When Deployment Felt Like Relief: The Pre-9/11 Army We Pretend to Forget
Büdingen, Germany, late ’90s. The barracks were “historic,” which was Army-speak for old, fragile, and nobody wants to pay to fix it. The plumbing was past its expiration date—backups, leaks, that constant low-grade stench that never quite left your clothes. And that’s where we put our enlisted soldiers. The pitch from leadership bordered on parody: “You’re living in a historic building—Adolf Hitler once gave a speech here. See the photo!” That didn’t land. Not even close.
