Not so friendly of a welcome

In September 1980, I was in Munich, Germany for Octoberfest. My friends and I were having a few beers to wind down from field training exercises. We had been on maneuvers for ninety days and were glad to be back to the civilian world. We were given five days off to enjoy Octoberfest. My friends and I we decided to go to Munich for a little rest and relaxation. We had been there a day or two and we found a place to enjoy some food and a beer. After being there for about forty-five minutes, we decided to go elsewhere. Fifteen minutes after we left, the area where we had been sitting was attacked by a terrorist. We were the most sought after individuals by Polizei, because they thought somehow we were involved. When we were found we were questioned and an hour later we were released to our first sergeant. Our first sergeant took us back to our hotel and told us to check in with him and the commanding officer when we returned.

Back at the motel we were debating going back to the barracks instead of finishing our stay in Munich. After much debate, we decided we weren’t going to be chased off by terrorist. We went to bed and woke up the next day, then went by the bombing site. It was eerie to see and the blood still hadn’t been cleaned up. The body had been removed but the blood remained. We stood in somber silence and said nothing to each other. We said a prayer and moved on like the rest of the on…