The unveiling ceremony in Downs Barracks on 24 July 1998 was attended by sixty one officers and men who came from the United States and another eight who live in Germany. It opened with a welcoming address by Dr. Wolfgang Hamberger, Oberbuergermeister of Fulda, who warmly greeted the former members of the Regiment and recalled the very special relationship that developed between the Regiment and the peoples of the Fulda region. Major General Adrian St John, who commanded the regiment 1967-1969, responded to Dr. Hamberger’s welcome and expressed appreciation for the attendance of so many good friends including representatives of the Bundeswehr and Bundesgrenzschutz who stood in formation for the ceremony. Other former regimental commanders present for the ceremony were Brig Gen Irzyk and Colonels Howell and Clark. The senior noncommissioned officers on hand were Command Sergeants Major John Miller, Ernest Jeffries and Charles Minnicks. Among the oldest soldiers present were ten officers and men who served with the Regiment in the summer of 1951 when it moved forward to stations in Fulda, Bad Kissingen and Bad Hersfeld.
The unveiling of our memorial stone by Dr. Hamberger and General St John was followed by a moment of silence in honor of departed comrades, cavalrymen who have ridden on to Fiddler’s Green. Taps was sounded and the 1st (US) Armored Division Band rendered the national anthems of the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany. The color guard was provided by 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st (US) Infantry Division. The colors of our regiment and the Eleventh were present. Overhead, from the top of the tallest flagpole in Fulda, flew the flag of the United States. Photographs are appended.More than 100 friends of the Regiment and citizens of Fulda were present. We were honored also by the attendance of six members of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment including CSM (R) John Stephens, President of the Blackhorse Association. Our own attendees included one officer still on active duty, Major General B. B. Bell. General Bell served in 3d Squadron from 1969 to 1972. It should also be noted that more than sixty ladies of the Regiment came to Fulda to represent all who stood by us on the Frontier of Freedom during the Cold War. The unveiling ceremony was followed by a reception in the Fuersten Hall of the Stadtschloss and dinner in the Orangerie. In the Fuersten Hall Herr Fritz Kramer, Commissioner of Landkries Fulda spoke movingly of the bonds between the United States and Germany. Text of his address is appended.
We are grateful to the City of Fulda for its hearty response to our visit, and to Herr Walter Sandner, our former Regimental S5, for his assistance in the preparations.
The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment also has a memorial stone in place by the flagpole to commemorate its stand from 1972 to the end of the Cold War. The two memorials correspond closely in size, format and motif. German and American visitors to this site may be struck by the fact that the mottoes at the bottom line on both memorial plaques are in a third language.
Suivez Moi Allons Members of the Committee that conducted the campaign in the first six months of 1988 to raise money for the regimental memorial:
Regt. HQ 1st Bn/Sgdn 2nd Bn/Sqdn 3rd Bn/Sqdn LTC Alfred Shehab LTC Wallace Steiger COL Paul Palmer COL Charles Di Ciro LTC Mack VanHook CSM Skip Minnicks CSM Ernest Jeffries SGM John Hollern Action to form this Committee was initiated by Mack VanHook after he visited Fulda in 1997 and saw the Blackhorse memorial standing there by the flagpole with no sign that another regiment had stood watch in the Fulda Gap for 23 years preceeding the time of the 11th. Having served in the Regiment for seven of those 23 years he saw this as a situation that called for action. On his return to the US, Mack contacted the nine surviving commanders of the Fourteenth and secured unanimous endorsement of proposed "corrective" action. Further contact with the Oberbuergermeister of Fulda was met by equally enthusiastic support. The rest is history.
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