act. The Deputy was a former schoolteacher named Cornelius I. THOMPSON. He was an intelligent, educated, mature officer. It was easy to respect Lt Thompson although he wasn't always easy to work for.... He kept expecting everyone to do their best!

At the 55th FDS, in I was assigned to the Accounting section (which consisted of SFC MALLOY and me!). Army accounting in those days was simple single-entry bookkeeping. The main job was to keep the cashiers accounts straight, which was no small task. At this time the Army was still using "invasion currency" for money. These were German Marks printed by the Allies. As far as our cashiers were concerned they were equivalent to Monopoly money...because whenever they came up short all they had to do was sell a few cigarettes and they could get all they wanted. This was a time when barter was much preferred to cash. A first-class haircut (from the barber who came to us regularly at the house) was three cigarettes...as was a female companion for the night, or so I was told!

I mentioned my buddy, 'Cal' CALHOUN. By the way, he stayed in for a career also and retired as a CWO-4; now lives in southern Kentucky. Besides making the Atlantic crossing together and arriving at the 55th together, one thing that helped bond us together was our religion. We were both Catholics as was one other guy in the 55th: SSgt Simon Peter BRZOZOWSKI. One of the problems with being Catholic is you are aware of sin and the need to confess and repent whenever you stray. As a Catholic may not receive Communion with a serious sin on his soul until after going to confession, it can be an embarrassing situation when you have your buddies watching over you like two big brothers and you suddenly need to go to Confession. Talk about peer pressure! Or was it 'fear pressure'? Anyway it was enough to keep us three away from the three-cigarette-for-a-night-girls. Unfortunately, sex and booze were just too readily available and several of our guys in the 55th threw their hopes for the future away by losing control of their lives.

A case in point was a former wartime Warrant Officer who had re-enlisted as a Master Sergeant. When sober, he really knew Finance, but as time went on the sober periods were more infrequent. He was busted to Private, made it back up to Staff Sergeant, then busted again. One night (after the 55th FDS had been moved into a German Kaserne in nearby Fuerth) I was on duty as Corporal of the Guard when the MP's brought our boy in on very rubbery legs smelling like he had bathed in some cheap distillery. I signed a receipt for him then tried to get him up three flights of stairs to his room; no easy job considering he was hardly able to stand up.  Finally he was 'boarded out' of the Army as "unable to adjust to military life"...after 18 years of military service!

We were a separate unit under Third Army and pretty independent. Our supply sergeant was also our chief scrounger...and he was very good at it. To help his efforts, we chipped in a few bottles of our whiskey ration each month. We lived and ate well! We had German women to clean the house, do our laundry, make our beds, and cook our meals. They were paid a modest amount from our unit "slush fund" but the big benefit was that we fed them a fairly hearty midday meal. Lots of bread and vegetables. On one occasion our Supply Sergeant came up with a huge tub of lard which was a cause of much joy among our German staff. They spread it thickly on bread and ate it with great gusto...as fat had been non-existent in their diet they had a deep craving. Of course it turned our stomach to watch.

As I said, keeping the cashiers accounts in order was a major undertaking. One night I was helping a cashier by running an adding machine tape on a pile of his paid vouchers. I entered the numbers very carefully then went over the tape to make sure everything was absolutely correct. When I took the vouchers and the tape back to him, he exclaimed, "Oh nuts! That just makes me further out of balance!" and threw the tape away! As I said, there wasn't much of an incentive for them to get things 'right' when it was so easy to "plug" the numbers by putting another wad of "play money" in the drawer to 'make things balance'. 

Very soon we had our first currency conversion and that killed the "easy way" to balance accounts. The new money was "scrip" and was denominated in dollars and Germans were not allowed to have any. Except that the black marketeers soon had scrip by the fistful. The conversion from the "invasion marks" to dollar scrip was a major exercise, of course. Unit conversion officers brought in large quantities of the invasion marks from their soldiers and were given the new scrip to issue. We had a large room full of boxes of the invasion marks which had to be tallied laboriously over several days. We had finally verified the counts on all the 'old stuff' and balanced out okay...then one of the cashiers came in with a huge carton full of the invasion marks. They were leftovers!!!  I don't even remember what we did with them. I did learn a lot... of how NOT to have a good currency conversion!

I must have remembered though. Just after I arrived in Vietnam in 1969 as Finance Officer of the AMERICAL Division up in Chu Lai, I received a phone call in the wee hours from my old friend Kirby LOTT down in MACV telling me it would be a 'good idea' for me to check the division message center for traffic. It turned out there was a message announcing the latest currency conversion. I guess I fooled everyone as soon I received one of my Bronze Star Medals due to "my extensive knowledge of currency conversions".  As usual, it was my hard-working staff that made things go smoothly but I kept the medal anyway.

Cheers, Bill CATE

U.S.S. COLE

(Ed: I realize that this article is not a Finance Story, but felt that our membership would appreciate this account of bravery and dedication to duty.) The following article was e-mailed off the USS HAWES, Wednesday, October 18, 2000 11:45 AM

Real Warriors! 

"It wasn't until a few days ago though, that we started doing something that I feel may be the first thing I've seen in my short Naval career that has truly made a difference.  Right now we're supporting the USS COLE and her crew in Aden.

When the attack occurred we were a day away.  Just by luck we happened to be on our way out of the Gulf and headed towards the Suez and could get here in a relatively short amount of time.  I know what you all have seen on CNN, because we have seen it too.  I just want you all to know that what you see doesn't even scratch the surface.  I'm not going to get into it for obvious reasons.  But I will tell you that right now there are 250+  sailors just a few miles away living in hell on Earth.  I'm sitting in a nice air conditioned state room, they're sleeping out on the decks at night.  You can't even imagine the conditions they're living in, and yet they are still fighting 24 hours a day to save their ship and free the bodies of those still trapped and send them home.  As bad as it is, they're doing an incredible job. The very fact that these people are still functioning is beyond my comprehension.  Whatever you imagine as the worst, multiply it by ten and you might get there.

Today I was tasked to photo rig the ship and surrounding area.  It looked so much worse than I had imagined, unbelievable really, with debris and disarray everywhere, the ship listing, the hole in her side.  I wish I had the power to relay to you all what I have seen, but words just won't do it.  I do want to tell you the first thing that jumped out at me - the Stars and Stripes flying.  I can't tell you how that made me feel...even in this God forsaken hell hole our flag was more beautiful than words can describe.

Then I started to notice the mass of activity going on below, scores of people working non-stop in 90 plus degree weather to save this ship.  They're doing it with almost no electrical power and they're sleeping (when they can sleep) outside on the decks because they can't stand the smell or the heat or the darkness inside. 

They only want to eat what we bring them because they're all scared of eating something brought by the local vendors.  Even with all that, the USS COLE and her crew is sending a message guys, and it's that even acts of cowardice and hate can do nothing to the spirit and pride of the United States.  I have never been so proud of what I do, or of the men and women that I serve with as I was today.

There are sixteen confirmed dead sailors who put it on the line for all of us, and some of them are still trapped here.  Please take a minute to pray for their families and say a word of thanks for their sacrifice - one made so that we can live the lives that we do.  All of you that serve with me, thank you.  All of you that have loved ones that serve, thank you."

Please feel free to pass this on to those you think will appreciate it.

Surface Navy Association
2550 Huntington Avenue, Suite 202
Alexandria VA 22303

The USS Cole is on it's way home as you can see from these pictures.  There are other pictures at http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/01067.htm