On July 3rd Mary Ann, Natalie, Rudi, and I were at Kleber Barracks in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Our Swiss Angel Natalie came with us for the first time. She lives near Landstuhl Hospital. Here's Maryann’s story about our visit.
http://www.iraqwarnews.net/2005_07_08_iraqwarnewstoday_archive.html
While sitting at the picnic table outside Kleber Barracks, I noticed a soldier standing nearby in BDUs who seemed to be listening intently to our conversation. A few minutes later I had to drive off post with another soldier to the gas station to buy something. When I got back a lot of the soldiers were hungry so I was busy for a while unpacking our picnic baskets. We had a lot of German food with us: Rudi's special noodle salad, a delicious Bauernbrot (farmer bread), housemade sausages (means Wurst), canned liverwurst, Blutwurst (blood sausage), and more.. (http://www.germandeli.com/meatsseafood.html) .
When I was done I sat down again to eat something myself and noticed I was sitting next to that soldier in cammies. When I looked on his left arm I saw his unit patch - WOHOW I thought!
http://www.mil.state.or.us/newsletters/116BCT/v5e22_SnakebitesWV.pdf
A snake! And the first thing I thought of was the Snake River and Oregon and Matthew Braddock's Purple Heart ceremony! So I asked the Soldier, "that a snake?" He answered, "Yes Ma'am it is! I am from the National Guard. The 2nd Battalion, 116th Armor Cavalry, was originally constituted on 4 March 1920 in the Idaho National Guard as the 1st Cavalry. It organized between March-November 1920 in the valley of the Snake River."
And I said, "I am Willie! I was in Oregon in April 2005 at Matthew Braddock's Purple Heart ceremony." And he said, "Me too!" WOHOW! Sgt. Calvin J.S. then said, "We met there but I wasn't sure if it was you, so I didn't say anything! Great to see you again -- wow, small world! I’m in Matthew’s unit. I’m going back soon to my guys in Iraq. They’re waiting for me. It’s not good that I’m here and my guys are in Iraq.”
We talked about Matthew how he has now learned to walk without crutches and so on...Here is the story about Matthew. http://soldiersangelsnetwork.blogspot.com/2005/05/soldiers-angels-at-matthew-baraddock-s.html
Heidelberg is a charming city in southwestern Germany and its world-famous Castle (mainly 14th-17th century) sits high above the city and the picturesque Old Town is breathtakingly beautiful! Heidelberg is one of the most impressive historic landmarks of Germany. The castle is called the "red-walled castle" and is an old, partly destroyed Schloss located in the hills on the eastern side of the old university city of Heidelberg. Steeped in tradition, this town is home to seemingly contrasting worlds. This makes it exciting and keeps it "young at heart." It stands both for Germany's oldest university and modern research facilities. It also stands for historic streets and a lively university atmosphere and the longest and one of the most attractive pedestrian zones in Europe. Heidelberg is a place you must see!
Isn't it a nice place to relax! About only 45 minutes from the Kleber Barracks.So, since I had the next day off work I asked Calvin, “Would you like to go to Heidelberg? I would like to show you something from my wonderful country!” And he answered quickly, “Yes that would be great!” Rudi said to him, “My wife can you pick up at 11 am at the South Gate.” But Calvin answered, “Too late - at 7am! The days are so short here.” We finally agreed on 9am, which was still pretty early for me because I need 1.5 hours to drive to Kleber during the morning rush hour.
We met at 9am at the gate, although I was a bit late due to all the traffic. Calvin was waiting at the gate. As I drove up with my red Nissan 240 SX he called out, "Is that you?" And our wonderful day began!
So we went to Heidelberg. It was so hot that day I cannot tell you. On the way there in the car I told him something about our wonderful Pfalz-Rhineland region. For more Information about the Rhineland see: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/r/rh/rhineland-palatinate1.htm.
Calvin kept saying, "It looks like Oregon here! I feel at home! No one will believe this! The green hills and fields! So far from my home in Oregon!" He told me, "I’ve never been to Germany or Europe. I have never visited a castle! I’ve never sat outside a sidewalk café with a cup of coffee…" Before Calvin and I enter the castle grounds, we had to walk around the gardens to the hill, go through the stone gates, and then on the side of the castle is a lookout where we could see all the way down the Neckar river. Heidelberg is the headquarters from the US Army Europe, too. http://www.heidelberg.army.mil/sites/about/city.asp
And now a little bit of history about Heidelberg castle. It was Prince Elector Ruprecht III (1398 - 1410) who had the first representative building as a regal residence in the inner courtyard built. The exterior of the building, divided into a ground floor made of stone and framework upper levels, seems quite unpretentious today. Another regal building is located opposite to the Ruprecht Building: the Fountain Hall. Prince Elector Philipp (1476 - 1508) is said to have arranged the transfer of the hall's columns from a decayed palace of Charlemagne to Heidelberg. The Prince Electors of the 16th and 17th century turned the fortress into a castle and added two representative palace buildings to the complex. The two dominant buildings at the eastern and northern side of the courtyard were erected during the rule of Ottheinrich (1556 - 1559) and Friedrich IV (1583 - 1610). Today, they are considered to be two of the most important buildings in German architectural history. Under Friedrich V (1613 - 1619), the main building of the westside was erected, the so called "English Building".
The Castle and its gardens were destroyed, however, during the 30 Years' War. Later, it was rebuilt by Prince Elector Karl Ludwig (1649 - 1680), only to be destroyed once again by French troops. Prince Elector Karl Theodor who resided in Schwetzingen tried to restore the castle to make it inhabitable once again, but in vain: Lightning struck the Castle in 1764. In the centuries that followed, the Castle was misused as a quarry - castle stones were used to build new houses in Heidelberg. This was stopped in 1800 by Count Charles de Graimberg who made any effort he could to preserve the Heidelberg Castle. In spite of its Gothic interior, it was not before 1934, that the King's Hall was added. For more information see http://www.cvb-heidelberg.de/e553/e862/e863/index_eng.html
As we walked around we visited the castle's Otto Heinrich wing houses where there is a large pharmaceutical museum. Later, in the cellar of Heidelberg Castle we saw a barrel, containing the famed Heidelberg Tun, a wine vat with a capacity of 220,017 liters (58,124 gallons). Can you imagine you that full of wine? The present day barrel was constructed in 1751 from 130 oak tree trunks. It is 8.5 meters across and 7 meters high with a dance floor on top. It was built under Karl Theodor, and a baroque plaque bears his initials.
Calvin kept saying "what a beautiful and breathtaking place to visit." It was great, and the old castle really is amazing!
Anyway, one of Calvin's dreams was to sit in a café. So after we visited the castle we sat at the small Castle Café just outside the South gate under a large old tree. Here he tried his first strong German coffee with a German apple pie (gedeckter Apfelkuchen). He loved it. After our stop we went into the old town just below the castle to soak up the surroundings. When we arrived at the Korn Marketplace we visited Old Town Heidelburg with its small shops, old church and wonderful coffeehouses. We had to stop there at another café and order a second strong coffee. It really is a wonderful experience, just to sit on the sidewalk, watch the people, talk and relax! Suddenly, the weather changed dramatically! A thunderstorm was coming. So we moved inside the café. After the rain stopped and we went to the car to drive further to Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, and Bad Dürkheim.
Bad Dürkheim is located in the mildest climatic zone north of the Alps. Situated only 30 minutes from Heidelberg, this historic health resort, which can trace its history back well over a thousand years, nestles in the area where the eastern hills run into the Palatine Forest, one of the largest nature parks in Germany. Today the spa town and is one of Germany's largest wine-growing districts. It offers not only Mediterranean climate with southern flair, numerous castles and fortresses, but also the proverbial cheerful nature of people from the Palatinate. The town is situated on the German "Weinstrasse", or wine trail.
Finally we were in Bad Dürkheim. We had lunch here in the wonderful old Restaurant Dürkheimer Faß (Faß means Barrel). I ordered us both a typical German meal: A paar of Rhineland Palatine fresh pork sausages (Bratwurst) with Bratenjus, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes. When Calvin tried it he said, “What a delicious flavor!”
Normally you need a doggy bag at this restaurant, but we both licked our plates clean! After lunch we drove back through the rain to Kaiserslautern.
Fortunately I had backpack for Calvin with a blanket (the transport airplanes are so cold), a sleep mask and earplugs! It also contained underwear, socks, Tshirt, personal items, candy, and get well cards.
We both had a wonderful time - and one of our Heroes had a wonderful day, a wonderful Happy 4th of July 2005!
If you would like to help us provide Transitional backpacks for our next visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany please send me an e-mail: http://us.f812.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=josephinefs2654@gmail.com. In the past 4 weeks we brought 40 backpacks to Landstuhl and fulfilled a request for phone cards from a Major from the Army National Guard Liaison Office. In Kleber Barracks the soldiers can use free Internet and make free phone calls from the common rooms. But in the Landstuhl Hospital the wounded who cannot leave their beds need calling cards in order to call their family and loved ones! Phone cards are really needed for the soldiers in Landstuhl!
Angels here in Germany Manfred, Rudi, Willie and Irene!
If you would like to donate phone cards or other items for the backpacks please email Willie for the shipping address. Please include your first and last name and your home address on the e-mail. This way we know who sent things.
In the Kleber barracks from left:Therese, Nita, Kathy Gregory, Fisher House Landstuhl, Mary Ann and Irene
If anyone would like to help MaryAnn prepare our next visit in the Kleber Barracks contact her by email
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