The Six Day War

In the summer of 1967 I was stationed at a very remote out of the way country town in Germany. One of the very few perks that I was enjoying as a Sergeant was the ability to live on the economy, which I managed to accomplish the moment the opportunity arose.

The family which owned the Gasthaus next door to where I was staying had adopted me soon after we met. My German was good enough to pass as a local, my hair was a bit longer than permitted and when I was introduced to the owner and his wife we hit it off so well that I was sitting at the family table on a regular basis and being introduced as a family member from America, Life was good.

Finally my time at being a "short timer" had come and I was more than chomping at the bit to enjoy the ride. I had cleared post, turned in anything and everything that would not be going home with me and sat at the family table at the Gasthaus, enjoying the beer and conversation while waiting to return to the world.

A few days later, two Privates from the base were banging on my door long before my normal morning waking routine. I answered and was told we were on a heightened alert; I was to return with them to the base, immediately, even before a cup of morning coffee...

Normal alerts simply consisted of reporting to your unit, standing around till the Command Officer comes in, makes a little speech how if this had been real we would be fighting the red menace, then returning to your daily routine. I was not too concerned, with all of my equipment and weapons checked in and three days left in Germany, I stood there, the envy of all, waiting to return to my cozy bed.

As usual, the Army always has a different schedule then the troops and that is when everything changed. Instead of the C.O coming in for his speech, we all reported to the theater for a company wide assembly.

Once we were all seated the company commander and two other officers took the stage. The curtains directly behind them opened to reveal a map of the Middle East. I looked at that and was immediately wide awake.

The C.O. began by telling everyone that just hours ago, Israel had been attacked at multiple locations by Egypt, Jordan, and Syria and were presently engaged in a war on multiple fronts. Intelligence showed that Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Algeria were contributing troops and arms to the battle against the state of Isreal.

The theater was totally silent, each of us suspected why we were placed on alert. The C.O. continued, pointing out on the map how Israel was engaged on multiple fronts. He then explained that our unit, along with a few others were alerted to support Israel and come to their aid should the battle become hopeless.

The C.O. then announced that all personnel were involved, with any separation dates now set back fourteen more days.

I was no longer a short timer; it did not extend my active service duty, just my return to America. I spent the rest of the day running around checking out new equipment and mentally preparing for what may come. It was very evident, that unless a miracle occurred, Israel was in big trouble. They were basically engaged in heavy fighting on multiple fronts, without support, both supply oriented and physical troops, they were in danger of being overrun.

I began staying on the base and preparing for whatever role we were to play in the coming weeks ahead. Time passed quickly, we did not have rapid reaction forces back then and the concept of preparing units for departure was time consuming, what today takes hours, then took days.

Four or five days later a group of us were packed, weapons checked and sitting around the cafeteria wondering what role we were to play. We were all non-commissioned officers, Sergeants of various ranks and most of us had served together in Viet Nam, combat was not new to us, but the concept of desert fighting was something none of us had ever trained or prepared for. We were all discussing this possibility when the loudspeaker began barking out a call for all non-commissioned officers of our unit to return for briefing, our questions were about to be answered.

Once assembled, the C.O congratulated us on getting everything ready to go on such short notice. Then he made a statement that I will never forget. He explained that a cease fire was presently in effect and Israel had overcome all of the invading countries, as well as pushed them back to various points. Israel had been attacked on a holy day, unprepared and short on military personnel and in just six days, had fought a war on multiple fronts, overcoming many obstacles and was victorious.

The six day war had just been fought and it had happened so quickly that by the time our unit and a few others were totally prepared for whatever role we were to play, it was over and Israel had prevailed under circumstances that would have ruined many other countries.