U.S. Army bids farewell to Hanau in ceremony

[unhappycamper]

U.S. Army bids farewell to Hanau in ceremony
By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Saturday, April 19, 2008

HANAU, Germany — Sixty-three years ago, Army Maj. Thomas Turner Jr. strolled into a villa overlooking the Main River and found it to be a most suitable place from which to oversee the U.S. military administration in Hanau.

He and his men had a daunting task. Approximately 90 percent of the city center was in ruins. Locals were hungry and tired and suspicious. And there were pockets of resistance here and there. The birthplace of the Grimm Brothers was truly a grim place.

“In 1945,” said Claus Kaminsky, Hanau’s current lord mayor, “you gave us your hand and built bridges, which led us from yesterday to today.”

Today, the U.S. military presence in Hanau is winding down. Nearly every day moving trucks arrive empty and leave full. By summer’s end, the city will be void of American soldiers, and that’s no fairy tale.

So on Thursday evening, Hanau and U.S. Army dignitaries gathered at Turner’s old headquarters to bid each other farewell. One more wave of accolades is planned for Aug. 8, when the U.S. Army holds an inactivation ceremony.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54170

[orangerevolution]

1. It can be done!

US out of Germany and Iraq!