Hello from Hungary #1

Dear Reader,


Greetings from Hungary!

In July 1997, I had the fortune to go to Hungary. I was a twenty-nine year old Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army and was picked by my MP Battalion to go to Taszar, Hungary for a three-month assignment. My duties there would be as a Physical Security NCO. In a very tumultuous year in my life, my assignment to Hungary was a breath of fresh air. It made me get “in touch” with me again.

The Taszar Air Base is outside of the Hungarian city, Kaposvar. Kaposvar in 1997 was an average size city, and I would call it a city. It was a caught in the throes of western modernization. The main downtown area blended old-fashioned central European shops side by side with modern stores, such as “Harley Davidson.” They even had a Toyota dealer on the outskirts of town. To see such things were a bit disconcerting to me – it was like the old and new trying to find a synthesis to come together.

The Air Base itself was in the small town of Taszar. I don’t quite know the origins of the base, but I can tell you it was an old Soviet Air Base. Its airfield could support the landing of a DC-17, which surprised me because I always thought it was small. I arrived in Taszar on a prop plane from a flight that originated in Heidelberg, Germany.

Anyway, after the fall of the wall and Communism in Central Europe, the Soviets left Taszar in shambles and the Hungarians took over the airfield. The Hungarians were left with a run down, unkempt military facility and three Migs, one of which worked and the other two were used for spare parts. (NOTE: “Migs” were Soviet style combat jets)

I stayed in the MP Barracks for most of my time there. The building was old and dirty. There was no way it would pass American housing codes. Rooms were sectioned off for privacy and I stayed in a makeshift room in the entranceway. There was only one bathroom with three toilets and shower. The shower was almost too dirty to use. Heck, if the building’s frog was in the mood, he’d join you.

The Air base was a good size. It had a canteen run by the Hungarians. I liked to go there for cappuccino after a long day’s work. In fact, the best cup of cappuccino I ever got, I got at that canteen in Hungary! There was a PX, a recreations tent, (where I liked to go and play darts), and Brown and Root ran not only a laundry service but also the chow hall. It was in that chow hall on Aug 31st, 1997, I learned that Lady Diana had been killed. There was also a gym and various admin buildings. It was a good-sized base, considering it’s condition. Just outside of the front gate, was a street with abandoned Soviet military housing, which had been turned into low rent housing for the Hungarians. A “liaison” type building was also on this street. It probably was a press building back in the day and was filled with pictures from the air base from the 50’s and 60’s. Also, there was an authentic Hungarian restaurant on the bottom floor that I liked to go to.

The Admin building wsa a huge square building. In front were three Migs, displayed for all to see from different eras. I worked in this building with two other sergeants an a Lt. Col. I enjoyed my co-workers, who were all men. They were smart, hard working, and loved to laugh, and while I can’t remember their names, I remember that we were all into our work and enjoyed it.

Well, I could write much more about the military aspect of Taszar, and perhaps I will, but I wanted to write about Hungary, so I’ll let my military thoughts sit here for a while. Just know that is the climate in which I had an opportunity to explore Hungary.

I loved Hungary. The sky was so close to the ground. I thought I could reach out and touch the sky. I had these feelings the most when I would go on my two mile runs into Taszar and the surrounding farmlands.

Hungary had four seasons much like my native state, New Hampshire. The air was humid in summer time and grew cool in Sept. and Oct. Beautiful foliage, lush trees, and grass plains surrounded Taszar. Most roads were paved but there were a couple of dirt roads that should have been paved.

Taszar was very rural and surrounded by several farms and lots of grassy plains. Kaposvar seemed like an oasis in the middle of the farmlands. Just a side note – one night a bunch of my friends went to Kaposvar. We found a “Vietnam” bar with a lot of memorabilia from the Vietnam War. It really tripped us out. OD green uniforms, nets, old-fashioned steel pots, flak vests, camo nets where littered all around the bar. It was a bit unnerving – a tribute to a failed American war, IMHO. I honestly don’t know why it was there, and while I can’t imagine there was a faction of people in Kaposvar that wanted to say “screw you” to us American forces, I have to wonder.

I visited such cities as Pecs and Budapest. Budapest is definitely an international city. The residents of Budapest used English a lot. I think they knew their world was changing. A lot of Hungarians went to England to study English and then they returned to Hungary once they were fluent. Pecs, (pronounced Pa-sch) if I remember correctly wsa close to the Croatian border. While Budapest’s western influences didn’t appear to stick out like a sore thumb, the same trap of western modernization versus old fashionism was apparent in Pecs.

Pecs’s old-fashioned central Europe architecture was gorgeous and I don’t think I can accurately describe it here. I remember finding a McDonalds on a street corner of Pecs and across from it was an old building ornately decorated. The door and windowpanes were carved to perfection with flowers, animals, and other ornamentation as if it were straight out of the 1700’s. To see these buildings like so, I felt a like mad, like my society was intruding on history beautifully preserved. Honestly, there were a lot of times I felt like I was back in Hungary during the 1930’s or 1940’s before the Soviets took possession of the country. One thing I will say – and thank God – the Soviets never seriously imposed their brand of bland 1950’s architecture and buildings in Hungary but there were a few apartment buildings in Kaposvar that gave me that feel. That was the only place I really saw it, considering.

All the Hungarians I met in 1997 were glad to have the Americans there and they were really looking forward to becoming a member of NATO. Hungarian is also a hard language to master, as it is derived from Finish. I tried to pick up what I could, but the most I could do was read a menu. We had a Hungarian translator named Rita where we worked. I thought she was wonderful. (and she had learned English much like I described before, in fact, she had just returned from England) She was of average height with brown hair and auburn highlights, average build, curves in the right places. She was attractive. Most of the Hungarians I saw were on the thinner side. There was also a man, Lazlo, who worked in the same admin building I did. Skinny as a stick and loved to run but this man was also very attractive with rugged features, thick wavy hair and dark eyes. Getting back to Rita, she was very patient with us Americans and very curious. And we were curious about her. Not only did I love going places with her, I loved talking to her about the history of her country. Generally speaking, most Hungarians around this time frame were upset with the USSR, now Russia for the way they pulled out of the country. They did not support the fragile infrastructure as they departed, leaving most of Hungary in shambles.

One of the staples on the Hungarian menu was Goulash soup and I became quite fond of it. They cooked various poor cuts of meats through, high in fats and while you could get a bite or two, which you could enjoy, most of the meat was grizzle. They loved spices – especially paprika. Even now I use paprika on my food when I can.

Lake Balaton is a big lake in Hungary between Budapest and Kaposvar. Kaposvar is down in central, lower Hungary, Budapest, upper central Hungary. I remember as I traveled by bus back to Germany passing the lake. We came down from a hill and I spied a vineyard on one side of the lake ready for harvesting. Maybe one day I’ll have a chance to find that wine.

I hope this missive captures the flavor of Hungary I had the privilege to experience. Mostly rural with beautiful plans and a sky so close it made you feel to nature. The cities were beautiful despite the conflicting buildings. The people were friendly and helpful.

There’s much more to write, much more about my personal military experiences in Hungary, but I’ll save those adventures for another letter.

Sincerely
Steph