“And,ya, we should have been out of Europe in 1960 at the latest. But I suspect German beer played a part in our staying....”
As a vet, you would/might have known what our mission was in Europe, prior to 1989 (end of USSR threat, to significant extent).
Between 1945 and 1989 we did have a valid reason to be in Europe.
You may not agree with that reason, or our mission, but administrations during both parties felt we did.
It could be said we won the Cold War by demonstrating our willingness to stand ready to respond to agression against our NATO allies.
Humm, good point. THe Germans picked up a good share, the rest were counting on US (the USofA) to pay the bill
Both in dollars and in blood.