Wotcha, it is not so easy as that.

Of course the NATO forces were stationed in western germany according to the role of FRG being part of the NATO, and Germany being a major arena of the "Cold War". But we had still a nagging feeling of being "no independent state". We were the "western allieds`s Germany", our kinfolk in the east were "the russian`s Germany. And indeed there many tasks where we felt that we were not masters in our house. For example, I grew up in an airforce low flight training area. There are rules. E.G. airplanes are not allowed to go deeper than fifty metres. They are not allowed to overflight townships in low flight. But there were many cases of NATO partner machines going over our town so deep they nearly sheared chimneys and roofs off. I remember a machine going so deep directly above our house every single window was tingling and the roof tiles were rattling, too. But calls at the air base brought no result - the officers telling us "Sorry, but we cannot intervene. This was a NATO flight, no Bundeswehr. They needn`t to follow the rules, if they don`t want to, so far no foreign NATO pilot has been disciplined for ignoring them." Well, one day one of their planes went so deep it tore down a high voltage transmission line.

Of course american PERSHING on german soil were not placed there to keep us quiet. But nevertheless it were Relatives of us, living over the border,who were threatended by the missiles. Irony of fate: Our relatives were terrorized by deep flight planes, too. They lived near a soviet airbase.

Only the signing of the peace treaty and the reunion of germany at last ended this feeling. Since then it is something different to be german. Only since then I can whole-hearted agree to european unity, because now it is my own decision to vote for a state that does give up more and more of its souvereignity.