European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 19, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday november 19, 1992 the stars and stripes a Pago 3 posts at Heilbronn await new lives draw Down ends Long . Chapter at German City by Joseph Owen Stuttgart Bureau Heilbronn Germany a the Only customer at the local military shopping Center tuesday afternoon was a Crow strutting around the parking lot with an Acorn clenched in its beak. A Block away a braille like arrangement of dots betrayed the spot where workers had ripped the a Wharton Barracks sign off the front Gate of the army Post. The nearby . Housing area was devoid of cars and cluttered with several weeks accumulation of fallen matted leaves. Nothing moved. The Only live evidence of the army was in a City Park in the nearby Sontheim District. More than a Hundred germans and americans gathered there to hear lord mayor Manfred Weinmann 26th area support group commander col. James b. Stafford Ana others reminisce about the decades of the . Presence in the City. They also red Oak sapling As a Symbol of German american Friendship. The army has closed and released its installations in and around Heilbronn gradually this year and closed the Community officially in october according to capt. David Smith the closure team Leader. A it was painful for everybody somehow Quot a a Apsis said Hans Joachim Borner 55, the former Badener Hof Cavern motor Pool chief. Quot our workshop was excellently equipped at the end and we had to give it All Borner a German who was an army employee for 32 years said some former work mates Are having trouble letting go of the past. They trudge to the old . Posts and stare at the Gates just As some former workers haunt closed factories he said. Others have been luckier finding City jobs As maintenance workers on some posts which now serve As refugee centers. Retired col. Gill h. Ruderman who left in August and was the last military Community commander came from Colorado to attend the ceremony. During his two year tenure Ruderman saw the withdrawal of Pershing ii missiles the dispatching of 93rd signal brigade troops to the persian Gulf War and the closure of most of the Community. A i should go jogging Down this Trail right Here. Its a mile from Here to where i used to live exactly a Ruder Man said recalling his exercise regimen. He added a the people Here Are Friendly. They were very helpful during the Switz Austria a amps Filo in september 1988, a military truck leaves Camp Rcd log carrying a Pershing ii missile As protesters stand by. The installation in Heilbronn was for years the focus of antimissile demonstrations. Weinmann said he has a built in Affinity for americans because his wife Arlyn is a native of new Ulm Minn. A it pains me that the americans Are leaving because Heilbronn always has been a Garrison City a the mayor said during an interview at a Small afternoon reception for his . Guests. He traced the Community a military history to the arrival of troops in 18x7, the last full year of Kaiser Wilhelm is reign. However German american relations suffered a battering in Heilbronn that few other towns experienced. Natos 1979 decision to deploy Pershing ii inter mediate Range nuclear missiles unleashed a torrent of nationwide protest. The decision led to years of frequent and sometimes bizarre demonstrations at Camp red log the Hilltop site West of downtown where the 56th Field arty Conul maintained 36 of its 108 missiles. Police arrested hundreds of people there for blocking the Access Road. More than once an entire symphony of protesting musicians performed classical works on folding chairs outside Camp Redlegs main Gate. Some people opposed anything american. Some were local citizens demanding the return of their Wald Heide the wooded land that Camp re leg occupies to its former status As a recreation area. The controversy became a political Jan. 11, 1985, when a Pershing rocket engine accidentally ignited during a training exercise in Heilbronn killing three . Soldiers and injuring 16. An inquiry Board determined that Static electricity had caused the Accident. But painfully aware of local hostility that lingered Long after the fire . Officials decided to withdraw the Pershing from Heilbronn first after a 1987 .-soviet treaty banished them to the scrap Heap. Now some 280 Asylum seekers Are lodged temporarily at Camp re leg Weinmann said. Police have worried that right wingers might attack them especially after the refugees held a hunger strike last summer. But the City wants to eventually buy the land Loroni the German Federal government move the refugees raze the buildings and restore the earlier Par like setting. The City also plans to demolish Cavern and build apartment houses there. Workers already have renovated 270 of 600 military apartments the americans vacated in the City and new tenants will move in by Christmas Weinmann said. Wharton Barracks once the . Community Headquarters site opened in 1937 As two posts housing the German army. . Forces occupied it in 1951 and named it after Brig. Gen. James Wharton an Engineer. Just As it housed displaced poles in the years alter world War ii the Barracks now shelters about 300 Asylum seeking refugees from Romania and several african countries. The number eventually will Rise to 1,000, Weinmann said. The Post also will House City Anil county police offices a teachers advanced education Center and Federal finance ministry offices. Artillery Cavern in suburban Necka sulm also houses refugees the Only military site in the area the army has not abandoned completely is the Sicgel Sbach army depot about 10 Miles away. That will be released soon Smith said. A snags stall deployment of f-16 jets to Italy by Kevin Dougherty Kaiserslautern Bureau i he temporary deployment of six . F-16 fighting Falcons to an italian air Force base is on hold while officials resolve some Cost and technical issues according to a . European come official. Six planes assigned to the . Air forces in Europe originally were scheduled to deploy for two weeks beginning late last month said Navy cmdr. Ron Morse a Neucom spokesman. The deployment was based on an interim agreement signed about a month ago that allows the United states to station up to 12 fighters in Italy for two to six weeks at a time. Questions concerning fuel costs electrical costs associated with Basing support personnel and equipment procedures for reimbursable expenses and electric distribution Are among the issues still being hammered out by american and italian officials Morse said. A we Hope to do it quickly a Morse said. A we done to anticipate a lengthy delay on this but i can t Quantity this and better than that. The temporary agreement will permit the United states to base periodically up to a dozen fighter aircraft at Gioia Del Colle on the italian Mainland or Sigo Nella on the Island of Sicily. The initial deployment invoked Only Gioia Del Colle. Currently there Are no . Fighter planes based in the Mediterranean Region the Spanish government sent the . 401st l fighter Wing packing from its longtime Home at Torr Jon a earlier this year. . Officials had hoped to win congressional approval for construction of a base in Cro tone Italy but that plan was dashed amid the draw Dow n. Quot Croton will not be built Quot said Canadian air Loice maj. Steve wills a spokesman for the supreme Headquarters Allied Bowers Europe in Casucau Belgium. A that is a since then nato has been re evaluating its strategy for the Southern flank pondering such questions As costs and location. Gen. John m. Shark Shvili supreme Allied commander Europe Lorna to and the commander of the . European come has referred to the Southern Region its a Quot sea of instability a wills said. Shalikashvil and his predecessor Gen. John r Galvin have supported the redeployment of lighter aircraft somewhere in the Region. A a that a where Manv of the challenges lot Nai will be a wills said. T Here is no new Date Lor the initial deployment of i -16s to Gioia Del Colle and Simonella. A we still have some procedural issues that we need to work out a Morse said. Quot we Are not going to Send any aircraft Down there until they Are
