USFA Gallery - Page 17

Harold Badten in Salzburg

I was in Co. "I", 3rd Bn., (350th Inf Regt) from Nov. 1953 till Feb. 1955. I was a gunner of a 60mm mortar in the Weapons Platoon. One of my first things to do was to buy a good camera. I took several hundred colored slides during that time including ski school. Most of the photos on this Gallery Page were taken in 1954 as that was the the full year that I was there.

Being in Camp Roeder required a unique set of circumstances. Not just me but a group of men from Ft. Ord and the West Coast. I was drafted out of Waterville, Wa. 3/24/53. I was inducted at Ft. Lewis Wa. and sent to Ft. Ord and started basic training on my 20th birthday, 4/3/53. While in basic, I attempted to qualify for some kind of school if any to avoid being just combat infantry. No luck. I had a Class A profile and was told I was needed on the front lines in Korea. Period! I'm more lucky than good I guess because the Korean war ended a week or so before I finished my 16 weeks of basic. I asked again and they said I could now go to Leadership Training School. It's an 8 week advanced training school. When we graduated, they took all of us with last names starting with W, A, and B and made us squad leaders of a new concept called a "Buddy Company." These men were all from around southern Oregon I think and were inducted and trained and went over to Camp Roeder together. I don't know how they were placed but we were scattered throughout USFA. I can remember 4 of us in Company I and we hung out together a lot. We were all in the Weapons Platoon. It's better to be lucky than good!! What a nice tour of duty compared to front lines in Korea.
Harold Badten
(email: k7eym@genext.net