USArmyGermany.com SPECIAL NOTICE October 22, 2011

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Research for a book on the importance of the
Fulda Gap during the Cold War

John Provan, an American historian and author living and working in Germany, has recently initiated a research project that will eventually result in a book on the history of the defense of the "Fulda Gap" corridor - the shortest path from the East German border to the Rhine River - and its significance on NATO planning and strategy during the Cold War . John Provan III was born in 1956, in Steubenville, Ohio. As an Air Force brat, he grew up in the Kaiserslautern, Sembach and Rhein-Main areas (his father, an Air Force Chief Master-Sergeant, was assigned to Germany for almost 20 years). John has collected for more than 35 years and has amassed the largest private library on LTA, with over 1,200 books and 20,000 photos. His primary interest has evolved though, in now preserving the history of American Forces in Germany. Here alone, he has obtained some 250,000 images, films and sound recordings from 1945, to present. Provan obtained his B.A. from the University of Maryland in 1979. He wrote his M.A. thesis on the “German Airship during World War One” and PhD thesis on the “German Airship sheds”, both degrees from the University of Darmstadt. Dr. Provan has organized numerous exhibits and/or written books on various topics, to include: Thomas Edison, 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers, the Dornier Do-X, AFN-the American Forces Network, the Kinderlifts and the Berlin Airlift. He has also appeared on several TV documentaries; for the History Channel, HR, ZDF, A&E and AFN..

You can contact me (webmaster) or email the author directly.

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	Since 1945, some 8 million GI's have arrived at Rhein-Main AB to begin their tour of duty in Europe, or in transit to support military operations such as Desert Storm or to Iraq and Afghanistan. Rhein-Main also provided support to the MATS Aero Medical Evacuation and military supply flights, not to mention the countless military exercises that occurred. No base in USAF history accomplished so much, under often the most difficult conditions, for so many years, as did Rhein-Main..
	The “History of the Berlin Airlift“ is presented in this three volume set, in a very different manner than any previous books on the topic. Vol. 1 - “The First Battle of the Cold War” presents a detailed history of the events leading up to the blockade of Berlin, the ensuing Airlift, the entire operation and it’s results, which marked the beginning of the Cold War. Vol. 2 - “The Task Forces Times” was the daily newspaper which was printed to inform the Airmen of the events going on around them. In the appendix you will find an almost complete set of this mimeographed newspaper, so that one can read first hand the daily events of the Airlift, as the airmen experienced it. Vol. 3 - “The Men that made the Airlift Work” contains a listing of all known individuals who were part of the U.S. Air Force involvement in the Berlin Airlift. This is intended to honor those who served.
	For today's generation of Germans, it is almost incomprehensible what life for the children and youth of Germany was like in post war Germany. For most of these children, the Second World War had stolen not only the lives of family members and loved ones, but had taken away a childhood that could never be replaced. Destruction, fear, hunger and cold, were all these youngsters had experienced in their short lives. With the end of fighting on May 7, 1945, many displaced families returned home; to a structure that no longer existed, in a city full of rubble and to a family that would never be the same.