One thing I have been dealing with during my absence on the blog is the passing of my Grandfather, Fred Brock.  Of all the things he left behind, one had special significance to me and it was the one thing I asked for after he passed.  His shadow box.

When I was a cadet at Clemson, I learned about shadow boxes from a presentation by Medals of America (a veteran owned company that specializes in shadow boxes among other things.)  This got me thinking about “What happened to grandpa’s medals?”  When I asked him, the response was he lost them over the years.  I set out aiming to surprise him with a shadow box depicting his service.  I remember sitting with him for hours, talking about his time in the military.  I listened to a lot of stories to figure out what he had earned.

Fred Brock enlisted in the U.S. Navy on October 6, 1945 at the age of 17.  He had to get my Great-Grandmother to “sign for him.”  He always talked about his time in service as when he “found a home” and another “family.”  His training took him to Williamsburg, VA and the Amphibious Base at Little Creek, VA.  On a later radio interview with WGOG, he pointed out Germany and Japan surrendered “because they heard I was coming.”

When the USS Winston (AKA-94) returned to Hampton Roads on December 7, 1945, Seaman Brock was assigned to the ship.  While on board the Winston, he traveled to Central America where he was a gunner during Marine Corps landing exercises.  In his words, “shooting over the heads of the Marines.”  He then sailed with the Winston to Thule, Greenland to resupply what was then “several Airmen and a weather recon plane.”  While there, he was part of a party of sailors that creatively acquired lumber to build a bar for the lonely Airmen.  This eventually evolved into the “Top of the World Club” which I was a member of when I was stationed at Thule AB from 2002 – 2003.  He always spoke about sharing chocolate bars with the “Eskimo children” when he was in Greenland.  He always had a special place in his heart for kids.  He and his shipmates also “smuggled” some Huskie puppies on board to sell when they got back to the U.S.

Breaking through the ice had knocked all the paint off the Winston, and Captain Joseph Finnegan ordered the crew to paint the ship as they steamed into New York harbor.  According to Grandpa Brock, the ship was streaming grey paint in its wake when they sailed into the harbor.  Capt. Finnegan also apparently ordered the crew “to get those damn dogs off my ship without customs seeing them.”

USS Portsmouth (CL-102) on cruise.  Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Archives.

After returning to New York, he transferred to the USS Portsmouth (CL-102), a light cruiser.  On November 25, 1946, he departed the U.S. for a Mediterranean cruise.  When they made a December port call in Naples, he volunteered for an “Adopt an Orphan” program.  He was assigned an orphan girl to have Christmas dinner with and give a toy that had been brought on the cruise for that purpose.  He always ended that story the same way, “I always wondered what happened to her.”

He finished his service in the Navy on the USS Mississippi (EAG-128) with Lieutenant (J.G.) Jimmy Carter (the future president) as the Gunnery officer, before being discharged on October 21, 1948.

Seaman Brock was awarded the Honorable Service Lapel Button (aka. the “Ruptured Duck”), the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.  He also wore the Amphibious Forces Patch as a Former Wartime Service Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (aka. the “Combat Patch”) when he chose to reenlist in the U.S. Army on April 21, 1950.

Grandpa Brock was proud he “ranked #1 in Basic Training” when he went to Fort Knox, KY and he told the story of how he and “the #2 man” were given orders to Germany instead of Korea.  Grandpa told the story of how he asked for his orders to be changed, but the Sergeant told him, “If I have to change yours, I’ll have to change every set of orders.”

He was assigned to the Berlin Brigade and eventually transferred to the 28^th Reconnaissance Company, 28^th Infantry Division when the “Bloody Bucket” was mobilized to augment NATO forces in Germany during the Korean conflict.  When he was on the train going to Berlin, the U.S. Army was moving some armor assets into the city.  The Russians stopped the train as it transited East Germany every couple of miles.  A trip that should have taken several hours, took him days.

PVT Brock was selected for the Berlin Brigade Honor Guard because of his height, and pulling guard duty with honor guards from Great Britain, France and Russia.  He admired the spit and polish of the British and French soldiers, but when “Retreat” was played and the flags were lowered, “the Russians would just wad up their flag and walk away.”

He also talked about working with the Russians in close proximity, sharing cigarettes.  The Russians would sometimes say, “When we go to war, I’m going to shoot you, Yank.”  He would respond, “Maybe, I’ll be the one to shoot you.”  When the 28^th Infantry Division arrived, he joined up with them in West Germany.

One of his favorite stories to tell was when he and his tank crew were on an exercise and came upon a destroyed house (with an intact wine cellar.)  They did the responsible thing during the exercise, stayed there and drank the wine.  He was also promoted to Sergeant during that timeframe so he could attend the NCO Academy for the Division, but “missed bed check” so he would be knocked down to Corporal (his favorite rank.)

Grandpa Brock also started writing to Ms. Hazelene Oliver during his time in Germany.    he was discharged on September 24, 1953, those letters played a big role in his decision to leave the military.  The Army offered to send him to Hawaii if he reenlisted.  He chose to marry my grandmother instead.  He earned the Army of Occupation Service Medal with Germany Clasp and the National Defense Service Medal.

It was Grandpa Brock’s stories of his time in service and the adventures he had travelling the world that inspired me to join the military.

In May 2006, Grandpa Brock pinned my Captain’s bars on me.  He simply said, “I never thought I’d be hugging a Captain.”