Why were four American war planes seen and heard above Berlin on Tuesday evening? Is Amazon delivering orders in F-35s by now? Were they trying to find a parking lot because the airbase in Ramstein is crammed? No and no. They came for a flyover, which was part of the festivities the U.S. Embassy organized at Berlin’s Palais am Funkturm.
Hundreds of guests were invited to celebrate 250 years of American independence eleven days before independence day. Embassy staff, diplomats from other embassies, American soldiers, journalists, Germany’s Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU), one of her predecessors and many other guests took part. Alan Meltzer, the Chargé d’Affaires and the celebration’s host was going to hold a speech. So was Minister Reiche.
The U.S. Army Europe and Africa Soldier’s Chorus played absolutely everything, including Rock and Soul classics, Rap and even a German Pop song, while guests kept on arriving constantly. At the beginning, hardly anyone danced because they were busy eating.
KFC, Burgermeister, Five Guys and other fast food chains provided everyone with chicken wings, hot dogs, coleslaw, burgers, little chocolate cakes and basically everything Americans love to eat. At 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit), the freshly made lemonade, all the sodas as well as alcoholic beverages were consumed too, in a nice atmosphere at a wonderful location.
Lots of languages were spoken. This celebration was about as diverse as the United States is on its 250th birthday. People seemed to be relaxed. Trump’s Iran deal, MAGA or other difficult subjects were largely avoided. At least nobody was heard discussing them.
Fireworks were scheduled for 9:50 p.m. CET. Happy birthday in advance.
