In March of 2006, my oldest son Daniel and I flew to Germany to join my husband at his first duty station. Daniel was just 18 months old and we had been waiting to join him for the past 4.5 months. It would have been longer but we decided to buy our own tickets and head over once the Command Sponsorship was done. They sent us our No fee passports about 6 weeks later.
I remember when we flew in. I didn’t know what to expect. I had never been to Europe before, I hadn’t even been out of the US unless you could mission trips to Mexico. We were tired and so ready to be back with Ben.
Ben met me at the airport and we took the train to Schweinfurt, our first duty station. I remember sitting there watching all the business people on their cell phones thinking, this is a lot like America. In some ways Germany is like America, in other ways it is completely different as I would soon learn.
We got back to our apartment which was a third floor stairwell apartment. We lived on Askren Manor which was the main housing area there. People also lived off post in government leased housing or in private housing. There was also a small section of housing on another part of the post.
The next day Ben had to work all day. I was suffering from jet lag and rather confused. I wanted to go exploring but I was a little scared to. I didn’t even know I could have walked to the Commissary. I felt silly about that.
Time passed. We got our household goods. We got our driver’s licences and Ben got orders for his first deployment. I also found out I was pregnant with Drew. I got pregnant the day we got there. This was right around the time that I started making some friends. Our FRG had a dinner a few weeks or maybe it was months before the deployment. I went and got to meet some of the other wives which was a very good thing. During the deployment we met for coffee on Mondays and did a lot of fun things together.
The deployment was long, 15 months. During that time I never left Schweinfurt other than going on a retreat to Garmich. I had Drew during the deployment and my family was able to come visit. My mom came for two months which was amazing. I got to experience two different hospitals. The first is where I gave birth to Drew and the second was where we spent almost a week when he came down with RSV at two months old.
Ben eventually came home and we spent a month in California with our families. I will always remember that trip and how nice that time was. We headed back to Germany the first week of January and I really didn’t want to go. I was kinda in a slump. I was annoyed that there was already talks of them deploying again. I didn’t like my apartment and I felt like if he did deploy then I would just go home.
But then one morning I woke up to the news that some of the brigade was moving to Grafenwoehr, two hours away. I told Ben I really want to go. We were able to. In May of 2008 we moved to a small village about 30 minutes from post called Erbendorf.
Anyway, Schweinfurt is now closed. The closing ceremony was last week. When I was there I remember hearing it would eventually happen but not for years and years. And now that time has come. It makes sense for the Army to close some of the posts in Germany. We don’t need them like we did in the past. So I get it. But it is weird to think that it will be closed and will be given back to the Germans. It is weird to think that little city will not have an US Army presence anymore. It is strange to think that if we ever go back and visit, it will be very different.
Although we moved to Graf and I was so happy about that, I will always have a place in my heart for Schweinfurt. It is where I learned to be an Army wife. It is where I figured out the Commissary, had our first experience with Military schools, found PWOC, made friends, figured out how to get through a deployment. It is where I learned about German culture, Euro and how my US life is just one way to live in this great big world of ours. It opened my eyes to things I never would have thought about before. It is also where I learned to be a Mom. Daniel was only 18 months old when we got there. In the two years that we were there he changed a lot. I think back to those years and Schweinfurt is a huge part of it.
I really liked your post. My uncle was stationed in Germany and except for a few posts state side he’s never left. He’s retired their now with his German wife and two sons. 🙂
That is pretty cool!
I’ve never been to Germany but like Holly, my Uncle was stationed there for 17 years. I think he got stationed back state side when he got divorced from his German wife. I grew up knowing him as “My Uncle that lives in Germany”
That is pretty cool! I bet he had a lot of stories.
I would love to be stationed in Europe. What a great adventure.
I hope you are able to someday 🙂
How blessed are you to have experienced beautiful Europe! I only hope we can experience it’s beauty one day was well.
It was quite the experience!
My dad was stationed in Schweinfurt for 4 years. We, my mom and brother and I enjoyed many amazing g moments there! I lived there from the age of 9-13. My dad flew medavac helicopters out of Conn Barracks. He actually flew me
to the army hospital when I had an appendicitis attack as he happened to be on duty. We lived there in 1970- 1975! Would love to return and see many of
the familiar sites. While stationed there, we camped our way through Europe when my dad had holidays. Highlight of my life!
Sherry, Nice hearing from someone who lived in Schweinfort durning the same period we did. My family was there from late 1969 untill Feb. 1972. My late Father was the CSM. I was 12 when we left. I had and older brother and two sisters, one older one younger. My best friend was Robert Eggers. I had a girlfriend for, I think a few hours one day at recess and her name was Sherry T. ( surely not) ???? she had a girl friend by the name, ?? Jackie? Mckinnley ??? maybe, not 100%…
Sherry, interesting comment. There is a possibility that your dad flew my wife and I to the Wurzburg Army Hospital when my girls were born in June, 1975. Didn’t have time to by ground ambulance, they were coming fast. The medivac picked us up at a temporary, tent dispensary set up the far end of the PX parking lot because the regular dispensary was being renovated. The twins were born about 5 minutes after landing on the medivac pad at the hospital. Also, several times, the medivac unit furnish a helicopter for our skydiving club. Could be that he was one of the pilots that flew us. Great memories.
My father was stationed in Schweinfurt in April of 1968 and since no quarters were available we went to live with my grandmother in Straubing. We moved into temporary quarters in September of that year. The building overlooked the elementary school where I attended 5th grade, and the power plant. My sister went to the 7th grade in Wurzburg. We watched the live moon landings in summer of 1969, then it was off to Schilling Manor housing area for the dependents of service members serving in Vietnam. Was a beautiful experience! I was a bit crestfallen when I saw that during the last few years of Askren Manor a fence with guard posts was constructed around the place.
Julie,
I read your story and it resonated with me. I moved to Schweinfurt in 1984 to join my husband. He had been there for a year before I joined him. I was barely 19. A few months later we welcomed our first daughter. She was born in Wurzburg. We never lived on base. However, we did like in a beautiful apartment in the little town across from Conn Barracks. It was called Obervern. We PCS’d to Ft. Polk, LA in 1986. My husband went on to retire from the military. He now works for the DOD and I work for the Veteran’s Administration. I hope all is well. It’s nice to know we were all in this together.