We have been following Marland Burckhardt, a Russell High School graduate who enlisted in the Army and served in Italy before returning to college, marrying his sweetheart, and graduating with an Army commission.

Marland and Barb arrived in Germany for their first Army assignment in April 1968

“I was going to 3rd Division, Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion of the 30th Infantry Regiment in Schweinfurt. A sponsor officer met us at the Frankfurt airport and drove us to Schweinfurt.”

The couple began their Germany adventure by renting an apartment.

“We rented the upstairs of a farmer’s house in a village a few miles outside Schweinfurt. We had our own car and I bought a used Volkswagen, so Barb had transportation. She couldn’t speak the language, but our German landlords were friendly and we managed with hand signs and broken English and German.”

The Vietnam War cast a shadow over Army forces in Germany.

“The Army in Germany was basically a replacement reservoir for Vietnam. It was hard times. As a 2nd lieutenant, I was an Infantry Platoon leader and Weapons Platoon leader. Then I was the company XO and, finally, commanded the company. The company commanders (normally captains) were all lieutenants.”

The battalion also had difficulty filling its enlisted ranks.

“The Weapons Platoon had a driver and an NCO for each of the four mortar tracks, M-113s. (armored personnel carriers mounting a 4.2 inch mortar) We didn’t have people to run the weapons. People called it the hollow army.”

Marland’s battalion nevertheless deployed often for field training.

“I went to Wildflecken, Grafenwoehr, and Hohenfels (training areas). I spent half of my 13 months in the field away from my home kaserne. We were in the field all the time.”

The mission of our forces in Germany was to defend against attack by the Warsaw Pact nations, led by the Soviet Union.

“We had alerts to move to our forward positions. You’d get a nighttime alert; roll the 113’s and troops out; and head for your designated areas and positions. When you went into your positions with your platoon of four or five tracks, you felt like Patton (Marland chuckled) with your little army. That was always satisfying.”

Marland and Barb did not stay long in Germany.

“We left in spring of ’69 on the SS United States. It probably wasn’t my best decision because Barbara was pregnant. (Marland chuckled) So, she looked askance at me when she found out she was going back by ship.”

Barb felt okay during the crossing and the couple headed to Fort Holabird, near Baltimore, where Marland attended the Army’s Counterintelligence Officers Course. He outlined the course.

“You got counterintelligence training; interrogation training; surveillance training; order of battle training; and image interpretation training. They used the old refrain, ‘If you ain’t going to listen to us, you’re goin’ to die in Vietnam.’ That phrase was common before you went to Vietnam.”

Marland reported another important development.

“Our daughter, Megan was born in Baltimore in July.”

Marland’s training did not end with the Counterintelligence Course.

“I was supposed to go to Vietnam in late ’69, but they didn’t send me right away. They cut a week off my Counterintelligence Course so I could attend Jump School and the Special Forces Officer Course before going to Vietnam in January 1970.”

The additional training led to more family disruption. Barb and baby Megan moved back to Russell while Marland completed Jump School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Jump School was another demanding course where being an officer carried no weight with the trainers.

“(Marland chuckled) It’s a little like basic training because you’ve got the Black Hats, the NCOs who run the Jump School. They were on you all the time. If you screwed up, you’re doing push-ups. (Marland laughed) Everybody who has completed Jump School remembers the Black Hats.”

Marland completed the five aircraft jumps required to earn the Parachutist Badge. Then he headed north to another training assignment.

“I drove from Fort Benning to Fort Bragg (North Carolina) for the Special Forces Officers Course. I found an apartment and brought Barbara and the baby down from Minnesota. That was in late ’69. She was there while I completed the course, but she didn’t see much of me.”

The Special Forces mission is to organize people in other countries to resist a common enemy. Marland described the dangers of such operations.

“You were going to be working behind enemy lines, so to speak, in another country, working with indigenous personnel. You had to train them in the middle of nowhere with only basic communications with your higher headquarters. You moved a lot to stay ahead of enemy forces. It was clandestine stuff. You were supposed to sneak in and evade the enemy.”

When asked whether the trainers focused on Vietnam, Marland affected a southern accent.

“‘If you don’t listen to us, you are goin’ to die in Vietnam.’ (Marland laughed) That was drilled into us.”

He was sober, however, when he named two officers from his course who died in Vietnam. One of them, 1st Lieutenant Loren Haugen from North Dakota, received the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.

Marland and Barb prepared for his deployment.

“We went home to Minnesota over Christmas after the Special Forces Course with Vietnam orders in hand. We rented a little house in Russell. I made sure my money went to the bank. So, Barb had the car; she had a house; she had monthly money coming in; and she had family. So she was in pretty good shape no matter what happened.

©2025 William D. Palmer.