Life in Germany

The Cold War ended and the Wall that divided East and West Germany fell as did my Army career came to an end six months later. Then, I settled into my family life in Germany with a marriage to a German woman that already had a daughter from a previous marriage for us to raise. We added to our family my son in 1990, then my daughter 1993. We lived in a small village called Baumholder next to the Army Post where I was last stationed. To support my family, I held various jobs at times working two jobs to make ends meet. Living overseas there is no US unemployment benefits for Americans. A few years later we moved to my wife’s place of birth in Homburg, Germany. I found a part time job closer to home at Ramstein AB, at the same time landing a job on the local economy as a truck driver. This marriage ended after 13 years, but our relationship and commitment to our kids remained strong.

After the attacks on American soil on September 11, 2001, I joined the US Army 7th Army Reserve Command in Germany.

It was during this time period that I met my second wife with whom we raised our daughter. We lived not far from Frankfurt, Germany. During this time, I had a part time printing newspapers for Stars & Stripes, finally getting a Civil Service as a Postal Clerk. About this time, I was about to retire from the US Army Reserves. However, in 2007 I was approached by the Army about going back to active duty. I enlisted to the active ranks on Jun 2008, where I was assigned to Ft Lewis, WA. I retired on 2011 and I returned to Germany to my family and my US government job. In July 2019, my wife filed for a divorce that took 4 years to be settled. I retired from the US Government service in 2020.

While residing in Germany, I made a promise to visit two places to honor my father, first I promised to visit Normandy Beach. I had the Honor of joining the American Legion National Commander to celebrate the D-Day Anniversary to the location where my father stormed the beaches during the invasion of France. It was an experience that I would recommend for anyone that goes on a Europe. Just walking on the ground where soldiers of many countries died. Secondly, I promised to visit the STALAG POW camp where my father spent the rest of the war, unfortunately it was torn down after the WWII. I finally returned to my hometown in 2023 after my divorce was finalized.