Dick Codrington

RICHARD (DICK) CODRINGTON
Dick joined the Army soon after graduating from high school. He had planned on going to the Air Force Academy but it was determined that he was color blind. (What a bummer)! Rather than waiting to be drafted, Dick decided to have his number accelerated. Doing so helped define when he would be called up rather than waiting, never knowing when.
Dick went to Fort Dix in New Jersey for induction and transferred to Fort Carson in Pueblo, Colorado for basic training. While there he fondly remembers singing in the 47th Infantry choir. (Primarily a way to skip some of the drudgery of boot camp). Upon finishing boot camp, Dick volunteered for paratrooper training. This qualified him for hazardous duty pay which was an instant fifty percent raise ($55) on top of the $91 per month base-pay. Paratrooper training had its moments especially when learning how to jump and land.
Paratrooper training was at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and he remained at this base for the remainder of his tour of duty. Dick was assigned to the Strategic Army Command, the 18th Engineering Corp. Their training and mission was to be an advance force that would drop behind enemy lines and construct a landing site for delivery of ground troops and supplies. When they jumped, heavy equipment such as bulldozers, graders “jumped” along with them on their training exercises. In total, Dick had 19 injury free jumps during the 2 years he served on active duty. Dick’s tour of active duty was from 1957 to 1959.