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Carlo Angerer / NBC News
Hans Gritzbach, has had a connection to the American military installation near his home in Heidelberg, Germany for over 60 years. "I owe a lot to the Americans. They paved the way for what I am today," he said.
HEIDELBERG, Germany – For more than 26 years, Hans Gritzbach has been taking care of a little garden outside the building of the U.S. Army's European headquarters.
The military installation has been part of Gritzbach's lifeblood for more than 60 years.
But when the leaves begin to fall in the autumn of 2013, the U.S. Army is scheduled to shut down its Campbell Barracks in Gritzbach's home city.
For the 86-year-old German, an era will come to an end with the U.S. troop pullout.
"I owe a lot to the Americans. They paved the way for what I am today," the widower said in a soft, choked voice.
From refugee to part of a community
With all of his belongings in no more than a cardboard box, Gritzbach arrived in Heidelberg in 1947, shortly after the end of World War II. He was a “displaced person” or refugee. His family was expelled from what used to be Czechoslovakia because they belonged to a minority group of ethnic Germans.
When he arrived in post-war Germany, the young man had no work training and no profession, but he was given a job with the U.S. forces in Heidelberg.
Over the course of his 39-year career as a civilian employee with the U.S. Army in Europe, he worked as a quartermaster, in the finance department and the engineering division.
As the U.S. military in Europe shrinks, it leaves behind many friends in Germany. "It makes me sad because friends are leaving," said Hans Gritzbach, 86, choking back tears. "And now at my age, looking back, I realize that the Americans were wonderful people." NBC's Andy Eckardt reports.
After he retired, Gritzbach stayed on with the military community and took up volunteer work with his wife, Hilde, who passed away five years ago.
Weather and health permitting, the German visits his "American friends" three to four times a week to water the plants, do some weeding and simply engage in some small talk.
But now, his rose bushes, as well as the flowers and shrubs from the little garden he’s tended all these years, are being given new homes in local backyards before the military installation shuts down completely.
Troop reduction
Since the end of the 1980s, the U.S. Army in Europe has divested more than 570 military installations, including military barracks, housing areas and isolated radar positions.
By 2015, more major garrisons are expected to be returned in Germany – Heidelberg, Mannheim, Bamberg and Schweinfurt – which the Army says will save $300 million per year.
Carlo Angerer / NBC News
Daniel Welch, has been working for the U.S. military as a "local national employee" in Heidelberg, Germany since 1980 and expects to lose his job next year.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon announced defense cuts of $487 billion over the next decade, as the United States seeks to move to a smaller, leaner and more agile force, putting a new strategic focus on the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
The Defense Department in January said that it would remove two of the four U.S. combat brigades stationed in Europe as part of its military restructuring.
Long gone are the demands of the Cold War, when the Soviet bloc and the United States faced off across the walls, fences and barbed wire of the Iron Curtain.
"Now we are trying to become more effective and more efficient in terms of cost savings, by consolidating and by combining garrisons," the commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, Lt.Gen. Mark Phillip Hertling, told NBC News.
Impact on German economy
Yet, for many local hires the drawdown will have severe consequences.
55-year-old Daniel Welch, who has been working for the military as a “local national employee” since 1980 and runs the Army’s environmental division in the greater Heidelberg area, expects to lose his job next year.
"I still have a mortgage to pay off and my daughter is planning to go to college in the U.S., I will need to find a new job somewhere," Welch said.
Back in 1954, his American father met his German mother in Heilbronn during his first deployment to Germany.
"Of course it is emotional," said Welch. "Part of you is closing. The school I attended, the housing area where I grew up, even the church where my parents got married, all closed, all gone."
NBC News speaks with citizens from around the globe, asking the question, 'What Does America Mean to You?'
City officials in Heidelberg expect annual financial losses of up to $25 million, as a result of the closures of U.S. bases in the region.
"We estimate that a total of about 1,000 civilian jobs will be lost, when the nearly 8,000 service members pull out," said Diana Scharl, a spokesperson for the city of Heidelberg.
At the auto dealership across the street from the military installation, the future looks grim too. Fred Ambrosio, 62, expects to close his Liberty Car sales in Heidelberg by September 2013. Like many local businesses, he tailored his car dealership to U.S. customer needs – and with regular troop rotation intervals over the past decades, his business was doing well.
But now, the immediate future does not look rosy.
"The closures in and around Heidelberg have been a real hardship on my income. I have lost about 60 percent of my turnover, and every month it is getting worse," Ambrosio said.
Fred has come up with a backup plan and will move his business and six employees to Grafenwoehr, where the U.S. Army still maintains its largest training facility in Europe.
Emotional farewell
But while many locals have been able to prepare for the changes and some have already found new jobs, it is still a difficult farewell for most.
"The military installation in Heidelberg was like a second home to me and my wife," said Gritzbach, the retiree. He started to cry as he talked about the memories of the “good old days.” He cut three roses to put on his wife's grave and waved good-bye as he walked off.
"It is so sad. I have gone through many bitter phases in my life, but this will be one of the most emotional and most difficult farewells of all," Gritzbach said.
This story is part of a series by msnbc.com and NBC News "What the World Thinks of US". The series aims to check the pulse on current perceptions of America's global stature during the election year and ahead of our annual Independence Day.
Share your thoughts about this story and our series on Twitter using #AmericaMeans
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One man's mission: Promote Chinese patriotism in the face of Western onslaught
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Not all Thais are Gaga about America
Family moves from the Bronx to Jerusalem, but US remains land of 'liberty and freedom'
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Afghans are 'no different from any American
Leave a Comment:
Lets do some downsizing in Pakistan/Afghanistan.
I will acknowledge that I am an old man now for the most part; however, I do not feel that I amstupid, yet for some reason when ever I read this particular forum I for some reason always feel as thouI have missed something, that being that there are always posts that state “collapsed by the community.” My question is thus: who decides what is “collapsed by the community” and further more, who decides what the community is comprised of and by whom is it comprised? I humbly ask this in order to learn. I read and see where it says “collapsed by the community” yet when I read most of them I see nothing that offends me anymore than most of the others! Would one of you GURUS please share with an ole country boy what the hell gives?
This is not just about Germany: this is about the fact that our military has been downshized but yet on the worlds borders: and not ours...amazing is it not!ILLEGALS, illegitimates =DREAM ACT= BE TRAYAL of US Military DEAD: which illegitimates has stolen your family, neighbor's seat in our TAX PAID UNIVERSITIES?
Then simultaneouslyThe COMMUNIST CHINESE are building the over billion person army: and we are owned by them--and there won't be any takeovers. or nationalizations of their companies in the USA..like other nations have done to the USA.
What next?
It is time to get out and save some money. Yeah I know some Germans will lose thier jobs but probably not as many as Americans lost in the last 20 years with base closings right here at home. For instance Austin's Bergstrom airport used to be an Air Force base that was shut down in 1993 among several base closures. A couple thousand people lost there civilian jobs there. Soooooooo it happens and better there than here. Let's also start getting out of Afghani$t@n also,.
It is time that we stop trying to rule the world. Wasting our resources on overseas adventures is ruining the US. We should focus our efforts on improving things here at home. Let Europe , the Japanese and Koreans defend themselves. We spend 1 1/2 trillion a year on "defense" and can't or wont provide decent healthcare for our citizens. Eisenhower was right!
CLOSING CAMPBELL BARRACKS?
Let's be clear: We ARRIVED in Germany on account of the Nazis. We've STAYED in Germany on account of the Soviets and so many other threats in the region.
I've read and studied a LOT of fmr. Prime Minister W.L.S. Churchill. While cutting costs is a good thing, I'm not sure a draw-down to zero is wise.
Sign me: K.O.; alumnus, ODCSPER, Campbell Barracks, 1985-'87.
It is not good bye! I will always be a citizen of West Berlin. Believe I earned that. May need a passport to get there, but doubt I would need on while in Berlin.
I spent the better part of my 14 years in the Army; serving in Germany. But since it seems that the Russians are no longer a threat to Westen Europe, the consolidation of Force may not be such a bad idea. Since we need a Forward Operating Base, to rotate in and out of. But the idea of Nation Building and what not, is obserd. The original reason we went to Afganistan/Pakistan; was to persue Bin Laden. We owe those "Soveriegn Countries" nothing. Fore if they would have been able to control their "Gang Bangers" we would not be there in the first place. Some body over at State needs to show the tapes and remind those leaders over there why we are there. Remind Pakistan that they were the ones hidding Bin Laden.
I don't know Francis. I think Kommrad may be back. They hold the heating oil key.
I'm sure the Germans appreciated the American dollar coming into their country. My own experience of meeting Germans in other countries, was they resented us, we will always be Ugly Americans to them. Our days of being Big Brother to the world are over, we can't solve our own problems, much less other countries' problems. MR. PRESIDENT, CONGRESS, WHOEVER, STOP SENDING MY TAX DOLLARS TO OTHER COUNTRIES!!!
I was stationed in Southern Germany for 8 years. I still have good friends there in a small village who we'll be seeing in about a month. They aren't happy with allot of the changes taking place in Germany and Europe. Last time we were there they commented on how Russian immigrants are stealing them blind. They like Obama. If he wins again they'll need to brush up on their Russian.
Shut all permanent bases outside of north america down and bring the troops home to do needed work here.
What is really staggering is the amount of energy it takes to feed the US war machine ~ Convoys of trucks that get 3 miles per gallon, tanks that use gallons per mile ~ ships that if ported instead of patrolled could power entire states for a week. We need a strong, sizable, present military force, but there are definately things that need to be done to make the force more sustainable.
Or, instead of liberating oil producing nations like Iraq and leaving ~ act like a true empire and instead of allowing US corporations to do business there take those resources as a national interest. If the liberals think the wars are only about oil, why arent we proving them right and just taking what we've won?