U.S. ARMY LANCE

Yes, I remember you Maldonado. and yes, Sp4 Barber and "Reverend" Stapleton were RattRiggers. One of my good friends was Chip Shirell, who was in Stinger. Canty and 1SG were drinking buddies. I remember once Canty lost his drivers license for 3 months because he was driving drunk and ran through some Konrad's front lawn and tore up his flower bed, then left the scene of the accident before the MPs arrived. He was "not able to be found" for over 24 hours, so that he could sober up, and then he turned himself in, so nobody could prove he had been drunk, and he just got a slap on the wrist (of course). Another time Canty (who didn't smoke) was caught with several cases of cigarettes (not cartons, but CASES) in his apartment. Suddenly, Canty was seen smoking everywhere we turned. I heard Canty also had sexual harassment charges against him from a female Sp4 named Oberlander, whose hubby was in 2/75 next to us. Evidently, dude was a major league criminal and scumbag.

SP4 Maldonado wrote:Hey Rentiers !! u may not rememeber who I am, SP4 Maldonado, i was in the Red Eye platoon with SSG Hurt and at one time with SSG Mouzon. I remember your name and face, i was roomates with a black dude named Barber and stapleton (I beleive they were in the RATT platton with the asshole SFC Canty. Canty sure was a jerk, even to our platoon and he was so far up the 1SG's ass it want even funny !!!!!!

I remember Sherrill , he was one of my roomates when he first arrived to HHB !!!!! There were 3 or 4 of us to a freakin room, on the second floor before they moved all the RedEye platoon to the last floor....When I first got to HHB, i roomed with Barber and Stapleton.......Barber mostly stayed off post with some german girl....I can remember in the mornings before PT how a bunch of RATT's would visit our room----i can remember a female (blonde hair), a sorta chubby dude i think his name was Raftice ???? They, along with a few others would huddle around our door just talking and carrying on.....I was a young 18yr old private, nervous as hell being away from home overseas....Do you remember PFC Wilis (???), i think that was his name, he moved in after stapleton left (??)....He stayed drunk his entire tour---in fact i think he got kicked out of the Army ??? In my platoon there was PFC Hack, Pierce, Greene, Hammonds, etc, all of whom kept me drunk for my enire tour..... I quickly learned about the red-light district, etc....SSG Hurt, then SSG Mouzon was our PLT Sgt.....I remember how Mouzon would ask me to buy him 3-5 cartons of Marlboros...At the time I didnt know what the hell he needed all that shit for....And then he would buy me a case of Binding each time I bought him these cartons !!!!!! Hell, all I cared about was that case of Binding...... I can remember a LT named Vestal, but didnt know him personally---I think we went to Crete and I can remember how drunk he was. I also remember a short LT named Pickell (or was he CPT ???). Man, i could go on and on about Hanau....No shit, it had to be the BEST time I spent in my life. Anyways, Im now living in Wilmington, NC and will stay in contact.....Keep in touch !!!!!!

SP4 Maldonado wrote:I remember Sherrill , he was one of my roomates when he first arrived to HHB !!!!! ----i can remember a female (blonde hair), a sorta chubby dude i think his name was Raftice ???? ....Do you remember PFC Wilis (???), i think that was his name, he moved in after stapleton left (??)....He stayed drunk his entire tour---in fact i think he got kicked out of the Army ??? ...... I can remember a LT named Vestal, but didnt know him personally---. I also remember a short LT named Pickell . Man, i could go on and on about Hanau....No shit, it had to be the BEST time I spent in my life. Anyways, Im now living in Wilmington, NC and will stay in contact.....Keep in touch !!!!!!

I don't remember Sherrill's first name, but I gave him the nickname "Chip" and it stuck. I wonder what he is doing these days...I introduced Chip to a German girl named Diana and they got married. Not sure, but I think Chip stayed in Germany after ETS. I do remember both Raftis and Willis, but they left not too long after I arrived, and I was there 3yrs, so I don't remember them too clearly (the blonde female was probably Sp4 Oberlander). I remember they both hated being in the Army (but who didn't?) and I think they both got out as soon as they could. LT Rob Vestal worked up at PAC when I knew him. Greg Pickell was a 2LT, then 1LT. I think he initially was in C Btry under CPT Wood before he became the BN S-2. I know Greg was S-2 when I was making my rounds outprocessing in Dec87. Germany & Hanau wasn't too bad I guess, but I would have MUCH rather been in a Commo unit than an FA unit. The way we Ratts got treated in 1/32 made much of my tour hell. If I didn't have my wife & kids with me to go home to, I would never have been able to stand it. I live in Columbia, SC now. My son is currently a PFC (88M) in Afghanistan with the 25th IN ABN.