October - ACO - NATO

KFOR CHRONICLEReunification DayThe 12th German KFOR Contingent celebrated the Reunification DayText and photos provided by"Maz and More"Translated by Lt Sara De Miguel,SP Army and Sgt. GüntherHoppenstedt, GE ArmyThe 12th German KFOR OperationContingent celebrated, with asolemn parade the German Unity onOctober 3, in Prizren.The special events of that day beganat 9:00 hours with a religious service,followed by a special brunch. Bynoon, the official ceremony started.Soldiers of all the branches of theBrigade presented themselves infront of the HQ building framed bysoldiers holding torches.The German Air Force music bandfrom Karlsruhe performed the backgroundmusic. The moment the Flagof the Unit was brought in, the differencebetween a recorded and livemusic was obvious.The Commanders of theMultinational Brigades Northeast,East and Center, high representativesof HQ KFOR, Deputy Chief ofStaff of HQ KFOR were presents, aswell as representatives of the 11nations of the MNB (SW).BG Norbert Stier specially welcomedthe Deputy Commander of theOperational Command of theGerman Army, General MajorKarlheinz Viereck, which came fromPotsdam, especially to celebrate thisevent with the German soldiers. BGStier highlighted in his speech thepolitical background of theOctober 3, 1990, the Day of theReunification. He honored thecourage of the former governmentand the support of the allies, speciallythe United States. As well, BGStier stressed the civil courage andnon-violent resistance of the citizensof the GDR as the decisive factor forthe political development of thereunification: By that they made theweapons of the regime dull andunusable, at the end they stood up tothem with the demand for more freedomand finally the demand for the16 Oct. 31, 2005www.nato.int/kfor