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Our NATO Friends - A Commentary

By Jennifer Nagorka, KERA 90.1 commentator

Dallas, TX – Major Dag Ola Lien remembers exactly where he was when he learned that terrorists had crashed planes into the World Trade Center. So does Major Dominique Vlaemynck. And Staff Sgt. Gerd Freuwoerth. Like most Americans, they remember in exquisite detail what they were doing when they first heard the news. But Major Lien is from Norway, Major Vlaemynck from Belgium, and Sgt. Freuwoerth from Germany. September 11th was our tragedy, not theirs, yet it altered their lives, too.

All three men serve in a NATO unit based in Geilenkirchen, Germany. That unit has spent the last seven months rotating in and out of Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City. Soon, all the NATO personnel will all head home. Their departure will mark the end of a historic mission.

After the September 11 attacks, and for the first time in its 52-year history, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization invoked Article 5 of its charter. NATO was our primary military alliance during the Cold War and involved most of Western Europe, the U.S. and Canada. Article 5 of its charter states that an attack against one NATO country is an attack against them all. NATO declared the September 11th attacks an attack against the alliance and offered its help.

On October 9, at the request of the United States, NATO deployed five Airborne Warning and Control Systems, or AWACS, planes to Tinker Air Force Base. About 200 crewmembers from 13 countries accompanied the planes. The European planes, and two U.S. AWACS aircraft, patrolled U.S. airspace around the clock. The NATO assistance allowed America to keep most of its AWACS crews deployed overseas.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced early this month that the European aircraft and personnel could go home by May 16. NATO crews already have begun redeploying to Germany. There will be a small ceremony at Tinker before the final NATO personnel depart.

"Operation Eagle Assist," as the NATO people called the mission, has gone almost unnoticed. I wish it had received more attention, for both personal and political reasons.

At a personal level, I am grateful to the men and women from NATO who helped watch our skies. After interviewing several NATO crewmen last week, it's clear they don't expect thanks. They are soldiers, and they do what they are assigned to do.

It doesn't matter. If a fireman pulls you from a burning car, you are grateful, deeply, deeply grateful - even if he gets paid to do that. After an attack so massive and so horrific, I was comforted to know we had friends. Now that I've met some of the NATO personnel sent here, I'm even more moved. It's admirable to serve your own country; it's even more selfless to help protect someone else's.

On a political level, the NATO deployment, however small, should reinforce the value of enduring international alliances. We have the most powerful military in the world, yet there are threats we cannot tackle successfully alone. In a crisis, you need friends - real friends, not just trading partners or potential markets. And the NATO countries, which share our democratic, pluralistic ideals, are the best friends we've got.

Jennifer Nagorka is a writer in Dallas.