On my first mayor's engagement, I was chauffeured up to USAF Mildenhall to join twelve other dignitaries before being flown out for a tour of NATO bases in Germany. This included Ramstein and Templehoff and stayed at the American Embassy in Berlin. An amazing time!
Our neighbour Jeff Smith, worked in the control tower for the USAF and when cargo planes came in early in the morning (4am onwards) I was able to join him and watch them land.
This was made even more pleasurable by having a huge American style TV breakfast each morning!
At the decommissioning ceremony for the airbase, we were introduced to former President Eisenhower's son and I had the pleasure of seeing the last cruse missile leave.
Getting back to the petition. Jeff's wife, Jill Smith, has emailed me the following comment. 'As a former member of the United States Armed Forces, and also a history teacher, it surprises me that the Council's position on this historic icon of the Cold War would allow that piece of history to be sold, rather than allow the public to remember a time in their history that the world came knocking on their door. The control tower is the oldest structure on the former base, I believe, that is, if the barracks are no longer there. I love the idea of having a museum in the tower along with farmers' markets, and maybe a cafe. It lets the building and the area come full circle. The important thing to remember is, if history is not remembered then the chance of it being repeated is greatly increased.'
I am extremely grateful for these comments from Jill Smith.
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| Jill Smith visiting the site on 9 June 2013 |
Greenham Common Control Tower
If you would like to add your signature to the petition, to keep the control tower as a community asset, please use the address below.
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