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Remembering JFK at Fliegerhorst
Kaserne
Presidential visit at height of Cold War resonates 40 years later
By Anemone Rueger
July 5, 2003
104th Area Support Group Public Affairs Office, Germany
- Herold Union Military Newspaper -
The 104th ASG serves the Baumholder,
Büdingen, Butzbach, Dexheim, Friedberg, Gelnhausen, Giessen,
Hanau, Neubrücke, Strassburg, Wackernheim and Wiesbaden
U.S. military communities. |
Many people remember President John F. Kennedy's famous
declaration, "Ich bin ein Berliner," but few realize
the day before he said those words, Kennedy spoke at a smaller
town on the other side of Germany. Forty years ago Wednesday,
on June 25, 1963, Kennedy visited Fliegerhorst Kaserne just outside
Hanau. Fifteen thousand U.S. soldiers awaited him, as did tens
of thousands of enthusiastic Germans.
"Seems like we spent many, many days preparing for an
event that lasted a few minutes," recalled Jim Chorazy,
who served with Combat Command B of the 3rd Armored Division
at Gelnhausen. The memory of those few minutes, however, has
lasted for every soldier and civilian who got to see the president.
Kennedy came to Germany at the height of the Cold War. Immediately
after taking office in 1961 he faced the Soviet threat in Berlin.
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pushed to demilitarize West
Berlin and shortly after built the Berlin Wall. Kennedy increased
the U.S. military presence in Germany.
A year later American troops in Germany went on high alert when
the Soviet Union positioned intermediate-range missiles in Cuba.
JFK warned that the United States would use nuclear weapons if
it were attacked from Cuba or if the Soviets touched Berlin.
Kennedy decided to get a first-hand look at the battle readiness
of U.S. troops in Germany. The Army alone had more than 250,000
soldiers in the country, among them 18,000 3rd AD soldiers at
seven bases in the state of Hessen. Their mission was to train
and to defend the Fulda Gap. In May 1963 the division got orders
to prepare for and host a presidential visit to the Hanau military
community.
Hanau was chosen because of its geographic location and the
available logistics, said Chorazy. "Fliegerhorst had an
easily accessible airfield for such a visit," he said. In
addition to 3rd AD the larger Hanau community was also home to
the 37th Engineer Combat Group, numerous field artillery units,
the 36th Medical Battalion and many smaller V Corps units, about
10,000 soldiers in all. Preparations for the visit involved them
all along with units all over U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Air Force
Europe.
Seven hundred combat vehicles were provided for a gigantic static
display. "Most every vehicle that went there for the big
day got a new paint job," said Chorazy. "Seems like
someone was concerned that Kennedy might see way down the columns
and find something which hadn't been painted for a while."
"When it became known that Kennedy was coming, new grass
was sown on Fliegerhorst. But then it got very hot just before
the visit, and the fresh grass turned brown," said Hanau
resident Werner Bayer. "The Americans simply sprayed it
green. Some German onlookers commented, 'typical Ami style.'"
Paul B. Sanders, a retired colonel who volunteers at the Hanau
Legal Center, was a captain in 1963 and commanded Company B of
14th Quartermaster at Hutier Kaserne. One of the company's duties
as a supply unit was to bake bread for the "mess hall"
and support troops with fresh bread during maneuvers. But they
also had a master baker, Sgt. 1st Class Riddle, who would make
birthday cakes for everyone in the unit. Before the president's
visit Sanders' company was assigned an unusual mission.
"We were given the job to bake a cake in the shape of
the PT 109 boat Kennedy had commanded in the Pacific," said
Sanders. The order referred to the torpedo boat Kennedy commanded
in 1943. A Japanese destroyer sank PT 109, but the crew was saved
a couple of days later and Kennedy was celebrated as a hero by
the American press.
"So Riddle baked this huge cake," Sanders said.
"I remember the Secret Service came in the morning and stayed
all day watching Riddle make the cake. They even checked the
cake with wires." Riddle was happy to shake hands with the
president and received a big thank you.
"That cake made him famous in the White House and helped
him land a good job in Washington, D.C., when he got out of the
Army," Sanders said.
A jubilant German-American crowd greeted Kennedy when his
helicopter landed punctually at 10:30 a.m. on June 25. "There
was raving enthusiasm, something you can't imagine today,"
said Bayer, who was 15 at the time. "Kennedy was a symbol
for the young generation. He was our bearer of hope. He took
the sympathy of the Germans by storm and won their hearts,"
Bayer said. Kennedy's youthful aura, which clearly set him apart
from Germany's Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who had been in office
since 1949, was also appealing.
"He also proved his courage during the Cuban [missile]
Crisis. That left a strong impression with the Germans. He was
so strong and upright that we had unlimited confidence in him,"
Bayer said. "When I think about it, it still gives me goose
bumps. He was such an awesome guy," he added after a pause.
Kennedy started his visit by inspecting the honor guard made
up of American, Canadian, German and French soldiers. The four
national anthems were played, and Maj. Gen. John R. Pugh, 3rd
AD commander and Kennedy's escort on that day, reviewed the mile-long
parade front. Then the president addressed the troops, thanking
them for their engagement. "Never before in history has
a country had so many of its sons serving so far away from their
own land in a time of danger, not for the purpose of conquest,
but for the purpose of freedom."
After an inspection of a static display including tanks, missiles,
engineer equipment, aircraft and helicopters, the president went
to the 54th Transportation Battalion mess hall and dined with
over 300 soldiers and airmen. The Hanauer Anzeiger newspaper
of June 26, 1963, observed that the president drank from a plastic
cup just like all the soldiers did, and he enjoyed it.
At 2 p.m. Kennedy left Fliegerhorst in a big black Mercedes
convertible on his way to a reception in Frankfurt, accompanied
by German Vice Chancellor Ludwig Erhard. "All the 20 kilometers
from Fliegerhorst to Frankfurt people were lined up at both sides
of the road," said Bayer. "All who could walk were
out there. It must have been hundreds of thousands, an entire
generation."
Holger Lutzen of the Hanau Legal Center also has vivid memories
of seeing the American president from his position on the shoulders
of his father as a little boy. "I was there in Frankfurt
and I clearly remember the endless crowd of people."
The euphoric atmosphere lasted several weeks. "After
Germany's victory in the 1954 [soccer] World Cup, Kennedy's visit
was probably the biggest fest for Germans," Lutzen said.
After the visit all the roads Kennedy had traveled on from Fliegerhorst
to Frankfurt were renamed Kennedy Street or Kennedy Allee. The
Fliegerhorst dining facility got a new name, and soldiers serving
there decades later could still see pictures of Kennedy adorning
the walls.
The spectacular presidential visit also left positive side
effects on Hanau Army Airfield in its wake, said Sanders. "Fliegerhorst
got much needed repairs. People said, we wish the president would
come more often."
[End]
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