End of World War II worries Germans
Those ingrates, the Germans, are finally having to face life without Americans in their communities according to an article in The Local sent to us by Old Trooper;
Mayor Andreas Starke of Bamberg said there will be a gradual reduction of troop numbers over the next few years before the bases officially shutter.
Starke said although the closures would have “far-reaching consequences,” hurting craftsmen and other businesses who have made millions of euros from the Americans, he said it will also have benefits.
“In a crisis, there’s also a chance,” Starke said, pointing to the city’s long-running need for new student housing to support the University of Bamberg.
It’s hard to feel their pain, after those years I faced discrimination and derision from the Germans. I loved the food and the countryside and the hours I spent biking through their fields, but there was an anti-American sentiment that ran through the population that makes me smile a little bit at their confusion. I always knew this day was coming, but apparently they didn’t.
Germans might find some comfort in the fact that Panama is better than it ever was with the Americans. Of course, the Panamanians now enjoy the influx of Chinese money. Somehow I don’t think the Germans would like that option very much.
Category: Foreign Policy
The word you’re looking for is ‘schadenfreude’. 🙂
Reminds me of the first round of BRAC base closings in the early 90’s when I was in Guam. They closed down NAS Agana, the land being a huge point of contention for decades.
Immediately after the base closings were announced, the local paper ran a headline, “WE WON!!! Now what?”
Yeah, nobody likes it when their sugar teat dries up.
Deep down the Germans are still pissed that they lost the war (x2). If it wasn’t for us, they would be speaking Russian. I would tell them that almost on a daily basis. I do miss Bad Tolz and the river runs though.
Back in the early 70’s, the Spanish were all up in arms about our Fast Attack nuke boats based at Rota. This was a big push by the communists, of course, to try and destabilize NATO by denying the US forward deployment and operating bases. They used the cover of “environmentalism” (gee, where have we heard THAT before, eh?) talking about nuclear poison, etc.
Well, they finally got their wish, and the US removed all it’s subs and closed down the associated facilities. Well, gosh, next thing you know, all the “anti-nuke” protesters were replaced by crowds howling because of all the jobs they lost. Suddenly, all those high-paying defense jobs had gone away, along with all that money the sailors were spending in town on liberty. Oops.
Of course, the Naval Air Station was still there, and I did a few deployments and dets there with my squadron. However, Rota never fully recovered, and the economic lesson wasn’t lost on other areas.
It’s about time, though, that Europe began to pay it’s own fair share of their defense costs. We’ve propped them up for more than 65 years now, and our being there has allowed them to shift funds to all their damned socialist welfare programs. Well, that river has run it’s course and they’re finally gonna have to suck it up and decide what is more important to them.
I’ve argued for more than 30 years for us to pull our troops out of there. I’m happy to see it finally coming around.
You have to admit…..
the beer was good.
The beer I miss is the Kreuzberg Bier, a few miles from the Wildflecken Training Area. The chow wasn’t bad either.
mmm Schweinebraten…
I got offered Germany as a option if I re-enlist again.
Better take it, Spork, you never know when you might get that chance again. My son is going there in the Spring.
Same thing happened on Okinawa. The Communists would demonstrate outside the gates to our bases, wave their banners, toot their horns, and generally raise Cain about our presence there. Meantime, the b-girls, movie “rental” shop owners and other business owners would ask us if we were really leaving soon (rumor mills are alive and well in all cultures).
Semper Fi
John
I personally would never like to be stationed in Germany, but the wife really wants to go, I suppose it’s better than getting a stateside assignment. Might as well travel while we’re young… but I shudder to think of ever getting stationed at Ramstein, or even Spangdahlem.
Former–beats the living shit out of Guam, Diego Garcia, or a few hundred other Navy bases.
@12
What’s wrong with Guam :O? It’s on my dream sheet, I figured an island might be a change of pace after the midwest and farmlands. DG- F that, my wife wanted to go there, but I had to tell her there’s no way we’d be able to get there mil to mil.
I was pretty fortunate I guess growing up, my dad always got great Navy bases, MCBH Kaneohe, Pearl Harbor, Bangor, Spokane (a reserve center), and Rota…
GUAM–Give Up And Masturbate. ‘Nuff said.
@13 – “What’s wrong with Guam?”
I only spent a few weeks there last year, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
But I have often heard it referred to as the West Virginia of Micronesia….
^^ I should have added, no disrespect Jonn….only repeating the phrase.
Germans are not worried about the end of WW2. They are worried about the beginning of the next WW. They know who heats their homes in the winter and it is not the Americans.
They know who has been appeased to long and it is not the Taliban. They know who is a threat to their currency and it is not the Chinese. They know that if anyone would send a nuclear warhead flying in to Berlin or Frankfurt it would not be the Iranians.
I remember in the 80’s and early 90’s how our left would whine that we spend more than Japan and West Germany on defense. They’d gloss over the fact that we carried them throughout the cold war.
Our mission in Europe is done. We need to bring all the troops and equipment back. Remember Bosnia and Kosovo? Another war, I mean overseas contingency operation that was the left’s baby. Same with Odyssey Dawn. The UK ran out of cruise missiles and retired all their Harriers (the USMC has’em now). But the British welfare state keeps paying out.
Europe is beginning to realize that “other peoples money” AND troops are running out. The commies and socialists are getting desperate. Time for the US to pull up stakes and let the Euros clean up their own mess.
And no, we don’t need bases in Europe to deploy to the Middle East or Asia.
CI–that’s the whole point. A couple of weeks, no big deal. A couple of years, you’re clawing at the walls. Rock fever ten times worse than Hawaii ever gets.
When I was there, after the first month, there were three things to do–lift weights/work out, scuba dive, and drink, or some combination of the three.
A typical day would be get up early, work out and run a couple of miles, your work, and if you didn’t have the duty, take the zodiac out and go spearfishing, then take what you caught to the beach bar, give them the fish, they’ll keep you in beer for the night.
Again, nice for a while, but even that gets old after a while. It’s why they had to bribe people with either an extra $100/month or 15 days free leave and a ticket to the West Coast to extend their tours for a year.
@19
Ah, island fever… I’m pickin’ up what you’re puttin’ down now.
I’m reminded of Vieques and Roosevelt Roads.
PR: Close that bombing range you jerks!
Navy: Okay. We’re gonna close Roosevelt Roads too since we don’t need it if Vieques it closed.
PR: NO! That’s a critical base that pumps $250 million into the local economy. We will FIGHT any other base closures.
Navy: Fuck off. Enjoy your new airport.
Hey Jonn,
I’m sorry you found the German’s less than friendly. I never had a problem with them and I had a few good German friends off post. I know the commies loved to belittle Americans, but I stayed away from those Germans. I must have found that one pocket of friendlies.
I spent 4.5 years in W.Germany during the mid to late 80s…loved my time there, as did my daughter and 1st future ex.
Still get over there about 5 times a year on TDY, and it’s fun to do so…the beer, the food are still outstanding.
But as others have said…it’s time to bring it all home. 65+ years is enough…
Hey L3 Curt…not sure about the US launching anything towards Germany, but I’d sure like to send a foot flying into your imaginary nut sack.
“imaginary nut sack”. @23, that sums up Curt, or Kurt, or just plain asshole quite well, Spigot.
I think Curt is needing to be put back on meds
Like I said, Doc, eventually the guys in the white coats will track him down, put him in the jacket that buttons in the back and take him home and level his meds out again.
Did 3.5 years at Ramstein. Enjoyed (I chose to live off base) it, but no the Germans weren’t particularly friendly. My neighbors were nice, but there was always an under-current of resentment. The worst came from the President of the German/American friendship club. No the irony wasn’t lost on me. He often referred to us “The Occupation Force”–to which I would remind that the primary reason it was called the Berlin Wall and not the French Border Wall was because we were “occupying” them.
Everyone tends to like their particular “rut,” particularly when it’s what pays the bills. That being said…I don’t worry about the Germans. They are bright, clever, and resourceful. They will wake up and realize that Europe will take over where we leave off, and they can and will make their money there.
Rather waiting for Merkel to bitchslap Sarkozy over who owns Greece, and seeing if the great Schlieffen wheel works as well today as back when.