Hellcat News, (Kingman, Ariz.), Vol. 51, No. 12, Ed. 1, August 1998 Page: 7 of 24
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Abilene Library Consortium and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.
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August 1998
HELLCAT NEWS
Page 7
Marsha Grover, Gary Hartley, Robin Ga/vez at the 12th AD
Monument, Abilene, April 18,1998.
company of 17 tanks had 85 gallons of used motor oil to dispose of.
I thought there had to be some way to use all that motor oil as fuel
to heat our miserable quarters. Fortunately I thought it out loud in
the presences of one esteemed T/Sgt Leo Rettger of A/23's main-
tenance platoon. It was astonishing how quickly our situation
improved. Scavenging among the abandoned enemy gear and
misappropriating some of his own supplies, Sergeant Rettger
produced a furnace that changed our whole outlook on life. He
burned a couple of holes in a large steel drum, a hole for draft and
another to which he attached abandoned stovepipe, or a reasonable
facsimile thereof. He ran the smokestack to the outside through a
ventilator. Then he piled a lot of heavy chain in the bottom of the
drum to act as a bed of coals. A smaller drum served as an oil tank,
and a piece of copper tubing was fitted with an on/off cock-valve
to control oil flow. The tank was positioned so that the oil would
flow by gravity from the tank into the furnace drum.
"With all in readiness, old Sarge used his welding torch to heat
the top layer of chain until it was red-hot. Then he turned the valve
so that oil began to drip onto the pile of hot chain. Then there was
a flash of ignition and the drum filled with flame. The draft roared.
The drum looked like it was trying to dance across the floor, but
soon it settled down and its sides began to take on a rosy glow.
Very soon that damp, miserable hole in the ground became a haven
of comfort - warm and cozy, and the floor was dry. Word got
around and the first thing we new we were having company from
the other platoons and the maintenance crew.
"There ought to be some kind of decoration for Technical
Sergeant Leo Rettger for boosting the moral of 3rd platoon of A/23.
He worked a miracle and we were all reluctant to leave our blast
furnace behind when we had to move out and resume our march to
the combat zone. There would be many days, even months, before
we would be that comfortable again."
Perk closes with, "Every time I go to a 12th AD reunion, I hear
somebody say the lies get bigger and bigger as the years go by, and
that's okay so long as we didn't start believing them - it livens it
up. It's always risky to write about something that happened 50
years ago but, so help me, except for a little license to improve my
prose, most of the foregoing is absolute fact."
So now I repeat: 23rd Tank Battalion Unit Dinner Friday
evening, Sept. 11, 1998 - choices, Sauteed Chicken @ $18.00,
Prime Rib @ $21.00, or Baked Snapper @ $23.00. If you have not
mailed me your enrollments - please call!
43RD TANK BATTALION
Mark Ault, 4803 Brookhaven Drive, Kokomo, IN 46901
Phone (765) 459-5245
AUGUST BIRTHDAYS: Nellie Kirkpatrick-lst, Bette Stone-4th,
Dianna Seaman-4th, Harry Yager-7th, Idalene Antwell-lOth, Mariln
Edgington-20th, Gloria Bond-21st, Mary Sathrum-25th, Ethel
Gustafson-31st.
AUGUST ANNIVERSARIES: Victor and LaBelle Edelstein-3rd,
11 yrs, Robert and Lorene Allen-11th, 53 yrs, Ralph and Sigrid
Casey-14th, 29 yrs, Felix and Alice Sokolowski-21st, 53 yrs.
If I don't have your birthday or wedding dates, let me hear from
you.
HELLO FOLKS: The 43rd and 152nd Unit Dinner will be on
Friday evening, Sept. 11, 1998. Choices and prices are listed below.
Reservations and money must reach me by Sept. 4, 1998. If you
plan to eat, complete the following.
******************************************************
43rd and 152nd FRIDAY EVENING UNIT DINNER
Name
Entrees Price (*)
Sauteed Chicken $ 18.00
Prime Rib $21.00
Baked Snapper $23.00
(*) Price includes tax and tip TOTAL $
Company
# Persons
Ted Blostein at Liberation Museum, Arnheim, Holland, on Liber-
ation Day, May 5,1998.
Make check payable to Mark Ault, 43rd Unit Rep.
******************************************************
Starting this August column shortly after Ann and I have just
returned from our 50th wedding anniversary trip to New Zealand
and Australia. What a wonderful 14 days. Hope I have space left to
tell more about our trip, it was fabulous.
Obit for Ray Einsiedel [SV], 75, of DeKalb, formerly of Aurora.
Passed away May 18, 1998, at Kishwaukee Community Hospital.
He was born 6-27-22 in Aurora, IL.
Ray was employed by Burlington Truck Lines as a truck driver
until his retirement in 1981. He was later employed by Armour
Dial. Ray spent most of his Army time in the Personnel Section of
the 43rd Regt. and then the Battalion. Survivors include his wife of
54 years, Ginny, two sons, Larry and Lonny, one daughter, Gayle,
seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. (Your Unit Rep
had received a call from Ginny a couple weeks prior to his death
telling that Ray had undergone a six bypass heart operation at
Madison, WI, on May 5.)
CLIF HUNTER [C]: Just a few lines to let you know I won't be
able to make the Houston reunion. I made a trip to St. Louis to my
granddaughter's marriage. While there we got to see our grandson's
new daughter, she is six months old, we are now great-grandparents.
Anyway, here is the nut cracker for the reunion raffle. Hope
whoever wins will like it and the raffle will bring in big bucks. Tell
everyone "hello" for me. I have spent some time in my workshop
laying out parts for next winter's work. I didn't get to the Northwest
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News, (Kingman, Ariz.), Vol. 51, No. 12, Ed. 1, August 1998, newspaper, August 1998; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410423/m1/7/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.