John Walter Granicher

West Point, 1951

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by J. A. "Andy" Chacon on April 17, 2013:

John W. Granicher Born October 16, 1927 -- Died April 14, 2013 (Written by John himself) My hometown is San Francisco where I grew up and went to school. After two years of college (Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley) I finally received an appointment to West Point in 1947. Should I start over? I chose the appointment and never regretted it. West Point was the door to a fascinating and satisfying half-century. A few months after graduation, I went to Korea in 1952, assigned as an engineer platoon leader, then a company commander, in the 45th Division. The experience in providing engineer support of an Infantry regiment was rewarding and memorable. I returned home to San Francisco to a topographic battalion at the Presidio, and the most fun I've ever had. My survey company went south to the desert in the winter and north to Alaska in the spring and summer of 1954 and 1955. The battalion had the largest aviation unit in the Army in the post Korea era. My company alone had fourteen choppers and four light planes in support to put us in camps on beaches all over northwest Alaska. In 1955 the Navy loaned us a small aircraft carrier and I led the battalion advance party, my company and seventy helicopters, on a voyage from Alameda to Anchorage. We provided ground control for air photos that were the basis for 50,000 square miles of Geological Survey topo quads. They're still available with the note "Control by USCE." After two years of school, Ft. Belvoir and Purdue University, I became an ROTC instructor at Oregon State University. I enjoyed the chance to develop future officers. Best of all, I met Barbara there shortly before I was transferred to Wurzburg, Germany in 1960 as resident engineer. Barbara followed soon after, and we were married in the ancient Rathaus in Wurzburg (and in the Army Chapel later in the day). We spent almost three years absorbing as much as we could of Germany. I oversaw construction of a NATO Nike antiaircraft missile facility at Hardheim, near a fort built by the Romans 1800 years earlier to defend against invaders from the East. Another Nike site, at Mainbullau, was delayed for six months by a shortage of horses to clear the forest. The Forstmeister had rules to follow. But that, as well as schools and maintenance shops and special weapons storage sites, was completed for the Army. Next came troop duty at Fort Carson. The highlight was a pair of Corps level exercises, Swift Strike III and Desert Strike, that provided a good look at major maneuver and a chance to be part of it. Cannon fire in the cornfields in South Carolina was like reliving the Civil War. Two years in Quito, Ecuador as engineer advisor to the Ecuadorian Army was -unique, and a delight. Quito, on the equator at 9300 feet in the Andes enjoys springtime all year. In a small country like Ecuador, everyone in government is accessible. It was fun working with the people there. The two engineer battalions were busy with civic action. My memories include a horseback trip through the jungle near Esmeraldas to survey a new farm-to-market road. I arrived in Saigon in 1968 in time to see the festive Tet celebration turn into the Tet offensive. The fireworks started one night, but then they just didn't stop. This time around I was a desk soldier, exec to Bill Colby. A year later I was in Hawaii, again with topo troops. My battalion on Ford Island was primarily a map factory for Vietnam. At the time, Fox was filming Tora! Tora! Tora! Has anyone else had a fly-over of Japanese Zeroes at his change of command ceremony? After still more school at Purdue University, I spent three years on the staff of the Defense Mapping Agency. When there's even a hint of action anywhere in the world, and there was a lot of action, mappers are very busy. My final Army assignment was as Engineer Inspector General back in my hometown of San Francisco. I was privileged to observe the work of the Corps of Engineers in the western states and across the Pacific, civil and military, Shemya to Kwajelein, Walla Walla to Seoul. I met with and learned from the doers and achievers in the Corps. After retirement in 1979 1 spent nineteen years with Keller and Gannon in San Francisco. The small engineering staff provides services around the world for the military and increasingly for the high tech industry. I retired again in 1999. But Barbara, with many years as a high school administrator, continues with a busy schedule as a consulting educator. Barbara and I are inveterate travelers to just about anywhere. We have particularly enjoyed remote corners of China: Kashgar, Lijiang, Harbin and elsewhere. In 1999 we enjoyed a trip to Bhutan and another to Turkey and there are lots more places on our list. We have three wonderful daughters, all born in Army hospitals (Wurzburg, Ft. Carson and Tripler), three outstanding sons-in-law and six beautiful grandchildren. With three of the six in Anchorage, Alaska is one of our frequent destinations, good also for fishing and bear watching. The rest of our family is in the San Francisco Bay Area. When not traveling we divide our time between our home there and a vacation place at Incline Village at Lake Tahoe.

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