In 1985 I was a parachute packer for the 10th Special Forces Group in a little town in southern Germany (Bad Tolz, 40 mins below Munich). Beautiful ... up in the Alps .. great back drop. The town is very old and has a lot of character. My unit was stationed just outside of town at "Flint Karsern." The base had been converted from a Nazi training facility to accommodate its role as Headquarters for the US Army's elite Special Forces in Europe. Prior to having this distinction the post (which is rather small) was used as a hospital after WW II .... treating many post war injures. General Paton had also used the post as one of his post war headquarters. ........ However, it is in the post's war time history that interest is generated. The role of this facility can not be deigned. It was the training post for Hitler's SS Officer Corp. The gun racks, recessed into the walls, still lined the hallways when I stayed there. Sleeping and working in the same rooms as did Germany's legendary SS Officers. Some of the most evil men ever known must have visited here. When the US Army took over control of the base, many Nazi symbols were painted over ... yet many signs of its former past remain.

One of the interesting features of the facility is its network of underground passages. It was rumored that these passages went down several levels. However, when I lived there one two of the underground levels were accessible. Yet there were several openings that had been closed off by large metal gates. Rumor also held that the Germans had booby-trapped the lowest levels and then flooded them with water. Rather than take undue risk...these areas were concreted over and left alone (as legend has it).

My personal experience with these passages leaves me disturbed today. A friend of mine and I set-out one night to explore as much of the passage system as possible. We had to do this at night as to not draw too much attention. The overall feeling was one of dread and uneasiness once we got to the second underground level. But fear did not set in until we came to a room that was about 30 ft sq. with a ladder leading down into a pit about 4 ft deep. The feeling in that room was soul shaking, it was sudden, cold, and screamed get out. Without speaking we both could tell we felt the same fear of this place and decided to leave. We never visited that place again, and never told anyone about the place.

Additional strange happenings ..... two places on the base were well known for being haunted. The motor-pool (the old stables) and the officers club (the old dinner house). Everyone that had worked in the motor-pool had felt the presence of a ghost in that building. It was rumored that a young woman had died there and haunted the attic, rooming the rest of the building at night. She was almost playful, as she had a habit of moving things during the night. As with any military organization ... every item had its place. Workers some mornings would find something moved, a tool, papers, and in particular a key. The way I recall it, the key was to the attic. It was normally kept in a desk drawer. However, it would often be found laying on the desk, a work bench, hanging on a hook, so on .... This prompted the workers to hide the key. But, to no avail the key would be moved anyway. The supervisor, being feedup with this, used duct-tape and tapped the key to a wall, so that the outline of the key could be seen. The next morning the impression of the key was still there, but no key. The tape was undisturbed and the key found on the desk.

The dinner club I know a lot less about .... it was said that the old couple that ran the place during W.W.II now haunted the club. Turning lights on & off, making noises and so on. Many people, professional military officers, were convinced that the club was haunted.