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Ramstein Air Base leadership joined community partners in celebrating German-American Day at a ceremony in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Oct. 6, 2018.
Brig. Gen. Mark R. August, 86th Airlift Wing commander, noted the strong history of German-American friendship through the years to include events as far back as the Berlin Airlift and how Ramstein’s mission has evolved to carry on that legacy today.
“From a small fighter base in the valley to our incredible airlift mission today, our partnership has grown into the largest group of Americans living outside the United States,” said August.
This friendship can be seen everywhere in the community, from local villages where thousands of Americans live to the installation itself, where German civilian employees serve side-by-side with their American friends, August added.
“Every time we visit different areas of the base we find dedicated German civilians working, teaching, and mentoring,” August said. “I’ve yet to find any with less than 10 years of service to the United States Air Force, and we regularly sign letters congratulating Germans with as many as 40 years of service.”
In addition to celebrating the overall relationship between Germans and Americans, officials also recognized Ramstein’s own Elke Sittel, assigned to the 86th AW Host Nation office, for her efforts and accomplishments.
“This is a great honor, and we are proud of our German-American friendship,” said Sittel. “We have friends everywhere in our community, and we know our friendship will only grow stronger.”
Also recognized was Sissi Koesling from the Kaiserslautern city administration, and a team member of the German-American Community Office, who helps provide long-term dedicated assistance in keeping and enhancing the German-American partnership for 54,000 Kaiserslautern Military Community members.
Former United States President Ronald Reagan declared Oct. 6 as German-American Day to honor the German families who immigrated to the United States in 1683 when 13 families arrived near Philadelphia, Pa., and founded Germantown.
| Date Taken: | 10.06.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 10.29.2018 09:19 |
| Story ID: | 298019 |
| Location: | KAISERSLAUTERN, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, DE |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Ramstein, community partners celebrate German-American friendship, by Jonathan Bass, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
