European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 7, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A amps photos by Gus Schuettler Mission accomplished conf need from Page 13 basically to stay As Long As the soviets stay and that is Likely to take Lour to five years the 11th armoured has had about 4,500 soldiers in Fulda part of a 60,000 Strong Force in Hesse the German Federal state on whose territory the fut a Gap lies. The americans in Fulda face the 60,000 soviet troops of the 8th guards army stationed around Weimar in the former East Germany. The soviet soldiers unlike the americans never patrolled the inner German Border themselves but left the patrolling to the East German Border troops. Ail in All 250,000 american soldiers Are stationed on former West German territory 60,000 of whom Are Likely to be withdrawn Over the next four or five years. The number of soldiers of the 11 the armoured will not be Cut officials say. The soviet troops in what was East Germany total 350,000. Under a recently signed German soviet agreement the soviet forces will leave Germany by the end of 1994. The 11th armoured and its 10,000 soldiers and dependents Are not among the americans being withdrawn from Germany. Quot the 11th car will probably be the one to turn out the lights if the United states leaves Germany Quot Mccord said. Though no one says so openly the reduced Mission grates on the career soldiers especially when Many of their comrades Are tasting front line service in saudi Arabia. Quot there a no sense having a bulldog if you done to let it bite once in a while Quot said come sgt. Maj. Richard Morgan at regimental Headquarters at Fulda with a tinge of longing. But if the american troops seem a bit disoriented by the sudden disappearance of the Border that used to define their Mission and the unexpected Lack of an a enemy Quot or Quot threat Quot to face at feast they can claim that the broken Fence and empty towers Are Quot evidence of Mission accomplished Quot As the commanding officer said in the units newspaper in Fulda. Oft the Eastern Side the evidence is of a Mission abandoned. The soviet soldiers Are still there to be sure but the fearsome guardians of the Empire now peddle their service hats insignia even their weapons. Officers scour the Flea markets to Stock up on bargains before they Are Page 14 the stars and stripes the View from a former East German watchtower of a onetime . Checkpoint just across the Fence. The Way it was. Shipped Back and their wives demonstrate to remain abroad. A to Gotha a City with a Large Garrison of the soviet 8th guards army 55 Miles Northeast of Fulda germans eagerly share the latest rumours about the Quot Mushkot Quot As the soviets Are popularly dubbed. At the Quot Moscow Quot restaurant in what used to be Quot Friendship House Quot near the soviet Barracks a group of German teachers Teffs of soviet officers wives at a nearby Garrison who have been leaving their husbands and looking for germans to marry they Tell of an acquaintance who bought a Kalashnikov assault Rifle for $460 and a pair of pistols for $175 each. The information cannot be verified but what is obvious is that the old Awe of the soviets has changed to disdain and pity. Quot they re starving Quot declared one of the teachers Rupert Koeber to nods from his colleagues. Quot if you come Here in the morning you la see that they be ripped up their roof timbers and have burned their furniture because they have no More  Quot the russians Are not especially loved or hated Here but everybody a Happy they re leaving Quot said Achim Bosel Quot except one Man a there a a Farmer her who s been getting gasoline from the russians by the Tan Load for decades and Selling it cheap. I Haven to had to use a Gas station for years. Nobody could touch him because they assumed higher officers were involved Quot the feelings Are different Over in Fulda. There the Quot Amis Quot As the americans Are known Are 10 percent of the population and account for a considerable chunk of the Economy. Many live in Homes rented from germans and about 500 local residents work for the . Army in All the american military pumps about $8 billion annually into the German Economy and creates jobs for about 170,000 germans. Still a poll last april by the Allensbach Institute a conservative polling organization showed that the number of Western germans who welcomed the american withdrawal was growing. As reported in the Nat tonal weekly newspaper die Zeit 49 percent of those questioned welcomed the withdrawal. A year earlier the figure was 38 percent. In 1982, it was 21 percent and in 1962,12 percent. But then the presence of the Quot Amis Quot or the Quot Mush Koteny hardly Means what it used to when the Germany were the bristling focus of the East West confrontation when . Alpha was a front line enclave where american soldiers moved about in full combat gear and visitors came for a glimpse of the trenches. The Gates have been padlocked for some eight months How and mushrooms sprout at the cracked edges of the basketball court. A the Birch Cross outside the front where an East German died Long ago trying to flee is still there. But there is also a new enclosure of posts and White Canvas set up by an unidentified peace group. On it a sign pledges to turn Quot this Point of East West confrontation Quot into an education Center Quot for demilitarization the preservation of the environment social Justice a decrease of government and worldwide  the heavy Iron Fence along the former Border is now riddled with gaping holes. Beyond massive Concrete slabs still lie angled where they once were installed to prevent East germans from crashing through the Barrier in trucks or tractors. But Hawthorn Bushes have sprouted in the track that followed the Border. Wednesday old East German Tower 100  of. Alpha s sprayed with Graffiti. Tangles of wire hang from theand the windows from the observation room at the ave been smashed. T the View of the Broad scar that was the Border aging into the distance still inspires Awe How great he Effort arid How Swift its undoing. Thing beside remains. Round the decay that colossal wreck boundless and Bare e Lone and level Sands stretch faraway. A scene along the former East West German Border Rusty barbed were fences and deserted towers