Rhine Main will forever be on my mind.... and now the Germans can get their eager greedy hands on it.... I remember R/M when I flew in there as a kid in 1956 while my dad was stationed at Spangdalem... we flew out in 1960. I came back in 1972 and noticed the hotel and landing area had changed. I was then stationed at neaby Hoerst, Germany but drove back by, especially on my weekend trips down from B'gaden. Every time I would drive by I thought about how we (my sister and I) played as kids on the elevator while waiting for our flight while housed at that hotel. In Jan 1974 I flew out of there to go home.
In 1975 I came back as a civilian with Steve Stahl and we stopped by on a short hop driving from Amsterdam to Berchtesgaden while on the Autobahn nearby. In 1980-85 I would stop by often as a reservist on my way home back to the states for duty or whatever.
1991 I few out of R/M on my way to a war, in the Desert, and in May 1992 I came back though there only to have to take a bus downtown in my DSU's to Frankfurt to catch a speedy train home to Berchtesgaden.
While working in Ansbach as a civilian I would drive by occassionally. And in 1995 on my way to Frankfurt Airport after deciding to move home to the States, I thought I'd give it one last look overs.
Little did I know after 14 months of being stationed in Iraq that on my final trip home last June, I would stop off there for a pit stop to refuel the plain that took us to Philly.
I know that when we finally give it back - those walls will hold so many memories... and when the Germans tear down the walls and the other places that were build by American Dollars, to keep Germany free, I hope someone realizes that it all made good sense.
Auf Wiedersehen Rhine Main...Du hast uns gut getan...Danke und Servus--
Bill