As we get to know our Tank Farm volunteers, we would be amiss if we did not introduce you to our dear friend whom we lost last year on May 14th. This interview was put together a few years ago.
Neal was an example of the amazing kind of volunteers at the Tank Farm…experienced in many types of military operations, incredibly varied background, and a couple of unique anecdotes (Hint: they are measured in megatons!)
LTC Neal was drafted into the Army in 1945 at age 17 and had to have his father sign his induction papers. Initially assigned to the artillery, Neal changed to the infantry and was sent to the 6th Infantry Division in the Philippines and then on to Korea as part of the Occupation Force.
Neal stayed in Korea for about two years and got out in 1948, passing into the inactive reserve. Like so many of the "Greatest Generation," Neal went to college after WWII and got married. But events back in his old AOR interrupted his plans. When the Korean War broke out in 1950, Neal was the first inactive reserve officer from the state of New Jersey to be recalled to active duty. Sometimes being first isn't the best! He was assigned to Fort Dix and was in charge of Basic Training for all the new inductees headed off to Korea. Most of the trainees went straight to war along with their instructors. But the Army personnel system had other plans for Neal.
Instead of the frozen mountains of Korea, Neal was assigned to Austria by sheer luck, no string pulling at all! He was assigned to the HQ of an intelligence unit and after a long talk with his wife, decided to go Regular Army and was sent to the 350th Infantry as a rifle company commander. His paperwork for his regular army appointment, however, came thru as Corps of Engineers, so Neal made a transition to his fourth military specialty and served in the 352nd Engineer Company (separate). Because this was a "separate" unit, Neal reported directly to a Brigadier General, without having to go thru normal regimental channels....probably his "best tour."
Coming back to the States, Neal became an instructor at the Engineer School (located at nearby Fort Belvoir at the time). While at the school, he specialized in Atomic Weapons Instruction and observed two of the TEAPOT DOME nuclear tests in the Nevada desert (more later). Demonstrating the Army's commitment to education, Neal was sent to Lehigh University for graduate school and then back to US Forces Korea to serve on the Engineer Staff.
In Korea, Neal was in charge of monitoring the US nuclear weapons deployed on the peninsula. These weapons were not the bombs delivered by fighter aircraft, but munitions (BIG ONES) used by the US Army to destroy bridges and demolish infrastructure (commonly referred to as Atomic Demolition Munitions (ADM). Such munitions were intended to slow a North Korean invasion. In the 1950's, Neal states that nuclear weapons were still pretty crude and that it was difficult to assemble the detonators….they had to be polished and inserted in precisely the correct order or the munitions would not go high order.
Neal's next tour was back in the United States as Base Commandant for Fort Mason in San Francisco, CA, right next to the Presidio. Fort Mason was the main staging point for US dependents transiting to the Pacific Theater, so Neal had a wide variety of jobs and duties, including servicing the federal prison at Alcatraz. And yes, Neal was locked up at Alcatraz once by the warden….but just for demonstration purposes!!! After Fort Mason, it was back to school again, this time to Fort Leavenworth. By this time, Neal was a Major.
From Fort Leavenworth, Neal resumed his atomic duties, but now in Germany as part of US Forces, Germany, Engineer Section. Neal briefed on the subject of US atomic weapons to NATO HQs and the French.
Like so many other US Army personnel, Neal was then sent to Vietnam in 1967-68, serving during the Tet offensive. Also, Neal was the focal point for coordinating logistics and resupply operations for the Marines during the battle of Khe Sanh. Neal supplied the USMC with beans and bullets and all the other vital supplies they needed. He worked in a supply chain stretching from Germany to Cam Ranh Bay. For his superb work during this battle, Neal was awarded the Legion of Merit personally by Gen. Creighton Abrams, - head of Military Assistance Command-Vietnam (MACV.)
After a tour back at the Pentagon, Neal was sent back to Vietnam in 1969 where he began planning for the retrograde movement of US army troops and supplies in case a truce was ever declared. Neal, now a O-5 light colonel, decided to get out of the US Army after 25 years in the latter part of 1969. LTC Nealis retired with a stellar career.
