RNMHS Newsletter

31 July 2006

 

 

1. The meeting was called to order at 1330 by George Robinson, Jr. Those members present were:

 

George Robinson, Jr.                           Erik Glasstetter                     Dieter Clobes

Klaus Fuhrmann

 

Old Business

 

  1. IACS

 

Frank Rohmann must still renew his IACS pass. All others have their pass renewed.

 

  1. Base Closures

 

This is relatively simple. I will give the facts, as I know them and the rumors I have heard. These, of course, are different than they were in January.

 

Fact:

1)       The two batteries of the 1/27 FA have been deactivated.

 

2)       The 77th Maintenance will inactivate on 3 August 2006. This is the last unit on Babenhausen. There will still be a few soldiers and families living on Babenhausen into the fall. I do not know exactly when all soldiers will be gone from Babenhausen.

 

Rumor:

1)       There is a new rumor that Kelley Barracks, in Darmstadt, will be staying open longer than the other installations there. I will elaborate on this more when I discuss the museum.

 

With all of the above info, just remember, it not true until we see it in writing. But it is fairly certain that we have a few more years left to operate in this area. After that we will play it by ear.

 

3.  Museum

 

At the present time it appears that the museum will be staying open until 11 November 2006. This will be our last day of operation at Babenhausen. After this day we will have until the end of the year to move the items from the museum to another location. There is a planned celebration for the final day of our operation. I will go into more detail about this in New Business.

 

Also at this time, I am working with people in Darmstadt to move the museum to the Kelley Barracks – Nathan Hale Depot area. It has been indicated to me that this area will stay open longer to accommodate units that will be staying in the Darmstadt area when its drawdown is announced. This can give us 3 to 5 more years, more if we are lucky, to continue operation in Darmstadt. At the present time I do not know what kind of facility we may be able to obtain. I have stated that we would like a place for our museum and to be able to store our exhibit vehicles. As soon as I know more information I will keep you all posted.

 

Below is the work schedule for Museum open days for the rest of the year.

 

13 Aug   Dieter Clobes

3 Sep      Hadley Watson

8 Oct       Inge Robinson

5 Nov     Erik Glasstetter

 

 

4. Motor Pool Building

 

We need to be out of the motor building by the end of October. At the present time that does not mean the vehicles and weapons that we will be using for our exhibits. I am still trying to find another place on Babenhausen to store our good vehicles and weapons for the rest of the time we are there. This is especially important because the motor pool has been broken into three times in the past month. So far only Erik has lost anything. A cortex suit, but things have been moved around and a few boxes destroyed. In addition, a portion of the roof was blown off during a severe storm on 22 July.

 

a.         Do not bring anything more to the motor pool. You know who you are. I will change the locks if this continues.

b.       Anything left in the motor pool, which is not for exhibits, will be thrown away. The AST will provide a detail to do this.

c.        Those items that are left will need to be stored neatly and kept that way as much as possible. This will also be true if we are able to move to a more secure area.

 

 

5. Invited Guests from Babenhausen

 

In June we hosted the Mayor of Babenhausen, as well as several members of the city council and local Babenhausen history club. This was a huge success but has not led to an offer to relocate to a place that they may have for us. That is why I am pursuing the move to Darmstadt. The VIP’s were very impressed and do want us to come back to Babenhausen when they get the post. If we have a place in Darmstadt I do not know if we can do this. We will look into the possibility if the opportunity arises.

 

New Business

 

1. New Museum Visitors

 

We have also had the new USAG Darmstadt Commander, LTC Astin, visit the museum. He said that he was “…very, very, very impressed…” with what he has seen. It was mentioned that we would like to keep the museum open until 11 November and that we want to continue operation within USAG Darmstadt. He indicated that there is a possibility of this and that he would help us as much as he can. This is what has led my pursuit of a place in Darmstadt, as well as the closure of the museum in November.

 

2. Farewell to Babenhausen

 

I presented an idea to close our museum on 11 November 2006, to Teri Viedt, Nola Maloney and LTC Astin. It appears that this will happen and I have submitted a written request for this. I will be making arrangements with the Teri and Nola to set up a last major event for Babenhausen. You have already seen the letter I submitted. I would like to make the 11th an all day event.

 

Time Line

1000-1200                                              Museum Open House

1200-1400                                              Reception at the Cannoneer Club

1400-1630                                              Museum Open House

1630-1700                               Closing Words

1700                                        Last retreat and Closure

 

I intend to invite those VIP’s from Babenhausen that have already visited us, as well as the US Retiree Council and the VIP’s from USAF Darmstadt. I will also discuss with the Teri and Nola our wish to invite a few select reenactment groups to come and set up living history exhibits around the grounds of the museum. These would be the WW1 reenactors from Belgium, some who are former RNMHS members, a WW2 group from Baumholder, a WW1 German reenactment group through Kelly Wright, a German WW2 Panzergrenadier unit from Leipzig, the old modelers that used to be members of the RNMHS and a couple of other groups that we know about. I would also like for a few of us (Inge and myself, Cherri and Roger, if able, and Fred) to put Company B, 4th Maine Regiment onto the field on more time.  We will also display our vehicles and weapons one last time in Babenhausen.

 

I will attempt to arrange for these folks to stay in a building that I am using for sports job, if I can still have the keys to it at that time. If this is allowed people can arrive Friday evening and depart on Sunday. I am thinking of have a four hour session for the museum on Sunday as well, but that is not for sure I will keep you post as to how all of this work out.

 

4. Name Change

 

Effective with our bi-annual renewal this year it was voted to change the name of the club from the Rhein Neckar Military Historical Society to the Hessian-American Military Historical Society (HAMHS). We have not really been the Rhein Neckar since 1997, when we moved our base of operations to Babenhausen. The new name will reflect our current ties with Darmstadt and the State of Hessen. In military history, these ties go back to the American Revolution, and are most famous with Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River to surprise the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey.

 

5. Elections

 

It is time for our bi-annual Private organization renewal and with it comes new election of officers. This is the official notification that elections will be held on 8 October, after the museum closes for the day. Please plan to attend.

 

6. Next Meeting

 

Business meetings will be held semi-annually.  A special business meeting will be held on 8 October, to hold elections and go over the progress of the 11 November Farewell to Babenhausen program.  The next business meeting is the end of January, 2007. The time will be announced.

 

Well, that is it for now. Hope top see all of you soon. Please pass this on to those members that do not have email.

 

Take care,

 

Rob

 

 

 

George Robinson, Jr.

 

George Robinson, Jr.

President, RNMHS