In the summer of 1950, I took a truckload of men from Tulln Air Base to Vienna to see and hear "The United States Air Force Band" and The "Singing Sergeants" perform. The conductor of the band was Lt. Colonel George S. Howard.

The program of music had been underway for something like twenty minutes or so when an Army Sergeant came to me, speaking low so as not to interrupt the musicians, and said that all Air Force personnel were to return to the Air Base immediately to defend the Base.

The Russians had driven a tank up and parked it in front of our main gate and were making demands. I never did find out just what all these demands were. By the time I got back to Tulln Air Base the tank was gone.

Tulln Air Base Troops Prepared For Guard Duty

The place was in sheer pandemonium by the time we arrived. Personnel and vehicles were coming and going every which way. We were all given arms and ammunition and placed on guard duty--six hours on and six hours off for rest, eating, going to the bathroom, and sleep.

The Base Air Police were in charge of scheduling guard duty. Guards were spaced at intervals all along the perimeter of the fence around the entire Air Base, at the gasoline storage areas, at the aircraft hangers, and all the essential installations both on base as well as all the remote radio transmitter/receiver sites. This kind of guard duty went on for a full week and then it was stopped.

You must keep in mind that the entire base complement of personnel was not more than two hundred men.

The Russians did not permit the Americans to use the road leading to Vienna during the time of the alert. However, they never stopped us from using the service of a train that ran along side the base. This was our only form of transportation between the Base and Vienna during that time. Food rations and everything needed by the base were flown in.

Later,the Russians opened up the road to Vienna for the Americans to use again. They had set up a permanent barrier checkpoint on the road leading between Tulln Air Base and Vienna. Russian soldiers were on guard duty twenty-four hours a day, but Americans were restricted from using the road between midnight and 0600 hours. I never heard of anyone being stopped.

I was at the same performance that Alvie Myers attended. During the performance, M/Sgt. William Sniezko, AACS F/Sgt, approached me and told me of the North Korean invasion. He instructed me to return to Tulln Air Base immediately and cooperate with other Base personnel in furnishing a base-wide guard detail. I returned to the Base with the rest of our group.

Upon my return, I encountered a scheduling problem. Some of our AACS people were working, some were scheduled for work, i.e., tower operators, some were not eligible for guard duty, i.e., NCOs, and others had been drinking. I did find enough guards for the first shift, but I had real problems with the second shift. I put myself on this shift and was assigned to guard the remote radio site outside the Base.

We had carbines and were instructed to challenge everyone. The first one I challenged was some poor Austrian on his bicycle. I scared him half to death. When I called Base Operations to report this incident, I was told to keep challenging.

Soon a jeep type vehicle approached. I was positive that it was from our Operations Office checking on me, so I challenged them. Much to my surprise, I discovered this was a Russian vehicle and the occupants’ burp guns were pointed at me. I motioned them on and they obliged. I reported this incident to Operations. After that incident, it was decided to discontinue guarding that site. Base Operations then decided to confine guard operations to the inside perimeter of the Base.

Most posts were a mile or more apart, and the whole Russian Army could have entered the Base between the gaps in our guard posts. One Russian tank could have captured the entire Base without firing a shot. This guard duty was a joke. Finally, the Base officials relented and cancelled the alert.

I wonder what would have happened if those Russians had decided to use their burp guns on me. We both know that if that had happened, someone else would be telling this story.