AU REVOIR FRANCE: 1963
On 24 July 1963, LTC (later MG) Del Mar assumed command. In the fall of 1963, French President Charles DeGualle ordered American troops out of his country. On 2 November 1963 the battalion received its orders to leave western France. Letter orders 241-1. Headquarters COMMZ Europe dated 2 November 1963, moved the battalion to Bremerhaven. Germany. In the haste to move, the Army did not have time to approve funds for the move. LTC Del Mar left ahead of his convoys to arrange for government quarters for his soldiers and purchased food for the families with his own money. He authorized each bachelor one trailer and each family two trailers to load and haul their household goods. They loaded Privately Owned Vehicles (POVs) on trailers and covered them so they would not be seen. The last M52 tractor to cross the border had a white painted plywood sign on the back with a green frogs and the words, "Never Again Froggie", written under it. The Americans referred to the French as "Frog". Since American soldiers had fought in two wars for the defense or liberation of France, they felt insulted.
While not stated in the movement orders, the mission was to clear the Bremerhaven military ocean terminal and line haul to Giessen. The battalion headquarters and the 78th Transportation Company and Detachment 2, TTP, La Rochelle, moved from La Rochelle in France, to Bremerhaven. The 77th Transportation Company moved from La Rochelle to Kassel military sub-post, Rothwestern AB, Germany. The 67th Transportation Company and Detachment 1, TTP moved from St. Nazaire to Bremerhaven. The 598th Transportation Company was detached from the 28th Transportation Battalion, attached to the l06th, and moved from Ingrandes, France to Kassel. and was attached to the 106th in late 1963.
The conclusion of FRELOC brought major changes to the battalion's task organization. The 900-mile long LOC shifted to a 600 mile long north to south LOC. The 598th Transportation Company moved from Kassel to Mannheim in early 1967. With the move, the company was detached from the battalion and again attached to the 28th in Mannheim. The 1st Transportation Company and Trailer Transfer Point Hotel (TTH) in Nuernberg were transferred from the 28th to l06th during the same period. The 70th Transportation Company moved from Kassel to Butzbach in support of the Army Depot Complex in Giessen. Upon leaving France, the 77th Transportation Company and TTE were relocated to Dachau, Germany, near the Austrian border. The battalion headquarters, the 67th, 78th, TTA and TTB remained in Bremerhaven.
After 27 years of continuous service in the European theater. the 77th Transportation Company was inactivated in Dachau, Germany on. 25 June 1970.
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