2 U.S. soldiers reported killed at German airport.

[Kevin Palmer]

Man,,,



What the H#!! is going on...



Limited info just yet, but they were shot and killed on the airport grounds.



Sounds like they were transiting just like any other passenger...

 

[Mark K 2]

The Air Force certainly didn't attempt to make their vehicle blend in with the local traffic. It was a fricking American Blue Bird school bus painted in Air Force colors. Talk about sticking out like a sore thumb. A better plan may have been to charter local buses to make it more difficult for nut jobs to identify a target.

 

[TrainTrac]

Gee, and here's a shocker: The shooter is a Muslim, and yelled "Allah Akbar!" before shooting. Who'd a thunk it?



And the President said "the government will 'spare no effort' to determine why a gunman fatally shot two American airmen and wounded two others at the commercial airport in Frankfurt."



Really? :banghead: Seriously? :banghead: :throwup:

 

[user 64972]

And the President said "the government will 'spare no effort' to determine why a gunman fatally shot two American airmen and wounded two others at the commercial airport in Frankfurt."

Apparently the community organiser doesn't have a clue? Duh!

 

[Nelson Atwell]

My mind is preoccupied with this and my thoughts go out to my fellow airmen. However, I am amazed at the coverage given this incident. If this had happened at their destination in the desert somewhere, these two deaths would have just been added to the long list of casualties with hardly any mention. Does our CINC go on national TV every day when we have fallen troops. No, he doesn't.



I was offered this shuttle for my last medical TDY from Frankfurt to Ramstein in January. They won't pay for rental cars on medical TDYs. I paid $50/day for a rental car out of my own pocket. Not only are these vehicles an easy target for "nut jobs", but I also don't trust a 20-something year old driver on the autobahn with a 20 year old bus which isn't equipped with seat belts.

 

[Johnny O]

I'm shocked, shocked I say!

 

[H D]

And the President said "the government will 'spare no effort' to determine why a gunman fatally shot two American airmen and wounded two others at the commercial airport in Frankfurt."

The "why" in that statement is the most troubling. He's already looking for a way to excuse the act. As if knowing why he did it can somehow help us understand if those airmen deserved it to some degree.



A more proper response would be "the government will spare no effort to determine how to bring to justice the gunman..."

 

[Johnny O]

The word came down from the Oval Office a while ago that using the words "Muslim" and "terrorist" in the same sentence is forbidden. ----V

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Nelson,,



Sad to say you are correct..



I am glad this didn't get buried, but you are right in saying those in harms way in the "sand-box" deserve the same respect and treatment.



Like you, I paid for a taxi out of my pocket for just over 6 months when I was in Bahrain due to hand grenades being tossed into our buses...

 

[Steve McKellop]

I think "you-know-who" needs to take a ride in the blue bus..............:angry:

 

[Richard L]

Germany's Frankfurt (Rhine Main) Airport consists of a civilan airport on one side of the runways, and an American Air Force Base on the other side. Most military personel arrive and depart from the military air terminal on the Air Base side, but I have arrived once on a civilian flight on the civilian terminal side and had to take a military bus to the military side of the air port.



Since the news reports have not stated exactly where the attack took place we don't know if it was on the civilian side or the Air Base side. However typically you would see military buses transporting military personel to and from the military air terminal rather than the civilian air terminal. Often times, the military buses are used to transport military personel to the local train station (Bohnhoff) in downtown Frankfurt where they board civlian trains for transportation to their units scattered all around Germany and Europe.



If this incident happened on the Air Base side, I would question how this young man was allowed access to the Air Base. My guess is that the attack occurred outside the gates of the Air Base and perhaps on the civilian air terminal, or on one of the access roads around the Airport complex.



Back in the early 1970's there were several bombings on military installations in Germany attributed to the Badder-Meinhoff gang. During that time, they bombed a military installation in Heidleburg, Germany where I was stationed, and they also bombed Rhine Main Air Base in Frankfurt where this resent attack occurred. Of course, security was tightened and I assumed has remained high in light of all that has happened around the world since then.



...Rich

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Richard,



Rhein-Main closed about ten years ago. There no longer is an air base in Frankfurt. The attack took place at Terminal 2, according to the news reports I have read. The news states they were a security forces group arriving from Lakenheath. They were being transported to Ramstein to board a flight to Afghanistan. The driver and another Airman from Lakenheath were killed. Two others from Lakenheath were injured, one seriously.



Here is the latest news on this:

 

[Richard L]

Thanks Nelson,

Gee, you leave a place 28 years ago and they go and change everything... What's this world coming to?? :grin:



...Rich

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Just in case you didn't know, they tore that wall down in Berlin too.



My wife Teresa is still talking about our honeymoon trip to Berlin with her friends. She wasn't able to see Brandenburg Gate the time before when she was there (30 years ago). When she got there, she had to verify which direction the tails of the horses were facing. When she saw that they were facing to the West, she thought it was funny. She always assumed they would be facing towards the East (towards Russia).

 

[Richard L]

Nelson,

Yes, I heard the rumors that they tore down the Berlin wall over 20 years ago...but just assumed they were rumors...:grin:



I have been to the East German border at a little town called Hof. Military personal were normally not allowed within 5Km of the border, but the military gave guided tours of the border around Hof but you had to apply and get permission. I actually stood on the edge of a small bridge over a small creek that had the Eastern half blown off. The border was in the middle of the creek and I was standing within about 50 ft of an East German guard tower...No fence, no wall or nothing, just armed guards..



I was never allowed to go to Berlin because of my job and security clearance, so Hof was my only opportunity to see the old "Iron Curtain" that separated East and West Germany.



I had planned to go back to Europe this past year, but ended up buying a new house and retiring instead. I am still looking forward to going back either this year or next.



Thanks for the updates.



...Rich

 

[Nelson Atwell]

No problem. My wife asked if we could fly out of Templehof about a month ago, when I told her about the military Space-A flights. Of course, that airfield is also closed.