This morning I read on CNN.com about a terror investigation in New York City. I was working on a post a few weeks ago on a related topic that I ended up deleting, but after reminiscing with my sister last night I thought I'd rewrite it a bit. Most people probably know nothing about what was going on in Europe in the mid-70s, so this might prove a little enlightening.My family lived in Germany twice--1962-1965 (I was born in Munich in 1963), and then again from 1973-1977. It was gorgeous, interesting, exciting--all the things you would imagine growing up in a foreign country to be. It was also very dangerous. At the time, there was a very active terrorist group there called the Baader-Meinhof Gang, a self-described communist urban-guerrilla group. They fought against all sorts of things, but one of their favorite targets was the US military. A year before we moved to Heidelberg, they detonated two car bombs at Campbell Barracks. (See 24 May 1972 in link) When my father began working there, they were still in the middle of reconstruction which took several more years. They also launched a missile from the mountain and blew up a general on his way to work. Bomb threats at school were a weekly occurrence, sometimes more often than that. Suzanne and I have vivid memories of standing outside Heidelberg High School in the freezing cold while our school was searched--yet again. On 4 July, 1976 when our peers in the States were celebrating the Bicentennial, I was grounded from the fireworks display in Heidelberg because yet another bomb was rumored to be planted at the big beer tent on post. Stupid terrorists--always ruining my fun.
Later that summer, my family moved to Giessen, a city two hours north of Heidelberg and in a more hostile part of the country, at least towards Americans. My father was the battalion commander of a Nike missile battalion, which brought some perks with it, namely cute soldiers falling all over me and my sister so we would let my dad know how helpful they were. It also put a big bulls-eye target on us.
Every Friday evening in the winter I went ice skating at Rhein-Main AFB about an hour or so south of us. I came home around midnight one early January night to find the junior high school, which was right next door to our apartment building, engulfed in flames. Military police were running around shouting at everyone to evacuate and I ran upstairs to wake my parents and little sister to get them out of the building. It was speculated that our fastidious science teacher had accidentally mixed the solid and liquid chemicals from class in the same container, which had caused the massive explosion. But my father always strongly suspected that the school had been bombed. Nearly the same night the Red Army Faction, a more violent incarnation of Baader-Meinhof, hit the fuel tank at the depot with explosives in an attempt to blow the army post into the stratosphere. Fortunately, the fuel level had dropped just below the explosion line, which saved all of us. (See 4 January 1977 in link). The two explosions seem a little too coincidental to not be related, at least to us.
In November 1977 we were traveling across the Austrian border when guards stopped us and made us unpack the back of our car, searched it, and then handed us a flyer with the photos of the primary Baader-Meinhof terrorists on it (see the photo at the top). At home, we were told not to speak English in public or to wear clothing that identified us as Americans. When we left the country in December to move to San Antonio, Texas we were surrounded by guards carrying sub-machine guns. Did the people back home know what was going on over there? I have no idea.
A couple of years ago someone phoned in a bomb threat at Provo High School. My kids evacuated with the others, and I must admit I was a little sentimental when I learned of my babies' first exposure to bomb threats. "Oh, that brings back so many memories! I'm so proud of you both--your first evacuation!" Lots of pats on the back, so proud that they didn't panic or cry like some other kids did. We're a tough breed in my family!
So there's yet another interesting tidbit from my very interesting life so far. Maybe next I'll tell you about the sniper attack we survived in San Antonio. Bet you can't wait!
6 comments:
Did you know that there is a movie? It's showing at Frontenac, but I think I will skip it...
I think we'll watch it up at the Broadway. Kind of interested to see if Heidelberg and Giessen are even mentioned.
Oh my. I had no idea. What a treasure chest your blog is going to be. So fun to learn about you.
I completely get this post!
The first bombing I remember was the Uffizi blast in 1984 (we had just left the Uffizi to get gelato.)
I remember the ETA bombings, the IRA bombings. I was too little to be aware of Baader-Meinhof when we lived in Germany the first time. By the time I went back in 1992, it was less of an issue.
I wasn't aware of the terrorist groups in Germany, but I remember the Red Brigade in Italy in the '80s. Interesting how times have changed.
Having had your experience, do you think it's worth the price we are paying and are likely to pay in Afghanistan to keep Al Qaeda from being a daily threat? Or is the threat overblown?
Well, I do know that living under those conditions really starts to wear on one after awhile. I took much of it in stride and just lumped it all under life in a foreign country. Once I was 13-14 though and traveling alone much of the time on buses and trains, I had to use greater precautions and street-smarts. It prepared me well for some of the experiences I had later in life that I haven't written much about, but for the average person I would say that our efforts in Afghanistan are well-intentioned and necessary. Just remember back to the IRA bombings in the UK not that long ago, at least relatively speaking. That level of violence that goes unchecked takes a huge toll on the citizenry of any country.
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