Where I Grew Up
How I Chose My Hometown
Anyone who grew up in the military, like I did, knows the feeling when someone asks, “Where are you from?” The first thought is, “Here we go again…”, followed by a long list of places and years. My long answer was, “Iowa, Canada, Colorado, Alabama, Arkansas, Germany, Utah, Arizona, DC, Oklahoma and Virginia”. My short answer was, “It depends on what year.”
Moving all the time inevitably begged the question in my own mind, just where am I from? I lived in lot of places, but where am I from? Who am I? My relatives were all from Iowa, but I only really lived there a short time while my dad was in Vietnam. The longest I lived in one place was Arkansas, four years of the best childhood you could imagine, but I wasn’t really from there either. Those four years were followed by the best three years any kid could ever dream of. We lived in Germany, right in the heart of Western Europe and traveled all over the continent. It was in Germany I grew from a boy to a young man. It was in Germany that I discovered a love for history and foreign cultures. It was in Germany I felt my first call into ministry.
Hahn Air Base Germany, though it closed many years ago, is still the place I think of when I think of my hometown. We were a tight-knit community, a small company town, Americans in a sub-culture of the greater European experience. We all had a common bond of working toward a better world. Everyone knew what a Squadron was, what a Wing Commander was as opposed to a Base Commander, the difference between Commissioned and Enlisted. Everyone patiently waited for the jets to pass overhead so we could begin speaking to each other again. Everyone knew to stop everything at 5pm and stand still for the National Anthem and to stand with our hands on our hearts before every movie at the base theater. Everyone understood the pain of leaving friends followed by the joy of making new friends. There was a shared understanding of the need to help the new kid adjust. There was a common sense of purpose. There was an assumption that career choice had a deeper meaning than just a good paycheck. Life was connected to service to others and service to country.
Where am I from? I am an Air Force kid. Hahn Air Base Germany is my hometown, as much for what it represents as it is for the memories of the base itself.
