Pvt. Carl Fredrick Krieser

Carl went into the army the day after his graduation from high school.  His rank when he entered was private.  He was eighteen years old at the time.  This photo was taken in 1947 at Ft. Knox, Kentucky where he took his basic training.

Esther Visits Carl Junior at Fort Knox

Esther did a lot of traveling after her children left home.  Carl Senior worked for the railroad and they always had railroad passes that gave them free access to travel throughout the United States.  They still had to pay for lodging wherever they went including a sleeper compartment on the train when they used one.  And of course, their meals were always extra too but their travel expenses were quite reasonable compared to what they would have been without the pass.  Shortly after Carl Junior went into the army, Esther went to visit him during his basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky.  The upper photo shows her standing at the far left corner in front of the Service Club.  The Service Club is pretty much where things happened on the soldiers’ off-hours.  The next two photos show Carl Junior standing by (or sitting in) jeeps that just happened to be parked nearby.  In basic, he didn’t drive the jeeps.  He just sat in one for the picture.  The building at the left of the middle photo was the Chapel.  They walked around the base a lot but things were very conveniently laid out.

The top photo to the left shows the Service Center.  This building had a gymnasium for both reserved activities and individual activities when it was not reserved.  They used to go in and shoot baskets during those times.  There was a lunch and snack bar in it that Esther used for her meals while she was there.  They also had a small PX for the soldiers to get their shaving cream and personal items without going over to the larger PX that was about 1/4 mile away.  Movies and USO activities were also held in the Service Center, so there was plenty for the soldiers to do on their off-hours.  The bottom photo shows the Service Center on the right with office buildings behind.  The barracks buildings were also nearby but not shown on the photograph.

Esther made her visit to see her son, Carl, on the weekend that he graduated from basic training.  The camp was no longer in quarantine then, so visitors could come in.  This photo is of Carl on the chapel steps.  The chapel was not only used for Sunday church services but it was used during the week for lecture training.  There they learned the basics of field training techniques such as how to use their gas masks and other pertinent information.  Training movies were also given in the chapel.  It could probably be considered a chapel and lecture hall building.  Fort Knox was a training center for troops and the “Mechanized Cavalry” that consisted of tanks and other heavy vehicles.  Carl was in the 3rd Armored Division (Dismounted) there in 1947.  As mentioned, he was definitely dismounted.

T/5 (Corporal) Carl F. Krieser