Daley special stories & trivia

He was killed because a tank commander failed to properly clear his .50 caliber M2 machinegun. Another soldier went to remove the night scope from the M2 and hit the trigger, sending a round towards the vehicle were SSG Hale was getting a pencil. SSG Patton accompanied him and his family back to Lexington, KY and later married a widow with two sweet little girls.

Master Gunner: SSG “Skelly” of the Blackhorse
By Major M.W. McGehee, US Army (Ret.)

He was a charmer to young frauleins and an entertainer to subordinates, peers and superiors with his hair-raising (if not illegal) tales of service in Viet Nam. Staff Sergeant Skelly had a dark side that didn’t seem to scare off those of equal or greater rank that he worked with because he was so competent and fun to be around. I remember that gold SS ring he proudly wore, a gift from a relative who was a member of that elite and sinister force. The stories that he told of his uncle Max were something out of the movies. Skelly would take leave of the squadron occasionally for an extended weekend in the Munich area to visit Uncle Max, a former Colonel in the Waffen SS, who had commanded a tank regiment on the Eastern front. This probably influenced Skelly to become an armored cavalry trooper and made it possible for me to know and serve with this fine soldier in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR), the Blackhorse. Skelly told us about how his uncle was a well to do gentleman now with a big black Mercedes driven by the Colonel’s former tank driver. He brought Skelly back from Munich one weekend and must have scared Skelly half to death with how he drove that big car as if he was still in the seat of his Tiger tank. To make matters worse, the one time tank driver had glasses as thick as coke bottle bottoms. We heard too how the old commander still had his dress uniform, complete with SS Dagger, in his study and mounted in a glass display case.

You might say we were “a law unto ourselves”. Our squadron belonged to V Corps. We were stationed “out of sector”, south of the Corps living area, down amongst the VII Corps troops in Bad Kissingen. Our post, Daly Barracks, was named for a lieutenant that received the DSC in WWII. Our squadron, the 2nd Squadron of the 11th ACR, was very independent and somewhat isolated. Our primary peacetime mission was 24-7-365 surveillance of the German-German border and because of that we each spent 90-120 days annually on border duty at Camp Wollbach / Camp Lee. Skelly loved to lead the two-jeep patrol, what we called the U.S. Patrol, along the border trace. Like me, he also enjoyed the combined US-German patrols where we were invited, as German speakers, to ride along with various police, customs, and German Border Guards units.

I had recently changed jobs in the summer of 1976. I had the great luck to be a Cavalry Platoon Leader in F Troop, lead a composite group of volunteers through French Commando School Number 4 in Breisach, West Germany, and was Squadron Border Officer until shortly after the new commander arrived. Now I was Skelly’s Troop Executive Officer, the second in command, in G Troop.

I can’t mention Skelly without telling about how he preferred to carry an M3A1 (a.k.a. “Grease Gun”) submachine gun on patrol. He was the only one that we allowed to carry loaded magazines since we privately knew he was right to do so and he probably would do it anyway. I allowed him to carry my replica MP 40 Schmeisser Machine Pistol (MP) on patrol once, just to see if we could get a reaction from the East German Border Guards. Skelly was a real character, good with his troopers and respected by all that served with him. Later in the fall of 1976, as troop Master Gunner, he fired as our “Top Gun” at annual gunnery, putting round after round of 152 mm on target. I wonder if he every moved to Munich and whatever happened to that gold SS ring?

“The Lip”: SGM Charles R. Hazelip, DSC
By Major M.W. McGehee, US Army (Ret.)

I first laid eyes on this big fellow with the scar under one eye in about 1976 when he came to be the First Sergeant of Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2/11th ACR in Bad Kissingen, Germany. He had the squadron draftsman make a sign for his office door showing a Roman short sword, sandals, shield, and helmet. The caption read, “If your TA 50 doesn’t look like this, don’t talk to me about the Old Army”. He had lied about his age and joined the army at 15 and was able to retire with 30 years service at 45! He served all over the world and lived in all sorts of conditions. Whether tours in Korea, Germany, or Viet Nam, he was a soldier’s soldier and a man to be admired, respected and sometimes feared, as an NVA unit was to learn in the Viet Nam war.

As a young ROTC cadet, I gave a briefing to the General who had been his battalion commander in Vietnam. As the sub-title suggests, the SGM was a true warrior. While serving as a tank commander and platoon sergeant in LTC Paul Williams’ battalion in the First Cavalry Division, “the Lip” faced an infantry assault with the NVA forces mounting the tanks of his platoon. The platoon leader became combat ineffective for one reason or another, leaving SSG Hazelip to take command. They swept each other’s tanks with coax machinegun fire, knocking the enemy off like bugs. Mopping up after attacking forward, he finished off several NVA from his M48A1 tank commander’s station with his M3A1 Sub-machinegun. I had to read the citation, seven years after meeting him, to find this out; like most real heroes, the SGM never talked about his bravery in action.

After returning to Fort Knox in 1978 and spending time in the Armor Officer’s Advance Course and in the 194th Armored Brigade (SEP), I served a tour as an advisor to the 100th Division (TNG) in Louisville. There he was too, providing support to the Division CSM and our advisor team. I remember well the day he strolled into the headquarters wearing the first Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) that I ever saw.

I don’t know for sure if he was responsible for this incident or not, but someone ordered a belly dancer for the Colonel’s birthday. She danced in to the staff meeting one morning and threw her scarf around the boss’s neck. It took a few minutes for the Colonel to calm down and crack a smile. It was suspicious that the SGM was laughing the hardest. The boss never did get the girl to admit who had sent her there! We shared the bad times as well. We all went to pay our respects when the SGM Hazelip’s dad, a WW II Marine, passed away.

I suspect the Sergeant Major can be found most days at the local golf courses. I saw him a few years ago at the commissary. He was a bit grayer, but still looked every inch a soldier and certainly gave the impression that he’d be at home and in charge on the golf course or on the battlefield atop his tank. SGM Hazelip is a unique character in so many ways. I’m proud to say that I had the opportunity to serve with this true American hero during two tours of duty.

Love Almost Lost: Helicopters and Young Heartthrobs
By Major M.W. McGehee, US Army (Ret.)

It was late June 1975 and Fox Troop was on the border at Camp Wollbach for the second tour since January. We had a new troop commander who knew his business. He had actually walked our entire 100 km long sector from north to south when he was the squadron border officer. I had just returned from Bad Kissingen, and was told that if I hurried I could catch the UH1 Huey helicopter and go with the nine man element of troopers on an overnight observation post (OP). Our assignment at patrol vantage point (PVP) 103 was to observe the East German village of Melpers. I had no idea that my life was in for a drastic, but very good, change. I grabbed my bag from the prefabricated barracks and checked my Colt .45 Combat Commander that I had locked in an ammo can chained to my bunk. My Platoon Sergeant, SFC Stiggers was an old hand at this sort of drill and was doing his best to keep me out of trouble. I had witnessed other lieutenants having major problems because their Platoon Sergeants were sub-par or because they didn’t pay attention to the good ones that they had. I was lucky to have SFC Stiggers and he knew it!

24 May 1977, the BK Recreation Center, my bride and Eaglehorse Commander, LTC Gilbreath. We had a great time and on the table along with the cake, you can see the formal
2/11 ACR punch bowl set. What a ride! Wedding day and the SCO's track is our coach.

We flew northwest and landed a kilometer from the fence and minefield separating the two Germanys. The nearest village was Oberfladungen; just meters from were we landed in a meadow behind a tree line. Our chopper had dropped us in an area where three German states met, Hesse and Bavaria of the Federal Republic of West Germany and Thueringen, East Germany. We walked in to avoid detection and raised our 292 antenna near a West German Customs (Zoll) shack. This would be our home for the next 24 hours. There wasn’t much activity on the other side to report but we had attracted lots of attention from the friendly local kids. They swarmed our little group wanting to meet the “Armees” as they called Americans. We took advantage of the situation to add to our supper menu by sending some of the trustworthy looking one to the local grocery with some money for cold cuts and bread. Some of the girls were flirting with my soldiers. One even took a picture next day as we flew off. I still have that photo.

I arranged to return a few days later in my 1972 Capri to see one of the girls and was introduced to her cousin Karin for the first time. Karin had almost departed for another village but was persuaded to stay and meet the ‘dashing young German speaking Cavalry officer”. I guess we both liked what we saw that evening and I married her about two years later. We’re still speaking German. Our romance wasn’t easy for her. Karin’s village had seen soldiers come and go over the years with usually poor results for the local girls.

They say true love conquers all and that has held true for us. We just celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary. I’m real glad I had my bag and .45 Colt ready to go. I have wondered once or twice what would have happened if I had missed that helicopter. I might have loved, but I would have missed out on the love of my life.