(Image enhanced to show detail)

When the 187^th Airborne Regimental Combat Team returned to Kyushu, Japan from Korea the second time, a situation happened at Camp Chickamauga next to Beppu.  The 2^nd Battalion’s companies had begun to paint pictures of their mascots on the front eve of their mess halls.  I can clearly recall that ‘F’ Company had a big picture of a Fox on their mess hall.  I can also remember the big Hog on ‘H’ Company’s mess hall.  As nearly as I can recall, ‘E’ Company had an Elephant and that ‘G’ Company had a Goat painted there.  I do not think that 3^rd Battalion companies had gotten into painting mascots on mess halls yet.  Our problem for ‘I’ Company – there was some sort of an African bird called something like an ‘Ibis’.  Rough and tumble paratroopers are not going to dedicate themselves for a mascot to a scrawny-neck bird.

We had that good Mori training area about seventeen miles west of camp up in the mountains of central Kyushu.  We had been up in ‘Mori’ for about a week or two and had just marched back to the post mostly in the dark.  I was sitting on the front of First Sergeant Brown’s desk in the Company Orderly Room.  The company XO, First Sergeant, company officers, platoon sergeants, and maybe a couple of platoon guides were sitting around in chairs and on the floor.  At that time, I said something like, “Why don’t we make up our own Mascot?”

As a boy, I had learned how to draw the picture of a Lion’s Head with a couple strokes of a pen.  So we started with a Lion’s Head for fierceness and then added other things to it as the guys would have ideas.  I cannot recall who suggested what.  But anyway, we added the body of a gorilla for power and strength.  Then, we added the tail of an alligator, since our Airborne Troopers were tough and hard to chew out – had tough rear ends.  Some of our troopers had Japanese Girlfriends down in the City of Beppu.  We called the ladies MUSAME – pronounced – MOOSE—AH—MAE.  So we added the Antlers of a Moose in memory of the ladies downtown.¹

First Picture of IBU on Company “I” Mess Hall at Camp Chickamauga, Beppu, Kyushu, Japan.

One of our sergeants mentioned a Japanese man who painted names and serial numbers on wall lockers and foot lockers up in the barracks.  The sergeant happened to know that the man was a rather good artist.  So we made up a very rough sketch to take to the artist.  We called our beast The “IBU” for “I Best Unit” because that was what we thought of ourselves and what we really were.

The first picture that the artist prepared was so good that it caught on immediately.  Our officers, NCO’s and troopers all fell in love with our IBU on first sight.  We got our Japanese Artist to paint The “IBU” on the eve of our mess hall.  He also painted The “IBU” on a wall behind the bar in our day room.  (Our RCT Commander, BG Westmoreland, closed our bar down later when he found out about our day room, since we sold beer there not only to our own company but also to others.)  Rocky Mailhot, our weapons platoon sergeant, added a couple of things to the bar “IBU”.

IBU on Mess Hall of Company “I” at Campchicamauga, Beppu, Kyushu, Japan – (Enlarged).

Rocky knew of a time in Korea when I had just jumped across a trench at the base of a hill we called “Bloody Nose Ridge”.  Someone had called out, “There’s one behind you.”  I swung around and pulled the trigger.  The carbine misfired.  The Army only issues right-handed pistol holders and I am left-handed.  However, I had trained myself to shoot right-handed.  So I plugged the Chinese two or three times with the ‘45’and started up the hill.  Rocky remembered me going up the hill with the ‘45’ in my right hand and a carbine with bayonet in the left.  So Rocky had our artist to add the ‘45’ and the carbine with bayonet to the bar “IBU”.

One of the next things that we did was to make a special guidon to put on our guidon staff.  The guidon was made of gold cloth to make it more distinctive and our artist painted The “IBU” in color on both sides.  We only used The “IBU” guidon on the staff out in Mori Training Area in front of my tent.  However, one day we were scheduled to march down the main street beyond the 2^nd Battalion and into a big sports stadium at the end of the street.  Westy was going to critique an Army Training Test that the battalions had just completed.  (We only called him ‘General Westmoreland’ to his face, but I understand that he smiled when he overheard people saying ‘Westy’.)

On that day, I had just driven down in my modified jeep from quarters up on the hill to take the company.  We only had time for First Sergeant Brown and me to salute each other.  Then I said ‘Right Face’ and ‘Forward March.’  Unfortunately, there was The “IBU” guidon was on the staff.  No time to make a change.  I felt sure that as soon as Westy saw that “IBU” guidon, he would take the company away from me.  I worried the whole way down and into the stadium.  He had only been with us a short while, so we were not sure how he would react.  Westy did not say a thing.  So from that time onward, we took the “IBU” guidon everywhere we went.

The 187^th was having a lot of high-ranking officers who would visit the outfit from time to time.  Westy decided to set up an Honor Guard.  He gave me the job.  We had two Honor Guard platoons – one from “IBU” Company and one from the rest of 3^rd Battalion.  When we would go to parades, I would march the two Honor Guard Platoons up to ARCT Headquarters to pick up the ARCT Colors.  Then, we’d place the four Color Guards with the U. S. and the ARCT Colors, between the two Honor Guard Platoons.

Picture of the IBU that was painted on my Valpak. Camp Chickamauga, Beppu, Kyushu, Japan.

When we would march on line for the parade, 2^nd Battalion would come on line first, then some of the special companies, then the Honor Guard, then 3^rd Battalion, and then more special companies.  That would put the Honor Guard right in the center of the line with the Color Guard and the Colors in the middle and ahead of the line.  I would be in front of the ‘I’ Company’s Honor Guard Platoon with the Guidon Bearer and The Gold “IBU” Guidon to my left rear.

There were a couple of other places where I can remember The “IBU” being placed.  My modified Jeep was painted black and had little black doors about waist high on each side.  Our artist painted the “IBU” on each door.  He also painted the “IBU” on my Valpak.  In fact, my older daughter, Mary Beth Howell, decided recently that my old Valpak should be thrown away since it was rotten and falling apart.  However before doing that, she cut out The “IBU” and mounted it in a glass-covered frame.  I keep The “IBU” hanging on a wall behind the computer where I sit.  (She also cut out and framed the master parachutist wings from the rotting Valpak.  The wings are on a different wall behind me.

One of our company members had quite an imagination.  He wrote up an interesting tale about how we happened to acquire The “IBU” as our Mascot.  The story went something like this.  ‘I’ Company had been out in Mori Training for a week or two.  The “IBU” had been watching our training activities and was pleased with what he saw.  One night somewhere out in the area, The “IBU” and I ran into each other.  The “IBU” introduced himself.  He told me that he had been watching our training for quite a while.  In fact, he was so pleased with what he saw that he would like to become our Mascot.  Naturally, I agreed to the idea immediately.  If any former “IBU” trooper happens to remember our Trooper’s name who wrote the story, I would like to include it here, hopefully with a full copy of his account, if anyone has it.

At the moment, I can only remember one more detail among the very interesting thoughts that our Trooper had in his very appropriate Mascot Tale.  It seems that while The “IBU” and I were talking one time, The “IBU” happened to sit down on the tailgate of a 2 ½ ton truck.  The “IBU” was so big, heavy, and powerful that the two rear tires of the big truck were immediately exploded.