John W. Morris
A ..
No. One in particular was always competitive. His name was Burgmeister, but there were usually
four or five bidders. We went about it in the right way. I'm going to come back to this a little
later.
My tour in Germany was the beginning of our appreciation of the Army-how the Army really
operated, the business of supply and command and stability came for the first time in Europe.
Also it was such a wonderful place to be. My mother came over and my wife and another
went to England. My mother said she'd never leave the state of Maryland, but when that grandson
was born, she came. We actually met her in Paris and drove home. That was very exciting for us.
Another thing I remember- s o m e things you just remember- t h e Queen of England's coronation,
and the song of the year was "Cry," and then "On Top of Old Smokey." The big party game was
charades.
Annual Christmas parties were held at the Schloss. We also had a wedding. Joe Cushing, who
lives over here, married the secretary to the commandant. We went one Sunday to visit an old
church, Christ Church, over in the valley. It was one of the oldest churches in Europe. We got
snowbound, couldn't get out. I walked up to this farmer's house and he came back with two
horses and just like out in North Dakota, pulled us out, towed the car behind the horses up to his
place. We stayed there until we all got warm and had something to eat and drink. A nice
experience. We enjoyed ourselves in Mumau. Still, we worked hard.
Q .. It was during the time that you were there that there was a big build-up of American forces in
Korea?
A ..
Yes, I thought I was going to Korea. I didn't want to leave my family, but I thought I belonged
in Korea. It didn't work out that way.
Q .. Anything else about Mumau?
A
Yes. Our help. Charlotta Egg-Lotti was our "hausfrau." She became a real member of our family.
She loved our son John dearly, and I remember the day we left Germany like it was yesterday.
I can still see her standing there, tears running down her face, waving goodbye to John. We tried
to get her to come home with us but she was afraid to come. She was afraid the Indians would get
her. That's true. She said, "Oh, Mrs. Morris, I'm afraid of the Indians." That's what motion
pictures did, I guess.
A baker by trade, but he was hired as a yard man.
Our other helper was a refugee named
He took care of two or three houses. On Saturday he would come to our kitchen and bake cakes
and cookies, and it was awful. Awfully good. His problem was he was used to making quantities,
not small amounts.
Also, a local farmer would come in and cut the grass. He had a couple of cows that pulled this
wagon, and he and the son had the scythes and the daughter would hold the animals till he had
cut our grass. He'd rake it up in piles, and then she'd move these animals to each of these piles
and they'd throw the hay on the wagon and they'd go away. They'd do that about three times
during the summer.
Germany was a nice experience, but we finally received orders to Savannah, Georgia, to be
deputy district engineer. I was beginning to wonder, by this time in Germany, where I was really
going in the Army. I guess everybody goes through such thoughts. I'd gone through World War
II; I had all the education I was to get to that point; I had finished my service obligations; I had
a good tour in Europe. I wondered which track I was going to go down. Was I going to get into
civil works or was I going to go into strictly troop duty? It was really a watershed period.
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