435th Security Police Squadron

29Mar89: The hijacked Tu-154 that was blocked by one of our security troops via M-1008. The Hungarian Malev airliner was hijacked by two Czech youths who knew Frankfurt International runways paralleled the runways of Rhein-Main Air Base, an American operation. They thought once they forced the crew to land in Frankfurt, they could taxi over to the base side and request political asylum. We figured out their plan and our Security troops blocked the aircraft from taxing onto the base. Eventually the hijackers surrendered. But not before firing one shot through the opened door 1L in the direction of Cherry Hill. On that day Police 3 ("JW") was tasked to assist the German Police in getting the press off the hill. Miraculously, no one was struck by the bullet.

Read Ralf Wegner's account.

Two photos of the Presidential visit in May 1989. It's pretty cool and a proud moment to have both Air Force One "27000" and Marine One on our flight line simultaneously. President Bush visited Mainz via helicopter after visiting Rhein-Main.

-"JW"

President George H. Bush addressing the crowd at RMAB in May 1989. He uses the Shure SM-57 microphone. The SM-57 is a studio workhorse that has been used for decades to mic guitar amps, other instruments, lead vocals, and even the kick drum on AC/DC's 1980 Back In Black album!

"Stay the course... a thousand points of light... "

This was a major accident on Autobahn A-5 South right outside the Main Gate. My (then) girlfriend also drove a light blue VW Polo at that time and I was pretty uneasy as we approached the scene of accident until I saw the license plate and knew it couldn't be her. Sgt Barry Thompson SPOL-A (upper right photo) responded with me. Unfortunately, the girl who drove the car died in the accident. Look at the firemen's faces.

Investigation revealed the cause of the accident: Polish car dealers had purchased the trailer, had a flat tire and decided to stop in the third lane to change it... in the afternoon rush!

-"JW"

Here's another major accident. Sprendlingen Police requested our assistance in traffic control because they'd run out of patrols that busy midsummer afternoon. You can see TSgt John Kerrigan in the upper right photo. Unfortunately, I forgot the Shift Commander's name. He was a pretty cool captain with a great sense of humor. By the way, the victim leaning against the guardrail was a regular in one of my favorite clubs and I recognized him only after a couple of minutes at the scene. He suffered from a punctured lung which was only detected upon his arrival at Langen hospital. His girlfriend also survived.

-"JW"

In this photo you can see Col. Halvorsen after whom our on base elementary school was named. He is the famous "Candy Bomber" who dropped all those Hershey bars in little parachutes down to the besieged children of Berlin. Heart wrenching accounts of people who survived those miserable days can be seen on TV documentaries. Col. Halvorsen will surely end up in heaven after all he's done for mankind!

He was approaching his nineties when asked to be a part of the Base Closure Ceremony in October 2005. He gave a speech and christened a C-17 "Spirit of Rhein-Main". A somber moment.

-"JW"