Friday, April 11, 2014
Dad & Ralph in Germany
Posted: April 11, 2014 | Last Revised: April 11, 2014
In Germany in the late 1940's, following V-E Day and during the early days of the Army of Occupation, a soldier from Vona found himself very far from home. Young Louis Pickard was in the Military Police, guarding prisoners of war and helping maintain order on the base. He wasn't the only farm boy on that force, as the Army had figured out they were plenty strong, could shoot straight and knew how to follow orders. He was the only one from the High Plains of Colorado, though, and it had been a long time since he had seen a familiar face.
Louis was enjoying a rare night off, getting to sit in the audience of a USO show rather than having to stand outside, controlling the sometimes unruly crowd. He had arrived early, but still not in time to snag a seat up front. From his seat in the rear of the hall he watched as the stage crew set up lights and scenery. Suddenly, it dawned on him that one of the crew was none other than Ralph Hubbell, one of his best buddies from back home. The usually quiet, reserved Louis jumped to his feet and began shouting Ralph's name. The two of them made a beeline for one another, walking right over seats in the center of the auditorium. It didn't take long for the other soldiers to figure out what was going on. "Let 'em through, they're buddies from home!"
Mail from the states took a long time to arrive in those days, so Louis hadn't even known Ralph was in the service, yet alone stationed in Germany. They didn't have much time to catch up before the show. But afterward Louis got to ride along as Ralph, a USO motor pool driver, drove the show girls back to their lodgings. Then Ralph accompanied Louis back to base, which presented a bit of a challenge. Among the MPs responsibilities was to make sure everyone on base was properly in uniform, with all the requisite buttons fastened, tie squared tightly, caps peaked just so. There were a lot of officers on base and the soldiers had to be prepared to stand at attention at any moment. The USO guys weren't accustomed to such formality so Louis found himself in the awkward position of having to tell his childhood pal to shape up, salute the brass and so on. Of course as soon as his back was turned Ralph would loosen his tie just to give Louis a hard time!
Their visit was all too brief, but certainly a welcome break for both of them. Back home a few years later Ralph married Louis's younger sister, Velma and the two remained close until Ralph passed away in 1981. They never grew tired of telling the story of how they bumped into each other, two young boys from the little town of Vona, half way around the world in Germany. And their children, nieces, nephews and now grandchildren, never tire of hearing it, either.
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