The history of US troops in Germany At the height of the Vietnam War, Ali refused induction into the United States Army, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to the conflict. The guys with the beer with hot food and hot showers, Appy said. This large and rapid buildup required a tremendous amount of construction, carried out by Army Engineers and largely financed by occupied Germany. In addition to meeting locals, walks off-base could provide valuable intelligence. Those recordings were lost for decades, until a collector discovered an East of Underground LP in 1997. There were more prostitutes than bureaucrats, and every kind of club and bar from high-class to low-class. was told," you are going to Germany, get your wives in german class". and child care facility in Bad Kreuznach, West Germany (right). Life athome goes on without them, and it must have been difficult to navigate when they returned, she said. But in Vietnam, the Cold War became an inferno. I was in Boston when the Chelsea fire occurred in October 1973, received a meritorious unit citation for fighting the fire that consumed a large portion of Chelsea 18 blocks one way, 16 blocks another. They left their families to fight in a war that wasnt popular. It's from here that controversial drone missions are flown against targets in Africa and Asia. I ask this because many guys of draft age enlisted, enlisted specifically for three years to chose their MOS, and in a great many cases avoid serving in South Vietnam. Germany 2018 Petabit Scale, All Rights Reserved. For website corrections, write to hqwebmaster@usace.army.mil. Sign up for a new account in our community. The Federal Republic of Germany became an important strategic location during the Cold War. I would have been called a coward by others from the small town I grew up in, so I never considered not volunteering. Some Air Force Reservists who were crew members on C-123 Provider aircraft, formerly used to spray Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, have raised health concerns about exposure to residual amounts of herbicides on plane surfaces. Those aircraft were used for military airlift, medical transport, and cargo transport operations in the United States and internationally. I was able to get into a band there. Mastering these complicated and delicate international arrangements, EUD accomplished a large and complex construction program, especially during the 1980s. At the end of the spraying campaign in 1971, the remaining C-123 planes were reassigned to reserve units in the U.S. for routine cargo and medical evacuation missions spanning the next 10 years. Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy urges more effective air defense, Ukraine: Russia continues to target civilian sites, Ukraine's counteroffensive: Goals, opportunities, risks. Brutal tactics were the norm during the Vietnam War, and no one suffered more than the Vietnamese themselves, both in the North and the South. The tensions between the two sides were demonstrated when US Army and Soviet Union tanks faced off in a divided Berlin. The post exchanges, or PXs, rivaled todays big box outlets for variety and selection, Lair said. Buddy C. Thornton learned from his military service was Always live for the day. I thought, hot dog, going to go relic hunting. They wore dirty boots and dog tags hanging around their necks. But as the confrontation between the Soviet Union, our former ally, intensified with the Berlin blockade and the outbreak of the Korean War, American leaders grew fearful that the next target of international communism was Western Europe, which contained our most important democratic allies and a rapidly rebuilding capitalist economy.