Vol. 50, No.10, September 2021
Serving the Greater Stuttgart Military Community www.stuttgartcitizen.com
Stuttgart remembers 9/11
A letter from the editor
T
wenty years ago on September 11, 2001, at 8:45 a.m., an American Airlines Boeing 767 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. By the end of that day nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in New York, Arlington, Virginia and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The United States and the world would be forever changed. Within a year American and NATO troops will have invaded Afghanistan on the hunt for Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Each one of us in the Public Affairs office were at different stations of life when we first heard the towers fell, but for all of us the images and events are still seared into our memories. And each one of our paths, some more roundabout than others, eventually led us to serving the U.S. military here in Stuttgart. That’s why in this month’s “Big Question” we asked the community ‘How did 9/11 affect you?’, and your responses humbled us, they were deep, varied and personal. We hope all you read the responses, and take a moment to reflect. Part of the reflection we did as an office was diving into our archives, reading what our predecessors wrote in the Stuttgart Citizen. In the following weeks and months after the attack, what we found was an outpouring of support from the local community even as we gated many of the once open posts. We reached out to then-Garrison Commander Larry Stubblefield, who helped us narrate the events as they unfolded. He told us at one moment he was the post’s mayor throwing out the first pitch at a softball game and then suddenly post’s commander, leading the warfight on the homefront.
We also take you to the site of a crashed Canadian-crewed Lancaster bomber near the town of Waldenbuch. Where the great-nephew of one of the plane’s gunners, fulfilled a lifelong quest to find the resting place of his lost great-uncle. Aided with the help from the town’s historian and a group of 80-90-year-old villagers who recounted the crash as kids, the great nephew and the villagers were able to make one final trek to the crash site and reconcile the past. In a heart-warming story, we share the reunion of a German-American brother and sister pair from Schwäbisch Gmünd, who had been separated for 45 years and between two continents. One child given to her grandmother and the other to the orphanage, only reunited by a chance email spurned by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally we welcome all our kids back to school with a colorful layout of Stuttgart Elementary School’s first day! We hope this September issue of the Stuttgart Citizen allows you to remember the past, but that it also provides you hope for the future.
Your Citizen Team
Ground Zero, New York City, photo by Heitor Pergher/Shutterstock.com
In this month’s magazine we also celebrate milestones, legacies and reunions. We celebrate the 75th anniversary of the ‘Speech of Hope,’ which was arguably the defining moment that kicked off a decades-long, ironclad friendship between America and Germany. Then-
Secretary of State James F. Byrnes in a speech at the Stuttgart opera house spoke about America’s desire for Germany to once again self govern and “join the free and peace-loving nations of the world.”
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CONTENTS
TABLE OF UNITED STATES ARMY GARRISON STUTTGART Commander Col. Matt Ziglar
onward
nephew and 6 & 7 Great historian find lost
Senior Enlisted Adviser Command Sgt. Maj. Billy Norman Public Affairs Officer Larry Reilly
bomber
8 C.A.R.E. Fair Corner: 9 Chaplains Story overcomes
Managing Editor Marcus Fichtl Contributors Bardia Khajenoori, Paul Hughes, Geoffrey Morris, Steve Smith, Ch. (Maj.) Mike Smith USAG STUTTGART PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE Building 2949, Panzer Kaserne
stigma: The chaplain perspective on suicide
Army Post Office Mailing Address Unit 30401, APO AE 09107
of humanity 10 & 11 Best displayed amid
German Mailing Address Panzer Kaserne Geb. 2949, 3rd Floor, Panzerstrasse, 70032 Böblingen
9/11 aftermath
45 years, 12 & 13 Separated brother and sister
Telephone 09641-70-5962485 DSN (314) 596-2485 Website www.StuttgartCitizen.com
reunite
across 14 & 15 Students Stuttgart return
Facebook www.facebook.com/ USAGarrisonStuttgart/ PUBLISHER
to class
AdvantiPro GmbH Europaallee 3 67657 Kaiserslautern Telephone +49 (0) 631-30 3355 30 Website www.AdvantiPro.com Managing Director Bret Helenius
Corner: 16 & 17 Culture The ‘Speech of Hope’
at 75: A legacy lives on
18 National Preparedness
ADVERTISING IN THE STUTTGART CITIZEN Display Advertising Contact Jennifer Holdsworth Telephone +49 (0) 631-30 3355 37 Email Ads@StuttgartCitizen.com The Stuttgart Citizen is an authorized magazine, produced in the interest of the U.S. Army community in Stuttgart by the U.S. Army-Garrison Stuttgart Public Affairs Office. Contents of the Citizen are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government or the Department of the Army. The Stuttgart Citizen is printed by AdvantiPro, a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Govt., under exclusive written agreement with U.S. Army Stuttgart. It is published monthly using the offset method of reproduction and has a printed circulation of 5,000 copies. Everything advertised herein shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation, or any other non-merit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. The appearance of advertising herein, including inserts and supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Dept. of the Army, or AdvantiPro, of the firms, products or services advertised. Unless otherwise indicated, all seven-digit phone numbers in The Stuttgart Citizen are DSN numbers and all longer numbers are civilian.
from 2 Letter the editor 4 At the Patch library 5 Library Summer Reading, up and
Month
Big Question: 19 The How did 9/11 affect you?
Auxiliary Bishop William Muhm gives Mass at the Panzer Chapel, Aug. 14. Muhm, a former Navy chaplain, is one of the Archdiocese for the Military Services four bishops. He is based out of Mainz, Germany where he helps shepherd Catholics stationed overseas in Europe and Asia. While not a part of the U.S. military, the Archdiocese provides certification and endorsement for all Catholic Chaplains in the armed forces. “It is important for religious leaders like Bishop Muhm to visit our garrisons as they enhance the mission of the Religious Support Office in building a spiritually resilient community. Religious leaders ensure the credentials of their endorsed chaplains are maintained as they perform religious functions and seek to meet the numerous pastoral needs of our service members and their families,” said Ch. (Col.) Robert Allman, garrison chaplain. Photo by Marcus Fichtl
Cover: Photos and newspaper clippings from the Stuttgart Citizen after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Photos from the Stuttgart Citizen
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At the Patch Library By Marcus Fichtl USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs
To celebrate our students going back to school, we chose a selection of “assigned reading” classics from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a tragic story of decadence and corruption to Mark Twain’s rip-roaring story of finding freedom along the Mississippi river in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. So please head on down to the Patch Library or visit https://www. mwrlibrary.armybiznet.com/, (select our local library on Patch) and pick out up-to ten items from their massive database. If they don’t have what you’re looking for, request a specific book, game or movie through their online request system and it can be shipped from another location for your use.
The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. This exemplary novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story is of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his new love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s. The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and will not reveal her lover’s identity. The scarlet letter A (for adultery) she has to wear on her clothes, along with her public shaming, is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy. She struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain A nineteenth-century boy from a Mississippi River town recounts his adventures as he travels down the river with a runaway slave, encountering a family involved in a feud, two scoundrels pretending to be royalty, and Tom Sawyer’s aunt who mistakes him for Tom. Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it. There are many voices in this novel: children’s voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden’s voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvelously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. However, like most lovers and clowns and poets of the higher orders, he keeps most of the pain to, and for, himself. The pleasure he gives away, or sets aside, with all his heart. It is there for the reader who can handle it to keep. Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller ‘For a salesman, there is no rock bottom to life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine.’ Willy Loman has been a salesman for 34 years. At 60, he is cast aside, his usefulness now exhausted. With no future to dream about he must face the crushing disappointments of his past. He takes one final brave action, but is he heroic at last?, or a self-deluding fool?
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it. “To Kill A Mockingbird” became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic. Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, “To Kill A Mockingbird” takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature. Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck An intimate portrait of two men who cherish the slim bond between them and the dream they share in a world marred by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. Clinging to each other in their loneliness and alienation, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie dream, as drifters will, of a place to call their own—a couple of acres and a few pigs, chickens, and rabbits back in Hill Country where land is cheap. But after they come to work on a ranch in the fertile Salinas Valley of California, their hopes, like “the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men,” begin to go awry. Book covers and descriptions courtesy of goodreads.com
Library Summer Reading, up and onward
Black light mini-golf played at the Patch Library’s Summer Reading Program course.
Graphics by IreneArt/Shutterstock.com
The cast of the Patch Library’s live-action Clue.
Parents and their kids enjoy storytime at the Patch Library.
Story & photos by Geoffrey Morris USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs
Every year the Patch Library holds its Summer Reading Program, hosting unique games and activities to promote reading, it’s part of a greater Europewide initiative to get books into kids hands. The first week had a self-portrait class open to the entire community where participants were provided all the material they needed. Every week followed a similar pattern of helping immerse the community in new opportunities. Week two showed off the full scope of the library’s creativity with a fully-functioning escape room. The new UFO theme was the spiritual successor to last year’s Virtual Escape Room, and it was made almost entirely in-house. Even fully voiced by Sherman Sumner, one of the base librarians, who was clad in full explorer khakis. U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart’s very own Public Affairs Office currently holds the record for the fastest time, beating out the nearest competitors by close to 10 minutes with no hints.
Librarian and mastermind behind the Summer Reading Program, Steven Roark, envisioned a competition between teams from each of the commands. The third week included an arts and crafts set up, and a free photography class followed by a gel painting course. But the main event of the week was yet to come! It was Live-Action Clue, based on the Hasbro board game, that captivated the young audiences from Child Youth Services. Gina Forzano, better known as Mrs. Peacock, claimed that her stuffed animal bird perched on her shoulder was the main attraction. Many actors have found themselves spotted on the street, recognized by the same kids who accused them of murder in Stuttgart’s first-ever liveaction board game. Another week of arts and crafts finished off the month allowing kids to come home with handmade kaleidoscopes, glow in the dark t-shirts, and books galore. Patch Library is already the number 2 highest circulating library among all overseas, but the Summer Reading Program hoped to push the library to number one.
This year’s Summer Reading Program may have wrapped up on June 23rd, but the many services the library offers will carry on. All military ID holders can check-out up to ten items at a time. Also every activity is open to any community member with base access. Storytime will take place every Wednesday at 10:30 for kids ages 5 and up. Lego club will return in late August. The spinoff program Bricks, Blocks, and Babies, may return by popular demand. Thanks for reading with the Patch Library this summer!
An outline of a “victim” during the Patch Library’s live-action Clue.
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Great nephew and historian find lost bomber By Marcus Fichtl USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs
Fifty-three allied bombing raids descended upon Stuttgart between 19401945. By the end of World War II, officials estimated 68 percent of the city had been destroyed and more than 4500 lives lost. On January 28, 602 bombers made what would be the last major attack by the Royal Air Force in the war. 11 aircraft were lost during the raid, including a Canadian and British manned Avro Lancaster that crashed in the forest outside the small town of Waldenbuch, 12 miles south of Stuttgart. Five members of the seven man crew perished, including one the bomber’s gunners, 19-year-old Canadian Fernand L. Jolicoeur. The remains would be buried into a mass grave and the crash site cleaned up — all seemingly lost to history. Uncovering History Jolicouer’s great nephew, Jeanthe bottom Pierre Gendreau-Hétu, regaled with gunner, marked with an X in and Leo Jolicoeur, mid-upper Fern tales of his uncle from his grandmothcrew. Courtesy photo es with his Lancaster bomber er Rosaline, soon became interested in right, pos the Waldenbuch crash and the fate of his great-uncle. “The memory of Fernand has remained alive in my family for a long time.” the 55-year-old Gendreau-Hétu told the Stuttgart Citizen. “His death still haunts us today.” Additionally, there was still some controversy over who survived the crash, Gendreau-Hétu said reports mentioned four bodies were found with the downed Lancaster, but when the bodies were reburied at the Durnbach War Cemetery south of Munich, five names were on the gravestone, including Jolicouer’s. “My grandmother kept telling me, ‘Oh, I expect him to show up anytime,’ Gendreau-Hétu told the Ottawa Citizen in 2014. “She waited for years thinking he might be somewhere.” He petitioned the Canadian government to exhume the grave for DNA testing, but his request was denied. Gendreau-Hétu even took a trip to Waldenbuch, but came up empty handed. Then years later, this January, he found Waldenbuch’s local historian Wolfgang Härtel. Initially their search seemed to be going nowhere, post-war aerial photography archives provided little value. The small German village wasn’t considered important enough to thoroughly photograph, and the tree cover made what few images they did have, incomplete. Härtel then, this February, contacted three local newspapers, telling the story of the bomber crash and of Gendreau-Hétu’s search for his great-uncle. Almost immediately eye witness reports came pouring in. More than 30 townsfolk, now in their 80s and 90s, but then just kids, vividly remembered the crash. “I was walking with my friends down a little path in the woods toward the crash site, and I remember a dead pilot lying there. He was covered with a parachute. I lifted the parachute a little and looked into the face of a very young man. Jean-Pierre Gendreau-Hétu I didn’t go back to the wreckage of the plane,” 92-year-old Ursula Niebel said in walks with his family and locals from the village of Härtel’s report. Another eyewitness in Härtel’s report remembered a loud thud when he and Waldenbuch to the Lancaster his family were hiding in their neighbor’s cellar during the bombing raid. bomber crash site. “It was a loud bang,” said Hans Hartmann. “The crash site was quite close, Photo by Marcus Fichtl 6
September 2021
Jean-Pierre Gendreau-Hétu makes a statement thanking the people of Waldenbuch for finding his great uncle’s crash site. Photo by Marcus Fichtl
above our barn. My father and I walked there later. There were only fragments of the plane left, one engine and various parts.” Härtel said additional witnesses had mentioned in the immediate years that followed the crash that many people visited the site, and even one account said the bomber’s plastic tanks were repurposed as manure barrels. Then the historian and his team combined their research with the new witness reports, trudged out into the forest once more and soon found the crash site, serendipitously between a North American Red Oak and European Oak. One Last Walk in the Woods On Aug. 16, one final trek would be made to the crash site. Gendreau-Hétu, who now lives in Lucerne, Switzerland and his children who live in the U.S. and Canada, gathered with Härtel and some of the witnesses to the bomber crash 76 years ago. They marched through the forest, first along a marked path, and then through a thicket to the crash site. There Härtel had created one final memorial for the bomber crew. Miniature Canadian flags were placed in an outline of how the Lancaster was presumed to have crashed. A framed picture of Jolicoeur stood on a chair, and debris and parts were placed in a small wooden box. “This story began with an email in January that a Canadian was looking for his lost great-uncle who crashed near Waldenbuch in 1945,” said Härtel during the memorial ceremony. “Now today, through detailed research we have found the site.” While no additional remains were found, and some mystery still surrounds who died in the Lancaster bomber crash on January 28, 1945, Gendreau-Hétu said he found closure and a new family. “Today is an important day for me and my family,” he said addressing the crowd in German. “We have found a home here in Waldenbuch and I can proudly say that ‘Ich bin ein Waldenbucher.” A memorial plaque will be placed on Waldenbuch forest trail, commemorating the Canadian Airmen and Germans who lost their lives during the Stuttgart bombing raids.
The Avro Lancaster bomber, the mainstay of the British bomber fleet.
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An aerial photograph circa 1945 shows the devastation 53 bombing raids did on Stuttgart. Officials estimate nearly 68 percent of the city was destroyed, killing more than 4,500 people. Photos by Wiki commons
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Debris and parts from the RAF Lancaster bomber found near the crash site. Photo by Marcus Fichtl
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C.A.R.E. Fair
A tent from last year’s C.A.R.E. Fair. Photo by FMWR Marketing
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An English-speaking, Bible-believing church of many nations and cultures www.ibcstuttgart.de Untere Waldplaetze 38, 70569 Stuttgart (across the street from Patch Barracks) Worship Services Sunday Service: 9:30 & 11:30 Other Opportunities to Connect Sunday School, Awana, Youth, Young Adults, Men’s, & Women’s Ministries
We’d love to get to know you and see how we can minister with you and your family.
Sign up for activities and find out all about USAG Stuttgart Community resources at the C.A.R.E Fair There will be something for everyone at the Community Activities Registration Education (C.A.R.E.) Fair, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., September 11, in the Galaxy Bowling and Entertainment Center parking lot on Panzer Kaserne. The annual information expo is the perfect way for community members to connect with government support agencies, sports and recreation clubs and special interest groups from USAG Stuttgart and the surrounding area. More than 70 organizations are expected to be there. “We want to help our community learn about the resources available to them, including the Red Cross,” said Jason Kalinowski, regional program manager at American Red Cross Stuttgart Station, one of the participating organizations. “We offer volunteer opportunities, CPR, Basic Life Support (BLS), Babysitting and Remote Wilderness First Aid courses. We want our community to be as prepared as possible in case a family emergency occurs.” The event offers many ways to get involved, with on-the-spot sign-ups and registrations for activities and clubs, or you can gather more information about the many resources available. While meeting the various groups that work to ensure military-connected people in the area can have the best possible experience living here, vibe to tunes provided by AFN Stuttgart. Sample the various food options from kebabs, crepes, and more. Want to try your hand at archery? The Girl Scouts will have a special activity available. Several prize drawings will also take place. If your organization would like to participate, please contact the ACS front desk at 09641-70-596-3346. We would love to have you!
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By Ch. (Maj.) Mike Smith SOCAFRICA Religious Affairs Office
Across the military community, September is considered suicide prevention and awareness month. Suicide is often conceived and born within the chaos of mental illness. The mental fog gathers, in part, around existential and epistemological questions that plague the soul. The deepest questions we hear as chaplains are: “Who am I? Why am I even here? What am I supposed to be doing with my life? How did I get to this place anyway?” We entertain these questions within external forces which exacerbate these questions. These forces change from generation to generation only in appearance: technology, industry, contemporary philosophies, organizational development, changing leadership, work environments, systems, processes, and procedures. But they converge in a way that pushes a person “over the edge” into feelings of diminished worth, demoralized efforts, and devalued input. The average adult spends at least one-third of their lives at work. The environment and quality of their work-life critically affects the other two-thirds of their personal time and sleep time. The
organizational illnesses of any given unit, section, or team, work in silent collaboration with the developing mental illnesses of its members. In this way, organizational health becomes inseparable from mental health. Enter military chaplains. We are agents of faith, hope, and love both personally and organizationally. Our aim is to release healing within the mind, body, and soul thereby affecting the organization. The very presence of a military chaplain emanates opportunities for healing. Regardless of our religious tradition — Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Judaism, or Islam — each chaplain inherently carries the belief in healing, restoration, community, peace, and quality of life. Chaplains attempt to directly affect mental health and resilience along two lines of effort. First, chaplains serve to influence the culture toward a decrease in the stigma perspective. The primary risk zone for suicide in the military is the crosssection of Gen-Z and Millennials, ages 18-25. Their attention is fixated on stories, especially starring in their own stories. Within our own work in this generational spread, we’ve discovered that story overcomes stigma. By encouraging those we have helped to speak openly about their own journey, a safe space develops
in their friends and workmates allowing them to see themselves in the mental illness journeys of others. By hearing another’s story, the listener can envision their own journey of reaching out for help, hope, and healing. So, what if their stories occupied more of our public-speaking time as chaplains? We believe this storytelling domain belongs to us as chaplains! This is how we influence the culture of mental health and resilience in the military. Second, chaplains work alongside G-1 / Personnel Services to influence suicide prevention, because we believe that any such program can never succeed solely as a human resources program. Without chaplains, suicide prevention training becomes a “check-thebox” effort. We believe that psychospiritual elements genuinely influence the contributing forces mentioned above. And since story overcomes stigma, we want to advise leaders that giving priority to stories will maximize existing program efforts and resources. Do you have a story? Are you willing to share it to help overcome the stigma? If so, reach out to your unit chaplain. Tell your story to them. Then discuss how you can leverage your own journey as a story to help others see themselves as victors alongside you!
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Photo by Kmpzzz/Shutterstock.com
Chaplain’s Corner Story overcomes stigma: The chaplain perspective on suicide
Best of humanity displayed amid 9/11 aftermath Crowds of people gathered at the gates to show solidarity with the USA. By Paul Hughes USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs
On September 11, 2001, the Stuttgart Citizen reported that the Panzer water supply had been given a clean bill of health, the law center had been honored, and that excitement was building for the upcoming Volksfest. Then at 3.03 p.m. Stuttgart time, the first plane hit the Twin Towers in New York. By the end of the day nearly three thousand people would die in New York, Arlington, Virginia and Shanksville, Pennsylvania A sleepy, normal garrison day in Stuttgart, quickly turned into one of the post’s most pivotal days. The largest terrorist attack in American history, shocked the U.S., the world and would have an everlasting effect 4000 miles away at USAG Stuttgart. Changing hats Then-Garrison Commander Col. Larry Stubblefield, one year into his command, had to quickly replace his mayor hat for Army kevlar. “That first year was really like being the mayor of a city, doing all the things that a mayor would do, throwing out the first pitch, going to community events, and then all of a sudden 9/11.” said Stubblefield who is now a senior leader at the Small Business Administration. “I can’t understate the amount of concern there was. A lot of uncertainty, a lot of fear, and we switched from being an open community base, the headquarters, to really being in a defensive posture.” Stubblefield recounted a frenetic atmosphere in the days following the attacks. But when pulling out of Patch barracks to attend one of hundreds of emergency meetings, he came faceto-face with an overwhelming display of public support that stopped him in his tracks. Local residents had gathered in their hundreds at the gate. “I was doing a radio interview in the car, and this whole sea of young people were out here, waving American flags. People were holding signs saying ‘We will help you,’ ‘We are all Americans,” and ‘We stand behind you,’” Stubblefield said. “So I said ‘hey, I’m gonna have to get out here real quick.’” Stubblefield waded into the crowd and was soon
surrounded by a sea of locals, young and old alike. It was an emotional moment for the commander. “There was a lot of hand shaking and embracing,” Stubblefield said. “Just to know that they cared and that they were standing with us. I will never ever forget that.” Host nation sends support Stubblefield knew even before he reached out asking for security support, that the Germans were going to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him and thousands of Americans on post. “I asked them, will you stand with us? This is an attack against Americans, you’ve been our friends for 60 years and we need you now.” Stubblefield said at the time. The German Army, and police were already planning their response. Just ten minutes after the news of the attacks, German Soldiers and fighting vehicles were on hand to bolster post security, including a contingent of police on horseback. The Germans stood guard at the gates alongside their US counterparts day and night for weeks. Those gates, in sharp contrast to the heavy military presence, began to look like memorial shrines. The Citizen reported “flowers, candles, and notes of sympathy were carefully placed while community letters flooded in.” Local mayors expressed their support and friendship with then-Boblingen Lord Mayor Alexander Vogelsang writing to the newspaper with these words: “We mourn with the American people. Our solidarity, particular in these sad times, applies especially to the Soldiers stationed in Boblingen. Should you need our support in any form or shape, we would gladly extend it to you.” Other letters stated “Churches pray for vicCol. Larry Stubblefield tims,” and “DaimlerChrysler expresses shock.” Daimler-Chysler would later go on to donate $10 million to affected children in the states, while a school in Mohringen collected teddy bears to send to American kids. German business also held moments of silence, including a 5 minute silence at the Porsche headquarters. The Citizen reported that only the sound of sobbing could be heard. On Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. every church bell in Stuttgart rang out in unison.
I will never ever forget that.
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On post, the show must go on Undaunted by the terrorist attacks, the Stuttgart Military Community was determined to bring things back to normal — no terrorist could destroy the American way of life. In two days the students would return to class, The Citizen reported that school nurses went from class to class checking on their well being. Guidance counsellor Phyllis Smith said many students felt both “angry and sad.” But fear and anger did not paralyze the students or the community. The kids, parents, service members and civilians were able to turn their anger and sadness into a positive force. The Stuttgart cheerleaders’ fundraiser which had raised $2,300 for new uniforms was instead diverted to the American Red Cross. AAFES and the commissary kept the military police guarding the post — German and American-fed, and community members delivered home cooked hot meals around the clock. The Kelley Theater that had been on the chopping block, rather than being closed, received an infusion of $400,000 becoming a hub for expression, joy and creativity in a time of darkness. 6th Area Support Group Family life Chaplain Stephen Kelley told the Citizen he was unsurprised by the acts of generosity. “We’ve seen the worst of humanity,” Kelley said. “It’s our responsibility as Americans to show the best of humanity.”
Col. Larry Stubblefield, USA (Ret.) was the USAG Stuttgart garrison commander at the time of the attacks. In a display of solidarity he was asked for photos, among embraces and handshakes by many host nation community members, who had gathered outside the gates of Patch Barracks by the hundreds.
In the melee of public support outside the gate at Patch Barracks, then-garrison commander Col. Larry Stubblefield answers questions posed to him by Air Force Major Pierson of the American Forces Network.
This article contains excerpts from the Stuttgart Citizen archives published on Sept. 11 and 25, 2001. Contributing staff writers to these stories include Julie Ayers and Hugh McBride.
In the days and weeks following the attacks, remembrance ceremonies and vigils were held around the garrison.
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Mark Wamsler and Natalie Clarke-Knight pose for a photo.
Separated 45 years, brother and sister reunite by Marcus Fichtl USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs
When Natalie Clarke-Knight last saw her brother Mark Wamsler in the small town of Schwäbisch Gmünd just 30 miles East of Stuttgart, she was just 8-years-old and he was an infant. Both were born from different American fathers that had been stationed at the nearby Hardt Kaserne. But with one dead and the other missing, Natalie became Mark’s caregiver. That is until two months later when their entire lives were thrown upside down. “I remember I saw him every day for the first two months, I would feed him, play with him and change his diapers,” Natalie said. “Then one day I went home, and he was gone.” Mark was sent to the orphanage, and soon she was sent to her grandmother’s. Her father, who never knew she existed, had long since returned to the United States. Life with her grandmother, Natalie said, wasn’t a fairytail. “She wasn’t your sweet old grandmother,” said Natalie. “She told me ‘You’re nothing, they gave you away, because you’re a bastard.’” When Natalie turned 18, she left for America in search of her father. But first, she would stay with her mother, who had recently married another Soldier, and was stationed with him in Alaska. “If I went to the U.S., I thought, I would have a better chance of finding my father,” said Natalie. A German in America Natalie would spend just a year in Alaska with her mother, when abruptly, her mother’s husband received orders to move back to Germany. Unwilling to return to Germany without first finding her dad, she instead moved down to Georgia with a friend. 12
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That’s when reality hit her, she may never find her father — with a name like James Clarke and almost no other information to go by, the search became fruitless. “When I opened up phone book after phone book, and saw hundreds of James Clarkes I thought, ‘well this is crap.’” Natalie then began forging a life as an American. First she got her green card and a few years later her citizenship. She had moved from Georgia to Florida, and even enlisted into the military as a Patriot Missile Battery Operator. “It was an obligation I needed to fulfil,” she said about joining the military. Her four-year tour took her through Texas, Korea and a deployment to Afghanistan. With further stops post-Army in the Pentagon and Houston. She had almost settled down, almost thinking that she would never find her father, — the reason she left for America — or see her brother again.
Reunited after 45 years, brother and sister, Mark Wamsler and Natalie Clarke-Knight walk the streets of Schwäbisch Gmünd together.
Then she took a “23 and Me” DNA test, and got a match — a first cousin. They began talking and while trying to figure out how they were related. Natalie mentioned James Frederick Clarke. “‘Oh yea that’s uncle Fred!”, Natalie’s cousin exclaimed. Within minutes father and daughter spoke for the first time. Thirty-five years after setting foot on American soil to find her dad, Natalie had found him in a small town in Ohio. She hopped on a plane immediately. “There was a big banner on the side of the road saying: ‘welcome to the family.’ It was such an amazing experience,” said Natalie. “We looked like twins!” Just a few months later, Natalie’s estranged sister mentioned in passing she had her brother Mark’s full name. Natalie typed “Mark Wamsler” into the Facebook search bar.
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Photo of a young Natalie Clarke-Knight when she still lived in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany.
An American in Germany While Natalie lived with her grandmother, a young couple also in Schwäbisch Gmünd, adopted a two-year -old Mark. Unfortunately his foster father died shortly after the adoption, but his foster mother, Mark said, was loving and kind. It was the Schwabian townfolk who made his childhood tough. “When you grow up in a little Schwabian town, you feel it, that you don’t belong — that you’re different,” said Mark. “I would get into a lot of fights, and they would say: ‘It’s clear, he’s a bastard, he’s from the orphanage, of course he acts like this.’” Mark though found solace in American culture and the American Soldiers at the nearby post. “I loved watching the A-Team, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica,” he said. “I would also hang out with the Americans everyday, sometimes sneaking beer into my backpack and trading it for empty machine gun shells and American food.” One time Mark recalls, he was thrown out of a swimming pool for standing up for a Black Soldier who was being verbally abused with racial slurs. “My mom was angry,” he laughed, “But I knew I did the right thing.” Mark did make contact with his biological mom and his father’s family in the U.S. Neither experience went well, and much like Natalie at one point, was resigned to never finding anyone he could love in his lost family. Instead he focused on life in Germany, becoming a teacher for troubled youths. He even accomplished his dream of becoming a published author. Writing a young adult novel about a vampire with one tooth that has to succeed in a world that doesn’t accept him. Mark said while writing his first book, Vanara, a fantasy novel, during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he received a popup on his computer. Reunited “Hi Mark, this is your sister,” Natalie wrote to Mark in German over Facebook messenger. Mark couldn’t believe it. “It was surreal,” he said. “I was in the middle of writing about women fighting a dragon in my book, and then this woman who fought dragons in real life messaged me telling me, she was my long lost sister.” Over the next year as COVID prevented travel, Natalie said they simply talked. “I wanted him to trust me,” she said. Mark said they chatted like old friends. Then in July, as travel restrictions were lifted, Natalie booked a flight to Schwäbisch Gmünd. Natalie Clarke-Knight served They met in the town’s train station. There they in the U.S. military in the Air embraced each other for the first time in 45 years. Defense Artillery. “You’ve grown up since last time I saw you,” Courtesy photos Natalie laughed through her tears.
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Students across Stutt Story & photos by Marcus Fichtl USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs
Hundreds of kids braved first day of school butterflies and a soggy Stuttgart morning to make their way back to classes, Monday, Aug. 24. The school year is beginning much like it ended last year — masked up, but in person. Department of Defense Education Activity released an updated color-coded rubric shortly before school started outlining what levels of COVID-19 spread would constitute a shift to virtual or hybrid classes. Local DoDEA officials at a recent garrison townhall stated that those changes will be based more on what garrison incidence rates are rather than rates outside the wire.
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tgart return to class Additionally to combat the coronavirus for this school year, there were multiple vaccine drives geared toward children that vaccinated the majority of the 12-17-year-old population in the Stuttgart Military Community. These are numbers that are allowing the high school to safely play sports, hold dances, and potentially a homecoming bonfire. And more immediately, it’s allowing for an open campus, where teenagers can take their ravenous appetites to the food courts and trucks across post. Jeff Barta and his wife Laura are excited that the school year will be starting in person. A first for their daughter, Ashley, who like many military children is already attending her third school.
“The biggest part this year is that she will be in class for five days,” said Barta. “Last year we did a lot of zoom school… it was really challenging.” They added that they’re excited for their daughter’s new music teacher, who they heard is great. As the students of Stuttgart Elementary School on Panzer Kaserne waved goodbye to their parents, they began lining up behind their teachers. Many of whom were holding signs with their name and the grade they were teaching almost like they were about to give a mini-tour to the Louvre in Paris. That’s when the coronavirus seemed to melt away, allowing the kids to focus on the things they
were looking forward to this year. “Meeting New Friends!” said nine-year-old Michael. “I’m excited to go to a new school,” said ten-year old Elizabeth. Fifth Grade teacher Amy Rochowiak, who’s on her sixth year teaching at Stuttgart ES, walked up and down her line ready-students giving them words of encouragement. She said she had “good vibes” for the new school year. “I’m excited that we’re not starting virtual. I know that we’ll have a positive school year, and I have a good feeling that we’ll be in the school the whole year,” she said as she whisked her new students to their first day of class.
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Culture Corner The ‘Speech of Hope’ at 75: A legacy lives on
Stuttgart’s opera house
Photo by Bardia Khajenoori
By Bardia Khajenoori USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs
Seventy-five years ago this month, Stuttgart played host to a speech that redefined U.S. policy toward occupied post-World War II Germany, and set the framework for the future German-American partnership. Then-U.S. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes presented the “Restatement of Policy on Germany” on September 6, 1946 at Stuttgart’s opera house — the only venue in the heavily bombed city capable of hosting such a large audience. His address would come to be known as the “Speech of Hope,” where he offered Washington’s support for the country’s economic and political reconstruction and promised long-term American engagement. “We will not shirk our duty,” Byrnes said in the speech. “We are not withdrawing. We are staying here.” This commitment represented an effective change of policy, both in terms of the expected duration of the American post-World War II mission, and the U.S. perspective on how rebuilding should be undertaken. It established a contrast with the relatively swift withdrawal of American troops from Europe after World War I, and at the same time, set forth a different path from the plan offered by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. Morgenthau’s plan would have seen Germany de-industrialize and revert to a primarily agricultural country. “The Speech of Hope was important to the U.S. 16
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side and the Allies because it was a clear statement by the U.S. Secretary of State on what the U.S. policy toward Germany was, and that as long as there was an occupying force that we would be here to be a part of it,” said T. Sean Schulze, U.S. Forces Liaison Officer for Baden-Württemberg and Thuringia. “And from a German standpoint, it was important because it indicated that there was a light at the end of the tunnel — that the U.S. intended to follow through on the stated intent to permit, and even enable, Germany to rebuild civil government on its own authority and for Germans to govern themselves,” said Schulze. Indeed, Byrnes’s words were well-received by the Minister-Presidents of the three states in the American occupation zone, who responded with a joint statement: “What he elaborated in this speech... has given us new courage and new impetus for the difficult and responsible reconstruction work in which we are engaged.” The architect of Byrnes policies was General Lucius D. Clay, military governor of the U.S. occupation zone in Germany. Clay was tasked with forming a response to the address by Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov in Paris two months earlier, in which he had suggested a unified, democratic country. In truth, the devil was in the details. “It was clear to pretty much anybody who was listening that he was really talking about a communist or Soviet-style democracy, and not democracy as it would be understood in the West,” said Schulze. Byrnes’s response “put up a challenge to that Soviet
concept of the way ahead.” It also sought to resolve other disagreements between the Allies on management of the occupation. “For Germany, ‘the Speech of Hope’ laid the foundation for setting up our liberal-democratic fundamental order, for our western ties, our economic structure and for the longest lasting peace in our history,” said Erwin Teufel, Minister President of Baden-Württemberg on the occasion of the speech’s 50th anniversary in 1996. “We do not consider this day a mere symbolic, historical date, but a commitment for today and for the future.” Teufel added that he was “pleased” at the continued presence of U.S. forces in Baden-Württemberg: “No longer as occupiers, but as partners and friends.”
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U.S. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes (right) arrives in Stuttgart in 1946, met by the MinisterPresidents of the three states in the American occupation zone: Bavaria, Württemberg-Baden, and Greater Hesse. Photos by
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By Steve Smith USAG Stuttgart Emergency Manager
As the last year has clearly shown the world, a disaster can strike at any time, from global pandemic to a local natural disaster. Preparation and proper planning are key components to ensure individuals and their families make it through an emergency safely. Whether floods, fire, earthquakes or blizzards, we all live in areas that are susceptible to some sort of ecological emergency. In an effort to promote family and community disaster planning, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designates each September as National Preparedness Month. This year’s campaign theme is: “Prepare to Protect. Preparing for disasters is protecting everyone you love.” Each week throughout the month of September focuses on a different area of disaster planning, let this article help guide you. Week 1 September 6-10: Make a Plan Talk to your friends and family about how you will communicate before, during, and after a disaster. Establish a list of
phone numbers and email addresses of each family member. Make a hard copy of that list, and have each person carry it in their wallet, purse or backpack. Living overseas has additional challenges that should be planned for, such as knowing the local emergency phone numbers, and where you can go if you need help. Lastly, don’t forget about how you will contact loved ones stateside.
them to receive alerts and updates for security incidents, weather, natural disasters, base closures and other events. The Garrison’s website has easy to follow instructions to sign up for our Alert! Mass Warning and Notification System. https://home.army.mil/stuttgart/index.php/my-garrison/allservices/athoc.
Week 2 September 13-17: Build a Kit
Week 4 September 27-30: Teach Youth about Preparedness
Gather supplies that will last for several days in case of a disaster. Your kit should include: food, water, emergency lights, safety/first aid materials and medications. Update your kits and supplies based on recommendations by the CDC. Don’t forget to consider the unique needs each person or pet may have in case you have to evacuate quickly.
Talk to your kids about preparing for emergencies, and what to do in case you are separated. Reassure them by providing information about how they can get involved. Enlist the whole family in building a kit, planning the evacuation routes, and identifying a family gathering location if you become separated.
Week 3 September 20-24: Prepare for Disasters
There are many great sources for preparedness information, including our very own Garrison phone app. FEMA’s preparedness web page is www.ready.gov, The US Army has established Ready Army at https:// ready.army.mil/, The American Red Cross at www. redcross.org and The Center for Disease Control and Prevention at https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/.
Limit the impacts that disasters can have on you and your family. Know the disaster risks in your area. What do you know about the town where you live? How will you get the word of a pending emergency? USAG Stuttgart community members are also required to register for the installation’s mass warning and notification system, which will allow
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Official website: home.army.mil/stuttgart
Official community news: www.StuttgartCitizen.com
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The Big Question: How did 9/11 affect you?
It changed my perspective on what you can and cannot do freely — in other words, things we took for granted, that we can’t do anymore. I’m from New York City, and to me, it forever changed the feel of the city. — Frank Rosario
I had been in the Army two years, stationed in Mannheim. Things changed overnight, from being able to park outside your building one day to there being a required stand-off distance the next. We didn’t know much about what was going on, and we couldn’t call family or friends. But the responses made me feel more patriotic and proud to serve.
It scared us, the idea that you could be attacked on home soil, and even as a private citizen. It was devastating. Teaching junior high at the time, some of the kids were so impacted that they needed recurring talks with the school psychologist. — Rick and Vi Horsley
— 1SG Lisa Zoechbauer
I was stationed here in Stuttgart at the time. People processed the events differently, in terms of their emotions. Our Sergeant Major was running through the hallways, grabbing all the [non-commissioned officers] and telling them to pick up their weapons from the arms room, with the implication that we would be guarding the installation. Not having gone into combat before, it felt like war had come straight to us at home, when no one could imagine it so close.
I was just a kid, almost 6 years old, in the Bronx. It was devastating; everyone was lost for words. But it also showed how people can come together amid tragic circumstances. — SGT Dallas Arroyo
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— Hector Brooks
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