The year was 1954.
Dwight Eisenhower was president, Rear Window was a box office hit, and Marilyn Monroe was a popular idol. The population of Yuma, Arizona was 15,000.
The memories came back to the now 91-year-old Herbert Rosenberg when he approached the main gate of the Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) of the US Army for the first time in decades.
“There was a curve on the approaching freeway that we called ‘the Coca-Cola’ curve,” he recalls. “Shortly before I arrived, a Coca-Cola truck overturned.”
Many of the buildings of the era are still standing, albeit rebuilt and with different uses. The barracks where Rosenberg once slept still exists today as an office building in the YPG’s Howard Cantonment Area. The dining room, long gone, was a short walk away.
“Some guys didn’t go to the dining room, they had to drive,” says Rosenberg with a smile. “They were Californians who couldn’t walk.”
The regular army of this era was very different before it became a purely voluntary force in the early 1970s. Young men who were out of college could be drafted, a position Rosenberg found after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1952. During the Korean War, he was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for basic training in December of that year.
Under-Secretary of State of the Army was Anna Rosenberg at the time, the first woman to hold this post. State Secretary Rosenberg, not related to Pvt. Rosenberg, was a recruiter whose WWII recruitment recommendations earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. However, she had been branded a Communist sympathizer by Senator Joseph McCarthy to prevent her nomination for office in 1950. The attempt failed, but McCarthy’s smear campaign had tarnished it.
“In Fort Sill, Rosenberg wasn’t as common a name as it was in other parts of the country,” said Rosenberg. “They were convinced that we must be related and they despised them. I had a hard time. “
His degree in business administration resulted in his being assigned to academic and professional staff, a category that orders were sent directly from Washington, DC. When he completed basic training, Rosenberg was the only person in his group assigned to the Yuma test station.
“It was because I was classified as scientific and professional, but for half the people in the battalion it was evidence that I was related to Anna Rosenberg,” he said.
Arriving at the Yuma Test Station was another culture shock, albeit in a different way.
“The test station was an informal place,” he said. “You did things you would never have done in Fort Sill or anywhere else in the army. All were with their first names. “
Rosenberg’s main job at the Yuma Test Station was to reimburse incoming test teams for their travel kilometers and daily allowances. The typical rate was 6 cents per mile and the daily allowance was calculated in quarter days.
“The finance office job had nothing to do with bookkeeping or auditing, the things I was trained to do,” he said. “The test teams traveled all possible routes, but the mileage and wages were calculated using rail-kilometer tables. The only time I’ve ever seen them was when they came to pick up their money. “
But Rosenberg did not lack employment. During his stay, he starred in a lavish production of Moss Hart’s Broadway play “Light Up the Sky” at the Post’s open-air theater and drove to Los Angeles as often as possible on the weekend. Like many of his comrades, he also spent time in the Post Recreation Center, which is located in the main post office building, which later served as a commissioner. During Rosenberg’s tenure, a competition was held to name the building, with a suitcase, sports shirt, and pair of trousers as prizes.
“I submitted several names and thought the winning entry ‘The Test Rest’ was the worst of them,” said Rosenberg with a laugh.
Nonetheless, he won, and a reference to him in an issue of the Post then called “The Sidewinder” included “Test Rest” as his nickname. The prizes for his winning entry were donated and presented by noted Yuma department store owner and Arizona State Senator, Harold G. Giss, who later became the majority leader.
“I knew Giss was a merchant and a great figure in Yuma, but I didn’t know the details of his impressive political career,” said Rosenberg.
Some of his pals made notable careers in the civilian world. One, Paul Caponigro, became a well-known landscape photographer.
“This guy was a great photographer who won an army award while we were at the Yuma test station,” said Rosenberg. “He gave me a photo and I wish I could find it. His work now sells for a lot of money. “
Although Rosenberg was enjoying his time at the Yuma Test Station, he wanted to return to civilian life.
“When the Korean War ended, the army allowed conscripts to leave a two-year term up to three months early,” recalled Rosenberg. “I asked her about it. I would have been promoted to sergeant in a week, but it was okay. “
However, his last week on the test station was a whirlwind.
“My most eventful day took place in my last week,” said Rosenberg. “In the morning I witnessed divorce proceedings in town, at lunchtime I had to talk my way out of a court martial due to an unpaid absence, and at 5 p.m. I was the best man at a wedding in the Postkapelle.”
The groom was Rosenberg’s pal Bill Kimball, who married Jean Veith, the tax officer’s stepdaughter, after a tumultuous courtship. The wedding was not only a big event at a post that saw few weddings, but also one of great longevity: Rosenberg and his wife were surprise guests at the celebration of the Kimball’s 50th wedding anniversary in 2004.
Back in civil society, Rosenberg graduated from Columbia Law School and practiced as a lawyer until he retired in 1999. In 1962 he married his wife, Janet, and they had two children.
Despite living an eventful life, Rosenberg said the experience of serving with a diverse group of soldiers at the Yuma Test Station was valuable in his personal development.
“I loved it there. I came from a very religious Eastern European family and my whole world was New York, ”said Rosenberg. “For me, serving at the Yuma Test Station was an extraordinary learning experience. I grew up there.”
| Recording date: | 07/30/2021 |
| Release Date: | 07/30/2021 10:41 AM |
| Story ID: | 401937 |
| Location: | YUMA PROVING BODEN, AZ, USA |
| Web views: | 21 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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