Former members of the 98th Division met to recall service
Former members of the 98th Division at their reunion on Saturday. It has been several years since the Division has gathered, and some members travelled as from as far as Missouri to attend. (Photo by Sarah Giglio)
NORWICH — On Saturday, former members of the 98th Division Army Reserve met at the Norwich American Legion for a reunion.
There were smiles and handshakes all around as the group convened for the first time in many years. Some members travelled from as far as Missouri and Vermont to be there. The gathering was made possible by Master Sergeant Jock Dietzman.
"The people don't do it enough. So I just thought we'd do it," said Dietzman. "We just need to get people together."
The group was in good spirits despite the blazing heat, and spent the afternoon reminiscing on their time together.
The 98th Division was located in Norwich for 20 years, according to an article written by 98th Division member A. Gail Merian, titled "98th Division (Training) Army Reserve Units." Its purpose was to provide basic combat training and engineering training to military personnel.
"We're engineers, and we went to camp and trained troops on engineering subjects like map reading, bridging, mines," said Sergeant Dave Dietrich.
Merian also wrote in her article that at one time the Division was located in Binghamton, but that in the 1970's Colonel Carl Rosenquist felt the commute was too long for the soldiers, and worked to have the headquarters moved to Norwich.
"Rosenquist worked to recruit the required soldiers for the company. One of the problems for recruitment was that soldiers had to travel long distances to meetings. Bett and Rosenquist felt they could recruit more personnel if Co E moved to Norwich to allow shorter travel distances for potential soldiers," Merian wrote.
After the move to Norwich, Rosenquist said the meetings were held in his basement.
"We started it in the basement of my house, believe it or not. And at the VFW. We'd meet there or in the basement of my house," he said.
From there, the 98th Division moved to a location on Hayes Street, and then finally obtained a headquarters on South Broad Street.
"Then a place on Hayes Street, we had a basement there. The cooks would make our lunch out on the lawn, in the back. And then we finally got a headquarters. The army finally got us an official place to meet," said Rosenquist.
Rosenquist also assisted in recruiting former service members to the 98th Division.
“They were having problems recruiting, and I said well I bet I can get a number of ex service guys who got out of active duty,” he said. “Finally when we got enough to go to three companies they actually created a move to battalion headquarters … They moved the headquarters to 20 South Broad Street, so I became the Executive Officer.”
After spending 20 years in Norwich, the Division was deactivated, and the former members went their separate ways.
"When it closed down some ended up going to Utica, and some other people went other places," Dietzman explained. "As soon as our class, this class here, as soon as it disbanded here we didn't see each other. So a lot of people in the military, you go separate ways."
"It's been a long time," he added.
There were smiles and handshakes all around as the group convened for the first time in many years. Some members travelled from as far as Missouri and Vermont to be there. The gathering was made possible by Master Sergeant Jock Dietzman.
"The people don't do it enough. So I just thought we'd do it," said Dietzman. "We just need to get people together."
The group was in good spirits despite the blazing heat, and spent the afternoon reminiscing on their time together.
The 98th Division was located in Norwich for 20 years, according to an article written by 98th Division member A. Gail Merian, titled "98th Division (Training) Army Reserve Units." Its purpose was to provide basic combat training and engineering training to military personnel.
"We're engineers, and we went to camp and trained troops on engineering subjects like map reading, bridging, mines," said Sergeant Dave Dietrich.
Merian also wrote in her article that at one time the Division was located in Binghamton, but that in the 1970's Colonel Carl Rosenquist felt the commute was too long for the soldiers, and worked to have the headquarters moved to Norwich.
"Rosenquist worked to recruit the required soldiers for the company. One of the problems for recruitment was that soldiers had to travel long distances to meetings. Bett and Rosenquist felt they could recruit more personnel if Co E moved to Norwich to allow shorter travel distances for potential soldiers," Merian wrote.
After the move to Norwich, Rosenquist said the meetings were held in his basement.
"We started it in the basement of my house, believe it or not. And at the VFW. We'd meet there or in the basement of my house," he said.
From there, the 98th Division moved to a location on Hayes Street, and then finally obtained a headquarters on South Broad Street.
"Then a place on Hayes Street, we had a basement there. The cooks would make our lunch out on the lawn, in the back. And then we finally got a headquarters. The army finally got us an official place to meet," said Rosenquist.
Rosenquist also assisted in recruiting former service members to the 98th Division.
“They were having problems recruiting, and I said well I bet I can get a number of ex service guys who got out of active duty,” he said. “Finally when we got enough to go to three companies they actually created a move to battalion headquarters … They moved the headquarters to 20 South Broad Street, so I became the Executive Officer.”
After spending 20 years in Norwich, the Division was deactivated, and the former members went their separate ways.
"When it closed down some ended up going to Utica, and some other people went other places," Dietzman explained. "As soon as our class, this class here, as soon as it disbanded here we didn't see each other. So a lot of people in the military, you go separate ways."
"It's been a long time," he added.
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