Greetings

Greetings,
My name is Ed Groelle. I was stationed at the US Army 7794th Signal Depot located in Saumur, France for 25 months until Dec, 1957. I worked at the Maintenance Division as a Radar Tech. The two photos of myself are for the benefit of those who only knew me from the 1950's and may recognize me from the old photo. I attended all of the reunions since 1997 so some may recognize me from those times. I have been in touch with some ex-GI's through e-mail and this is an opportunity for them to attach a face to the e-mails.

         A bit of personal history from the mists of time.
A memory of a time I'd almost forgotten, namely, the time I first arrived in Saumur. I came on the train from Frankfurt with a couple of other GI's as far as Paris. I was alone with my duffel bag from Paris to Saumur. That doesn't seem very daunting today but at the time I was 19 years old and not very worldly. I had no knowledge of languages and actually believed that to translate from French to English was just a matter of getting a dictionary and substituting word for word. I'm not sure if I was scared or just very apprehensive.
       As I looked around the shabby train station I wondered if this was really the right place. I remember thinking that this is a strange location for an Army installation. As I recall, everything back then was black and white with no color anywhere; end of December, cold, damp, and lonely to the bone.
      There was no sign of an Army presence. There was no one to meet me and couldn't ask anyone and those two facts made matters a lot worse. Luckily, I spotted an Army 4X4 passing and flagged them down. I remember the ride rather vividly, at least some pieces of it. The occupants appeared to be a cocky pair who joked around a lot. They stopped for gas at one of those pumps that used to be on the sidewalk all around France at that time. They just said, "Fill 'er up" in English and something that sounded to me like "Checkilawheel".
      The ride to Varrains seemed to me like it would never end and I thought maybe they were lost. Going out into the country side and then through the narrow streets of Varrains did nothing to reassure me. When the arched sign over the main gate that said, "Saumur Signal Depot" suddenly appeared I thought it just as well might have read, "End of the World". Twenty-five months at that moment in that place seemed like a long, long, time. I never would have guessed that in a few months I would be on my Lambretta scooting around the countryside and villages.
      Who would have thought, that when I left over two years later, I'd be homesick for a long time and still am on occasion. I invite you to take and enjoy a trip back on this web site to a place long ago and far away where many of us grew up.

A Few Ramblings

Today, the Theater, EM Club, Fire House, Motor Pool, Guard Shack and Quadrangle are all gone. There was also a dependent school in a Quonset hut located near the EM Club which is also gone.
        There were about 40 bases in France and each had a definite purpose. SSD's was to maintain and provide electronic equipment if it was ever needed. Saumur was selected as a location because the caves around Saumur provided an ideal environment for storing electronic equipment. But, if you were stationed there, you probably are aware of this.
        I can tell you about Saumur and Army life but only for the years of 1956-57. The life at SSD changed dramatically from its first days to its last days, from living in tents in the mud to a modern installation.
        My weekday always started at 6:30 with 15 minutes of calisthenics. Then, we got ourselves and our personal living areas cleaned up followed by breakfast. After that, those of us who worked in the Caves or at the Maintenance Division, were loaded in buses and taken to our work assignments by 8 o’clock. My job for the full 2 years in Administrative Maintenance was to schedule the recycling of the equipment stored in the caves. Each piece of equipment was brought out of the caves, brought to the maintenance division, set up, tested thoroughly, any modifications installed, and then repacked for storage for another year. Our work was the main purpose for the existence of SSD i.e., to store and keep in constant readiness all the electronic equipment that might be quickly needed if Europe was attacked.
        We were usually brought back to the SSD for lunch. The workday ended at 5 pm. Then it was supper and the rest of the evening was ours to do what we wanted provided we were not on guard duty, KP, or any restriction. Not being a very dedicated drinker, I usually went off site because it was a lot more interesting and exciting than hanging around the EM Club. I also owned a Lambretta scooter so I could come and go easily. I spent a lot of time at the Terminus Hotel on the island across from the RR Station. All I remember of it is a pool table and a bar girl named Martine who we, or she, flirted with a lot. I doubt that she ever realized how much she raised our morale by letting us flirt with her or her with us. We had to be back at the camp by 11 PM for bed check. On weekends we could stay out to one a.m. It was supposedly possible to get a weekend pass once a month but this was seldom granted because issuing of those was at the discretion of the NCOs who didn’t like to see anyone having more fun than necessary. We got four weeks leave every year. I went to see some of Europe on those, and especially Yugoslavia, which required a lot of red tape from the US Embassy and commanding officers but worth it. I’ve always wanted to go back to Dubrovnik but haven’t made it yet.
        Weekends were a little different. Saturday mornings were taken up with inspections and maintaining your equipment. If there was one error during inspection we would be grounded for the weekend, sort of like punishing children. Sundays we were mostly left to ourselves. There were some changes to this routine such as Kitchen Police, Guard duty, bivouacs, and arms training. Other than that it was rather routine and boring existence, but it was always exciting to explore the surrounding area and France, as much as possible. Generally, I’d say I wasn’t all that crazy about Army life but was always grateful to be stationed at Saumur. It certainly changed my life for the better.
        Like I said, I usually went off base whenever I could. There were some soldiers who never left the base for their entire tour which I cannot understand, but there it is. Some just wanted to drink, so they spent all their free time in the EM Club.
        If you contacted some of the other guys I’m sure you will get an entirely different view of SSD. One of the things that has always amazed me while doing the website is how different the experiences are for various times of their service.

Then	Now