From the S&S archives: Carter vows to help improve conditions for GIs overseas

WIESBADEN, Germany — President Carter told a large crowd of American soldiers here Saturday that he was acutely aware of their money problems and promised improvements.

They roared their approval.

"I cannot promise you instant and complete relief," Carter told the soldiers of Brigade 76. "But I do want to assure you that I am acutely aware of your problems."

Noting the recent increase in allowances for junior enlisted men whose families accompany them to Germany, Carter said there would be further improvements.

"In next year's budget, I have proposed to the Congress large increases in a variety of services ranging from financial counseling to dental care.

"And I am asking Congress to let the government shoulder the financial burden of travel and transportation of goods that junior members now face when your families join you here."

Carter and Chancellor Helmut Schmidt rode standing in a jeep to the far end of a runway, where they saw a limited firepower demonstration involving German and American tanks and helicopters.

Despite publicity and free transportation offered off-duty soldiers and their dependents in the area, the crowd of people watching the president appeared to number far fewer than 10,000.

At other stops during the second day of Carter's four-day visit to Germany, as he greeted military personnel at Rhein-Main Air Base, at downtown Frankfurt's historic Römerplatz and in Berlin, he continued to underline the solidarity of German-American relations, as he did during the first day of his visit to Germany Friday.

Schmidt, who followed Carter on the speaker's stand here, echoed the theme, saying "the visit underscores and it should underscore" German-American military determination.

Rosalynn Carter and daughter Amy accompanied the president to inspect eight U.S. Air Force and German fighter planes parked on the Rhein-Main tarmac.

About 1,000 U.S. military personnel and family members watched from behind barriers as the president and Schmidt who flew with Carter from Bonn to Rhein-Main walked among the aircraft and chatted with crewmen.

After about 20 minutes at "The Gateway to Europe," Carter and his party were driven the 25-minute car trip to Wiesbaden Air Base.

From there he went to Frankfurt where an enthusiastic German and American crowd gave him a warm welcome in the Römerplatz. The estimated 15,000 people gathered there interrupted the president's speech several times with applause and cheers.

Carter continually linked Germany and America by historical references to great citizens of both countries whose influence and fame are known worldwide.

He recalled President John F. Kennedy's visit to this Main River city 15 years ago and mentioned "the life bustle, and motion that Thomas Jefferson found in 1788."

Throughout Carter's first two days to Germany, he stressed the "commitment to freedom that unites us." He told his Frankfurt audience he prays for the unification of Germany and said that it would be an expression of the great will of the German people.

He ended his crowd-stirring speech by expressing his desire to see "the cause of human rights (enhanced) around the world." Some of the crowd had erected a huge sign with "human rights" printed on it. A small demonstration threatened to erupt toward the end of Carter's speech but the jeers of red banner carriers were drowned by cheers of the crowd.

Carter, Rosalynn, and Amy went into the 12th-century Kaiser Hall where they signed the golden guest book of the city and were presented with gifts.

Security agents were evident everywhere in the surrounding streets as traffic was blocked from entering the motorcade route. People lined the sidewalks as though watching a parade.

When the president stepped from his black limousine to enter the Römerplatz, he was greeted by Lord Mayor Dr. Walter Wallmann. On his way to the podium, he surprised the crowd by walking into the midst of the people to shake hands. He was besieged with cries of "Jimmy" and cheers from the friendly crowd. A huge white banner proclaimed "Welcome, Mr. President."

German police had cordoned off the area in front of the speaker's platform and patrolling security men were visible on tower walkways around the two churches on the square. Children climbed on the water fountain or onto window ledges to get a closer look. Others were lifted to adult shoulders to snap a picture or two.

The president was welcomed in Berlin in a cold, light sprinkle by an Army band playing "God Bless America" at Tempelhof airport, main terminus of the 1948 Berlin Airlift.

Thousands of Berliners and families of American soldiers gathered around the airlift memorial, commemorating the 70 allied airmen killed in the operation which broke a Cold War Soviet blockade of the western part of the city, 110 miles inside East Germany.

Carter recalled what was happening 30 years ago

"That was the week when the Soviet Union responded to our demand to end the blockade with the assertion, Berlin is in the center of the Soviet zone and is part of that zone.

"With the courage of Berliners and the determination of the people of the West, we gave the answer: Berlin bleibt frei. Berlin stays free."

Carter concluded his text for a wreath-laying ceremony to heroes of the Berlin Airlift of 30 years ago by declaring in German: "Was immer sei, Berlin bleibt frei — no matter what happens, Berlin will stay free."

Near the memorial where Carter was speaking is the terminal, shaped like a giant eagle, which is Europe's largest building.

Tempelhof was a main landing field in the airlift and served as West Berlin's central airport until 1975. American supply planes now touch down on its seldom-used runways.

Carter delivered his speech from a podium flying flags of the three Western allies — the U.S., France and Britain — as well as Berlin and West Germany.

Police estimated about 20,000 people had gathered to see Carter give his airlift memorial speech.

Other Berliners and visiting tourists had begun taking places on the Kurfürstendamm as much as three hours before the presidential motorcade was to pass down the cafe boulevard.

Carter's motorcade went from Potsdam Platz to the city's closely guarded Congress Hall, where he held a town meeting with 1,000 Berliners, including a few retired East Berliners visiting relatives in the West.

The motorcade passed the Brandenburg Gate, a Berlin landmark that now stands just behind the wall in East Berlin.

Carter told a hand-picked audience of Berliners at the unprecedented town meeting — the first by a president outside the U.S. — that the U.S. would consider an attack on Western Europe the same as an attack on the U.S. itself.

Responding to questions about the security of the divided city, the president sought to assure his audience of 1,000 persons that there has been no lessening of his administration's commitment.

He said, in the town meeting held at the modernistic Congress Hall here and broadcast live in the U.S., that the U.S. was committing its most modern tanks and aircraft to the defense of Europe.

"We do have an adequate defense and it is increasing," he said.

"We consider an attack on the German people or Western European territory exactly the same as an attack on the people or territory of the United States."

Other questions included energy policy and the size of his daughter Amy's allowance, which he described as "zero."

The president was given a standing ovation at the end of the 50-minute question-and-answer session.