August 8, 1985 Rhein Main Bombing
November 25, 1985 Rhein Main Bombing
by Master Sgt. David P. Masko
Combat Information Team
Air Force News
RHEIN-MAIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFNS) -- August 8th marked a notable anniversary in Rhein-Main's varied history. On Aug. 8, 1985, a terrorist car bomb exploded outside the headquarters here killing Airman First Class Frank Scarton and Becky Bristol. A granite monument marks the spot where they died. Because of that bombing, concrete barriers --decorated as flower pots -- surround the headquarters.
Tech Sgt. Vincent Ricchezza hasn't forgotten about these victims of terrorism. He can't. As Rhein-Main's superintendent of operations for passenger service, Ricchezza must ensure security is tight as a drum for the more than 20,000 that now transit through Europe's "Gateway" on a monthly basis.
Ricchezza and a team of passenger service specialists are part of Rhein-Main's 626th Air Mobility Support Squadron. Among other air mobility support tasks, the unit operates Air Mobility Command's primary passenger terminal in the European theater.
"This terminal, on any given day, provides Air Force and commercial air transport support for our people going to such places as Southwest Asia," he said.
However, the job of operating Rhein-Main's portion of the Frankfurt flightline, and moving passengers, has gotten more difficult. The wreckage of TWA Flight 800 -- and its terror -- has a lot of people anxious about flying. The recent terrorist attack in Dhahran also underscores just how important security is.
In addition, the bombing in Dhahran surged Rhein-Main's support mission because Air Force airplanes had to be rerouted back to Rhein-Main. Ricchezza said this was done "because of the security threat so crews wouldn't have to stay downtown in Saudi Arabia."
"We're asking our passengers more questions about their bags. In Saudi, our crews are concerned about security for their aircraft when it's on the ground. It's a complex situation because we sometimes get squeezed by the military mission and military requirements," he said.
Despite increased security measures, the terrorist bombing near Dhahran is not far from the thoughts of Rhein-Main people.
"It was tough watching the (Dhahran) bombing story on television here in the terminal. It was even tougher on the airmen arriving at Rhein-Main on the day of the bombing -- waiting for their ride to Saudi. We later had some guys who were injured coming through on their way back to the States. Some needed their bandages fixed, and we did that," Ricchezza explained.
The June 25 bombing that killed 19 airmen in the Khobar Towers apartment building is still not solved. There have been no arrests in the attack.
Because of this attack, a continuing threat of terrorism -- a clear and present danger -- exists for Air Force people in and outside Saudi Arabia.
"We've got to be on our toes," said Mary Jackson, the wife of an Army officer assigned to a post here in Germany. "Protecting ourselves from terrorism has become Job 1 for us in Europe."
Jackson, sitting at Rhein-Main's passenger terminal with her young children and 400 other passengers, said August is a busy month at the base because "people want to go home. Europe's great, but there's no place like the good 'ol U.S.A."
"I have to wonder, after the TWA explosion and the Olympics bombing, that even back home we're not safe," Jackson said with a chagrin. "We're leaving Rhein-Main to get away from it, but there doesn't seem to be a safe place."
As much as you ever get use to it, making the Rhein-Main passenger terminal safe from terrorist attack "is something we learn everytime we go through it," said Capt. Thad Stanley, Rhein-Main's chief of passenger service.
"The more and more lessons learned you have, the smoother it goes," said Stanley, of the task that he and his people face while working 12-hour shifts that turn into 14 and 16-hour days.
"It starts to grind you down after awhile because nothing really stops. With operations in the Persian Gulf and Bosnia, there's always something going on," he said.
The New York Times
November 25, 1985
By James M. Markham
Bonn, Germany, Nov. 24, 1985 - At least 34 people were wounded today when a bomb planted in a car was detonated just outside a crowded American military shopping complex in northern Frankfurt, the authorities said.
The explosion, which the police said was from a bomb in a BMW with West German license plates, ripped into a laundromat used by American military personnel and their families. The car was parked between the low-slung, white PX complex and the car-wash unit of a gasoline station on Betramstrasse, and the police said it was very lucky that the stored gasoline had not been ignited.
The police said they had no clues as to what group placed the bomb, but the incident appeared to be the latest in an episodic West German terrorist campaign against American military installations.
In August, terrorists from the self-styled Red Army Faction staged a bomb attack on the nearby Rhein-Main air base, killing 2 Americans and wounding 20. Three bombs went off at an American installation in the Saarland the next month, causing damage but no injuries.
Scores of Vehicles Damaged
The impact of the explosion shredded the BMW into large chunks of metal and badly damaged a score of vehicles that were parked near it. The blast blew a hole in the wall of the laundromat and cut a six-foot crater in the ground. The PX building had to be shored up by firemen to prevent it from collapsing.
Flying shards of glass were strewn for hundreds of yards, and the windows were blown out of the headquarters of the nearby Armed Forces Network.
"It looked very bad," said a nurse at the 97th Military Hospital, where most of the victims were treated. "People - military personnel and many women - were everywhere. Many were bloody."
Maj. Chris Chalko, a military spokesman who happened to be driving to the complex when the explosion occurred, said the car containing the bomb was parked at the fringes of the PX in an area reserved for German employees. "It's not unusual to have German-plated cars in this area," the major said.
A checkpoint manned by American military policemen routinely stops non-military vehicles from entering the restricted PX area. Tonight military policemen bearing M-16 assault rifles cordoned off the area as American and West German bomb experts sifted through the debris for clues.
6 People Hospitalized
Bill Swisher, a hospital spokesman, said that 34 people had been treated for injuries after the blast and that 27 had been released. He said all were Americans except for a Filipino and a West German. None had life-threatening injuries, he added.
Most of those injured appeared to have been in the laundromat. "I heard a blast," said Victor Grossi, 18 years old, who works at a Baskin-Robbins shop in the PX complex. "I didn't see anybody outside."
Mayor Walter Wallmann of Frankfurt visited the site of the blast and expressed his condolences for the victims. The Frankfurt area has one of the densest concentrations of American military personnel in West Germany.