Goodbye, Rhein-Main

So, it's been a long time coming, but today marks the final good-bye to Rhein-Main AFB near Frankfurt. I might have flown commercially to Germany, but for me too, Rhein-Main was my first stop upon arriving, as it had been for thousands of personnel before me. And with the goodbyes come the recollections of Rhein-Main's role in the Berlin Airlift (1948-1949). Up until its ultimate closure, Rhein-Main was a place to grocery shop, to pick up a can of paint at the BX or something to eat at Subway...but the historical significance of these places aren't totally lost on me: every once in awhile, it gives me an eerie feeling when I realize that the places I take for granted every day, like my neighborhood (which, ironically, is about 20 minutes from where the Hindenburg made it's final departure) they were all part of a war, once, not too long ago. It's amazing to live here now, so long after the war, when many of the physcial reminders of the war have been covered: cathedrals rebuilt, airfields renamed. And Rhein-Main, too, will be changed. The bases' ultimate fate? Following its handover to the German government, it will become an expansion terminal for Frankfurt Airport. To read more about the final goodbye to Rhein-Main, click here: http://stripes.com/article.asp?article=32131