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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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Bye, bye, GI: Deep impact for many Germans as US troops downsize
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One man's mission: Promote Chinese patriotism in the face of Western onslaught
In South Africa: 'My head says China is number one, my heart says America'
Not all Thais are Gaga about America
Family moves from the Bronx to Jerusalem, but US remains land of 'liberty and freedom'
Palestinian: US supports 'an apartheid system that is suffocating us'
Afghans are 'no different from any American
Leave a Comment:
The two years I was stationed in Germany (89-91) were some of the best times I've had in my life. The German people were kind, gracious, and very hospitable to us GI's. Auf Wiedersehen.
The Germans will survive just fine without the Americans, just as the Filipinos have. Japan should be next.
This is the first step in passing the baton to the next two world heavyweights who will wind up fighting it out: China and the Islamic world. I for one, am glad to sit on the sidelines and watch them waste themselves on each other the way this country has been doing for the last 65+ years. Being "Number One, rah rah rah..." has gotten old.
We should have closed them years ago. The US has around 900 military bases around the world. Interesting that the right-wing love to complain about government spending (although their administrations have been the culprits) but they proceed to not let military spending be cut so they can pretend they are strong on protecting America.
It is also interesting that both major world wars were won by Democrats in the White House - Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The Republican Party is th emost deceitful and lying party ever assembled in America. It takes Democrats to win wars. And Republicans for starting wars that are unwinnable - think Iraq and Afghanistan, and their secret wars in Central America (thank you Ronald government deficit balooner Reagan).
The Democratrs are the Party of "Cut and Run" and currently the Party of "NO" thanks to Harry Reid
The Democratrs are the Party of "Cut and Run" and currently the Party of "NO" thanks to Harry Reid
i say we should go to war with Germany
Who is Germeny attacking that we should join them. They have better leaders than we do and also have a better and more stable economy.
my ancestors are German so i still say attack Germany just for fun.
and steal the sauerkraut
Actually the Democrats have quite a record of getting the US into wars that we should not have been in.
This is nice but, for the most part the Germans love American people and they are not blowing up our your men with ied's. Bring our troops home from the war front in Iraq and Afghanistan FIRST.
The posts in here seem to be all about democrats and republicans, must be a election year!!!!!
Well Mitt is worried about the SOVIET Threat
Was stationed in Kitzingen with A Co 3rd Aviation Battalion during 1978-1981. Loved it over there. Most if not all the people that I met were wonderful. Would go back in a heartbeat. With that being said, I did meet a lot of younger Germans that hated the U.S. Forces and didn't want us there. We also had to put up with threats from the Red Brigade and Bader-Meinhof. At that time it seemed to be "GI go home". We couldn't because of the Soviet threat. Now however they seem to be crying because we're leaving. They'll have no jobs, they're economy will suffer. Reminds me of the of the old adage of "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it."
The Department of Defense is doing the same thing in the Pacific as far as stationing troops. They even have started a foothole in Africa. Can you imagine been a soldier in Africa in the year 2012 or 2013 and die with a spear in your chest? Re-up. Re-up screams the Re-up bird. The Green weenie wants to be your friend. Get that 4 years left on your enlistment back to 6 years to show your loyalty.
My ancestry is German, I have German friends currently, have had a German exchange student live with me for a year, as well as having lived in Germany. I feel a real affinity with the German nation. My husband was in the Air Force and we lived in Weisbaden for two years. I felt like I was leaving home when we returned to the states. I enjoyed reading about Hans Gritzbach and am wondering if you can share an address so that I might correspond with him. It's sad to see one have to make such an adjustment at this stage of his life.
I spent 27 months in Germany as a US soldier during the height of the cold war 1958-1960, 16 months in Berlin !
I came to love and care for those people and liked them much better than any other European !
No complaining and a work ethic that is now sustaining the rest of Europe !
And had we not been In Berlin it would have been totally occupied by the USSR !
Xmarine should stick to being a grunt !
I spent some of my best days of my youth at Patton and Tompkins barracks in and around Heidelberg. Sometimes the people aspect of change can be a bit sad but necessary. Even back then I wondered what the transition would be like knowing that one day we would move out. Still we will need some military facilities for logistics purposes. The same goes for every-other nation we have military camps located. With todays technology we can deploy faster and so.....
Life is a bitch and then we all wake up and smell the roses.
Was stationed with the 3rd Inf Dvi in Schweinfurt in the 80's and had a great time, but it's time for us to leave which should've happened years ago!
"to Hell and Back Sir!"
Maybe we can use the savings to offset some of the huge Obama tax hikes just around the corner.
I, for once, thoroughly enjoyed this article. The story on the kind, old man was touching. It was a memory lane, of sorts, for me, taking me back to my first duty station, which included on duty time at Hiedelberg. Practically speaking, the closures do make sense - Germany's long been where many soldiers' were stationed almost in name only, as they've been deployed from there to Macedonia (Never heard of that one? Been going on for about twenty years. I guess there's money to be made there, too.), Croatia, the Gulf, etc., often for virtually all of their "Germany" tours. But I was one of the last of the lucky ones who actually got to live and work in Germany. The cities were so clean there, most of them quiet each night. I was surprised to see (often lucky enough to have the views from helicopters) how rural and beautiful a country it is. And the people could become so kind and close, once you got to know them. Thanks for a somewhat sad, but touching story, msnbc.
I have fond memories of my time in Germany wonderful people. But time does move on and over time hopefully things will get better. I have no negative feelings but I know the world is full of them. So sad what a way to live full of hate that's what causes problems.
World War Two ended a long time ago and there has been no need for stationing US troops in Germany. During the Cold War, the troops stationed in Germany were pretty much told that if the Russians attacked, then their dead bodies would justify a war against Russia.
Tired of us maintaining military bases abroad and feeding other countries economies while our economy stinks and our national debt grows.
I was in Germany with my Dad in the late 60s. I also served in Germany in the late 80s to early 90s. It was an excellent experience for me. I had actually hoped to eventually earn one of the civilian postings there in a few years.
The United States was good for Germany. Germany was good for most of us. Of High School classmates (with which I just returned from a 40 year reunion earlier this month), all of us enjoyed our experience of going to school in the DOD schools. The general feeling of our spouses was that they envied the experience which we had. My wife now wants me to take her there simply based on what my classmates told her. Many others want to go there now as well. Of comrades in the local veteran's groups, they overwhelmingly enjoyed being stationed there. The only one who was negative about the Germans had a different experience, that being a Prisoner of War for the last 13 months. For most of us though it was a wonderful opportunity. I learned German and am a choice substitute teacher for the schools which have German on their curriculum. I would not have been able to do that without learning it in High School and improving it over my service there.
Perhaps we need to bring some of Our Legions home but we should also keep a presence in Germany as well. Germany contributes to our ability of Global Projection. Another thing, our presence there contributes to keeping Americans and Germans close. If we were to not be there for 2 or 3 generations, we would lose that closeness. Folks, many of our soldiers serving overseas are probably better ambassadors for our country than any polished diplomats. Some of us bring back German spouses. Others of us choose to live out our later years in Germany keeping family members in both countries. It would be best to keep that going.
With the wars going on in the Middle East, Germany was a very important transfer point for badly wounded troops that needed medical care. If more countries were like Germany in today's world we would all be much better off.
Amen! And Germany is still important. Without the military hospital at Landshut, our military forces would literally be up the creek!!
Bring them all home. We spend 600 and something billion a year on our military the next highest spender is China at 19 billion. Bring them ALL HOME NOW!!!!!!!!!
That is all.
These Germans say they are sorry to lose their jobs. Well so are the people here in the U.S. welcome to the unemployment line. We have been in europe way, way, too long and have spent too much of our money there. Europe is wealthy enough to take care of themselves now. Now to get out of Afghanistan and the rest of the countries we have bases. Stop all Foreign aid and take care of Tired Old Uncle Sam for a change. Uncle Sam is battered and his pockets are empty.
Having spent some 18 months in Heilbronn on the Neckar River ( just up stream from Heidelberg) during the mid-50's I can only say the people were by and far very friendly. This was only some 10 years post WWII and the country, although divided, was working feverishly to rebuild their war torn country and it was amazing what had been accomplished in that short time. Although led astray and into war, these are some of the hardest working and progressive folks in the world worthy of emulating in many areas. In addition to its now magnificent infrastructure, it is a leader in the social programs championed by Bismark many years ago which cared for the well-being of all its citizens. I often thought, belatedly, that personally and collectively those of us stationed there missed a terrific opportunity to learn the languages and the cultures of all the European countries. A program which would have been well worth the time for our troops and country. Too bad.
Want to keep the bases open - Elect Mitt.
He is still worried about the SOVIET THREAT.
Incredible isn't it?
Close all the foreign soil bases down - out of Germany, out Turkey, out of Kuwait, out of Japan, out of Italy out of Australia. How many trillions of dollars will we save by having a U.S. stateside and territory based millitary and concentrate on advanced remote weapons. Phuck being the policeman for the world if we have to pay for the whole zhit.